Solar system and photovoltaicsPlanned for your roof.

A solar system (photovoltaic system, or PV system for short) turns sunlight on your roof into electricity. You use this power first yourself and feed the rest into the grid. For every kilowatt-hour from your own roof, you no longer have to buy electricity from the utility.

Whether a system is worthwhile for you is not decided by a brochure. It is decided by your roof, your consumption and your grid operator. That is why every project with us starts with a free site visit.

For which building?

• Single-family home: 8 to 15 kWp is typical. With a battery, EV charger or heat pump, you use significantly more of your own power.
• Apartment building and condominium ownership: With a self-consumption community (ZEV), all parties use the solar power from the roof. We plan the metering, contracts and billing.
• Business and agriculture: Large roof areas and high consumption during the day. Here solar power often pays off fastest. More under solar system for businesses.
• New build: If you plan early, you can use the modules as the roof skin. That is the in-roof solar system.

On-roof, in-roof or flat roof

On-roof is the most common and cheapest solution. The modules sit on a mounting structure above the existing tiles. It suits almost any pitched roof in good condition.

In-roof replaces the tiles. The modules themselves form the waterproof roof skin. It looks calmer and is popular for new builds and roof renovations. In historic core zones, it is often the solution that gets approved.

Flat roof: Here the modules are mounted on stands, usually facing east and west. More output fits on the roof this way, and the power is spread across the whole day. We check the structure, waterproofing and ballast before we plan.

We also build on carports, garages and facades. Especially in winter, steep facade modules supply valuable power.

Which modules and inverters?

We use monocrystalline modules with high efficiency, mostly in black. We choose the manufacturer and inverter to suit your roof: with partial shading from a chimney, dormer or tree, power optimisers are worthwhile. With several roof surfaces, an inverter with several inputs is needed.

What matters is that everything fits together: modules, inverter, a later battery storage system, an EV charger and the control system. We plan the system so that you can extend it without problems today or in five years.

Orientation, tilt and shade

A south-facing roof with a 30-degree tilt produces the most power per module. That does not mean other roofs are not worthwhile. East- and west-facing roofs produce a little less per module, but in the morning and evening, when you are at home. For self-consumption, that is often even better. Only purely north-facing roofs are usually not sensible.

More important than the compass direction is shade. Chimneys, dormers, neighbouring houses or trees can shade individual modules. During the site visit, we check this over the whole day and the whole year. Where necessary, we use power optimisers so that one shaded module does not slow down the whole string.

We also look at the roof itself: How old is the covering? Can the substructure carry the additional load? If a roof renovation is due in the next few years, we plan both together. A system lasts 25 to 30 years, and the roof underneath should too.

More self-consumption: battery, EV charger, heat pump

Without further measures, a single-family home uses about a third of its own solar power directly. The rest goes into the grid, at the feed-in tariff of your grid operator. Because grid electricity costs significantly more, every additional kilowatt-hour you use yourself pays off.

• Battery storage: Power from midday covers the evening. With a battery storage system, self-consumption rises to about two thirds. With backup power on request.
• EV charger: An electric car needs about 2,000 to 3,000 kWh a year. With an EV charger that detects surpluses, you drive on solar power.
• Heat pump: A heat pump heats and makes hot water using electricity. Together with the solar system, your energy costs fall the most.
• Control: An energy manager switches the boiler, wallbox and heat pump on when the sun is shining.

You do not have to build everything at once. We plan the system so that a battery, EV charger or heat pump can be added later without alterations.

What does a solar system cost?

The price depends mainly on size, roof shape and installation effort. A steep roof with scaffolding costs more than a simple gable roof. The price per kWp falls as the system gets larger.

System	Typical size	Yield per year (Swiss Plateau)
Small single-family home	6 to 8 kWp	about 6,000 to 8,000 kWh
Single-family home	10 to 15 kWp	about 10,000 to 15,000 kWh
Apartment building	20 to 60 kWp	about 20,000 to 60,000 kWh

For comparison: a four-person household uses about 4,500 kWh a year without a heat pump or electric car. Most roofs therefore produce significantly more than the household uses.

You receive your exact price after the site visit in the binding quote within 72 hours, with yield, subsidies and payback.

Subsidies and taxes

• Federal government: The Pronovo one-off payment (Einmalvergütung, EIV) covers part of the investment. We register the system for you.
• Canton and commune: Many cantons and communes pay additional amounts, often for batteries or in combination with a heat pump.
• Taxes: In most cantons, you deduct the investment in an existing building from your taxable income.

If you would rather not wait for the payout: on request, we pre-finance the subsidy.

Service life and maintenance

Solar modules last 25 to 30 years and longer. Manufacturers usually give a performance warranty over this period. The inverter is the component most likely to need replacing, typically after 12 to 15 years.

A system does not need much maintenance. Rain largely cleans tilted modules by itself. A check every few years and a look at the app are usually enough. If dirt, moss or hail damage reduces the yield, we help with cleaning and service after hail.

What to look for when choosing a provider

• Site visit: A quote based only on satellite images overlooks the condition of the roof, the electrical installation and the space for the inverter and battery.
• Binding quote: With a fixed price, yield forecast and all services. Without later surcharges for scaffolding, notification or connection.
• Own installers: Whoever installs the system themselves also knows it when it comes to service.
• Everything from one provider: Planning, notification to the commune and grid operator, subsidy application, installation, electrical connection and commissioning.
• Membership: We are a member of Swissolar, the trade association for solar energy.

How your project works

1. Enquiry: Online in a minute or by phone.
2. Site visit: We check the roof, electrical installation and consumption. Free of charge.
3. Quote in 72 hours: binding, with yield forecast and subsidies.
4. Notification and grid operator: We submit the notification to the commune and register the system with the grid operator.
5. Installation: Our own installers, fixed appointment. Depending on the size of the system, installation usually takes about a week.
6. Commissioning and handover: We show you the system and the app where you see yield and consumption.

Solar systems in your region

Our locations are in Zumikon ZH and Lachen SZ. We build throughout German-speaking Switzerland, most often in the Cantons of Zurich, St. Gallen, Schwyz and Aargau. Enter your postcode in the appointment card, and you will see our nearest reference installations.