Solar power crackdown in South Africa

Eskom has repeated its warnings that any grid-tied solar power systems belonging to its customers that are not registered with the power utility are illegal, even if they do not feed power back into the grid.

In a recent interview with SABC News, Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said that small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) needed to connect to the grid in an “orderly” manner.

Mokwena explained under the terms of Eskom’s licencing with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), the power utility had a responsibility to protect the safety of its distribution network.

The power utility contends that a grid-tied solar power system needs to meet a wide range of requirements on top of the regular addendum electrical certificate-of-compliance (CoC) to be considered “compliant.”

Mokwena claimed that the registration policy was nothing new and that Eskom had hosted webinars encouraging customers to come forward to make their systems compliant since 2019 or 2020.

However, Eskom only published its official SSEG requirements and application form in April 2022 and appears to have done very little to promote registration in its general communications.

MyBroadband first learnt that Eskom staff have been visiting customers with grid-tied solar and demanding that they install additional equipment and obtain new approvals to ensure compliance in November 2024.

A MyBroadband forum member explained that an Eskom customer relations officer had told a community in an area directly supplied by the power utility that connecting a power plant to the national grid was a violation of the law.

According to Eskom, the CoC that registered and qualified electricians issued for these systems was insufficient, and the connections were “unsafe” and illegal.

While Mokwena was coy on the precise costs of making a grid-tied solar system “compliant,” the forum member explained that the costs included:

• A conversion fee to switch to the compulsory Homeflex time-of-use tariff for grid-tied customers.
• Sign-off from structural engineer that roof structure is strong enough to support panels
• Providing a connection isolation point on the street that is accessible to Eskom staff, alternatively a dead grid safety lock or electromechanical switch with a coil energised from the utility’s side
• Embedded generation installation compliance test report from an electrician registered with the Electrical Contractors Association of South Africa
• Refundable deposit for a new smart bidirectional meter

The forum member received a quote of R27,000 to make his system compliant according to Eskom’s requirements, while one of his neighbours was billed R50,000.

That is despite both already having an addendum CoC for their installations.

Rules out of tune with municipal requirements

It should be emphasised that Eskom’s registration requirements only apply to its direct customers.

Municipal electricity users must comply with the registration requirements of their municipality power utility, assuming there are any in place.

Eskom’s insistence on a generation installation compliance test report instead of a regular CoC is out of line with what is generally accepted in municipalities that have SSEG policies.

The City of Cape Town was one of the earliest metros in the country to require SSEG registration.

However, its only major cost contributor is that the customer uses an approved hybrid inverter that meets the SABS NRS 097-2-1 standard.

The CoCT’s current list includes thousands of models from all reputed brands and many lesser-known manufacturers.

The list is also regularly updated as new products come to the market and pass type testing.

The city only requires a bidirectional meter and additional equipment to allow employees to access the connection if a user wants to feed electricity back into the grid.

Most other municipalities don’t yet have formal SSEG registration systems in place.

The general approach to grid-tied installation in these areas has been that an addendum CoC is sufficient to ensure a system is compliant, as this serves as a professional electrician’s sign-off that the system is safe and won’t feed-in power illegally.

Requiring customers to spend tens of thousands of rand to make their systems “compliant,” according to Eskom’s definitions, could come back to haunt the power utility.

It would be cheaper for a disgruntled customer to go off-grid and buy a generator and integrate it with their distribution board to supplement their demand when self-generation or battery power is insufficient.

A MyBroadband cost analysis in January 2025 also found that many households would need to spend no more than R100,000 to upgrade their grid-tied system to off-grid.

While that cost might seem substantial, Eskom has proposed substantially higher fixed charges, which will significantly raise the electricity bills of low-consumption customers, including solar users.

In addition, Eskom is seeking tariff hikes with a combined increase of more than 60% over the next three years.

Nersa approved a much lower tariff hike for Eskom, and it remains to be seen how the power utility will react.

Either way, it might not take long for a R100,000 investment in self-generation and backup to deliver cost savings over sticking it out with Eskom.