Tenant electricity billing: sell your solar power directly to your tenants
Instead of feeding your solar power into the grid for a few centimes, you sell it directly to your tenants – at a fair price that pays off for both sides. SchäferStrom produces the finished bill per flat to go with it.
The feed-in remuneration for solar power exported to the grid is often low in Switzerland and varies widely from one grid operator to the next. Every kilowatt-hour you instead sell directly to your tenants earns you noticeably more – that is the heart of the tenant electricity model.
With tenant electricity, the power generated on your roof stays in the building: your tenants buy it more cheaply than from their energy supplier, while you earn a better return than from feeding it in alone. The difference between the feed-in remuneration and the permitted tenant tariff is your additional margin.
The catch used to be the billing: tariffs per flat, separating solar from grid power, the statutory maximum price and, at the end, a clean bill. SchäferStrom takes that on – you record the meter readings, enter the solar kWh allocated to each flat and your tariffs, and the tool handles the rest without Excel.
How to bill tenant electricity with SchäferStrom
Record the meter readings
You manually enter the readings taken from each flat’s meter and your solar installation’s output – the basis for the whole bill.
Set the tenant tariff
You store your solar tariff and your grid power tariff. Our solar tariff calculator shows you the permitted maximum price in advance (max. 80% of the external standard product, Art. 16b para. 2 EnV).
Allocate the solar share & calculate the revenue
You enter the solar kWh allocated to each flat – you decide the split in your ZEV or vZEV. SchäferStrom bills them at the solar tariff, separates out the remaining grid power and shows you the revenue. How the allocation works is shown on our PV billing page.
A QR bill per tenant
A Swiss QR bill is created automatically for every flat – bank-ready, traceable and ready to send.
Why tenant electricity pays off for you
Tenant electricity turns your roof from a mere feed-in source into a business model – with these benefits for landlords and property managers.
- Higher revenue per kilowatt-hour than feeding it into the grid
- A better return on your solar installation – the payback accelerates
- An attractive electricity price for your tenants improves lettability
- A built-in 80% check warns you if your solar tariff is set too high – the responsibility stays with you
- One platform for every property – ideal for growing portfolios
- No Excel, no manual calculations – the finished bill in minutes
Frequently asked questions about tenant electricity billing
Is tenant electricity worthwhile at all?
In most cases, yes: as long as your permitted tenant tariff sits above your grid operator’s feed-in remuneration, you earn more on every kilowatt-hour sold on site than from feeding it in. Power your tenants don’t use is still fed into the grid at the lower feed-in remuneration – so the larger the locally sold share, the better the result. How to raise that share is shown on our PV billing page; how big your specific difference is, our solar tariff calculator.
What may I charge my tenants for the solar power?
Under the flat-rate method, no more than 80% of the external standard product (Art. 16b para. 2 EnV), and only for the self-generated solar power. The remaining grid power is passed on separately at the actual cost (Art. 16a EnV). SchäferStrom warns you if your solar tariff exceeds this limit – the final responsibility stays with you. Why the two power sources are billed separately is explained on our billing self-consumption page.
Do I need a ZEV or vZEV for tenant electricity?
Yes – in Switzerland the tenant electricity model is implemented through a self-consumption association (ZEV) or its virtual variant (vZEV). Both follow the same tariff rules; the differences are explained in our knowledge hub.
Do all tenants have to take part?
No. Participation is voluntary (Art. 17 EnG); existing tenants can stay in the basic supply when the model is introduced. For new tenancy agreements, however, participation can be envisaged from the outset.
How much administrative work is left for me?
Essentially reading the meters, entering the allocated solar kWh and storing the tariffs. SchäferStrom handles the split across the bills, the maximum-price check and the QR bill – without Excel and without manual calculations, across several properties too.
Related topics
Turn your roof into a business model
Use the solar tariff calculator to work out your potential revenue and let SchäferStrom take over your tenant electricity billing – built around the Swiss ZEV tariff rules, with an 80% check and QR bill included, without Excel. Control over the tariff stays with you.