Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Solar Country Notes

Sweden
With its electricity generation currently dependent on nuclear and hydro, Sweden's market for solar energy is negligible. As in Norway and Finland, the main application of PV is in the domestic off-grid sector, where installations are sited in remote cabins, campers, caravans and boats.

According to the IEA (PVPS), installed PV capacity in Sweden at end-2005 amounted to 4 237 kWp, with an annual output of less than 3 GWh during 2005. Of the total capacity, 3 350 kWp (79%) was off-grid domestic, 633 kWp off-grid non-domestic and 254 kWp grid-connected distributed.

From 15 May 2005 to the end of 2007, an investment subsidy of 70% has been made available for the installation of PV systems on public buildings. A cap of 100 million Swedish kronor (approximately € 11 million) applies, corresponding to 2-3 MW of additional PV capacity. This subsidy scheme is reported to have jump-started the Swedish PV market. By the beginning of 2006, one-third of the budget had been applied for, with much interest being shown by the major population centres of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. As a result of the subsidy, installed PV capacity will jump by 70% by around the end of 2007, and grid-connected building-integrated capacity will increase tenfold.

The market for solar thermal systems has not been strong and by end-2001 it was estimated that a total of 192 157 m² had been installed, of which 156 522 m² were flat plate collectors, 1 704 m² were vacuum collectors and 33 931 m² were unglazed collectors. The total glazed area of solar thermal collectors in operation in 2005 was 208 000 m², giving an output capacity of about 146 MWt.