Renting out your roof means: a third party builds the solar system on your roof, operates it and pays you for it – usually over twenty to thirty years. The return is modest, the risk small, the effort close to zero. Anyone who invests themselves earns considerably more, but carries the investment and responsibility for it. What matters isn't the francs per square metre, but three contract points: roof renovation, a sale, and dismantling. (As of August 2026)
Key points in brief
- Three models are on offer: renting out the roof, contracting or investing yourself – they differ above all in who owns the system.
- The rental income for the roof is modest; the big lever remains self-consumption, and with rental, that belongs to the operator.
- Clarify before signing: what happens with a roof renovation, what happens if the house is sold, who dismantles it at the end?
- Contracts of twenty years or more are often secured with an easement in the land register – that also binds future owners.
- For large areas without their own electricity consumption – business, agriculture, hall roofs – renting it out is a serious option; for a single-family home, it's rarely the best one.
The three models at a glance
| Model | Who owns the system? | What do you get? | What do you bear? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renting / leasing out the roof | the operator | rent for the roof, sometimes discounted electricity | roof area, contractual commitment |
| Contracting | the contractor | solar power at the agreed price | contractual commitment, obligation to buy the electricity |
| Investing yourself | You | the full self-consumption benefit and feed-in revenue | investment, operation, insurance |
Overview, as of August 2026. The specific arrangement varies considerably by provider – the contract is what governs it.
The line between renting out and contracting runs along the question of what you receive: with pure rental, you get money for the space and have nothing to do with the electricity. With contracting, you get the electricity at an agreed price, and the contractor finances the system through this purchase. The perspective of the electricity buyer – i.e. the other side of the same deal – is described in the article Renting a solar system.
What does renting it out bring financially?
Honestly: less than most people expect. The reason lies in the structure of the deal. The operator carries the investment, operation, insurance and dismantling; they calculate over decades and need their margin in there. What's left over for the space is the remainder – and the published payments are correspondingly low, sometimes as an annual flat amount, sometimes as a share of the yield, occasionally as discounted electricity instead of cash.
The decisive factor is missing from this calculation anyway. The economic core of a solar system isn't selling the electricity but self-consumption: every kilowatt-hour used yourself saves the full purchase tariff, while feed-in earns only the minimum remuneration in many places. With roof rental, this benefit belongs to the operator. That's exactly why investing yourself works out better in almost every case where the building actually uses a meaningful amount of electricity – the fundamentals are in the article Viability of a solar system.
Renting out becomes interesting where this precondition is missing: large roofs over little consumption. A warehouse, a farm building, a commercial roof with daytime operation five days a week – there, the area is the value, not the consumption. And for owners who simply don't want to make an investment of this size, renting out is the option where the roof gets used at all instead of not at all.
The three contract points it all hinges on
Roof renovation. What happens if the roof needs re-covering in twelve years? Who bears the removal and reinstallation of the system, and who bears the lost production during that time? That's the most common point of conflict in such contracts – and the reason an honest assessment of the roof's condition comes first. If the covering is due for renewal in the foreseeable future anyway, the renovation belongs before the system, not after (Roof renovation and photovoltaics).
A sale. If you sell the property, the contract as a rule goes with it – which is why it's often secured with an easement in the land register. This can be a drawback for buyers who wanted to use the roof themselves. How a solar system affects a sale is covered in the article Solar systems when selling a house.
End of term. What happens after twenty or thirty years? Three variants are common: dismantling by the operator, takeover of the system by you at the residual value, or extension. A system that ends up in your ownership at the end of the contract is a real asset – one you end up paying to have dismantled is a cost risk. This point belongs in the contract, not in a conversation.
On top of that come the usual side issues: who insures the system? Who's liable for roof damage caused by the installation? Who has access to the roof, and when? And – not to be underestimated – who handles the registrations with the grid operator?
Condominium ownership and apartment buildings: the extra hurdle
If the roof belongs to several people, renting it out is no longer just a matter of a contract but first a matter of a resolution. In condominium ownership, the roof is a common part; use by a third party over decades requires the corresponding resolutions of the community of owners. The starting position for this is described in the article Solar systems in condominium ownership.
For apartment buildings, before thinking about renting out, it's worth looking at the alternative: if tenants live in the building, the electricity can be sold on-site – via a ZEV. That way, the value creation stays in the building instead of going to an external operator. For commercial and apartment-building properties, we've put together the possible setups on the page Solar solutions for businesses and apartment buildings.
The enquiry «I'd like to rent out my roof» almost always comes to us from one of two motives: either the investment is to be avoided, or the roof is large and the owner's own consumption is small. With the second motive, the matter is genuinely open – renting out is seriously worthwhile there. With the first, the conversation surprisingly often leads to a different solution, because financing via an increased mortgage works out cheaper than giving up twenty years of self-consumption (Financing a solar system). What we recommend in both cases: have an investment of your own calculated before you sign a rental contract. Not because renting out would be wrong – but because you should know the figure you're giving up for twenty years. We ourselves build systems for owners; we don't rent roofs.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I get for renting out my roof space?
The payments are low and structured very differently – as an annual flat amount, a share of the yield, or discounted electricity instead of cash. A general figure would be misleading; ask for a concrete offer and compare it with investing yourself.
Is renting out worth it, or is investing yourself better?
Where a meaningful amount of electricity is used in the building, investing yourself is almost always the better calculation, because self-consumption makes up most of the benefit. Renting out becomes interesting for large roofs with little of your own consumption – or when an investment simply isn't an option.
How long does such a contract run?
Twenty to thirty years is common, based on the system's service life. This commitment is the real price of renting out – roof renovation, a sale and the end of the contract need to be regulated correspondingly precisely.
What happens if I sell the house?
The contract usually passes to the buyer; this is often secured with an easement in the land register. This can be a drawback for prospective buyers – clarify in advance whether and how the contract can be terminated.
Who pays for a necessary roof renovation during the term?
That's a matter for the contract and the most common point of dispute. Explicitly settle who bears the removal and reinstallation of the system and who bears the lost production. If the renovation is due anyway, it belongs before the system.
Does roof rental also work in condominium ownership?
Only with the necessary resolutions of the community of owners – the roof is a common part. A joint system of your own with internal electricity use is often the simpler route than a contract with an external operator.
Free initial consultation
Calculate first, sign later
Before you commit a roof for twenty years: we'll work out the figures for investing yourself for the same area – with yield, incentives and self-consumption. That way you have both figures side by side.
Want to calculate yourself first? Solar calculator with official roof data →
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Swissolar-certified specialist company · ESTI installation authorisation (Art. 14 NIV) · in Zurich since 2017 · over 150 systems completed · a personal answer from the specialist company, no call centre
Sources: market-standard contract models for roof use and contracting in Switzerland (2026), provisions on easements (Swiss Civil Code, ZGB), ecoEn's project and consulting experience.
Last updated: 9 July 2026 · Author: ecoEn editorial team
