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Green energy backers in Switzerland say they're not giving up after a referendum on a large-scale, high-altitude solar project was postponed. The country has been planning to place solar panels on the sides of mountains, but the postponement has delivered a setback to supporters of the project.

"I think it's a mistake to be against the Alpine solar," Jurg Grossen, the head of Switzerland's Green Liberal party, told CGTN. "We shouldn't wait and discuss all the time. Switzerland in winter time needs to import power from Europe from other countries, so it's necessary to have more winter production in Switzerland."

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Switzerland's mountains provide the perfect opportunity to install solar panels to generate electricity - but a referendum will decide whether panels can be rolled out en masse./CGTN.

According to some, solar farms on mountain tops is the only way for Switzerland to generate enough electricity in winter, given the fog in the valleys. CGTN visited one of Switzerland's first Alpine solar power plants on the Hornberg mountain.

"These panels produce energy from both sides," plant owner Matthias In-Albun explained. "In the snow you see the reflection of the sun and exactly this reflection goes then to the back side of the solar module plant. And that's one of the reasons why we have such high winter production."

Soon this plant will be extended to 4,000 of these tilting solar panels. It's a massive investment, thanks to Switzerland's solar express law, which funds 60 percent of all new mountain plants built before 2025.

But not everyone is happy about the expansion of Alpine solar plants. When asked whether an entire mountain in the Valais canton should be rapidly covered with solar panels, the population said no and postponed the planned construction.

Green politician Brigitte Wolf has argued that solar panels will ruin Switzerland's "untouched landscape".

One of the key people arguing for that rejection was Green politician Brigitte Wolf. She told CGTN: "That was a very clear signal from the population, who said: 'No, not like this, we want solar installations, but not in an untouched landscape.'"

The 56-year-old biologist is not completely against solar plants on mountain tops. But she says that all suitable buildings should be covered with panels before more mountain installations begin.

"In these accelerated procedures, they just want to build, no matter what, no matter where and how. And then we said: 'No can do'," Wolf explained. "I am convinced that very few new plants will make it to the grid by 2025."

Experts say that an alternative for Switzerland to become energy-independent would be building another nuclear power plant, but this is strongly opposed by both sides of the green divide.