Does this mean the municipality actually produces this much solar power?

No. It is the modelled potential of the available roof surfaces — the electricity they could generate if fully used. Actual installed photovoltaics produce far less. The figure comes from the BFE solar model and scales with how much roof area a municipality has.

National ranking · Data 2025 · Source: BFS

The greatest solar potential in Switzerland

Swiss municipality rankings →

Zurich (ZH) has the greatest solar-energy potential in Switzerland: its roofs could generate about 1'133 GWh of electricity a year. Next come Bern (561 GWh) and Basel (546 GWh). Because this is modelled roof potential, the large cities with the most roof area lead — it is not what these municipalities generate today. Source: BFE.

Top 100

BFE · 2025

Rank	Municipality	Roof potential	Canton	Residents
1	Zurich	1'133 GWh	ZH	440'935
2	Bern	561 GWh	BE	138'562
3	Basel	546 GWh	BS	180'097
4	Winterthur	466 GWh	ZH	120'741
5	Lausanne	434 GWh	VD	145'596
6	Geneva	420 GWh	GE	211'152
7	Lugano	364 GWh	TI	63'691
8	Bellinzona	358 GWh	TI	45'828
9	St. Gallen	323 GWh	SG	79'487
10	Sion	263 GWh	VS	37'844
11	Thun	260 GWh	BE	44'163
12	Biel/Bienne	254 GWh	BE	57'462
13	Lucerne	253 GWh	LU	86'699
14	Schaffhausen	219 GWh	SH	39'228
15	Köniz	212 GWh	BE	43'923
16	La Chaux-de-Fonds	202 GWh	NE	37'858
17	Chur	191 GWh	GR	39'753
18	Frauenfeld	191 GWh	TG	27'201
19	Mendrisio	186 GWh	TI	15'076
20	Neuchâtel	186 GWh	NE	45'466
21	Emmen	177 GWh	LU	32'777
22	Bulle FR	167 GWh	FR	27'276
23	Val de Bagnes	167 GWh	VS	11'044
24	Yverdon-les-Bains	166 GWh	VD	30'590
25	Martigny-Bourg	161 GWh	VS	22'513
26	Wil	157 GWh	SG	25'444
27	Sierre	157 GWh	VS	18'059
28	Uster	155 GWh	ZH	37'031
29	Val-de-Ruz	154 GWh	NE	17'543
30	Kloten	150 GWh	ZH	22'017
31	Meyrin	149 GWh	GE	27'380
32	Gossau	147 GWh	SG	18'943
33	Glarus Nord	147 GWh	GL	19'849
34	Rapperswil-Jona	146 GWh	SG	28'836
35	Vernier	146 GWh	GE	38'769
36	Langenthal	144 GWh	BE	16'233
37	Saanen	139 GWh	BE	6'967
38	Fribourg	137 GWh	FR	39'599
39	Crans-Montana	137 GWh	VS	10'782
40	Davos	134 GWh	GR	10'738
41	Burgdorf	133 GWh	BE	17'577
42	Baar	132 GWh	ZG	25'519
43	Val-de-Travers	128 GWh	NE	10'710
44	Altstätten	127 GWh	SG	12'788
45	Einsiedeln	126 GWh	SZ	16'667
46	Wetzikon	125 GWh	ZH	27'317
47	Dübendorf	124 GWh	ZH	33'214
48	Pratteln	124 GWh	BL	16'595
49	Oberriet	124 GWh	SG	9'417
50	Aarau	123 GWh	AG	22'932
51	Lyss	121 GWh	BE	16'613
52	Wädenswil	121 GWh	ZH	26'012
53	Kreuzlingen	120 GWh	TG	23'550
54	Zug	120 GWh	ZG	32'160
55	Baden	118 GWh	AG	24'012
56	Locarno	117 GWh	TI	16'463
57	Schwyz	116 GWh	SZ	16'735
58	Regensdorf	116 GWh	ZH	20'701
59	Grenchen	115 GWh	SO	18'973
60	Muttenz	115 GWh	BL	18'308
61	Hinwil	114 GWh	ZH	11'949
62	Weinfelden	114 GWh	TG	12'652
63	Conthey	112 GWh	VS	9'661
64	Dietikon	111 GWh	ZH	28'325
65	Volketswil	110 GWh	ZH	19'948
66	Monthey	109 GWh	VS	19'351
67	Wohlen	108 GWh	AG	18'162
68	Kriens	108 GWh	LU	30'685
69	Glarus Süd	107 GWh	GL	9'634
70	Amriswil	107 GWh	TG	15'225
71	Delémont	107 GWh	JU	12'991
72	Oftringen	107 GWh	AG	15'198
73	Lancy	106 GWh	GE	37'520
74	Willisau	105 GWh	LU	9'297
75	Olten	105 GWh	SO	19'265
76	Nendaz	103 GWh	VS	7'354
77	Aigle	102 GWh	VD	12'050
78	Estavayer	102 GWh	FR	10'812
79	Le Châtelard	101 GWh	VD	27'182
80	Ecublens	101 GWh	VD	13'747
81	Ollon	100 GWh	VD	8'297
82	Steffisburg	100 GWh	BE	16'599
83	Möhlin	100 GWh	AG	11'351
84	Satigny	100 GWh	GE	4'811
85	Brig-Glis	100 GWh	VS	14'197
86	Payerne	100 GWh	VD	10'938
87	Eschenbach	97 GWh	SG	10'401
88	Stabio	97 GWh	TI	4'518
89	Solothurn	96 GWh	SO	16'830
90	Arbon	95 GWh	TG	16'407
91	Murten	95 GWh	FR	9'525
92	Sarnen	95 GWh	OW	10'906
93	Illnau-Effretikon	95 GWh	ZH	17'973
94	Bülach	94 GWh	ZH	24'590
95	Uzwil	94 GWh	SG	14'676
96	Tafers	93 GWh	FR	8'030
97	Plan-les-Ouates	93 GWh	GE	12'644
98	Liestal	93 GWh	BL	16'081
99	Reinach	92 GWh	BL	21'003
100	Kirchberg	92 GWh	SG	9'879

Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), retrieved 24.09.2026

How we measure this

BFE

Modelled annual electricity that rooftop photovoltaics could produce across the whole municipality, in gigawatt-hours per year, from the BFE «Solarenergiepotenziale der Schweizer Gemeinden» model (2025 snapshot). It is a potential, not installed capacity or actual generation, and it scales with roof area — so large towns lead simply because they have more roofs. It is a rolling model snapshot, not an annual survey. The companion roofs-plus-façades scenario adds vertical surfaces.

Frequently asked questions

Does this mean the municipality actually produces this much solar power?: No. It is the modelled potential of the available roof surfaces — the electricity they could generate if fully used. Actual installed photovoltaics produce far less. The figure comes from the BFE solar model and scales with how much roof area a municipality has.