The creation of a Grouping within the Framework of Clean Consumption (RCP) – or Zusammenschluss zum Eigenverbrauch (ZEV) in German-speaking Switzerland – is one of the most lucrative developments in Swiss energy legislation. It allows the owner of a building to sell solar electricity produced on the roof directly to their tenants or co-owners.
However, if the financial and ecological advantages are undeniable, a critical question often holds back owners, management companies and real estate investors: once the system is installed, how can we calculate, distribute and bill this electricity monthly to the different tenants without turning administration into a real nightmare?
The puzzle of the distribution between solar energy (self-consumed) and energy from the public network (withdrawn during the night or winter), coupled with legal pricing limits, requires precise infrastructure. This guide helps the owner, the PPE or the management company to choose the smart meters, the solar metering software (such as Smart-me) and the administrative framework necessary to automate the invoicing of an RCP/ZEV without losing the trust of tenants.
1. The RCP / ZEV Billing Challenge: Why is it complex?
In a traditional model, each tenant has their own meter managed by the local energy supplier (Distribution Network Manager - GRD). The tenant receives his bill, the owner doesn't take care of anything.
With an RCP, the paradigm completely changes:
- A single official counter: The DSO now only installs one main meter (exchange meter) for the entire building.
- The owner becomes the supplier: It is up to him (or his management) to buy the electricity missing from the network, resell it to tenants, and bill them for the solar electricity produced on the roof.
- Dynamic pricing: It is necessary to be able to precisely measure how much electricity an apartment consumed when the sun was shining (solar rate) and how much was consumed at night (network rate).
To manage this, the owner must put in place a system of private submetering (tenant electricity billing) and use dispatch software.
2. The Swiss Legal Framework: How much can you charge your tenants?
The Swiss Energy Act (LEne) and the Energy Ordinance (OEne) protect tenants. The goal of an RCP is to create a “win-win” situation.
The golden rule: Price caps
The price charged to the tenant for internal solar electricity cannot under any circumstances exceed the cost it would have paid if it had purchased 100% of its electricity from the local supplier (GRD). This reference product includes energy, network usage and charges.
- Example: If the local grid charges 30 cents/kWh, you can't charge solar 32 cents. Generally, owners offer an incentive rebate (e.g.: 25 cents/kWh for solar) to encourage tenants to consume during the day.
What the RCP rate may include
The rate you set for solar electricity can cover:
- Depreciation of the photovoltaic installation: Over a technical lifespan (often 25 years).
- Operation and maintenance costs: Maintenance, installation insurance.
- Administrative billing costs: The law authorizes the allocation of management costs (software, settlement providers), but these must be proportionate and justifiable.
3. Hardware: Private Smart Meters
To automate ZEV/RCP billing, the basic infrastructure relies on smart sub-meters. Old mechanical meters (disc) or non-communicating digital meters should be avoided.
Technical requirements for sub-meters
For modern management, you must equip each apartment (as well as common areas and charging stations for electric vehicles) with meters with these characteristics:
- MID certification: Meters must comply with the European Measuring Instruments Directive (MID - Measuring Instruments Directive) so that invoicing is legally valid in Switzerland.
- Real-time communication (IoT): They must transmit data via Wi-Fi, M-Bus, or cellular network (4G/LTE) to the cloud software.
- Quarter-hourly measurement: The distribution algorithm must cross the solar production curve and the consumption curve of each tenant every 15 minutes to determine the exact origin of the consumed electron.
4. Swiss Solar Counting Software: Management Solutions
Once the data is measured by smart meters, it must be processed. This is where the solar metering software Switzerland. Several Swiss companies have developed cloud platforms dedicated to RCP management. This software automates the complex calculation of distribution and generates invoices.
A. The “Smart-me” solution
Smart-me is one of the leaders in the Swiss energy IoT market.
- Operation: They provide both MID-certified meters (which connect directly to the building's Wi-Fi) and a cloud software platform.
- Advantages for the owner: The dashboard displays energy flows in real time. At the end of the month or year, the software automatically generates PDF invoices for each tenant or an export file compatible with property management software (Regie). The tenant also has an application to monitor their consumption and optimize their behavior.
B. eSMART and NeoVac
Other Swiss players such as eSMART (specialized in home automation and load management) or NeoVac (historically known for heating/water bills) now integrate complete ZEV billing modules. They often offer a “turnkey” service including installation of equipment and sending invoices.
C. DSO (Network Manager) portals
More and more local energy suppliers (Romande Energie, BKW, SIG) offer their own RCP management service (often called “Contracting” or “Microgrid as a Service”). They manage billing for an administrative fee charged on each kWh or in the form of a monthly subscription.
5. Administration: How to Practically Manage Billing?
The owner or property manager has two main models to manage a building using ZEV RCP billing.
Model 1: Internal management (Do It Yourself / Management)
You buy the smart meters and subscribe to a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform like Smart-me.
- Advantages: Very low operating costs (the software subscription often costs a few francs per month per meter). Maximizing the return on investment of the solar power plant.
- Disadvantages: It is up to the management to print or send the invoices (or to charge the amounts on the annual statement of charges / Nebenkosten), and manage the risk of tenant defaults.
Model 2: Outsourcing (Counting service providers - Contracting)
You delegate 100% of administrative management to a specialized external service provider or to your DSO.
- Advantages: Zero administrative burden. The service provider reads the meters remotely, sends the solar and network energy bill to the tenant, manages collections and reminders, and pays you your profits (the solar share).
- Disadvantages: The service provider charges management fees (often between CHF 4.- and CHF 9.- per month and per apartment). This slightly reduces the overall profitability of the solar system for the homeowner.
6. Contractual Integration with Tenants
Software and hardware implementation must be governed by strict legal documents.
When creating the RCP, the agreement of existing tenants is required (they have the right to refuse and remain customers of the GRD). If a tenant refuses, the system must be able to count this separately. For the new leases (during the construction of a new building or a change of tenant), adherence to the RCP is generally automatically imposed in the lease contract (via an annex or special provisions relating to energy).
Transparency and obligations
The law requires full transparency. The invoice generated by your software must clearly distinguish:
- The quantity of solar electricity consumed (in kWh) and its price.
- The quantity of electricity from the network consumed (in kWh) and its price (including the energy, network and taxes).
- Any measurement and billing costs.
Conclusion: Automation for Profitability
Administering RCP/ZEV is no longer the time-consuming and complex task it was in its early days. Thanks to IoT meters (MID certified) and powerful Swiss solar counting software, billing tenants for electricity is now a fluid, transparent and automatable process.
Whether you choose to manage invoicing internally via your management company to maximize your income, or to outsource this service to a service provider, compliance with the Swiss legal framework guarantees a healthy relationship with your tenants. By simplifying administration, the RCP confirms its status: it is the smartest real estate investment model to make your roofs profitable while greening the Swiss real estate stock.