KEY POINTS
- Outa urges households and businesses to delay registering solar systems until Eskom clarifies compliance rules.
- Dispute centers on whether engineers or licensed electricians should sign off residential solar installations.
- Customers face a March 2026 deadline to register or risk fines of about R6,000.
After the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) recommended that businesses and households postpone registering their solar systems until Eskom clarifies what the watchdog referred to as “irrational and unfair” compliance rules, South Africa’s drive towards rooftop solar power has encountered a new obstacle.
The call comes after executives from Outa and Eskom Distribution met earlier this month to discuss the registration requirements for small-scale embedded generation (SSEG). These include low-voltage solar PV panels and battery energy storage systems, which are becoming more and more popular among South Africans who are desperate to avoid the harsh load shedding that the nation suffers.
Eskom is still working on important issues that could impact millions of prepaid and postpaid customers, as well as those on its Homeflex tariff system, according to Outa, who said the discussions made clear. The group contends that customers shouldn’t sign up right away until then.
Dispute Over Who Should Sign Off Systems
At the heart of the standoff is a technical debate: who has the authority to sign off residential solar systems? Eskom currently requires an engineer or technologist registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) to approve grid-tied installations. Outa says that’s unnecessary red tape, insisting a standard Certificate of Compliance (CoC) from a licensed electrician is more than enough to guarantee safety.
“Eskom’s requirements go beyond its regulatory authority and unfairly penalize homeowners trying to cut their reliance on the grid,” Outa chief executive Wayne Duvenage said. He argued that existing laws — including the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the SANS 10142-1 electrical installation code — already provide the necessary safeguards.
Eskom, for its part, has defended the rules as a temporary measure while the South African Bureau of Standards finalizes updates to low-voltage solar regulations. Once those are complete, the utility says, a “clear compliance pathway” will be introduced.
The dispute comes as South Africa experiences record uptake of rooftop solar. The trend has been driven by years of rolling blackouts, pushing both families and firms to take matters into their own hands. Customers are required to register solar systems by March 2026 or face fines of more than R6,000, a deadline that has added urgency to the compliance debate.
