Sell Solar Energy
in Switzerland 2026:
Which option pays most?

You have a solar system. It produces more than you use. The question is: what do you do with the surplus — and what is your electricity actually worth?

Until 2025, the answer was simple: feed into the grid, collect your grid operator’s buy-back tariff, done. Since January 2026, the model is more complex — and for many producers, significantly less attractive. At the same time, 2026 brings a genuine alternative for the first time: the local energy community (LEG), where you sell your electricity directly to neighbours at a negotiated price.

This article explains all three options, shows the real 2026 numbers, and helps you decide what earns most for your system.

What changed in 2026 — and why it matters

The new Electricity Supply Act (StromVG) brought three fundamental changes for solar producers:

Comparing the three options — with real numbers

Reference market price for photovoltaics: every published quarter

The figures below are not the price you pay for power from your utility. They are the centimes (Rappen) per kilowatt-hour your grid operator pays you for surplus solar you feed into the public grid (reference market price / feed-in remuneration under the quarterly rules). Only exported kWh count — self-consumed solar is a separate benefit.

Each column is a calendar quarter of 2026. The average payment per exported kWh is usually higher in Q1 and Q4 (less solar supply on the market) and lower in Q2–Q3 (lots of PV pushing down spot prices). That does not mean you automatically earn less every quarter in absolute terms: in summer you often export more kWh at a lower rate, and in winter fewer kWh at a higher rate — your annual total depends on both price and volume.

Below are all the quarterly values the BFE has published for photovoltaics since 2024. These are not estimates and not forecasts — they are what was actually set. The last row is the one that matters: the annual mean, weighted by the electricity actually fed in.

The minimum tariff — a floor since 2026

Because price collapses like this were foreseeable, the federal government introduced a floor on 1 January 2026 (Art. 15 para. 1bis EnG, Art. 12 para. 1bis EnV). If the reference market price falls below it, the grid operator pays the difference. Specifically:

For a typical single-family system that means the floor sits at 6 Rp./kWh. In Q2 2026 the reference market price came in below it, at 3.90 Rp. — so the minimum tariff was not theoretical, it applied. But a floor is all it is. It is not a price a system pays itself back on.

The three options in detail

Option 1: Feed-in — the classic model

You produce more than you consume, the surplus goes into the public grid. Your grid operator pays you the quarterly reference market price.

The core problem: the price is lowest exactly when production is highest.

Option 2: ZEV — local, but only within the building

The Zusammenschluss zum Eigenverbrauch (ZEV — consumption sharing group) has been possible since 2018. All residents of a building share the PV system.

The economic advantage is real: internally consumed solar electricity replaces grid electricity costing 27.7 Rp./kWh. The limitation: you are confined to your own building.

Option 3: LEG — the new route to more

From January 2026, you can sell your solar electricity through the public grid directly to households in your municipality or neighbourhood.

Why the LEG keeps getting better as the network grows

A local electricity community is not a fixed pool of users. The more producers and consumers join LEG in your area, the stronger the network becomes: more potential buyers for midday solar, more liquidity, and more political and practical acceptance of community trading. That feedback loop — cheaper power attracting more members, and more members making local supply more useful — is the same flywheel idea we unpack in our piece on compounded benefits from solar communities.

Read: the solar community flywheel (network growth & compound benefit) →

What do you need for an LEG as a producer?

How much admin — and who handles it?

Running a fully compliant LEG yourself is demanding — that is why operator services exist. With Upgrid, producers do not spend their time on registrations, meter data, billing or payouts day to day.

Conclusion: what actually pays off?

For a producer with neighbours in the same municipality, an LEG is structurally superior to pure feed-in — regardless of system size.