Subsidy voucher

What is a subsidy voucher?

A subsidy voucher is a right to a fixed subsidy that a household hands to an installer, who then claims the money from the funder. The household does not receive the subsidy itself. The installer takes the voucher value off the price and the funder pays the installer afterwards.

In Slovakia the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA) uses vouchers (poukážky) in the programme Zelená solidarita. That programme offers low-income households support of up to 90 % of eligible costs. SIEA also used them in the earlier rounds of Zelená domácnostiam, where a voucher covered up to 50 %. The new round, Zelená domácnostiam II, has no voucher. It pays the contribution to the household bank account after the installation. SIEA's FAQ calls this the end of the voucher system.

How does a household get and redeem a voucher?

The steps below follow the voucher route that SIEA describes for Zelená solidarita. The household applies for the voucher, the installer activates it, and SIEA checks the household. After SIEA issues the voucher, the installer installs the device and claims the money back.

Step	What happens	Who acts
1	The household reads the conditions, contacts several installers, chooses a device and signs a written contract with one installer.	Household
2	The household fills in the electronic application for a voucher and answers the email from SIEA within 24 hours. The application then joins a queue.	Household
3	The household sends the installer the activation code and the voucher number.	Household
4	The installer enters the code and number in the system, checks the installation address and activates the voucher request. SIEA says the installer should do this only when it is sure that the work fits inside the 90 days.	Installer
5	In Zelená solidarita, all household members, including all owners, sign consent forms with notarised signatures so that SIEA can check the income. SIEA then checks the conditions for low-income households.	Household and SIEA
6	SIEA issues the voucher and sends an information email. The contract on the grant and the use of the device, which includes the voucher, arrives by post in two printed copies.	SIEA
7	The household signs the contract, has the signature certified and gives it to the named installer within the validity period.	Household
8	The installer reserves the voucher in the system, installs the device and submits the reimbursement request with the documents.	Installer
9	SIEA assesses the request. If it is complete and positive, SIEA pays the approved voucher value to the installer.	SIEA

The installer has to be a registered installer with a contract signed with SIEA. The household therefore cannot use a voucher with just any firm.

How long is a voucher valid?

A voucher is valid for 90 calendar days from the date of issue. SIEA's step page says that the household must sign the contract, certify the signature and give it to the installer inside this period. The installer must then reserve the voucher in the system, install the device and submit the reimbursement request. SIEA's homepage repeats the same limit and says that the installer submits the documents within 90 days of the voucher issue.

The 90 days are short for work that depends on delivery times or on a roof survey. SIEA advises households to ask the installer how long the delivery and the installation will take and to agree on a deadline in the contract. An installer that activates a voucher without being sure of the schedule puts the voucher at risk.

Who gets the money?

In the voucher route SIEA pays the installer, not the household. The SIEA homepage states that the voucher is reimbursed to the installer's account after a successful check of the application. The installer's bank account is part of its profile. The registration page tells installers to enter it carefully, because the voucher payments go there.

SIEA's FAQ explains a weak point of this model. The installer deducted the voucher value from the price and SIEA reimbursed the installer. In 2024, funds were released in large amounts with higher support. Households then more often paid the full price, and the installer was to return the voucher value after SIEA paid. SIEA says that installers' requests contained more mistakes and that assessment slowed down. Households also had no influence on when the installer handed in the documents. These problems are the reason that SIEA gave for ending the voucher system in Zelená domácnostiam II.

How is Zelená domácnostiam II different from a voucher?

Zelená domácnostiam II pays a contribution after the installation, and the process is not the same as the voucher steps. SIEA published the general conditions on 21 September 2026. Households could request a reservation of funds from 2 November 2026. SIEA says that the registration itself does not change a household's place in the queue. The exact time of the reservation request decides the place. The table compares the two routes as SIEA describes them in November 2026.

Point	Zelená solidarita (voucher)	Zelená domácnostiam II (contribution)
Application	Application for a voucher, with consents for the income check	Registration of an application, then a request for a reservation of funds
Who submits the documents	The installer	The household, in a separate information system
Deadline	90 days from the issue of the voucher	45 days from the confirmation of the reservation
Installer	Registered installer with a contract signed with SIEA	Free choice of supplier
Who receives the money	The installer's account	The household's current account, after SIEA checks the documents and receives the signed contract

In Zelená domácnostiam II the 45 calendar days start on the day after SIEA makes the reservation, and the period cannot be extended. If the household does not send the full application inside it, SIEA cancels the reservation. The funds then go to the next applications in the queue. SIEA also says that a registration made in the old system does not carry over. A household that registered before must register again.

Some pages of the programme site still use the word poukážka, for example in the introduction to the ten steps of Zelená domácnostiam. The steps themselves describe the reservation and the payment to the household. For the new round, follow the steps, not the old word.

What should a household check before relying on a voucher?

A voucher helps only if the programme, the installer and the device all qualify. Check these points before you sign anything.

• Check which programme you apply to. Only Zelená solidarita still runs on vouchers. SIEA says that its current conditions apply to applications activated with the income consents delivered by 30 September 2026. For other applications new conditions apply.
• Check that the installer is on the SIEA list of registered installers, because only registered installers may carry out installations in Zelená solidarita.
• Check that the installed device is on the programme's list of eligible devices no later than the date of the reimbursement request.
• Sign a written contract with the installer and agree the installation deadline in it. The 90 days start when SIEA issues the voucher.
• Check the ownership rules. The property may not belong to a legal person or form part of the business assets of a business.
• Expect to run the device under the programme conditions for at least five years from the day the contract takes effect.

Heat pumps and pellet boilers are among the devices that Zelená domácnostiam supports, so the article on heat source replacement is a useful next read. For a renovation programme that works differently, see Obnov Dom, and for the costs that count, see eligible expenses.

What are the common misconceptions about vouchers?

The first misconception is that every SIEA programme uses vouchers. Zelená solidarita does. Zelená domácnostiam II does not. There the household chooses the supplier freely. SIEA warns that free choice does not mean that anyone may install the device. The household must check that the supplier is professionally qualified.

The second misconception is that a voucher is valid until it is used. It lapses 90 days after issue, and the installer's tasks fall inside that period.

The third misconception is that the household can always pay nothing up front. The voucher model was designed so that the installer deducts the value from the price. SIEA's own FAQ records that in 2024 many households paid the full price first. A household that pays in full must make sure that the contract says when and how the installer returns the voucher value.