Friday, 17 September 2021 Reading time : 3 minutes

Solar energy and sustainability
In future, people will be able to use a large number of different energy sources. Fossil fuels will sooner or later run out, or it will no longer be possible to use them for climate reasons. Renewables can and must take the leading role in future energy provision. Solar power has a vital contribution to make. The energy transmitted to the earth from the sun is around 5,000 times greater than the world's energy consumption. No other renewable energy source can compete with that. A major advantage of solar energy is that it can be harnessed everywhere on earth. For example, a vast number of unused roofs is available for the on-site use of solar energy as electricity or heat. Solar energy can also be added incrementally, i.e. in small units, thus lessening the risk of large-scale power outages. In particular, the production of electricity from the sun – photovoltaics – has made enormous progress over the past 10 years in terms of production technologies and cost reductions. In the foreseeable future, it will be possible for government support to be withdrawn. Production of solar modules is nearing industrial levels, bringing corresponding economies of scale. Costs are also falling as a result, meaning that in the current decade, electricity from photovoltaic modules will cost the same as electricity from the grid ("network parity"). If we accept forecasts from numerous quarters that solar technologies will account for up to 20% of world energy production by the middle of the 21st century, this represents an enormous growth factor.

ZKB MeinIndex Sustainability Solar
For the ZKB MeinIndex Sustainability Solar, companies that cover a broad range of solar applications for electricity as well as heat and cold generation are selected from the sustainable investment universe of Zürcher Kantonalbank. The main focus is on the provision of products and systems for electricity production. The most widespread form – crystalline photovoltaics – represents an important part of the index. A more precise differentiation is made between the individual stages in the value chain. Other technologies include the various thin-film technologies, solar thermal electricity production and concentrator technologies. Solar thermal applications for heat / cold.

Go to tracker certificate