Does Solar Still Pay Off in 2025? Photovoltaics Costs, Savings, and Profitability Explained

At the moment, installers are often asked whether a photovoltaic system is still worth it at all.

In this article we take a clear look at the facts and show you which factors are decisive for profitability.

The profitability of a system does not depend only on the price. It is determined by several parameters that you should know when giving advice or making decisions.

Table 1 shows how the profitability of a sample system with 5.6 kWp changed between 2024 and 2025. The payback period increased from 10 to 16 years during this time.

How does this change in profitability come about? Below we analyze the most important variables using the example of a 5.6 kWp system in Villeneuve with the return calculator from EnergieSchweiz.

The analysis shows: Self-consumption is decisive for profitability

If you consume your solar power yourself, you save almost three times as much in 2025 compared to feeding it into the grid. This makes self-consumption the key to profitability.

If the photovoltaic system is aligned with household consumption, meaning the annual PV production is approximately equal to annual consumption, self-consumption usually amounts to only 15 to 30 percent. This means 70 to 85 percent of the solar power is fed into the grid.

The Swissolar profitability calculator shows how self-consumption affects payback time and profitability. The assumptions are shown in Table 2.

Table 3 shows the key figures for an expected self-consumption rate of 26%. This assumes unchanged household electricity consumption.

To help your customers benefit from higher self-consumption and better profitability, recommend solar monitoring. It makes self-consumption visible and helps adjust behavior to solar production.

With targeted use during sunny hours, self-consumption of up to 40% is possible. Examples include running dishwashers and tumble dryers during the day.

Table 4 shows that higher self-consumption reduces the payback period to 13 years.

If self-consumption is to be increased further, heating with a heat pump is a particularly effective solution. With smart control, self-consumption shares of up to 60% can be achieved. In our example in Table 5, the system pays for itself after just 10 years.

If an electric car is integrated into the overall system, significant additional increases in self-consumption can be achieved. Table 6 shows potentials of up to 70%. The crucial factor is that the car can be charged at home during midday hours.

The final measure to increase self-consumption is investment in a battery storage system. We will cover this topic in a separate blog post.

Figure 7 provides a clear summary of the various measures to increase self-consumption.

Conclusion: Solar is still worth it, with the right conditions.

Profitability depends less on the price per kWp and much more on self-consumption. Those who use as much solar power as possible themselves, for example through the smart control of household appliances, a heat pump, or an electric car, can significantly shorten the payback period.

While with 26% self-consumption the payback takes 16 years, with 60% it can be reached in just 10 years.

In summary:

• Self-consumption is the key to profitability
• Feed-in tariffs are uncertain and tend to decline
• Consulting, monitoring, and smart control make the difference