The GREIV (grosse Einmalvergütung, the large-scale one-off payment) is the federal subsidy for photovoltaic systems from 100 kWp up to 50 MWp, paid out via Pronovo. The GREIV application can be filed before or after construction. Filing early secures your place on the waiting list and the funding commitment before you build; the system must then be in operation within 12 months. Final documentation and the review up to payout follow.
Key Takeaways
6 min read
Key Takeaways
6 min read- Apply before or after buildingThe GREIV application can be filed before or after construction. Filing early secures your place on the waiting list and the commitment before you build.
- Individually calculated ratesGREIV rates depend on system type, capacity and commissioning date. Binding figures come from the Pronovo tariff calculator.
- Bonuses with clear conditionsSince 2025: from 75 degrees of tilt, CHF 400/kW integrated or CHF 200/kW attached, never both; CHF 250/kW over previously uncovered car parks from 100 kWp.
- Payout months after completionFor large systems, the review after submission of the final documentation takes several months. That belongs in your liquidity planning.
The GREIV application is not tied to the start of construction. Filing after the build does not cost you the entitlement, but filing early brings the funding commitment, and with it planning certainty, before the contracts are awarded. This guide walks through the process, names the deadlines and shows where money is left on the table in practice.
Who is entitled to the GREIV?
The GREIV applies to new photovoltaic systems from 100 kWp up to 50 MWp, making it the relevant subsidy category for industrial and commercial installations. Smaller systems fall under the KLEIV, full feed-in systems from 2 to 150 kWp under the HEIV; larger full feed-in systems use the GREIV or the sliding market premium. All categories belong to the federal Einmalvergütung.
If funds do not cover all applications, projects go on a waiting list in order of filing date, with separate lists for small and large systems (Art. 39 and 40 EnFV). Budget utilisation can be tracked publicly in the Pronovo cockpit “EIV und GMP PV”. The subsidy is compatible with self-consumption as well as partial feed-in, which makes it attractive for businesses with high electricity demand.
For full feed-in systems from 150 kWp, the sliding market premium (GMP) offers an alternative: a premium per kilowatt-hour awarded by auction over 20 years, with a CHF 300 participation fee. For industrial businesses that want to use their solar electricity themselves, it is generally not relevant.
How does the GREIV application work in practice?
Four steps. You choose when to take the first one.
From project to payout
File the application, ideally before construction
Application in the Pronovo portal (mein.pronovo.ch) with the key data of the planned system. If the requirements are likely to be met and funds suffice, Pronovo issues a commitment in principle for the one-off payment.
- After the commitment, the system must be in operation within 12 months
- Filing after construction is possible; Pronovo then decides directly on the commissioning notice
Build and commission the system
Planning, installation and grid connection run independently of the subsidy procedure. The commissioning date fixes the applicable rates and bonuses.
Submit the final documentation
After commissioning, the certified system data goes to Pronovo. Completeness determines the review period here.
- If capacity or category change after filing, Pronovo must be told at once
Await the review, receive the payout
Pronovo reviews the documentation. For large systems this takes several months; only then is the one-off payment made.
Filing after construction has started does not cost you the entitlement. Pronovo’s guideline states explicitly that a GREIV application can also be filed after the system has been built; the procedure then runs through the commissioning notice, as for small systems (Pronovo, Richtlinie EnFV Photovoltaik, version 4.1, chapter 3.2). What a late application costs is planning certainty: whoever builds without a commitment only learns after commissioning whether funds cover the project or whether it goes on the waiting list.
What amounts can you expect?
The GREIV base rates are calculated individually, depending on system type, capacity and commissioning date. Binding figures for a specific project come exclusively from the Pronovo tariff calculator; the rates are adjusted periodically.
The bonuses in force since 1 January 2025 are easier to plan with. The tilt angle bonus only applies to system parts tilted at 75 degrees or more: CHF 400/kW if they are integrated, or CHF 200/kW if they are attached or free-standing, never both for the same part. A flat, rack-mounted roof does not get it. The parking area bonus of CHF 250/kW applies to systems from 100 kWp over a permanent, previously uncovered car park. Since 2026, the Winterstrombonus rewards systems that produce more than 500 kWh per kilowatt in the winter half-year, though instead of the tilt angle bonus for integrated, attached and free-standing systems, not on top of it.
In the overall calculation, the subsidy remains one building block among several: typical industrial systems by Ampere Dynamic pay for themselves in 4 to 6 years, driven above all by self-consumption. The GREIV belongs in that calculation but does not replace it. What the full costs look like is shown in the analysis The true costs of an industrial solar installation.
What does the review period mean for your financial planning?
The system has long been producing. The money comes later.
Between submission of the final documentation and the payout lie several months for large systems. The electricity cost savings take effect from day one; the subsidy amount itself is tied-up capital during this time. For liquidity planning, that means: the GREIV belongs in the medium-term plan, not in the construction financing. Whoever budgets the payout in the year of commissioning is planning past reality. Financing models that bridge this gap are compared in the guide Contracting vs purchase vs leasing.
The scale at which such applications run is shown by reference projects such as Balteschwiler AG with 3’091 kWp. Ampere Dynamic handles the subsidy administration, from the application through deadline monitoring to the final documentation, as part of its subsidies and market service, so that no deadline passes unnoticed.