Firm PV Power Generation in Switzerland

Jan Remund1, Marc Perez2, Richard Perez3 1Meteotest AG, Bern, Switzerland /2Clean Power Research, Napa, CA, United States /3University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, United States

We investigate whether PV can effectively and economically contribute to a massively renewable energy (RE) power generation future for Switzerland. Taking advantage of the country’s flexible hydropower resources, we determine the optimum PV/storage configuration that can meet the country’s electrical demand firmly 24x365 at the least possible cost. We examine two high RE scenarios, respectively 100% and 90%. Depending on future cost predictions for PV and batteries. We show that mean power production costs on the Swiss grid would range from 6-10 cents per kWh. That is well in line with current market prices on the regional TSOs.