Switzerland Will Allow Personal Solar PV System Consumption Starting April 1st

The Swiss government will — as of April 1st — begin allowing residential PV system owners to consume the electricity that they generate with their solar panels.

As it stands currently, PV systems must, by law, feed 100% of the electricity that they generate directly into the Swiss electricity grid. This system will now soon be ending — as per a rule revision approved last week by the Swiss Federal Council.

Image Credit: Swiss Flag via Flickr CC

In addition to the self-consumption ruling, the Swiss government also approved a new means of encouraging solar PV system installation — homeowners will now be offered a choice between either a 30% rebate on the cost of installation or eligibility in the country’s feed-in tariff scheme.

Writing on the topic of the new ruling, PV Magazine provides more:

The new rule revision … will state that parties interested in installing small-scale PV systems will be able to consume the electricity it produces. Any surplus power will be shared among others living in the same local community, said the authorities.

Switzerland’s leading solar association, Swissolar, has welcomed the reforms, stating that they will help ease the bottleneck for PV projects that are currently waiting FIT acceptance.

Last summer, Swissolar was critical of the Swiss government’s decision to reduce the country’s FIT rate by between 35-40%, fearing that excessive tariff reductions would inflict “massive damage” on Switzerland’s solar sector.

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