Dynamic electricity pricing: what will change force for Swiss solar panel owners

As evidenced by the recurring episodes of negative prices on the wholesale electricity market in Europe, it is clear that the injection of solar energy at certain times of the day must be limited. Countries are therefore adopting new strategies in this direction. In Switzerland, as elsewhere in Europe, public authorities are encouraging more self-consumption and storage in order to limit the electricity injected into the network.

A feed-in tariff soon to be indexed to the market

In Switzerland, solar electricity injected into the network is purchased by local managers. The price is revised every quarter, but remains limited by a floor of approximately 6 CHF cents / kWh. All this will soon change. A new rule adopted by the Federal Council provides that the feed-in tariff may be indexed to the wholesale market price from the start of 2027.

This new decision should encourage producers to consume or store their electricity rather than systematically sending it to the network. Solar production peaks during the day, far from periods of high demand, leading to price drops.

It thus becomes more interesting, from an economic point of view, to consume the electricity produced locally or to store it. Especially since the cost of storage solutions continues to fall, according to the Swissolar association.

To limit the impact of sharp price drops on households, a remuneration bonus will however be put in place. This will guarantee a minimum income equivalent to the floor rate, even when market prices collapse. However, this measure will only concern small installations below 150 kWp.

Concretely, for a small Swiss producer, the remuneration will no longer be calculated on the quarterly average market price, but on the day-ahead spot price, with a quarter-hour granularity: injecting at midday, when the solar supply is massive, will bring in much less than injecting in the evening. The minimum remuneration bonus provided for installations below 150 kW, however, guarantees an income equivalent to the floor rate if the quarterly average falls below.

The price signal as a lever for self-consumption

Financial leverage seems to have become the most effective in encouraging self-consumption and storage, the two best solutions for better balancing production and consumption in the solar era.

Moreover, in France, a similar logic is at work. In the country, the Government has also chosen to act on the feed-in tariff. The decision concerns the reduction of this tariff, going from 4 cts €/kWh to 1.1 cts €/kWh. A tariff project recently validated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE). “In view of the current context and the need to adapt the development of small PV to government objectives, the CRE issues a favorable opinion on the draft decree,” indicated the Commission.

According to the latter, it would even be desirable to better align installations with market signals. It is a system which is close to the model envisaged in Switzerland, but whose implementation remains complex in France. This would in fact require equipment capable of precisely measuring injections hour by hour, as well as computer systems capable of cross-referencing this data with market prices.

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