Eskom solar crackdown lies

Eskom is misleading the public when it claims it has communicated for years with residential grid-tied solar power users that unregistered systems are illegal, according to a major installer.

In fact, the power utility had not even allowed these households to register their systems until some time in 2023, and snuck in a modified application form including such rooftop solar users without notice to the public.

MyBroadband first learnt that Eskom started cracking down on grid-tied solar power systems in November 2024.

One of our forum members explained the power utility had arranged a town hall meeting with solar power users in his community, where an Eskom customer relations officer duly informed them their systems were illegal because they were not registered.

The officer explained that registration was necessary regardless of whether a system was configured to feed electricity back into the grid.

In addition, they said that regular “one-pager” electrical certificates of compliance (CoCs) were insufficient documentation to ensure the system’s safe operation.

Those customers who subsequently applied to register their systems were told they needed to do the following:

• Pay a conversion fee to switch to the compulsory Homeflex time-of-use tariff for grid-tied customers.
• Get sign-off from a structural engineer that roof structure is strong enough to support panels
• Provide a connection isolation point on the street accessible to Eskom staff at their own cost. Alternatively, they could install a dead grid safety lock or electromechanical switch with a coil energised from the utility’s side.
• Obtain an embedded generation installation compliance test report from an electrician registered with the Electrical Contractors Association of South Africa.
• Pay a refundable deposit for a new smart bidirectional meter.

In the case of the forum member, making his system Eskom-compliant would cost around R27,000, while his neighbour’s cost came to R50,000.

MyBroadband was curious to know what Cape Town-headquartered installer AWPower thought about Eskom’s approach.

The company has significant experience with the regulation of small-scale embedded generation (SSEG), and most of its customers have accounts with the City of Cape Town (CoCT).

Cape Town is one of a handful of municipalities with the most mature SSEG policies in South Africa.

It includes clear guidance and rules — including a list of approved inverters — and offers an online application system that makes it straightforward for customers to register their systems.

AWPower has also installed or worked on systems for customers who pay Eskom directly for their electricity and want to follow the utility’s rules to the letter.

Over the years, AWPower has gone out of its way to ensure the systems it installed comply with the power utility’s rules.

However, the installer told MyBroadband that Eskom appeared unbothered about residential installations for many years.

Although Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena recently told SABC News that the registration requirements are not new and have been communicated to customers since “2019 or 2020,” this has not been AWPower’s experience.

The latest SSEG application forms were published online in May 2022, with a revision date of April 2022 and an “effective” date of April 2021.

The installer explained that Eskom only accepted applications for installations with their own dedicated transformer or a shared commercial transformer up to two years ago.

It was only after a customer in Milnerton said that their neighbour had successfully registered their home system with Eskom in 2023 that AWPower became aware Eskom had changed the rules.

AWPower also alleged that Eskom had amended the SSEG application form at some point in 2023 to include the option to register residential systems without changing the revision date of April 2022.

The installer also explained that the website hosting the application form had a paragraph stating that applications were not yet open for residential systems. Eskom removed that line without making a major announcement.

Most of Eskom’s requirements are sensible — despite arriving late

While Eskom is being disingenuous about the extent of its registration awareness campaigns, AWPower said that its prescribed requirements for residential SSEGs may not be unreasonable.

Whereas an electrical CoC is a core requirement for installation in Cape Town, customers must also get professional sign-off from an electrical engineer who conducted an embedded generation test in person.

However, the installer said all Eskom’s grid-tied users must install bidirectional meters, unless they wanted to feed in.

One concern from Eskom could be that some users still have old “wheel”-style meters that can run back their consumption when electricity is fed in, nullifying the household’s consumed units.

While they are technically not stealing electricity, this activity is illegal as it could cause issues on the distribution network.

In addition, Eskom’s feed-in scheme only allows for getting feed-in credits for consumption within the same slot. For example, if electricity is fed in during off-peak hours, the credits for that power can only be used during off-peak hours.

However, Eskom can mitigate against this practice by requiring that grid-tied users who don’t want to export power install much cheaper smart prepaid electricity meters.

These will cut the customer’s grid connection off if feed-in is detected or even register exported electricity as consumption.

The installer also said it was strange that Eskom had told certain customers they would need to get approval from a structural engineer that their roof could hold their solar panels, a requirement that does not apply anywhere else.