Solar panels Thurgau: cost, incentives and installation by a specialist company

This page brings together what concretely matters for your solar system in Thurgau: guideline costs, the cantonal incentive routes, your municipal utility's feed-in tariff and the points where Thurgau works differently from the Canton of Zurich. For Frauenfeld, we have a separate guide: Solar panels Frauenfeld. Our services in detail: Photovoltaics by ecoEn.

What does a solar system cost?

Cost depends on system size, roof covering and household electrics – not on where you live. Guideline prices per kilowatt of capacity (kWp):

Guideline prices as of July 2026, turnkey incl. installation and VAT, before incentives. The binding figure is the individual quote.

Incentives in the Canton of Thurgau

There are no direct cantonal contributions per kWp in Thurgau – for solar power, the incentive programme refers to the federal government. The basis is therefore the one-off feed-in incentive via Pronovo (around CHF 360 per kWp for the typical roof system, as of July 2026).

Reading more closely, however, you'll find three side routes through which the canton co-finances solar projects: battery storage with CHF 1,000 per system (from 10 kWh usable capacity – although the 2026 annual quota was exhausted early and there's a waiting list), +CHF 20/m² for insulation combined with a PV system and +CHF 3,000 for combining a ground-source heat pump with a new photovoltaic system on a single-family home. Then there are municipal programmes – Frauenfeld, for example, automatically adds 30 percent to cantonal contributions. All details: Incentives in the Canton of Thurgau.

For tax purposes, Thurgau applies the five-year rule: energy-related investments are deductible provided the building is at least five years old – background in the article Tax deduction for solar systems. The current provisions of the canton and municipality apply.

What does your municipal utility pay for solar power?

Thurgau is a patchwork of utilities: Frauenfeld, Kreuzlingen, Arbon, Amriswil, Weinfelden and many other municipalities operate their own utilities with their own tariffs. For your calculation, only the utility whose grid your house is connected to counts – so the first task before any economic calculation is your own tariff sheet.

Thurplus (Frauenfeld), the largest utility, switched from a fixed tariff – previously 13.7 Rp./kWh – to the federal quarterly reference market price as of 2026, backed by the statutory minimum remuneration of 6.0 Rp./kWh for systems under 30 kW (6.2 Rp. for 30–150 kW without self-consumption). The guarantee of origin is not included in the remuneration there, but sold separately via the customer portal. Details: Feed-in tariff in Thurgau; comparison of all utilities: feed-in tariffs in the region.

The switch from a fixed tariff to the market model shifts the weight: in Thurgau today, self-consumption carries the calculation, not export. With a heat pump or EV, more than half of production quickly stays in the house.

Photovoltaics in Thurgau: the numbers

Thurgau is among Switzerland's leaders: 16,931 photovoltaic systems with 507.0 MW of capacity and 1,674 watts per capita – rank 3 of 26 cantons, almost three times as much as Zurich. In Frauenfeld alone, 1,025 systems with around 39 MW are in operation. Processes with grid operators and municipalities are correspondingly well established. (Source: Swissolar, Statistik Sonnenenergie 2025; as of August 2026)

All cantons and the largest municipalities compared: Photovoltaics Switzerland in numbers.

Permits and notification: how it works in Thurgau

Thurgau significantly simplified the path to a solar system in 2025: the revised solar map in ThurGIS reduced the number of buildings requiring a permit by around 60 percent – from 26,300 to just under 11,200. For around 90 percent of all buildings, the notification procedure or no formality at all now applies.

• Under 35 m² (around 7 kWp): in building zones, neither a permit nor a notification is required – provided the building is not a cultural or natural property of national or cantonal importance.
• From 35 m²: reasonably adapted systems are notified to the building permit authority of your political municipality 20 days before construction starts, with a description of the type and integration of the system (§ 50b PBV). If no communication is received within this period, construction may proceed.
• Building permit required: in ISOS areas with conservation objective A, for individual properties protected with binding effect on landowners and for pending protection decisions. Townscapes of cantonal importance, village zones and surroundings protection zones have no longer generally required a permit since 2025.
• Work zones: a communication on the area and output of the system is sufficient.

We check whether your building is on the solar map before the quote; we handle the notification, the connection application to the relevant utility – Thurplus, Technische Betriebe or EKT – and the Pronovo registration. Process and dossier in detail: Notification procedure for solar systems. (Sources: Canton of Thurgau, press release on the solar map, 2 September 2025; Ordinance on the Planning and Building Act RB 700.1 §§ 50a–50b)

References

From single-family homes to the 111 kWp condominium large-scale system to the ZEV on a farm: you'll find all completed systems with key data under Projects & references.

How your project works

1. Initial consultation. Free and without obligation – on site or by phone.
2. Site visit & planning. Roof, meter box and consumption: we design the system to suit your building.
3. Quote. Transparently itemised – every item traceable.
4. Permit & registration. We handle the notification procedure, grid operator and Pronovo for you.
5. Installation. By our own team – no passing the job on to subcontractors.
6. Commissioning & service. Acceptance, instruction and monitoring – we remain your point of contact.

What our quote includes – and what it doesn't

The most common worry before signing isn't the price but the question of what gets added at the end. That's why we show both.

Included: planning and design, materials (modules, inverter, mounting system, cabling), scaffolding, installation, the electrical connection by our own specialist company, commissioning and measurement, registration with the grid operator and the incentive application to Pronovo – we submit it for you.

Shown separately: anything added in individual cases appears as its own item in the quote, not in a lump sum. The most common case: if the existing meter distribution board – the fuse box – is not suitable for the system and needs to be adapted, we invoice this separately. Depending on the property, official fees and work provided by the client may also apply.

Payment in stages, linked to project progress. Under our terms and conditions (AGB), that's 30% on placing the order, 50% on delivery of the main components and 20% after commissioning and acceptance. We agree different terms on a project basis; the arrangement in your quote always applies.

Who is liable for what

After the company bankruptcies in the Swiss solar industry, this is the question that counts in the end – and it has three different answers:

• Product and performance warranties lie with the manufacturer of the modules, inverter and storage. A manufacturer's warranty is only ever as reliable as the manufacturer behind it – that's why, when choosing products, we also consider who will still be reachable if something goes wrong.
• The installation warranty lies with us: installation, electrical work, commissioning. That's the part we honour directly.
• Business liability insurance: as an installation company, we carry liability insurance.

In the event of a fault, you have one point of contact – us – regardless of whose component is affected.

Frequently asked questions

Guides for Thurgau homeowners

• Incentives in the Canton of Thurgau in detail
• Feed-in tariff in Thurgau: Thurplus & co.
• Solar panels in Frauenfeld
• What does a solar system cost? The complete cost guide
• Incentives for battery storage
• Optimising self-consumption
• Does a solar system pay off?
• Solar obligation: what applies to new buildings?
• Solar systems in agriculture: cost, HEIV and rules
• Solar systems for cold stores
• Solar systems for farms in Thurgau