ABSTRACT
"Solar electricity from the utility" is the name of an action within the Swiss National Action Programme Energy 2000, aimed at providing customers of utilities with the service of solar electricity. The fundamentals of the action can be described as a marketing approach towards both utilities and their customers in order to deploy the market for solar electricity for customers willing to buy this product at generation costs. After four years of operation, this action has achieved remarkable results: 90 utilities participate in the action as of spring 2000, half of the Swiss population now has access to this service, 3.4 MWp of photovoltaic power systems have been installed within this concept and 3.5 GWh of electricity are subscribed annually. A marketing survey shows that the market potential for this service is by far not yet saturated and highlights successful marketing strategies.
