Cape Town’s rooftop solar boom is at record levels, with August seeing the highest ever solar PV installation applications to the City.
Also read: City working to streamline solar PV approvals for a shorter turnaround time
More than 1 500 small-scale embedded generation applications were received in August 2023, a 50% increase compared to July, the previous record-holding month at around 1 000 applications.
This is the result of more and more Capetonians installing solar PV and battery systems to avoid Eskom’s loadshedding and to take advantage of forthcoming City incentives to pay cash for power generated by residents.
The City is working to shorten authorisation times by developing an easy-to-use online application portal. Turnaround times are further expected to be drastically reduced from 1 October, the date from which all SSEG systems will need a City-approved inverter and professional sign-off, with all systems to be regarded as grid-tied. This is due to an increase in fly-by-night operators offering systems of inferior quality or with faulty installation, a practice that is contributing to extended outages when power returns after loadshedding.
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‘Each new month has broken the solar PV applications record for four months straight since May 2023, with over 100 MW and counting of installed capacity in Cape Town,’ said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
‘We are determined to make it more viable for households to go solar, with a cheaper AMI meter option to be rolled out early in the new year, alongside Cape Town’s cash for power incentives for households and businesses to sell their excess power to us.’
‘Enabling more rooftop solar forms part of our broader plans to add 1GW of independent power from various sources to Cape Town’s grid over time. The first 650MW is forecasted to come online by 2025/26 to protect against the first four stages of Eskom’s load-shedding, which will be achieved largely through a mix of Steenbras Hydro Plant; 500MW of dispatchable energy; and demand management programmes, including the forthcoming Power Heroes incentives for households to flatten peak usage.’
In a recent address to solar energy stakeholders, Mayco member for energy, Beverley van Reenen explained that the City was moving toward a future grid for all – where customers use and generate electricity as part of an integrated network.
‘This is the exciting future of the changing energy environment internationally and also in our own backyard. We have been sending the signal for a few months now that from 1 October, only SSEG systems using City-approved inverters with professional sign-off will be authorised, and all systems will be regarded as grid-tied. This will dramatically improve the authorisation turnaround time, improve safety, prevent the risk of area outages due to inferior systems connected to the grid and help to protect our homeowners from the many fly-by-night operators out there. We thank those in the industry who are already driving safe and legal systems, our teams are here to assist all stakeholders in this transition,’ she added.
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Picture: Supplied / CoCT