All grid-tied solar power systems, connected to the Eskom network and not registered with the electricity provider, have been dubbed ‘illegal’ regardless of whether they are not feeding electricity back into the grid, reports Cape {town} Etc.
Eskom has further stated that it regards the typical certificate of compliance (CoC), which qualified electricians often issue to declare a solar power installation safe and complaint, as insufficient.
Reportedly, Eskom representatives have been making on-site inspections to locations with the grid-tied solar power systems. Where applicable, the representatives have mandated that additional equipment be installed and new approvals be obtained, in order to comply with Eskom’s requirements.
MyBroadBand has however reported that following these on-site visits, affected parties had to incur expenses for new biderectional meters and relevant conversion fees. Certain affected parties have claimed that the incurred expenses amounted to tens of thousands in total.
According to Eskom however, the shift towards more integrated electricity systems and new energy solutions has resulted in a growing number of consumers generating and distributing their own energy via the installation of small-scale embedded generation (SSEG). Eskom’s SSEG programme also responds to the large demand alternative clean energy which can be integrated back into the national grid.
Further commenting on the matter, Eskom stated that given that the installation is grid-tied, it will require authorisation by the power utility, even though it does not export energy into the distribution network.
Authorisation can be obtained via application, payment of fees and signing of new contracts covering the tariff, legal, regulatory, metering and technical requirements, concluded the power utility.
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