Solar Energy: Dynamic Pricing Starting 2027

Starting next year, the rules of the game will change for solar panel owners.

Starting January 1st next year, Swiss legal framework will evolve. In fact, Groupe E is introducing dynamic purchase tariffs for solar electricity. 30,000 customers are affected.

If you are a customer of the Fribourg-based energy provider, you will receive a letter by mid-November explaining these changes.

Until now, the system was simple and reassuring: solar electricity produced, which was not consumed, was automatically fed back into the grid, then purchased at a tariff set each quarter by the local distributor.

Starting next year, the purchase price for electricity will no longer be fixed on a quarterly basis, but will be “dynamic.” In practice, it will be adjusted every 15 minutes in response to real-time market fluctuations.

This change creates concern: when overall production is too high and demand too low, typically in summer, prices could plummet to become negative. In other words, the producer might have to pay their supplier to get rid of their excess energy.

According to Groupe E, only large producers will be affected by negative prices. In fact, the federal energy law sets a guaranteed minimum price of 6 cents per kilowatt-hour for solar electricity reconnection. This floor price applies to typical residential photovoltaic installations, with a power output below 30 kilowatts.

According to Groupe E, this change will encourage self-consumption. Another consequence: a more careful reconsideration of how to install solar panels. Gruyère Energie will announce this pricing change by the end of November.

Marc Müller is an energy engineer. He analyzes this pricing change.

RadioFr./Frapp: What is your analysis of the introduction of dynamic pricing?

Marc Müller: Until now, the solar energy market was relatively protected. It was a way to make it attractive so that people could invest easily under clear conditions. This model is very easy to manage when there is relatively little solar energy in the grid. Today, solar energy has become much more prominent in overall energy production, so it is quite normal that energy producers are subject to market rules. It represents a slight decline in economic security for solar investors. But it remains a very, very good set of conditions.

There is the risk, with this change, for producers of having a negative price. Is this a justified concern?

Yes, this is a legitimate and natural concern. Ultimately, the price still reflects certain physical realities. In summer, if you have a large solar installation, you don't consume energy at home, and everyone produces energy simultaneously, so no one can effectively use this energy. You will therefore have to pay to resell it, and that is quite logical. Moreover, in winter, when there is a real energy shortage, if renewable energy is produced at that time, it necessarily has a value much higher than the same kilowatt-hour produced in summer. This also forces one to think globally about one’s home, system, or industry, and to consider how one contributes to or uses the energy system as a whole.

Does this change actually slow down investments in the sector?

Certainly. Because if you create a protected market, which is somewhat like a children’s market, you completely shield solar producers from the realities of physics, market dynamics, and you provide conditions that are highly favorable. Sales promotion is therefore very strong. But inevitably, someone must pay. At some point, there must be a certain equity with other energy producers: hydro, wind, biomass. Solar energy must find a balance between favorable conditions and physical reality. In my view, the current proposed solution is fairly balanced.

Is the signal sent not a bit negative when aiming for more energy transition?

Obviously, in the long term, if we truly want to replace fossil fuels and also compensate for the end of nuclear power plants, we need much more solar energy. At the very least, five times more than what is currently installed. We must achieve a balance between the need to install even more solar energy, while offering attractive conditions that cannot be completely off the market. This is a delicate adjustment that policymakers and electricity companies are trying to achieve. And we are still in a period where good conditions exist; this must be recalled. Although the conditions are less favorable, they remain very good. You have the right to freely consume your own energy. You benefit from free grid services for energy producers. There are various models to value your solar energy. I believe that, nevertheless, solar energy will continue to develop quite strongly in the coming years.