Overview: Why Custom Electricity Tariffs?
In addition to the standard electricity tariffs predefined by Eturnity, you can create custom electricity tariffs for consumption and export in Eturnity Expert. This allows you to tailor profitability calculations precisely to your customers' local tariff situation — regardless of whether their energy supplier is included in the Eturnity tariff database.
Business benefit: With custom tariffs, you can accurately map complex tariff structures such as peak/off-peak tariffs, seasonal price differences, or commercial special tariffs. The result: more professional quotes with realistic payback periods and return on investment calculations that build your customers' trust.
In Eturnity Expert, three tariff types are available:
Standard tariffs: Predefined tariffs from the Eturnity database, based on the common energy suppliers in your region.
Custom company tariffs: Tariffs created by your company that can be used across all projects. These are defined in the settings.
Project-specific tariffs: One-time tariffs created directly within a project that apply only there — ideal for special cases of individual customers.
This article explains how to create and manage custom company tariffs in the settings, how to select them in projects, and how to create project-specific tariffs when needed.
Prerequisites
Creating and managing tariffs (in the settings): Requires the Administrator role. Users with the Project manager or User role do not have access to the electricity tariff settings page.
Selecting tariffs in projects: All user roles can select custom tariffs in a project's tariff library, provided at least one consumption and one export tariff have been created and activated.
Important: To use custom company tariffs in a project, there must always be at least one active consumption tariff and one active export tariff. If either is missing, the tariff type "Custom company tariffs" cannot be saved in the project.
Creating Consumption Tariffs
Consumption tariffs define the costs your customer pays for drawing electricity from the grid. These prices feed directly into the calculation of self-consumption savings.
Step-by-Step Guide
Navigate to Settings > Electricity tariffs > Consumption tariffs.
Click the Add consumption tariff button above the overview table.
Enter a descriptive Name (e.g. "Double tariff 2026") and select the Validity year. Optionally, you can define a Peak power tariff amount (CHF or EUR per kW/month) if the tariff includes a demand component.
Use the Split into summer and winter segments toggle to decide whether to map seasonal price differences or apply the same prices year-round.
Define the Default tariff. This price applies to all hours not assigned a specific tariff step.
Click the Plus icon to add additional tariff steps. For each step, enter a Name, a Price, and optionally a Color. You can create up to 6 additional tariff steps.
Click on an hour in the time bar on the right and select the desired tariff step. A tariff step can only be assigned once a name has been defined.
Adjust the time range using the left and right handles to extend the tariff step across multiple hours. You can assign as many time blocks per tariff step as needed. To delete a single time block, select it and click the Delete button. To remove an entire tariff step, use the three-dot menu next to the step name.
Click Save at the top of the page.
Note: Each tariff step created must be assigned at least once in the time bar before the tariff can be saved.
Creating Export Tariffs
Export tariffs define the compensation your customer receives for surplus solar electricity fed into the grid. These values affect the yield calculation and therefore the payback period of the PV system.
Step-by-Step Guide
Navigate to Settings > Electricity tariffs > Export tariffs.
Click the Add export tariff button above the overview table.
Enter a Name, select the Validity year, and define the kWp range (lower and upper values). The kWp range specifies which system sizes this export tariff applies to.
Use the Split into summer and winter segments toggle to decide whether seasonal price differences should apply.
Define the Default tariff — the base compensation per kWh that applies to all hours not otherwise assigned.
Add up to 6 additional tariff steps via the Plus icon (name, price, optional color).
Assign the tariff steps in the time bar by left-clicking the corresponding hours and days.
Adjust the time ranges using the handles and add additional time blocks as needed.
Click Save.
Tip: You can create multiple export tariffs for the same validity year and the same kWp range — for example, to map different compensation models. When selecting in the project, you can then specifically choose the appropriate tariff.
kWp Range in the Overview Table
The export tariff overview table shows the kWp range as a dedicated column between Year and Applied to projects. This gives you a clear overview of which tariff applies to which system size.
Managing Tariffs
Via the overview tables under Settings > Electricity tariffs, you can manage existing consumption and export tariffs. The available actions are found in the context menu of each tariff.
Duplicate Tariff
The Duplicate action creates a complete copy of the selected tariff — including all attributes such as year, kWp range, tariff steps, and status. The duplicated tariff appears in the overview table with a name suffix. This function is particularly useful when you want to create a similar tariff with slightly different prices or for a different year.
Edit Tariff
The Edit action is only available if the tariff is not currently used in any project. When editing, the tariff configuration page opens. If you make changes and want to leave the page, an unsaved changes dialog appears, alerting you to unsaved changes.
Note: If a tariff is already used in projects, you cannot edit it directly. In this case, you can duplicate the tariff, adjust the copy, and then deactivate the old version.
Delete Tariff
The Delete action permanently removes the tariff. This option is only available if the tariff is not used in any project. A confirmation dialog is shown before deletion.
Activate and Deactivate Tariffs
Using the Activate and Deactivate actions, you control whether a tariff is available for selection in projects.
Important: For destructive actions such as Delete and Deactivate, a confirmation dialog is always shown. Actions such as Duplicate and Activate are executed immediately and confirmed with a success banner.
Selecting Custom Tariffs in a Project
Once at least one consumption and one export tariff have been created and activated in the settings, all users can use these tariffs in projects.
Step-by-Step Guide
Open a project and navigate to Photovoltaics > Tariff library.
In the Tariff type dropdown, select Custom company tariffs.
In the Consumption tariff dropdown, select the desired tariff. Tariffs are displayed in the format
[Year] [Tariff name]and sorted in descending order by year (most recent year first).In the Export tariff dropdown, select the desired tariff. Tariffs are displayed in the format
[Year] [Tariff name] [kWp range].Click Save to apply the tariff selection.
Warning: No Active Tariffs Available
If you select the tariff type Custom company tariffs but no active consumption or export tariff exists, the system displays an information message. The message is role-dependent:
Administrators receive a prompt to create the missing tariffs under Settings > Electricity tariffs.
Project managers and users are asked to contact their administrator.
Note: Both tariffs — consumption and export — must be selected before saving is possible. If an active tariff is missing, the system displays a role-dependent information message: administrators are directed to the settings page, while project managers and users are asked to contact their administrator.
The selected tariff is saved with the project and used consistently in:
Simulations and profitability calculations
Project reports and quotation documents
Copied variants and duplicated projects
Creating Project-Specific Tariffs
If a customer's tariff situation is not covered by the company tariffs stored in the settings, you can create a project-specific tariff directly within the project. This tariff applies exclusively to the current project and is not visible to other projects.
Step-by-Step Guide
First, select an existing tariff to use as a template (standard tariff or custom company tariff).
Click the Add project specific tariff button.
Adjust the consumption tariff: Navigate through the configuration pages using the Continue button and change the values as needed (tariff steps, time periods, peak power tariff amount).
Adjust the export tariff in the same way. For project-specific tariffs, no kWp range is required.
Save the project-specific tariff.
Tip: Use this feature when a single customer has a special tariff that is not relevant as a company tariff for all projects — such as an individually negotiated commercial electricity contract.
Warnings and Validations
When starting a simulation, the system performs automatic checks to alert you to potential tariff issues. These warnings appear in the update simulation dialog as yellow notices but do not block the simulation — you can still start the calculation.
Warning: kWp Range
If the current PV system size is outside the kWp range defined in the selected export tariff, the following warning appears:
"The current PV system size is outside the valid kWp range for the selected export tariff."
To resolve this warning, you can either select an export tariff with a matching kWp range or adjust the PV layout.
Warning: Deactivated Tariffs
If the currently assigned consumption and/or export tariff has been deactivated in the settings, the following warning appears:
"The currently selected consumption and/or export tariffs are deactivated."
In this case, contact your administrator to reactivate the tariff, or select a different active tariff in the tariff library.
Best Practices
Efficient Tariff Management
Update tariffs annually: Create new tariffs at the beginning of each year with the current validity year and the latest prices. This ensures that new projects are automatically calculated with up-to-date values.
Use the duplicate feature: If a tariff changes only slightly (e.g. a price adjustment at the start of the new year), duplicate the existing tariff and adjust only the differing values. This saves time and reduces errors.
Stagger kWp ranges sensibly: Create export tariffs with kWp ranges that cover your typical system sizes (e.g. 0–10 kWp for residential properties, 10–100 kWp for commercial, 100–1000 kWp for large installations).
Deactivate unused tariffs: Keep the tariff overview tidy by deactivating outdated or no longer needed tariffs instead of deleting them — this keeps the assignment to existing projects traceable.
Practical Examples
Scenario | Recommended approach |
Single-family home with flat tariff | Consumption tariff with a single default price and no seasonal split. Export tariff with the local feed-in rate and kWp range 0–30 kWp. |
Single-family home with peak/off-peak tariff (HT/NT) | Consumption tariff with 2 tariff steps (peak tariff during the day, off-peak tariff at night/weekends). Assign time blocks according to the local utility. |
Commercial operation with demand tariff | Consumption tariff with peak power tariff amount (CHF/kW/month) and optional seasonal split. Export tariff with kWp range 30–100 kWp. |
Large installation with time-variable export | Export tariff with multiple tariff steps for peak hours (midday) and off-peak hours. kWp range 100–1000 kWp. Activate seasonal split for summer/winter differences. |