The Swiss Federal Council has introduced amendments to the Federal Act on a Secure Electricity Supply from Renewable Energy Sources through which it aims to secure the country’s electricity supply from renewable energies. This includes measures that local solar association Swissolar says defines elements central to the future expansion of solar PV, but believes there is further scope of improvement. Some of the amendments introduced are different from those proposed in the consultation draft. These changes will come into effect from January 1, 2026. Small scale solar systems under 30 kW capacity will get a remuneration of CHF 0.06/kWh, compared to €0.046/kWh in the draft. Systems between 30 kW and 150 kW for self-consumption will receive CHF 0.06/kWh for the first 30 kW, and none for output above 30 kW. Systems of 30 kW and above without self-consumption will get a minimum remuneration of CHF 0.062/kWh, compared to CHF 0.067/kWh in the draft. “They are intended to ensure that reference plants amortize over their lifetime, even if quarterly market prices are very low in the long term,” explains the council. Self-consumption of solar is encouraged along with the addition of storage capacity to avoid the stress on the grid. Energy communities will be able to sell their electricity produced from solar panels locally through the public grid for a fixed price. The new regulation also allows distribution network operators to limit the maximum feed-in-tariff at connection points to ensure there are no integration delays for new solar systems, and prevents load on the grid. Instead, solar power plant operators will be encouraged to store this generation in storage batteries or use it to power electric vehicles (EV). Switzerland targets to have 35 TWh of electricity generated annually by renewable energies, with 80% of it or 28 TWh possible to come from solar energy systems (see Solar Can Contribute 80% To Switzerland’s Electricity Expansion By 2035).
