Physically, electricity on the grid can't be told apart – the guarantee of origin (GO) is therefore the bookkeeping for it: an electronic certificate that records, per kilowatt-hour, where and how it was produced. For electricity suppliers it's the basis for electricity labelling; for you as a solar producer it's worth separate money – provided you actively transfer or sell it. (As of: July 2026)
Key points in brief
- The GO separates two things that are inseparable on the grid: the physical kilowatt-hour and its "quality" (solar, hydro, nuclear …).
- Every electricity supplier must disclose to its customers the origin of the electricity supplied – for that it needs GOs, and that creates the demand.
- Your system automatically produces GOs alongside its output – registered and booked via Pronovo, measured against your feed-in.
- Money doesn't flow by itself: the GO has to be actively transferred or sold to the utility – how that works and what it brings is covered in its own guide.
- The rule behind it is called the double-marketing ban: sold origin is sold – the same solar power can't be "solar" twice.
The basic problem: electricity has no label
On the grid, everything mixes together: the electricity from your socket is physically a blend of everything currently feeding in – from the run-of-river power plant to your neighbour's solar system. An electron carries no label; "buying solar power" is literally impossible.
Even so, consumers are supposed to be able to choose which production they finance – and exactly for that the guarantee of origin was created: an electronic certificate that records, for every kilowatt-hour produced by registered systems, where, when and with what technology it was generated. The electricity flows physically, the GO is transferred on the books – two separate streams that together achieve what the label on the electron can't.
Honestly, this mechanism is one of those things you have to understand once to correctly read electricity-market announcements: anyone buying "solar power" gets the blend from the wires plus the booked solar origin – not different electrons, but different financing.
What's the GO needed for? Electricity labelling
Demand for GOs doesn't arise from idealism but from obligation: electricity suppliers must disclose to their customers annually where the electricity supplied comes from – the electricity labelling you know as an enclosure with your electricity bill. A supplier can only back up its claims with corresponding GOs: anyone declaring "100% renewable" has to cancel the matching quantity of certificates.
That creates a market: utilities buy GOs from producers – including small ones like you – to back their electricity products. Regional solar GOs are sought-after goods for local electricity products; that's exactly why many utilities in the region pay a separate GO surcharge on top of the feed-in remuneration.
How do your system's GOs come about?
For you as the system owner, most of this runs in the background: your system is registered with Pronovo – the same body that also handles the one-off feed-in incentive – and based on the measured production or feed-in, guarantees of origin are issued electronically and credited to your account. Which meter measures what is regulated; for typical single-family home systems, it's the energy delivered to the grid that counts.
Important to understand: the GO arises in addition to remuneration for the energy. The kilowatt-hour itself is remunerated by the grid operator at its feed-in tariff; the proof of its solar origin is a second, separate good – with its own price.
What does the GO concretely bring you?
Here it gets practical, and the short version is: money – but not automatically. The GO for your fed-in electricity is sellable, typically to your own utility, which pays a surcharge per kilowatt-hour for it. Only this amount almost nowhere flows by itself: it needs registration and an active transfer – the forgotten GO is the most common avoidable loss of yield on Swiss solar systems.
The process, the region's utility terms and the deadlines are covered in detail in the separate guide Selling guarantees of origin – it's the practical continuation of this basics article. Here's just the principle: anyone feeding in should have actively clarified the GO question once. It's a form-filling effort for a recurring return.
The double-marketing ban: sold origin is sold
The rule that keeps the system clean: every kilowatt-hour has exactly one guarantee of origin, and it can only be used once. Anyone who sells their solar GOs to the utility has given up the solar origin of their fed-in electricity – on the books, that feed-in then becomes "electricity of unknown origin", while the utility resells the solar quality to its customers.
That's not a trick but the point of the system – but it has a consequence worth knowing: you can't keep the proceeds and still claim the origin for yourself. For private self-consumption that's irrelevant – what you consume directly yourself stays your solar power, no proof needed for that. The rule becomes relevant where the origin is used as an argument: for companies with sustainability reporting, for ZEV and community models, and everywhere "100% solar" is meant to be claimed. There it's: keep the origin or sell it – not both.
GO, funding, green-power labels: the distinctions
Three things get mixed up in everyday talk that the system keeps separate:
| Instrument | What it is | What it isn't |
|---|---|---|
| Guarantee of origin (GO) | Bookkeeping of electricity origin, tradeable | not a funding scheme, not a quality label |
| One-off feed-in incentive (EIV) | Confederation's investment contribution at construction | not an ongoing return |
| Green-power labels (e.g. naturemade) | quality standards built on GOs plus additional criteria | not a substitute for GOs |
As of: July 2026. What's practically relevant for your system: the EIV once at construction, the feed-in tariff ongoing for the energy, GO proceeds ongoing for the origin.
The guarantee of origin is the topic where, in consultations, we most often hear: "I've never heard of that." That's not a knowledge gap, it's system design – the GO runs in the background, and that's exactly why it so often gets left lying around. Our routine, by contrast, is simple: at every commissioning, the GO transfer is part of the registration package, in the same step as the connection request and Pronovo registration – five minutes, once. And when taking over other people's systems, checking the GO situation has become standard, since we've seen too many systems that fed in for years while the origin surcharge was simply never applied for. The amount per kilowatt-hour is modest; over years and thousands of kilowatt-hours it's a quiet sum that would have cost just one signature.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get GO money for my self-consumption too?
No – what's remunerated is the origin of the electricity fed in. What you consume directly yourself stays your solar power anyway; no proof or transfer is needed for that. The GO proceeds concern the kilowatt-hours that flow into the grid.
Do I have to sell my GOs to my own grid operator?
No, in principle they're freely tradeable – in practice, for small systems, your own utility is almost always the simplest and often only realistic buyer. The region's utility terms and alternatives are covered in the guide on selling GOs.
Is my electricity "less solar" if I sell the GOs?
Physically, nothing changes – on the books, it does: the sold origin then belongs to the buyer, and your feed-in counts as electricity of unknown origin. For private households that's of no consequence; anyone who wants to advertise or report on the solar quality (companies, communities) keeps the certificates instead.
What does GO registration cost me?
Recording runs via the Pronovo registration your system needs anyway; the extra effort is a transfer declaration or registration with the utility. Set against that is a recurring return per kilowatt-hour fed in – the sums practically always work out.
Are there GOs for very small systems too?
The systems have lower limits and simplified processes depending on system size – for typical single-family home systems, recording is standard. Whether and how your utility remunerates the origin of small systems is in its terms; see the overview in the selling guide.
Free initial consultation
No quiet sum gets left behind.
At ecoEn, the GO transfer is part of commissioning – together with all the registrations. And for existing systems, we're happy to check whether your origin is already earning money.
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Further guides
HKN verkaufen: der Zusatzerlös
Pronovo-Anmeldung Schritt für Schritt
Rückliefertarif ewz & solarquartier
Stromabrechnung verstehen
The one-off feed-in incentive explainedSources: Pronovo AG (guarantee of origin system); SFOE (electricity labelling, basics); empirical data from ecoEn GmbH's registration and consulting practice, Zurich region.
Last updated: 9 July 2026 · Author: ecoEn editorial team
