Minimum remuneration for solar power: answers to your questions

What does the guaranteed minimum remuneration (also known as “minimum remuneration”) mean for producers of renewable energy?

With the revised Energy Act, minimum remuneration for self-produced electricity will be introduced throughout Switzerland from the beginning of 2026. This is intended to enable the operators of small and medium-sized solar and hydroelectric power plants under 150 kilowatts (kW) to benefit from greater investment security. They will be protected from low market prices and their renewable energy power generation facilities can be amortised over their service life.

In addition to the feed-in remuneration, there are other factors that are also decisive for the profitability of a system: for example, the level of investment costs, the share of self-consumption, the grid operator’s electricity tariff and any subsidies.

Why can only plants with an output of less than 150 kW benefit from the minimum remuneration?

The minimum remuneration is intended to ensure that plants can be operated economically in the long term. Larger plants with an output of over 150 kW are generally already competitive without a guaranteed minimum remuneration. They are therefore not covered by the minimum remuneration.

Which categories will be remunerated at what rate in future?

The minimum remuneration rates correspond to the values set by the Federal Council in the Energy Ordinance (Art. 12 para. 1 and para. 1bis EnV, valid from 1 January 2026):

For a small photovoltaic system with an output of up to 30 kW (typical output of a system on a single-family home), the guaranteed minimum remuneration is 6 centimes per kWh.
For systems with self-consumption and an output of between 30 and 150 kilowatts, between 6 centimes (30 kW) and 1.2 centimes (150 kW) per kWh are paid out. The exact amount is calculated by dividing 180 by the output of the system in kW.
For systems between 30 kW and 150 kW without self-consumption, the minimum remuneration is 6.2 centimes per kWh.
For small-scale hydropower plants with an output of less than 150 kW, the minimum remuneration is 12 centimes per kWh.

Why does the legislator distinguish between systems with and without self-consumption (for systems between 30 and 150 kW)?

Anyone who produces electricity for their own consumption saves a considerable amount of money. This is because every kilowatt hour of self-produced and consumed electricity does not have to be purchased from the local grid operator. In addition, as a system increases in size, it can be operated more economically. Medium-sized systems with self-consumption are therefore treated in such a way that the guaranteed minimum remuneration decreases as the system output increases.

Electricity from systems with an output of between 30 and 150 kW that feed exclusively into the grid, however, is remunerated at a fixed rate of at least 6.2 centimes per kilowatt hour, as these systems do not allow for any savings through self-consumption.

Electricity fed into the grid from systems below 30 kW is always remunerated at at least 6 centimes per kilowatt hour; for these small systems, the question of self-consumption is irrelevant.

Why is BKW implementing the minimum remuneration nine months earlier than required by law?

BKW supports the objective of the new regulation: to advance the energy transition and support private PV system owners. That is why BKW has decided to implement the minimum remuneration ahead of schedule.

Will I always receive the minimum remuneration for my self-produced electricity from now on?

No, the minimum remuneration only applies in those quarters in which the market price falls below the minimum remuneration threshold. If market prices are higher, the higher prices will be paid out as before. The minimum remuneration is therefore a safeguard against low prices, without prices being capped at the upper end. If prices are high, as they were for example in 2022, owners of PV systems will continue to benefit in full.

In quarters with market prices below the dashed line, the minimum remuneration will apply in future. In quarters with prices above this, the market price will be remunerated.

How much money is BKW expected to cost to pay out the minimum remuneration?

That depends on the market prices and on the amount of solar power produced. BKW expects additional costs of around three million francs for 2025.

Can one say how much additional money I, as an “average” system owner, will now receive per year?

The feed-in remuneration will continue to depend on market fluctuations. Due to the minimum remuneration, system capacity will also now play a role in determining how much producers receive per quarter for the electricity they supply.

In general, system owners can also expect to generate some income in quarters with low market prices. How much the additional income amounts to in francs and centimes compared with the previous model depends on the amount of electricity produced and the market price. The lower this is, the more system owners benefit from the guaranteed minimum remuneration.

If we take 2024 as a benchmark, and if the minimum remuneration had already existed then, it would have applied in both the second and third quarters (for small systems under 30 kW).

When will the minimum remuneration be paid out?

The credit will be issued quarterly and retrospectively, as before, regardless of whether the guaranteed minimum remuneration applies or the higher market price is paid.

In addition to the remuneration amount, the invoice will always state whether the electricity supplied is remunerated according to the minimum remuneration or according to the market price.

Why did BKW not pay more (voluntarily) before now?

BKW applies a market price model. This is based on the idea that it resells the electricity from private PV systems on the market. This is because BKW produces more electricity with its own power plants than it sells to its customers in basic supply.

As a result, there have indeed been quarters with low feed-in remuneration – but there have also been quarters with very high remuneration, for example in 2022. Feed-in remuneration is also higher in the winter half-year, when market prices are typically higher than in the summer half-year. Calculated over the longer term, this results in an average price that is higher than in the quarters with the lowest prices. For the period from 2017 to 2024, for example, it averages around 9 centimes per kilowatt hour.

Seasonal fluctuations and outliers both upwards and downwards in individual quarters or years are therefore not of decisive importance for the economic viability of the systems. The following factors are relevant for the economic viability of a system: the level of investment costs, the level of self-consumption, the electricity tariffs of the distribution system operator, any subsidies, and the average energy revenue over an operating period of around 30 years.

Are the guarantees of origin (HKN) also affected by the minimum remuneration?

No, the HKN are exempt from the minimum remuneration. BKW currently pays an additional 3.5 centimes per kWh for guarantees of origin (HKN) from “naturemade star”-certified photovoltaic installations. Producers can decide for themselves whether they want to sell the HKN to BKW or to another provider. BKW continuously reviews the amount paid for the guarantees of origin.

It was not always easy to assign the PV systems to a power category – why?

When classifying the systems into the various categories, there were indeed a number of hurdles to overcome. In order to be able to introduce the minimum remuneration ahead of schedule, BKW had to start collecting the data before the Energy Ordinance had been definitively adopted. In addition, the industry had not yet developed any standard practice, and although data was recorded for many systems, it was not always maintained. This is because, when the systems were built, it was not yet foreseeable that this data might one day become relevant.

Then there was the issue that the output of a system can be measured in different ways (now it gets a little technical):

One option is to measure the kWp (kilowatt peak) of the solar power generator. This value is measured by manufacturers under standard conditions, such as solar irradiation of 1000 watts per square metre and a module temperature of 25 degrees. The kWp value enables the maximum output of photovoltaic systems to be compared perfectly, even if the values in reality differ from the theoretical maximum. The total output of a system is calculated from the sum of the outputs of the individual module arrays.

The other option is to measure the kVA (kilovolt-ampere). This unit describes the maximum apparent power that an inverter can convert. The kVA value is used to record the total electrical power that a system can supply, i.e. the active power (actually usable energy) and the reactive power (energy that is only stored in electric and magnetic fields).

BKW has decided to use the kWp values of the solar power generator. If these are not known, the kVA values of the inverter are used instead.

Are there installations that BKW could not categorise, and what happens to them?

In total, there are over 30,000 PV installations in the BKW supply area, and their number continues to rise steadily. Around 99% of the installations could be assigned to a category based on their kWp or kVA values.

For around 1% of the installations, assignment is difficult, which may be due to various reasons. We will contact the affected customers separately.

Who can I contact if I have questions about the guaranteed minimum remuneration?

We are happy to assist you by phone from Monday to Friday between 07:30 and 17:30 on 0844 121 113 (Customer Centre). Alternatively, you can contact us using the contact form.

What can I do if, as a PV system owner, I believe my system has been assigned to the wrong category?

Here too, we recommend that you contact the customer centre. Your request will be forwarded from there and we will get in touch with you. In order to compare your enquiry with our data, we always need the Pronovo certification for your photovoltaic system. This is mandatory for systems over 30 kW. If you operate a system under 30 kW and do not have Pronovo certification, it is best to have a copy of the technical connection application (TAG) ready. Your specialist partner can provide this to you.

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