Collective self-consumption models

Collective self-consumption models

Photovoltaics has become a major source of electricity supply, particularly in real estate where it is possible to produce electricity directly on the roof of a building. While the concept is straightforward for a single-family home, things become more complex for a rental building or condominium with multiple apartments or commercial units. To address these situations, the Swiss legal framework offers several models that encourage property owners to invest in solar energy.

Collective self-consumption

To allow multiple consumers to share the electricity produced by a single installation, several models have been developed in recent years. This is known as collective self-consumption.

Key concepts

Self-consumption (or own consumption) refers to the share of electricity produced by photovoltaic panels that is consumed directly by the building's occupants.

Surplus is the excess electricity fed back into the distribution grid when production exceeds consumption.

Grid supply refers to the electricity the building draws from the grid to meet consumer needs when production is insufficient.

The self-consumption group (RCP)

The RCP allows all consumers in a rental building or condominium to be grouped together to collectively consume the electricity produced on site. This model has existed since 2018 and is defined by the Swiss Federal Energy Act.

To set up an RCP in an existing building, the owner or condominium association must obtain the agreement of each consumer (tenant or co-owner). Individual private meters then replace the meters of the distribution system operator (DSO), and a single DSO meter is installed at the building entrance, which then becomes a single customer for the DSO.

The owner is designated as the RCP manager and becomes the electricity supplier for residents. They supply both the solar electricity produced on site and the electricity drawn from the grid.

The resale tariff for solar electricity to residents is set at 80% of the DSO's standard tariff (including network charges, energy and taxes). With standard tariffs generally between 25 and 35 ct/kWh, this allows solar electricity to be resold between 20 and 28 ct/kWh — a price significantly higher than the DSO's feed-in tariff for surplus. This makes investing in a photovoltaic installation considerably more profitable. It should be noted that the owner assumes the risk of non-payment in return — a risk that remains limited in practice, as electricity is an essential need that tenants generally settle as a priority.

The virtual self-consumption group (RCPv)

When several buildings are connected to the same grid connection point, it is possible to group them into an RCP and use the distribution grid free of charge to route photovoltaic electricity between buildings. This is referred to as a virtual self-consumption group (RCPv).

Since the grid is used, there are necessarily several DSO meters measuring grid supply and surplus. The DSO sums these meters to produce its invoice — hence the "virtual" qualifier. Legally, the operation and requirements are identical to those of the standard RCP.

Private meters or DSO meters?

In a vRCP, the owner can choose to keep the DSO meters or replace them with private meters that they own.

• DSO meters: no initial investment, but a monthly cost per meter (between 6 and 20 CHF/month depending on the DSO), applied to consumption and production meters.
• Private meters: an initial investment, but no recurring costs. The owner becomes the metering service provider and can charge 2 to 4 CHF/month per meter for depreciation and maintenance. It is therefore a complementary investment that pays for itself like the solar panels.

Private meters also offer other practical advantages:

• Independence in case of failure: the owner can directly call on an independent installer, without depending on the DSO.
• Real-time data: unlike DSO meters which only transmit data once a day, private meters enable real-time monitoring, useful for automatically controlling equipment such as heat pumps or charging stations to maximise self-consumption and reduce grid supply.

The local electricity community (LEC)

Since 2026, it has been possible to sell surplus photovoltaic electricity to other consumers located in the same municipality, within the framework of a local electricity community (LEC).

In this model, the consumer remains a full customer of the DSO, which continues to bill them for electricity drawn from the grid (network charges, energy and taxes), as well as network charges and part of the taxes for transporting the solar electricity supplied by the producer. A discount of 20 to 40% is applied to network charges, representing an estimated saving of 2 to 6 ct/kWh depending on the DSO.

In practice, two scenarios arise:

• The producer is also a consumer (e.g. a company with two buildings in the municipality): no special management is required. The gain translates directly into a bill reduction, corresponding to the energy tariff (between 10 and 15 ct/kWh in 2026 depending on the DSO).
• The producer and consumer are different parties: the producer can mandate Climkit to invoice the consumer for the share of energy supplied.

For the LEC to remain simple to manage while remaining profitable, we recommend having at least 10,000 kWh of annual surplus and targeting consumers whose consumption exceeds 25,000–30,000 kWh per year.

RCP vs LEC: key differences

Batteries

A battery makes it possible to store the surplus produced during the day for self-consumption at night, thereby reducing grid supply.

• In an RCP: the stored electricity is resold under the same conditions as directly self-consumed electricity.
• In a LEC: the battery can be shared between several members. The surplus is routed to the battery via the grid free of charge (thanks to the LEC legal framework); only the network charges with the 20% to 40% discount and taxes are billed upon discharge. This opens the way to larger shared batteries, installed in suitable premises.

Conclusion

The RCP is currently the most solid and well-regulated model for making the most of a photovoltaic installation in a multi-family building. It both optimises profitability for the owner and reduces residents' electricity bills.

The LEC complements this system by enabling surplus to be sold to consumers outside the building at municipal level. Adding a battery — individual in an RCP, shared in a LEC — increases the value of every kWh produced and further strengthens building energy independence.

Climkit offers complete RCP management with no additional work for the owner or their property manager, and is progressively extending its services to the LEC, including battery management.