Skip to content
Amperecalc

Solar & storage

What will a balcony solar system do for you?

A plug-in solar device only saves the money it actually displaces inside your home. This calculator therefore simulates not just generation, but how much of it really lands given the way you use electricity.

How we calculate

Calculation model

  1. 01

    Your postcode maps to an irradiation region with a measured annual global irradiation sum.

  2. 02

    Orientation and tilt are transposed onto the module plane with an anisotropic sky model.

  3. 03

    System losses (temperature, wiring, soiling, inverter) are accounted for individually; the 800 W limit is calculated separately as a clipping loss.

  4. 04

    Generation and your load profile are overlaid hour by hour — only the intersection counts as self-consumption.

Good to know

  • Since the first solar package, 800 W of inverter output and up to 2,000 Wp of module power are permitted.
  • Registration is a simplified entry in the market master data register; separate registration with the grid operator is no longer required.
  • Surplus from plug-in devices is normally not remunerated — it flows into the grid free of charge.

Law & subsidies

What applies in Switzerland

Regulation determines the limits and tariffs this calculator works with.

600 watts, a notification duty, and the plug question

Plug-in solar systems up to 600 W are permitted but must be notified to the local grid operator.

Inverter
max. 600 W AC
Grid operator notice
required
Plug type
T13 / T23, not Schuko
Show details

Switzerland did not raise the limit to 800 W; 600 W of inverter output remains the ceiling. An 800 W device imported from Germany must be throttled accordingly.

Connection uses a Swiss T13 or T23 plug. German Schuko plugs do not fit Swiss sockets, and a bare adapter is not a clean solution.

Notifying the grid operator is mandatory and usually free. Some utilities additionally require the work to be carried out by an authorised person.

Export remuneration: every grid operator decides for itself

There is no national tariff. What you receive for exported electricity is set by your local utility — and the national spread is more than threefold.

Typical range
4–16 Rp./kWh
Set by
around 600 grid operators
National flat rate
does not exist

This is the single most consequential number in the whole calculation, and the one no calculator can know for you. Look up your utility's tariff before ordering a system.

Show details

Two neighbouring municipalities can differ by ten centimes per kilowatt hour. On a typical system exporting 4,000 kWh that is 400 francs a year — over twenty years, more than the price of a battery.

Since the revision of the Energy Act a minimum price applies, based on avoided costs. It does not remove the spread, it only limits it from below.

In practice: where remuneration is high, a large array pays. Where it is low, almost only self-consumption counts — which moves storage and load shifting to the front of the queue.

This compilation is orientation, not legal advice. Rules in this field change several times a year — check the linked primary source before you invest, or ask a certified specialist.
See all regulatory topics

Frequent questions

Answered briefly.

Is a second module worth it if the inverter caps at 800 W?

Usually yes. Rated power is only reached in a handful of hours per year. Oversizing to roughly 1,000–1,200 Wp costs a few percent in clipping but lifts the yield noticeably on overcast days and in the morning and evening.

South or east/west — which is better?

For raw annual yield, south wins. For savings, east or west often wins, because generation is spread more evenly across the day and matches morning and evening consumption better. The calculator shows both figures separately.

Why is my yield lower on a vertical railing?

At 90° tilt the summer sun strikes the module at a very shallow angle. Across the year that costs roughly 25 to 30 percent against an optimally angled mount. In winter, vertical mounting is actually at an advantage.

Payback calculator

Net present value, internal rate of return and break-even for any energy investment.

Consumption audit

Consumption broken down appliance by appliance — with savings in euros.

Rooftop PV calculator

Yield, self-sufficiency and return of a rooftop array over 25 years.

All results are model calculations based on your inputs and statistical reference data. They do not replace individual professional planning.

See all calculators