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Entrusting your guarantees of origin to BUYECO: the producer's guide

Friday, October 3, 2026

Do you produce renewable electricity in Switzerland? Every kilowatt-hour fed into the grid generates a guarantee of origin (GO) that has value. BUYECO can sell it for you.

In brief

What it earns What is a GO Before you start The 5 steps What happens next Frequently asked questions

Aerial view of a neighbourhood with solar panels on the roofs

How much does it earn?

Prices have fallen sharply since the 5 cts/kWh (centimes per kWh) of 2022 and 2023.

Three outlets for your guarantees of origin

OutletPrice in 2025Our advice
Buy-back by your distribution system operator (DSO)
where offered		Variable, sometimes still generousYour first choice if your DSO pays for GOs
Open market≈ 0.1 cts/kWhIn practice out of reach for small installations
Management by BUYECO0.1 to 0.8 cts/kWhFor producers whose DSO does not buy back GOs

For a family installation, expect a few tens of francs per year. It is not much, but without a buyer a GO simply expires. Some grid operators pay you nothing yet keep collecting your GOs for their own account. BUYECO guarantees neither the sale nor the price, but every GO entrusted to us ends up neither in the bin nor benefiting someone else.

What is a guarantee of origin?

Once in the grid, your electricity mixes with all the rest. To certify its origin, Pronovo, the Confederation's issuing body, issues a guarantee of origin for every kilowatt-hour produced by your installation. This GO is separate from the electricity: it is sold separately to a supplier or a company that wants to consume Swiss renewable power. This is the ecological added value. A GO without a buyer expires after one year: every year in Switzerland, millions of kWh of green production are lost this way. BUYECO is the only platform that allows small installations to make the most of them. Learn more.

Before you start: three checks

  1. Is your production fed into the grid below 100'000 kWh per year (the equivalent of a large industrial roof)? If so, this guide is for you. Above it, the chances are slim, but you can try selling yourself on the platform: see “How does it work?”.
  2. Do you have your Pronovo project number? Eight digits, found on Pronovo's letters.
  3. How often does your distribution system operator (DSO) send your production data? Some do so only once a year, in January: your GOs do not exist before then, and we cannot sell anything before then. Ask your DSO for a monthly transmission.

The 5 steps

Registration takes about ten minutes.

  1. Create your BUYECO account

    On the Register page, an e-mail address and a password are all you need. You then land on the My account page, with the status observer and the message “To do so, click here and follow the instructions”. Click this link to open the validation form.

    BUYECO registration form: e-mail address, password and password confirmation.

  2. Choose the Producer profile and mandate BUYECO

    Tick I want to buy or sell guarantees of origin on BUYECO, choose the Producer profile, then answer the question “Do you manage your own guarantees of origin or do you want to mandate BUYECO?” with:

    I mandate BUYECO to manage my guarantees of origin in the shkn.pronovo.ch register (free for producers and without duration commitment).

    It is this option that authorises us to request a standing order from Pronovo: your GOs will be transferred to us automatically to be sold, without you having to manage the registry.

    BUYECO validation form: checkbox “I want to buy or sell guarantees of origin”, Producer profile and the option “I mandate BUYECO to manage my guarantees of origin” selected.

  3. Describe your installation

    • Description: type of installation, quantity fed into the grid per year in kWh (or capacity in kWp) and the desired start date of the transfer.
    • 8-digit Pronovo project number.
    • Contact details and Swiss IBAN: this is where we will pay the proceeds of the sales.
    • VAT: private individuals not registered for VAT 0 %, VAT-registered companies the applicable rate (8.1 % in 2026). BUYECO cannot pay VAT retroactively: if the rate is wrong, you are answerable to the Federal Tax Administration (FTA).
    • Read and accept the general terms and conditions of sale (PDF), then click Save.

    One installation = one account. For two or three installations, create one account per installation using the same e-mail address followed by a “+” (firstname.lastname+roof2@example.ch) if your e-mail provider allows it. Aggregators: contact us stating your annual production.

    BUYECO validation form: installation description, 8-digit Pronovo project number, IBAN and acceptance of the general terms and conditions of sale.

  4. Wait for our validation

    Your account is now pending validation. Our team checks every request by hand, in particular the project number and the installation's address; at busy times, allow up to a month. As soon as it is accepted, you will receive the e-mail “Your account status has been updated”.

    My account page showing the message “Your account is pending validation”.

  5. Confirm the standing order in Pronovo's e-mail

    We then enter the standing order request in the registry, and Pronovo automatically sends you an e-mail (sender info@pronovo.ch) within minutes of ours. Click the confirmation link. Check your spam folder. No account in the Pronovo registry is needed.

    No confirmation within 30 days, no remuneration. Pronovo automatically cancels the request. Your BUYECO account stays validated, but no GOs reach us and you receive nothing. BUYECO does not send reminders: confirming is up to you.

What happens next?

Once the standing order is confirmed, you have nothing more to do. Each time GOs are issued, they are transferred to BUYECO's account; we pool them with those of other small producers and offer them to buyers. Payment takes place once a year: a statement of the quantities sold and the price obtained, then a transfer to the IBAN in your account. Amounts below CHF 1 are not paid out. If you receive nothing, it means nothing was sold for your installation over the period.

The quantities received appear at the bottom of your My account page (see our article on viewing your GOs). This update is done by hand, with no guarantee of timing or completeness: to know exactly how much your installation has produced, a call to Pronovo or your DSO's statements remain the most up-to-date source. You can end the mandate at any time.

Frequently asked questions from producers

These answers are based on the questions producers most often send us by e-mail. For a question about your standing order or your project number, contact Pronovo (contact details below); for everything else, write to us.

Before you start

Not much, and we prefer to say so. On the open market, a Swiss solar GO trades at around 0.1 cts/kWh, compared with the 5 cts/kWh sometimes obtained in 2022 and 2023. In 2025, BUYECO resold the majority of the GOs entrusted to it at between 0.1 and 0.8 cts/kWh. For a family installation, that amounts to a few tens of francs per year. BUYECO does not buy your GOs at a fixed price: we offer them to buyers, with no guarantee of sale or price.

If your distribution system operator (DSO) pays you for the ecological added value (look for this line on your feed-in statement), stay with it: some buy-back tariffs are well above the market. Several DSOs have, however, announced that they will stop buying back GOs. In that case, mandate BUYECO, stating in the form the date on which the transfer should begin, and ask your DSO or Pronovo to cancel the standing order still active in its favour. If your DSO starts paying again, you can go back to it at any time.

It is possible. Some distribution system operators (DSOs) do not pay for the ecological added value but keep collecting the GOs through a standing order registered in their favour with Pronovo, often since the installation was commissioned. As long as this order exists, no GOs reach us, even if you have mandated BUYECO. Ask your DSO whether such an order is in place and, if so, to cancel it. Pronovo's My project area can also tell you, using your project number.

There is no minimum size: BUYECO pools the GOs of many small installations to offer them together. Every installation registered with Pronovo receives GOs for the kilowatt-hours it feeds into the grid, which is the case for almost all photovoltaic systems that received the one-off remuneration (RU). Exception: installations under the feed-in tariff (KEV/RPC) or the feed-in remuneration system (SRI) cannot sell their GOs. Without a buyer, your GOs expire 12 months after production: every year in Switzerland, millions of kWh of green production are lost this way.

One installation = one account, opened by the plant operator themselves: they are the one who enters their IBAN and confirms the standing order with Pronovo. BUYECO does not validate an account managed by a third party (installer, property manager, relative) with their own address, but an installer can of course help their client fill in the form. For two or three installations belonging to the same operator, create one account per installation using the same e-mail address followed by a “+”. For many installations (aggregator, pool), contact us stating your annual production and whether you already have an account in the Pronovo registry.

No. BUYECO deals only with guarantees of origin. Your distribution system operator (DSO) continues to take and pay for the electricity fed into the grid at its usual tariff; nothing changes on your meter or your feed-in statement. The GO is a separate certificate, representing the ecological added value of that power.

The standing order with Pronovo

It is an instruction in the Pronovo registry that automatically transfers your installation's future GOs to the account of BUYECO Sàrl. BUYECO requests it, but only the plant operator can authorise it: hence the e-mail from Pronovo with a confirmation link. Until you have confirmed, no GOs are transferred and no remuneration is possible. The standing order can be revoked at any time.

Pronovo's e-mail is automatic and arrives a few minutes after our validation e-mail: first check your spam (sender info@pronovo.ch). Then check in Pronovo's My project area (project number and postcode) whether a standing order is pending, active or absent, or call Pronovo. If it is absent, write to us: we will reset your form and you fill it in again. If the request has expired, you will have received the notice “Automatic rejection of a standing order”: the procedure is the same.

These automatic notices start with your project number and state the beneficiary (BUYECO Sàrl), the validity period and the percentage transferred. The confirmation request is the only e-mail that requires action on your part. “Confirmation of the standing order”: the order is in place, keep it. “Automatic rejection”: not confirmed in time. “Cancellation”: the order has ended. If you receive such an e-mail without having mandated BUYECO, do not click anything and write to us.

At any time, with no notice period and no fees. Ask Pronovo to cancel the standing order in favour of BUYECO Sàrl, copying us in, or ask us to do it. Your new buyer, for example your distribution system operator (DSO), then enters its own standing order, which you will confirm in the same way. GOs already sold are paid to you in the annual statement. Deleting your BUYECO account does not stop the standing order: cancel it first, then write to us for the deletion, keeping your IBAN until the last payment.

No. A managed account can neither publish a listing nor respond to a call for tenders: the standing order transfers all of the installation's GOs to BUYECO, which sells them pooled. To sell yourself, choose self-management, with an account in the Pronovo registry and transfers to carry out yourself; we advise against it below 100'000 kWh fed into the grid per year.

Payment and tracking

Once a year: you receive a statement of the quantities sold and the price obtained, then a transfer to the IBAN in your account. Amounts below CHF 1 are not paid out. The first payment follows the sale of your first GOs, which may take more than a year after registration depending on how often your distribution system operator (DSO) sends your data. If you receive nothing, it means nothing was sold for your installation: no buyer, standing order not confirmed, data not sent by the DSO or IBAN missing. First check the standing order in Pronovo's My project area, then write to us.

Often, yes. Pronovo issues your GOs only after receiving your production data from your distribution system operator (DSO), and some DSOs send them only once a year, in January of the following year. The quantities shown in your BUYECO account are also updated by hand by our team, at best once a quarter. Ask your DSO for a monthly transmission, and check that the standing order has been confirmed.

VAT is due on the sale of guarantees of origin: private individuals not registered for VAT 0 %, companies and other VAT-registered entities the applicable rate (8.1 % in 2026). Enter the correct rate in your account when you register. BUYECO cannot pay VAT retroactively: in case of error, you remain responsible for paying it to the Federal Tax Administration (FTA).

Until the end of 2026, a supplier can use a GO produced at any time of the year to label electricity consumed in the same year. From 2027, the matching becomes quarterly: a GO produced in July only covers consumption from July to September. For you, the procedure does not change: BUYECO will sell your GOs quarter by quarter. Summer solar GOs, which are very plentiful, will find buyers less easily than winter ones, which may be reflected in prices.

Professionals talk in CHF/MWh, the general public in centimes per kWh (cts/kWh; Rp., for Rappen, is the German term for centimes): 1 ct/kWh = 10 CHF/MWh. So 3 CHF/MWh is 0.3 cts/kWh, not 3 cts/kWh. The price of a GO relates to the energy produced, never to the capacity of the installation, and it comes on top of the buy-back tariff for the electricity.

Ready to make the most of your production?

Free, without commitment, and your guarantees of origin no longer end up in the bin.

Create my account Contact us

A question about BUYECO or your account? Contact us (info@buyeco.ch).

A question about the Pronovo platform (standing order, project number, registry)? Pronovo can be reached Monday to Friday, 8–12 am and 1–4:30 pm, on 0848 014 014 (free from Swiss landlines) or by e-mail at info@pronovo.ch.

This guide is based on the BUYECO interface and Pronovo's procedures at the time of writing; they may change.

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