Notifying a solar system in Schwyz: 20 days before work

The notification and the required documents must be filed in eBau at least 20 days before work starts. Absent any contrary reply, work may begin once those 20 days from receipt of the notification by the competent authority have elapsed. If the authority instead concludes that the project must be authorised through the ordinary or simplified procedure, it says so in writing within the notification period and refers the application accordingly. This presupposes that the required documents are complete and fully filled in.

On a pitched roof, four criteria must be met cumulatively: projecting at most 20 centimetres of construction height perpendicular to the roof surface, not extending beyond the roof surface when seen from above, low-reflection according to the state of the art, and compactly arranged. Alternative criteria apply to flat roofs: projecting at most one metre of construction height above the upper edge of the roof rim, set back from the roof edge so the system is not visible from below at a 45 degree angle, and likewise low-reflection according to the state of the art. These criteria are based on Art. 32a paras. 1 and 1bis of the Spatial Planning Ordinance.

In Canton Schwyz all (replacement) new builds have been subject to the self-generation obligation since 1 May 2022. Under § 8c of the cantonal energy act new builds must generate part of the electricity they need themselves; § 24d of the cantonal energy ordinance specifies at least 10 W per m² of energy reference area, with an upper limit of no more than 30 kW in total. Exemptions include new builds at locations with global radiation below 1120 kWh/m² per year according to the GIS data published by the Office for the Environment and Energy, and new builds achieving the Minergie standard. To be eligible for a permit, all (replacement) new builds within the green area of the cantonal map must meet the obligation. Substitute payments are not possible.

Then the notification procedure does not apply. The same holds for areas, building groups and individual elements under the Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites of National Importance with conservation objective A, for cultural and natural monuments of national or regional importance, and for cultural property receiving federal contributions under Art. 13 of the Nature and Cultural Heritage Protection Act. The system must then be authorised through the simplified or ordinary procedure. In principle a solar installation can be built on such protected objects if the requirements are met and a legally binding building permit is in place. Only in BLN areas can the notification procedure apply where heightened requirements are met.