Cape Town checklist for buying a solar power system

[Bliksis]

If you have a completely not connected to their system solar install, they want you to sign up for SSEG.

SSEG requires you to sign up for a new connection if you don't have one.

So... they want you to sign up for a grid connection that you don't need, in order to be offgrid - and pay them a monthly fee.

I have deleted this question, it was phrased incorrectly.

 

[ghaye]

So their reason for registration is not really valid, just as I thought, hidden agenda. They want to control and tax the haves.

If you feel like a bedtime read go to the last pdf on the page. That will give your more insight into their requirement registration.

City of Cape Town Link

Sharing a City of Cape Town Page...

www.capetown.gov.za

 

[itareanlnotani]

I'm one of the few who does not yet have a solar setup.

Not a single one of my friends and colleagues that have solar, is grid tied, not one is paying additional taxes.

The same goes for my brother who has a leased system installed by GoSolr.

What am I missing?

Residential Use:

Cape Town Service Area Scenario 1:

You have solar, are grid tied and don't feed back.

Council will require you to install a pre-paid meter that will trip if you feed back. Council will require an engineering signoff, and a CoC.
Equipment needs to be NRS97 certified.

Costs currently stay the same as your current costs.


Cape Town Service Area Scenario 2:

You have solar, are grid tied and DO want to feed back.

Council will require you to install a four quadrant meter. Council will require an engineering signoff, and a CoC.
You will be liable for extra costs:

Remote Meter reading fee
SSEG tarriff.

Equipment needs to be NRS97 certified. Equipment must be under a certain size based on your feed (see table below)



At some point in the coming year (or next year), they will credit you for electricity fed back into the grid.
Until then, you will get credited based on usage, but can't make a "profit". Given the size restrictions this is quite unlikely.


Cape Town Service Area Scenario 3:

You have solar, are NOT grid tied, and do have a grid connection.
Nothing changes, other than requiring registration - with a CoC


Cape Town Service Area Scenario 4:

You have solar, are NOT grid tied, and do not have a grid connection. Council requires a CoC.

Cape Town also requires you to sign up for a grid connection, and pay monthly fee's for a connection you don't want.




------

That covers the current options, and requirements.


To clarify - "Grid Tied" above refers to a system being connected to Cape Town's electricity grid. It has nothing to do with the type of inverter you have - i.e hybrid or grid tied inverter.

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

Cape Town Service Area Scenario 1:

You have solar, are grid tied and don't feed back.

Council will require you to install a pre-paid meter that will trip if you feed back. Council will require an engineering signoff, and a CoC.
Equipment needs to be NRS97 certified.

Costs currently stay the same as your current costs.


Cape Town Service Area Scenario 2:

You have solar, are grid tied and DO want to feed back.

Council will require you to install a four quadrant meter. Council will require an engineering signoff, and a CoC.
You will be liable for extra costs:

Remote Meter reading fee
SSEG tarriff.

Equipment needs to be NRS97 certified. Equipment must be under a certain size based on your feed (see table below)

View attachment 1479571

At some point in the coming year (or next year), they will credit you for electricity fed back into the grid.
Until then, you will get credited based on usage, but can't make a "profit". Given the size restrictions this is quite unlikely.


Cape Town Service Area Scenario 3:

You have solar, are NOT grid tied, and do have a grid connection.
Nothing changes, other than requiring registration - with a CoC


Cape Town Service Area Scenario 4:

You have solar, are NOT grid tied, and do not have a grid connection. Council requires a CoC.

Cape Town also requires you to sign up for a grid connection, and pay monthly fee's for a connection you don't want.


View attachment 1479573

------

That covers the current options, and requirements.


To clarify - "Grid Tied" above refers to a system being connected to Cape Town's electricity grid. It has nothing to do with the type of inverter you have - i.e hybrid or grid tied inverter.

There are little hidden gems everywhere to watch out for. For example, for business use there is a higher electricity tariff if the business has a solar system. CoCT is now classifying all car garages as business zoning to squeeze more money from rate payers who have panels on their garage roofs.

 

[itareanlnotani]

There are little hidden gems everywhere to watch out for. For example, for business use there is a higher electricity tariff if the business has a solar system. CoCT is now classifying all car garages as business zoning to squeeze more money from rate payers who have panels on their garage roofs.

Yup, I only covered residential above. Have made that clearer.

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

Yup, I only covered residential above. Have made that clearer.

I am referring to residential garages.

 

[itareanlnotani]

I am referring to residential garages.

Can you link to the bylaws - having trouble finding more info.

 

[SauRoNZA]

And even with all that the compliance certificate means Jack ****.

Found that in the roof right at the man hole cover in the house my mom just bought and moved into this weekend.

Now besides the very bad insulation tape job and wiring being wide open…I’m pretty sure the insulation tape itself would be illegal even if done right.

Even if it isn’t illegal if this is the quality of workmanship you were happy to sign off on imagine how many other shortcuts there are.

Geyser isolator is also wide open on the side which I’m pretty sure qualifies it as having open contacts.

 

[konfab]

Right so rules and governance are a first world colonialist construct, gotcha. You been listening to too many of Julius's speeches.

The majority of rules and regulations passed by are antithetical to western liberalism.

Communists are the ones who want the centralised command. Me? All the state needs to do is protedt property rights and provide a judiciary. They need not to anything else.

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

Can you link to the bylaws - having trouble finding more info.

I did not see this in the bylaws, I saw this when people complained about it, so might not be true.

 

[WollieVerstege]

Residential Use:

Cape Town Service Area Scenario 1:

You have solar, are grid tied and don't feed back.

Council will require you to install a pre-paid meter that will trip if you feed back. Council will require an engineering signoff, and a CoC.
Equipment needs to be NRS97 certified.

Costs currently stay the same as your current costs.


Cape Town Service Area Scenario 2:

You have solar, are grid tied and DO want to feed back.

Council will require you to install a four quadrant meter. Council will require an engineering signoff, and a CoC.
You will be liable for extra costs:

Remote Meter reading fee
SSEG tarriff.

Equipment needs to be NRS97 certified. Equipment must be under a certain size based on your feed (see table below)

View attachment 1479571

At some point in the coming year (or next year), they will credit you for electricity fed back into the grid.
Until then, you will get credited based on usage, but can't make a "profit". Given the size restrictions this is quite unlikely.


Cape Town Service Area Scenario 3:

You have solar, are NOT grid tied, and do have a grid connection.
Nothing changes, other than requiring registration - with a CoC


Cape Town Service Area Scenario 4:

You have solar, are NOT grid tied, and do not have a grid connection. Council requires a CoC.

Cape Town also requires you to sign up for a grid connection, and pay monthly fee's for a connection you don't want.


View attachment 1479573

------

That covers the current options, and requirements.


To clarify - "Grid Tied" above refers to a system being connected to Cape Town's electricity grid. It has nothing to do with the type of inverter you have - i.e hybrid or grid tied inverter.

Nowhere there does it say a connection is compulsory. It only states if you want to also connect, then a request for a connection must be submitted as well.

Until someone actually shows me a law or bylaw that explicitly states a grid connection is compulsory, I'll write this up as an urban legend.

Mean time, I'll see the 4th person I know go off grid and have their grid connection removed in the CoCT, by the CoCT.

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

Nowhere there does it say a connection is compulsory. It only states if you want to also connect, then a request for a connection must be submitted as well.

Until someone actually shows me a law or bylaw that explicitly states a grid connection is compulsory, I'll write this up as an urban legend.

Mean time, I'll see the 4th person I know go off grid and have their grid connection removed in the CoCT, by the CoCT.

Grid connections removed recently in residential zoning? I would like to see proof of that before I believe it.

 

[CTPC]

Typical DA bullshit baffles brains again.
I applied for authorization Feb 2022. 12 months later and three email enquiries later, still nothing.
I spoke to another installer, than mine and they said most of their applications is older than 6 months.
Hello, DA controlled City of Cape Town, there is an energy crises currently ongoing ! Wake up and lets get the ball rolling !

 

[ghaye]

Typical DA bullshit baffles brains again.
I applied for authorization Feb 2022. 12 months later and three email enquiries later, still nothing.
I spoke to another installer, than mine and they said most of their applications is older than 6 months.
Hello, DA controlled City of Cape Town, there is an energy crises currently ongoing ! Wake up and lets get the ball rolling !

Are you waiting for the permission to install or to commission?

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

Typical DA bullshit baffles brains again.
I applied for authorization Feb 2022. 12 months later and three email enquiries later, still nothing.
I spoke to another installer, than mine and they said most of their applications is older than 6 months.
Hello, DA controlled City of Cape Town, there is an energy crises currently ongoing ! Wake up and lets get the ball rolling !

Like I said before, they are doing this on purpose to delay the move to self-sufficiency. DA is just a mini-ANC, always only that. Die socialist scum!

 

[Sapphiron]

And even with all that the compliance certificate means Jack ****.

Found that in the roof right at the man hole cover in the house my mom just bought and moved into this weekend.

Now besides the very bad insulation tape job and wiring being wide open…I’m pretty sure the insulation tape itself would be illegal even if done right.

Even if it isn’t illegal if this is the quality of workmanship you were happy to sign off on imagine how many other shortcuts there are.

Geyser isolator is also wide open on the side which I’m pretty sure qualifies it as having open contacts.

Exactly. Bureaucracy achieves nothing if the inspections are not carried out

Governments are more than happy to take your money, do busywork, but not do any actual work.

 

[Sapphiron]

Like I said before, they are doing this on purpose to delay the move to self-sufficiency. DA is just a mini-ANC, always only that. Die socialist scum!

The DA is rapidly turning into the south african GOP.

pro corporate funding and pro their own pockets and pro centralization. Exactly like the ANC, just less liberal.

 

[Benedict A55h0le not]

The DA is rapidly turning into the south african GOP.

pro corporate funding and pro their own pockets and pro centralization. Exactly like the ANC, just less liberal.

I looked at their increases, and they award their own salaries the same increases that they impose on the people/rates & taxes. Rates go up by 15%, then there is a 15% salary increase across the board. While they are killing the middle-class, they make sure they are not part of the slaughter by giving themselves big increases that the private sector can only dream about. The DA living the socialist dream.

 

[Sapphiron]

I looked at their increases, and they award their own salaries the same increases that they impose on the people/rates & taxes. Rates go up by 15%, then there is a 15% salary increase across the board. While they are killing the middle-class, they make sure they are not part of the slaughter by giving themselves big increases that the private sector can only dream about. The DA living the socialist dream.

One thing I would like engrained in our constitution is that the salaries of public servants should be linked to the median salary of the average person in South Africa. If the median salary in SA goes down because of unemployment, they take a salary decrease.

 

[WollieVerstege]

Grid connections removed recently in residential zoning? I would like to see proof of that before I believe it.

Wait a minute, you say the city compels residents to having a grid connection. The only way to do that is via a bylaw, or law. So if I post evidence of said disconnections, by your logic, I'd be posting evidence of a crime. Not going to prejudice anyone like that.

What I can do is post a copy of my own rates bill showing my fixed charge as R0.00.

The simplest way to resolve this impasse to simply provide the bylaw/law that you say the city is using to force people to stay on the grid.