Background
#Yes, you may sell solar power to neighbours – in three ways. In a ZEV, power flows within one or more plots without the public grid.
Since 2025, the virtual ZEV can also use the shared service line up to the grid connection point. Since 1 January 2026, a local electricity community (LEG) may use the distribution grid within one municipality; in return, the grid usage tariff on the solar power drawn internally drops by 40 or 20 percent.
What drives the economics
#All models build on self-consumption: operators may consume the energy they produce at the place of production and sell all or part of it for consumption there; both count as self-consumption (Art. 16 para. 1 EnG). The place of production can include further plots as long as the power can be consumed there without the distribution grid (Art. 14 para. 2 EnV).
ZEV: several landowners plus tenants and leaseholders join together and appear to the grid operator as a single end consumer. Generation capacity must be at least 10 percent of the combined connected load; installations running no more than 500 hours a year do not count (Art. 15 EnV).
vZEV: since 1 January 2025, ZEVs at voltage levels below 1 kV may share the service line and local electrical infrastructure at the grid connection point (Art. 14 para. 3 EnV). Several metering points are allowed instead of one physical main meter. "vZEV" is not a separate legal term: it remains a ZEV, and the 10 percent threshold still applies.
LEG: end consumers, renewable generators and storage operators can freely sell self-generated power within the community and use the distribution grid to do so (Art. 17d para. 1 and Art. 17e para. 1 StromVG). All must be connected in the same grid area and at the same grid level, have a smart meter, and the community covers at most the area of one municipality (Art. 17d paras. 2 and 3 StromVG).
An LEG needs generation capacity of only 5 percent of all participants’ connected load, half the ZEV threshold. Participants and installations must not be connected above 36 kV, and each consumption point and each installation may take part in only one community (Art. 19e StromVV).
The LEG grid discount applies only to the grid usage tariff on solar power drawn internally: 40 percent, or 20 percent for everyone if the power cannot reach every participant from every installation without voltage transformation. Ancillary services, the electricity reserve, the grid surcharge and levies to public bodies are charged without discount (Art. 19h StromVV).
The process in five steps
#Tick off for your project
Choose the model
if the power stays on your own or adjacent plots without the distribution grid, a ZEV is enough. If the buildings share a grid connection point below 1 kV, a vZEV may work. If they are spread across the same municipality and grid area, the LEG is the route.
Check capacity
add up the connected load of everyone involved. A ZEV needs at least 10 percent of it as generation capacity, an LEG at least 5 percent.
Ask the grid operator
for an LEG, the distribution system operator must provide the grid topology information no later than 15 working days after the request (Art. 19g para. 3 StromVV). This also shows whether a 40 or 20 percent grid discount applies.
Sign an agreement
LEG participants agree in writing on representation, internal power prices, data and billing costs, and joining and leaving, among other things (Art. 19f StromVV). In a ZEV, the landowner handles internal billing, following Art. 16a and 16b EnV for tenants.
Notify on time
ZEV formation and dissolution three months in advance (Art. 18 EnV). LEG formation and dissolution three months in advance to the end of a month, joining and leaving one month in advance (Art. 19g para. 1 StromVV). If the community requests smart meters, the grid operator must install them within three months.
Checked for your roof, not just read up on
Once the framing is clear, a property-specific check with roof, grid and documentation is worthwhile.
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.