SETTING NEW STANDARDS IN PV SYSTEMS Schweizer is a privately owned company that was founded in 1920 and was among the first in the 1970s to pioneer the development of solar thermal collectors and later on with photovoltaic (PV) mounting systems. Philip Yorke talked to Dr Helge Hartwig, the company’s head of PV systems, about its continuing drive for sustainable energy efficiency and its move into new markets.
S
chweizer Metallbau was founded in Switzerland in 1920 and began by making letterboxes for the Swiss market. As a privately owned family business, Schweizer remains the clear brand leader in this niche market in Switzerland. In the following years, the company saw strong growth in its range of building products, such as facades and aluminium window frames and doors. However, in 1977, the son of Ernst Schweizer, Hans Ruedi Schweizer, convinced his father to begin the production of solar collectors. This was a bold step as it was at a time when solar technology was in its infancy. However, Hans Ruedi Schweizer was convinced that solar collectors would provide an important contribution to sustainable energy in the future and visualised its growing importance and success.
This vision proved correct and today the company, with over 650 employees, is one of the technology leaders for solar thermal and PV mounting systems for roof integration and has partners in most European countries. Despite difficult trading conditions due to the economic slowdown, Schweizer AG Metallbau recorded sales of more than CHF–155 million in 2011.
Perfecting advanced integration As one of the early pioneers of advanced solar energy systems, Schweizer Metallbau offers a comprehensive range of products and services. These include collector fields, combi in-roof systems, BIPV Sunpower modules for the Swiss market and complete solar systems, as well as comprehensive service and maintenance programmes. The
company’s extensive in-house R&D department continues to push the boundaries of solar technology to new levels of efficiency and economy for the benefit of end users and the environment alike. Mr Hartwig said, “We began exporting our solar thermal collectors in 1978 and today produce more than 100,000m2 of PV mounting systems for roof integration per year. We were the pioneers in the development of PV mounting systems at a time when the concept of solar power was not readily accepted by the energy industry at large. Initially, we went directly to the installers as they did not have their own integrated mounting systems. Today as leading OEMs, we supply complete roof integration systems to the entire sustainable energy industry through both our European and Asian partners.
Industry Europe 147
