Solar energy
The solar energy that hits the Earth’s surface during one hour is enough to meet the world’s energy needs for a whole year. The development of technologies to make use of part of this renewable energy is proceeding apace. The technology for converting solar energy can be divided into solar collectors and solar panels. Solar collectors are used to heat water or air. Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity.
In Sweden, we have good conditions for solar panels, as the direct sunlight corresponds roughly to the same number of hours of sunlight as in central Europe. Solar panels are one of the most successful, rapidly expanding technologies for generating clean, renewable energy. They are an important part of our efforts to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and improve our environmental impact.
Higher proportion of renewable electricity
There is already a great deal of renewable electricity generation connected to Falbygdens Energi’s electricity grid, and our investments are being used to prepare for even more wind and solar power. As an independent and non-discriminatory electricity distributor, we cannot directly influence which producers choose to connect to our grid. But we do try to make it easy to connect, for example, solar panels and wind power. The number of solar panels in the grid continued to increase in 2022. Of the total transmission volume in 2022, 40.9% was local renewable electricity generation consisting of fossil-free CHP, wind, hydro and solar.
New infrastructure needed
The ongoing transition will require an increasing number of core, regional and local electricity transmission grids. In particular, new infrastructure will be needed to connect new wind farms, both onshore and offshore, to electricity consumers.
Actively driving the transition to net zero emissions also places new, tougher demands on the electricity grid. The Swedish system is built to handle predictable electricity generation from a limited number of large plants based on hydro power, nuclear power and CHP. The electricity system now has to become more flexible and cope with an uneven flow of rapid and sharp variations in electricity generation from energy sources such as solar and wind. Major investments will also be required for existing electricity grids.