Background
#Renting out a roof for a solar system mainly makes sense for large areas: AEW only builds contracting systems itself from 1,000 m² of usable roof area and arranges a partner for 150 to 1,000 m².
The investor builds, operates and maintains the system, applies for the one-off payment as the operator and sells the power. You receive a roof rent, yearly or as a one-off sum, or solar power from your own roof at a fixed price. Contracts run for a long time, typically 30 years at AEW, and the investor’s right is entered in the land register as an easement.
Providers do not quote a fixed price per square metre; the rent is calculated for each roof from yield, power price and subsidy. A single-family home rarely has enough area to rent out, and with your own system the one-off payment, the power savings and the feed-in remuneration are all yours.
For your roof
What does a system on your roof cost?
With your address we calculate price range, incentives and payback for your roof from federal data. We email the report straight away.
Free and non-binding · no unsolicited calls
Rather talk directly? +41 78 615 90 58
What drives the economics
#Area decides whether there is an offer at all. AEW requires at least 1,000 m² of usable roof area for its own photovoltaic contracting and assesses roofs of 150 to 1,000 m² with partners. According to Swissolar, a household using 4,000 kWh a year needs around 25 m² of modules; a single-family home roof is therefore usually far below these thresholds.
The roof must last the whole term. AEW requires a roof in good condition with no foreseeable need for renovation during the contract term of typically 30 years; otherwise it is renovated first, and AEW may contribute. The provider then checks structure, shading and grid connection in detail.
There are several kinds of compensation. AEW offers a roof rent, yearly or one-off, a fixed price for the solar power you draw from your own roof, or mixed forms. With the power price model you use the power in the building; the operator markets the surplus. Compare offers over the whole term, not just the first annual amount.
Without a land register entry, the system belongs to the house. Under Art. 675 ZGB, structures permanently connected to someone else’s land can only have their own owner if their existence is entered in the land register as an easement. That is why investors require this entry. It stays with the property when it is sold, so a buyer takes it over.
The subsidy goes to the operator. The application for the one-off payment is made to Pronovo by the system operator; when you rent out the roof, that is the investor. For attached systems, the investor receives CHF 360 per kW for the capacity share below 30 kW, CHF 300 for the share from 30 to below 100 kW and CHF 250 from 100 kW. If you build yourself, this subsidy is yours.
For tax purposes, roof rent is income. The Thurgau tax administration states explicitly that the compensation paid by the builder or operator for using the roof is taxable income from immovable property for the owner. Your own system on an existing building, by contrast, is deductible as an energy-saving measure (federal ordinance on property costs). Your tax office confirms how your canton treats roof rent.
The process in six steps
#Tick off for your project
Clarify area and condition
sonnendach.ch shows how suitable your roof is. Note the usable area and when the roof will need renovation; a 30-year contract on a roof with foreseeable renovation needs a solution first.
Calculate your own system as the benchmark
get a quote including the one-off payment, self-consumption and feed-in tariff. Only with this figure can you judge a roof rent or a power price.
Get at least two offers
ask your grid operator and contracting providers. In Thurgau, the cantonal funding programme lists Solarwert Thurgau as a contact for contracting models for large systems.
Check the contract point by point
term, amount and adjustment of compensation, the easement and its removal at the end, roof renovation during the term (who pays for removal, reinstallation and lost yield), access for maintenance, liability and insurance, removal or takeover of the system at the end, buy-back right, sale of the building and what applies if the operator gives up.
Have it reviewed before signing, then register
have the contract and easement reviewed by a professional before you sign. The land register entry is handled by the notary and land registry.
Declare the roof rent every year
keep the statements and report the compensation in your tax return as income from the property.
Checked for your roof, not just read up on
What does a system on your roof cost?
With your address we calculate price range, incentives and payback for your roof from federal data. We email the report straight away.
Free and non-binding · no unsolicited calls
Rather talk directly? +41 78 615 90 58
Frequently asked questions
#Sources
#The responsible authorities are decisive. Always verify binding details – amounts, deadlines and conditions – for your specific property against the current status of the respective authority.