Solar installation in the Canton of NidwaldenTownscape and village zones.

Permit: notification or application form

Under Art. 18a RPG, sufficiently well-integrated solar systems in building and agricultural zones do not need a building permit. In the Canton of Nidwalden there is a joint form for this, «Notification / application for solar systems», based on the planning and building ordinance (§ 40 no. 5 PBV). It applies to roofs and facades. You must attach a site plan, floor plans, elevations, sections, detail plans showing the module layout, and a description of the system. The form is submitted to the responsible commune.

A permit is needed in protected townscape zones (including the surroundings protection zone in Wolfenschiessen and the village zone in Stans), in landscape-sensitive built-up areas, on cultural and natural monuments of cantonal or national importance, in ISOS areas with conservation objective A and for protected buildings. In that case you also submit the building application form, and the modules generally have to be built with dark frames. We clarify beforehand whether your house stands in such a zone.

Subsidies in the Canton of Nidwalden

The Canton of Nidwalden does not directly subsidise a photovoltaic system on its own. Its 2026 energy subsidy programme refers to the federal government for solar power. For your system, the one-off payment (Einmalvergütung, EIV) through Pronovo applies: since 1 April 2025 there has been no base amount, add-on systems under 30 kWp receive CHF 360 per kWp, and integrated systems CHF 400 per kWp.

For an insulated building element combined with photovoltaics and fully covered, the canton pays CHF 120 instead of CHF 60 per m². A system counts as fully covering if it covers 20% of the area on a facade and 50% on a roof. That pays off if you are insulating anyway. Buildings whose building permit dates from before 2000 are eligible.

For buildings in private ownership, the costs of the system are deductible as maintenance under the tax office’s guideline if the installation takes place at least one year after the new build.

Grid operator and power price

In the Canton of Nidwalden, the cantonal electricity utility (Kantonales Elektrizitätswerk, EWN) supplies ten of the eleven communes, and in Beckenried the municipal utility supplies. The household tariff (H4, excluding VAT) is 22.1 ct./kWh at EWN and 26.3 ct. in Beckenried. The cantonal median of 22.1 ct. is clearly below the Swiss median of 27.7 ct. With lower power prices, high self-consumption matters more for the system to pay off.

The grid operator pays for the electricity you feed into the grid. The rate differs from one utility to the next. We calculate with the tariff of your utility.

Building stock and townscape

Nidwalden has many apartment buildings, around 2,990 compared with 2,928 single-family homes. For apartment buildings, forming a self-consumption community (ZEV) often pays off. Because the canton has several protected townscapes, at every site visit we first check the zoning plan.