Municipality

Solar battery in Lugano

A battery does not earn the same everywhere: it earns the gap between what you pay for electricity and what you are paid for your surplus. In Lugano, that gap is 19.17 ct.

What a kilowatt-hour is worth when kept rather than fed back

You pay the grid 27.17 ct

You are paid for your surplus − 8 ct

Difference — the real value of storage 19.17 ct

This is the most common mistake in the calculation: a stored kilowatt-hour is not worth the price of electricity. It would have been fed back and paid for. Its value is the difference between the two — and nothing else.

ElCom standard H4 household tariff, VAT included, tariff year 2026. The feed-in tariff is that of the grid operator serving the location.

What a 5 kWh battery changes in Lugano

Reference household: 4'500 kWh per year, 4 kWc of panels, a 5 kWh battery capped at 600 W. Hour-by-hour simulation over the year, cell ageing included.

CHF 198.–

The first year

CHF 1'805.–

Over ten years

34 % without a battery, 66 % with one

Share of solar power used on site

Redo the calculation with your own consumption and your own commune

Your grid operator

Lugano is served by Aziende Industriali di Lugano (AIL) SA, which buys back the solar surplus at 8 ct per kilowatt-hour.

Tariff published by the grid operator

The detail for the city of Lugano

ElCom category	Typical consumption	Price incl. VAT
H1	2-room flat with an electric cooker	33.17 ct
H2	4-room flat with an electric cooker	29.51 ct
H3	4-room flat with an electric boiler	26.21 ct
H4	5-room flat with an electric cooker and tumble dryer	27.17 ct
H5	5-room house with an electric boiler	24.61 ct
H6	5-room house with electric heating	22.58 ct
H7	5-room house with a heat pump	23.7 ct
H8	Large, highly electrified owner-occupied flat	25.15 ct

The higher your tariff, the more a battery earns: every kilowatt-hour kept is a kilowatt-hour you do not buy.

What panels produce here

In Lugano, a well-oriented kilowatt-peak produces around 1'133 kWh a year.

PVGIS hourly series for the centre of each commune: roof tilted 30° due south, system losses of 14 %, terrain shading taken into account.

What you have to do to install one

Nothing to request, but a notification to file

A battery that plugs into a socket is still subject to written notification to the grid operator before commissioning — here, Aziende Industriali di Lugano (AIL) SA. This is not an authorisation to obtain: it is information to pass on. The pre-filled form ships with the battery.

600 W on delivery, without an electrician

Batteries are capped at 600 W in the factory, the limit of the Swiss plug & play regime. At that level, installation requires no professional: a domestic socket is enough and the distribution board is left untouched.

Up to 2500 W with an approved electrician

In a fixed installation, an approved electrician removes the cap, notifies the grid operator and issues the safety report. The battery then covers far more than standby appliances.

The batteries available in Lugano

Delivery throughout Switzerland, declaration of conformity and notification form supplied. Your meter compatibility is verified before dispatch.