ZEV

How does a ZEV work?

The legal basis is the Energy Act: Art. 17 EnG allows property owners to join together for self-consumption, and Art. 18 EnG governs the relationship with tenants (EnG, SR 730.0, Fedlex); the details are set out in Art. 14 to 18 of the Energy Ordinance. Towards the distribution grid operator, the ZEV acts as a single end consumer: one meter sits at the grid connection point, and private meters behind it measure the consumption of the participants. The prerequisite is that the production capacity reaches at least 10 percent of the connected load of the community (Art. 15 EnV).

Several owners of neighbouring plots may also join together, provided the lines between them are private and the distribution grid is not used (Art. 17 para. 1 EnG). Within the ZEV, the operator sells the solar electricity to the participants and buys the residual electricity for everyone from the grid. Billing is handled by the operator or by a billing service provider: one invoice per party for solar and residual electricity, usually based on 15-minute values.

Why is a ZEV economically worthwhile?

The ZEV is economically attractive because internally billed solar electricity earns more than grid feed-in, while the participants still pay less than the regular grid tariff: no grid usage fee is charged on internally supplied electricity. Both sides benefit, and the self-consumption of the system rises because more consumers sit behind the same connection. The usual price bands and a billing example are in the article ZEV, vZEV or LEG.

What applies to tenants in a ZEV?

The Energy Ordinance protects tenants on three points (EnV, SR 730.01, Fedlex). First, the cost of internally supplied electricity may not exceed the cost of external supply (Art. 16a EnV): the ZEV price stays below the tariff the grid operator would charge at the same location. Second, Art. 16b EnV obliges the operator to transparent metering and billing. Third, withdrawal from the community is only possible if the tenant claims grid access or the owner breaches their obligations (Art. 16 para. 2 EnV, Art. 17 para. 3 EnG); subsequent tenants join the existing ZEV. This is energy law, not tenancy law.

Which variants have existed since 2025 and 2026?

Since 1 January 2025, the virtual ZEV allows a community across several plots on the same service line, billed via the grid operator’s smart meters. Since 2026, the LEG trades electricity across the public grid within a municipality. Which model fits which site is compared in ZEV, vZEV or LEG; how to set up a vZEV is described in Virtual ZEV.