Deadline For All Property Owners In Cape Town To Register Rooftop Solar PV Systems

The City of Cape Town has set 28 February 2019 as the deadline for all rooftop solar PV owners to register their installations for authorisation in accordance with the City’s Electricity Supply By-law.

This applies to grid-tied and off-grid small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) systems but does not apply to solar water heaters.

The City underlined that connecting a SSEG system to the grid can pose a safety risk and as such the City must ensure that all generating equipment is approved and installed correctly.

Since 2010 all SSEG systems must be registered with the City. This registration is anticipated to become a national legal requirement.

Emergency equipment such as standby generators do not need to be registered unless they are synchronised or connected to the City’s electrical distribution network.

Once customers have registered their system, they have six months in which to demonstrate compliance and receive written authorisation from the City.

To ensure that the system is safe and legal:
 
All permanent grid-tied electricity generators in the area supplied directly by the City must be authorised in writing

Unauthorised generators that are grid-tied will be considered to be a form of tampering

Off-grid systems must also be registered so that they are not mistaken for grid-tied systems

Switching to SSEG tariff

The City is also encouraging all the customers who wants to be credited for excess energy production to register for authorisation for a grid-tied feed-in system.

Alternatively, customers must install an AMI meter if they do not already have one and switch to the SSEG tariff.

Running a meter backwards or feeding onto the grid without authorisation is not permitted, the City warned.

For information on the City’s SSEG programme go to www.SavingElectricity.org.za.