Anyone wanting to sell solar power has four classic options – and since 2026 a fifth, selling flexibility: feeding it back to your own utility (the standard route), selling the guarantees of origin separately, selling within your own house or neighbourhood via ZEV, vZEV and LEG – and, for larger systems, direct marketing. Economically, almost the same ranking applies everywhere: self-consumption beats selling, and selling within the house beats selling to the grid. (As of August 2026)
Key points in brief
- The standard route is feeding it back to the local utility – convenient, but remuneration is considerably less than what purchasing costs.
- Guarantees of origin can be sold separately from the electricity; that's additional revenue, not a second electricity price.
- The most lucrative sale happens within your own building: via ZEV, vZEV or LEG, the electricity goes to tenants or neighbours – at a price between the feed-in tariff and the purchase tariff.
- Direct marketing on the market only pays off for larger systems and comes with price risk.
- Before any thought of selling comes the simple calculation: every kilowatt-hour you consume yourself is worth more than every one you sell.
Why selling is the second-best option
The figure everything revolves around is the difference between two prices. For electricity they buy, households in German-speaking Switzerland currently pay in the order of 25 to 30 centimes per kilowatt-hour. For electricity they feed back, they receive considerably less depending on the grid operator – in many places, remuneration is close to the statutory minimum remuneration of around 6 centimes.
From this follows the ranking with which every consideration of selling should start: a kilowatt-hour you consume yourself saves the full purchase tariff. The same kilowatt-hour, sold, brings in a fraction of that. That's why increasing self-consumption and selling aren't alternatives but a sequence – the trade-off in detail is in the article Self-consumption or feed-in?.
What's left over after that is the surplus – and there are four routes for it.
Route 1: feed-in to the utility
The standard case, and the only realistic one for most single-family homes. Your grid operator is obliged to take the electricity, and the meter does the rest.
Two points are interesting. First, the amount: tariffs differ considerably between utilities, which is why it's worth checking your own tariff sheet – the overview for the region is under feed-in tariffs. Second, the structure: many utilities now calculate using a model geared to the reference market price and adjusted quarterly, instead of a fixed rate in centimes. Your revenue therefore fluctuates over the year.
As a rule, the tariff isn't negotiable – for larger systems, however, there's some room, as the article Negotiating your feed-in tariff shows.
Route 2: selling guarantees of origin separately
Every kilowatt-hour of solar power generates, alongside the electricity itself, a guarantee of origin (GO) – the digital certificate that proves its origin. Both can be marketed separately: the electricity goes into the grid, the certificate to a buyer who needs it for their green-power product.
For system operators, that's additional revenue in the order of a few centimes – many utilities remunerate the certificates alongside the electricity, often as a surcharge on the feed-in tariff. What matters is putting it in perspective: the GO doesn't double your revenue, it supplements it. How registration and sale work is in the article Selling guarantees of origin; the fundamentals are in the article Guarantee of origin for electricity.
Route 3: selling within the house or neighbourhood – ZEV, vZEV, LEG
The economically strongest route, and the only one where you help set the price. Instead of giving the surplus to the grid, you sell it to people who need electricity in the same building or the neighbourhood: tenants, condominium owners, neighbours.
The price here sits between the feed-in tariff and the purchase tariff – both sides win, because the buyer pays less than at the utility and you receive more than with feed-in. Legally, three vehicles are available for this: the ZEV (self-consumption community), the vZEV in its virtual form, and the LEG (local electricity community), which, since the new Electricity Act, also works across property boundaries. Which model fits when is compared in the article ZEV, vZEV or LEG?; for apartment buildings, the article ZEV in an apartment building is the starting point.
The price of this variant is called organisation: it needs a metering concept, billing and clear arrangements with the buyers. For a single-family home without tenants, the effort is rarely worth it – for an apartment building, almost always.
Route 4: direct marketing
For larger systems, there's the direct route to the market: instead of handing the electricity to the local utility at its tariff, it's traded via a marketer. That can bring in more than feed-in – but it requires volume, a metering concept with load-profile measurement, and a willingness to bear price fluctuations.
For systems above a certain size, there's also the federal auction model; the context for this is in the article PV auctions for large systems. For the classic single-family home, this route isn't an option – and that's not a gap, it's a question of scale.
| Route | Typical proceeds | Effort | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feed-in to the utility | low, varies considerably by utility | none | all systems |
| Guarantees of origin | additional revenue of a few centimes | low | all systems |
| ZEV / vZEV / LEG | between the feed-in tariff and the purchase tariff | medium to high | apartment buildings, estates, neighbourhoods |
| Direct marketing | market-dependent, with price risk | high | larger systems |
| Flexibility (partner tariff, flex bonus, aggregator) | bonus or increased tariff for remote control of storage/wallbox | low to medium, contract required | systems with a controllable battery or wallbox |
Qualitative overview, as of September 2026. Your grid operator's tariff sheet and the specific contract terms apply.
Route 5: selling flexibility – partner tariffs, aggregators and the flex bonus (new since 2026)
Since 1 January 2026, there's a fifth way to earn money with a solar system – not from the kilowatt-hour itself, but from its controllability. The revised Electricity Supply Act establishes that a system's flexibility – i.e. the ability to shift feed-in, storage, heat pump or wallbox in time – belongs to the operator (Art. 17c StromVG). Anyone wanting to use it needs a contract with remuneration: the distribution grid operator, an energy supplier, or a so-called aggregator, who bundles many small systems and deploys their flexibility on the market or for grid support. Without remuneration, the grid operator may only curtail up to 3% of annual production.
New offers have emerged from this in 2026, running under names like partner tariff, flex bonus or storage community: the provider pays a fixed or increased feed-in tariff, an annual bonus, or remuneration per controlled kilowatt-hour – and in return gets the right to remotely control your storage or your wallbox within agreed limits. Three questions matter for you: how does the remuneration compare with your utility's feed-in tariff? What limits apply to external control (minimum charge level of the battery, the car's charging times)? And how long does the contract run? The technical requirement is a controllable system with a smart meter and an energy management system; the detail on storage is in the article Marketing storage flexibility, the rules for selling within the house in the ZEV, vZEV and LEG comparison.
Honestly assessed: for a single-family home with 10 kWp and storage, these earnings today are in the range of bonuses, not returns. But anyone planning storage anyway should choose one that's controllable – that keeps the route open once an offer in your grid area fits.
Sources: StromVG Art. 17c (in force since 1 January 2026, as of 13 August 2026); ElCom, notice «Grid-friendly use of PV system flexibility» (28 August 2026). As of September 2026.
«Can I sell my electricity to my neighbour?» is one of the questions that's come up noticeably more often over the past two years – and the answer really has changed with the new Electricity Act. What hasn't changed is the order: before we talk about ways to sell, we look at how much of your own electricity actually stays in the house. In practice, heat pump control, the car's charging time and boiler operation can often get more out of it than the best sales model. Only after that does the question of the surplus become worthwhile – and for a single-family home without tenants, it honestly usually ends at your own utility's feed-in tariff.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I get for solar power I sell?
That depends on the grid operator and varies considerably across German-speaking Switzerland. In many places, remuneration is close to the statutory minimum remuneration of around 6 centimes per kilowatt-hour; some utilities pay more, sometimes adjusted quarterly according to the reference market price. Your tariff sheet is what applies.
Can I sell solar power to my neighbours?
Yes – via a ZEV within the building or estate, via the virtual form vZEV, or via a local electricity community (LEG), which also works across property boundaries. A metering concept and a billing solution are needed.
Does my utility have to take my electricity?
Yes, there's an obligation to purchase electricity from renewable systems, and a statutory minimum remuneration applies. Details are in the article Purchase obligation for solar power.
Is it worth selling the guarantee of origin separately?
It brings additional revenue in the order of a few centimes per kilowatt-hour. Many utilities remunerate it anyway; anyone marketing it separately should weigh the effort against the extra revenue.
What is a partner tariff or flex bonus for solar power?
An offer from energy suppliers or aggregators where you receive a fixed or increased feed-in tariff, or a bonus, and in return allow remote control of your storage or wallbox within agreed limits. The legal basis since 1 January 2026 is Art. 17c StromVG: the flexibility belongs to you, and any use requires a contract with remuneration. Check the remuneration, control limits and term against your utility's feed-in tariff.
Is direct marketing worthwhile for a single-family home?
No. It requires volume, load-profile measurement and a willingness to bear price fluctuations. For home systems, feed-in, the GO and – where possible – selling within your own building remain the realistic routes.
Do I have to pay tax on income from solar power?
Treatment differs depending on the canton and the situation. The context for private individuals is in the article Solar systems and taxes – the cantonal tax authority is responsible for individual cases.
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Sources: tariff sheets of the regional grid operators (2026), ElCom publications on self-consumption and consumption communities as well as on grid-friendly use of flexibility (28 August 2026), federal electricity supply and energy legislation (StromVG Art. 17c, as of 13 August 2026), ecoEn's project experience. As of September 2026.
Last updated: 9 July 2026 · Author: ecoEn editorial team
