Battery storage providers for industrial businesses in Switzerland fall into four types: EPC system providers, electrical installers, contractors and in-house delivery with direct purchase. Project size, depth of integration and financing determine the choice. An EPC takes responsibility for design, construction and operation from a single source, the installer is often the more economical choice for smaller systems without a relevant peak load, the contractor takes on the investment, and in-house delivery only pays off with your own electrical engineering.
Key Takeaways
7 min read
Key Takeaways
7 min read- Four types of providerEPC system providers, electrical installers, contractors and in-house delivery differ in depth of integration, responsibility and financing.
- The load profile decidesPeak shaving carries the economics of industrial storage. Without relevant power peaks, the most important revenue stream is missing.
- Payback in 4-6 yearsIn combined use of peak shaving and self-consumption optimisation, according to the analysis of delivered Ampere Dynamic industrial projects.
- Not everyone needs an EPCFor systems without a peak-load problem or below 100 kWp, a local installer is usually the more suitable and more economical choice.
Whoever wants to procure industrial battery storage in Switzerland chooses the type of provider first and the product only afterwards. The four types, EPC, installer, contractor and in-house, deliver different amounts of responsibility, engineering and financing. The wrong choice costs more than any price difference between two quotes.
The four types of provider at a glance
The market for commercial storage is fragmented. Behind the quotes stand four fundamentally different business models.
EPC system providers (engineering, procurement, construction) take responsibility for the project from a single source: load profile analysis, design, procurement, construction, grid connection and often operation. They work independently of manufacturers or with fixed technology packages and integrate the storage with photovoltaics, charging infrastructure and an energy management system (EMS). Their target segment is systems from around 100 kWp with a relevant peak load.
Electrical and solar installers mount standard systems reliably and are available regionally at short notice. The industry association Swissolar lists more than 450 certified businesses in its Solarprofis directory. The limit lies in system design: peak-shaving strategies, EMS parameterisation and load-profile-based sizing are rarely part of their core business.
Contractors and energy service providers finance, build and operate the system on their own account. The business pays for the service, not for the system; the investment stays off its own balance sheet. In return, the subsidies stay with the provider, and so does the full ROI. The balance sheet trade-off is covered in the guide Contracting vs purchase vs leasing.
In-house delivery means: procure the components directly and handle planning and integration with your own engineering or external specialist planners. That works for businesses with their own electrical engineering and experience in plant construction. For everyone else it shifts responsibility and interface risk in-house.
Scope, responsibility and cost compared
The four models differ less in the product than in the question of who carries which risk.
Four types of provider compared
| Feature | EPC | Installer | Contractor | In-house |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design & engineering | Load-profile-based, project-specific | Standard design | Load-profile-based, by the provider | Own engineering required |
| Single-source responsibility | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| EMS & peak-shaving expertise | Core competence | Rarely core business | Core competence | Depends on your own team |
| Subsidy handling (Pronovo) | Part of the service | Partly | With the provider, the subsidy too | Own effort |
| Operation & maintenance | Optional as a service | On request | Included | Own effort |
| Investment carried by | The business | The business | The contractor | The business |
A price comparison between two quotes therefore says little as long as the scope is not identical. An installer’s quote without load profile analysis and EMS parameterisation shows a lower price because it describes a different service.
Which type of provider fits which business?
Four criteria decide which type is the right choice.
The load profile. Peak shaving is the most important revenue stream for industrial storage, because the grid operator’s demand charge is levied on the monthly peak load. Businesses with pronounced load peaks from around 300 kW benefit from the design expertise of an EPC or contractor. Without the peaks, the argument for a system provider disappears too. How the mechanism works is shown in the article Peak shaving for businesses.
The project size. Below 100 kWp of PV capacity and without special storage requirements, the regional installer is usually quicker and more economical. Above that, grid connection requirements, grid code obligations and the importance of EMS integration rise, and with them the value of overall responsibility.
The internal resources. In-house delivery requires your own electrical engineering, capacity for tendering and site management, and operating staff. Where those resources are missing, the supposed cost advantage is eaten up by interface risks.
The balance sheet strategy. Purchase maximises the ROI: in combined use, commercial storage typically pays back in 4 to 6 years (analysis of delivered Ampere Dynamic industrial projects). Contracting eliminates the CAPEX but costs the subsidy and the return. What that looks like in practice is shown by the reference project Kuny AG: 522 kWh of battery capacity, designed for peak shaving.
And in French-speaking Switzerland?
The same four criteria, but a different grid operator at the table. In the Romandie, Romande Energie, Groupe E, SIG and OIKEN levy the demand charge and review the connection application, with their own forms and deadlines in French. Ampere Dynamic has built around 1’170 kWp on five sites in VS, VD and JU in French-speaking Switzerland, most recently 110 kWp for Bardusch AG in Sierre VS. What changes in terms and self-consumption models, from the RCP to the CEL, is explained in the article ZEV in French-speaking Switzerland.
When is Ampere Dynamic not the right provider?
A provider comparison is only useful if it also names the cases in which the author is the wrong choice. For Ampere Dynamic, these are the five:
Home storage and single-family houses. Our minimum is a project size of 100 kWp. For private systems, the regional businesses in Swissolar’s Solarprofis directory are the right place to go.
Small systems without a relevant peak load. Where no demand charge problem exists, no peak-shaving design is needed. A local electrical installer delivers the standard solution more economically.
Pure component purchases. Whoever only wants to procure battery modules or an inverter is better served by specialist wholesalers or the manufacturer directly. We deliver systems, not individual parts.
Projects outside Switzerland. Grid connection conditions, the subsidy landscape and grid codes are national. Abroad, an EPC with local approval experience is the better choice.
Businesses with their own electrical engineering that deliberately build in-house need component suppliers and, at specific points, a specialist planner, not a system provider with overall responsibility.
What to look for when choosing a provider
Five checkpoints separate robust quotes from brochure promises.
Provider selection checklist
- Reference projects of comparable size
Delivered industrial systems with names, capacity and purpose. Home storage references do not prove industrial competence.
- Cycle figures with depth of discharge
LFP cells reach up to 8'000 cycles at 80% depth of discharge (CATL/BYD specification). Cycle counts without depth of discharge are not comparable.
- Open EMS interfaces
Modbus, SunSpec and OCPP keep manufacturer independence open. An EMS that only controls its own hardware ties the business to one supplier.
- Experience with Pronovo and GREIV
Whoever knows registration deadlines and final documentation from practice secures subsidy entitlements. Details in the guide on applying for GREIV.
- Service organisation in Switzerland
Response times, spare parts stock and remote maintenance decide availability over 15 and more years of operation.
For the basics of technology, revenue streams and economics of commercial storage, see the overview article Commercial storage in Switzerland. The application process for the GREIV is described in detail in the guide Applying for GREIV.