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Registering home solar with the City, when it doesn’t export
Every solar system connected to a City of Cape Town supply has to be registered with the City, including one that never feeds a single unit back to the grid. Since 1 October 2023 the City treats every system on its supply as grid-tied, batteries and hybrids included, and a grid-tied system needs the City’s written authorisation.
This page sets out what the City requires, what the registration involves, and what it changes. Nothing here is hidden or proprietary — the City publishes its requirements, and you can check every point against the sources at the end.
Installed years ago, never registered? That is the normal case.
Most people who register with us have had solar on the roof for a while. Registering late is ordinary. The City processes applications for systems that are already installed as a matter of course, through the same steps described below.
The City wants systems registered, safely configured and correctly metered. It does not penalise people who come forward to do exactly that.
It usually comes up for one of three reasons: the house is being sold and the conveyancer asked, an insurer wants proof the installation is authorised, or the owner simply wants it done properly. Each of them is answered by the same document: the City’s approval letter.
- Steps
- 5
- Typical approval
- About a week
- Site inspection
- One, before the engineer signs off
- Engineer sign-off
- Required
Registration is not optional for a non-export system
The City’s requirements give a grid-tied system two modes: with export, or with no export. A system with no export has to have reverse power flow blocking so that nothing reaches the grid — and the City is explicit that a system connected through that blocking is still grid-tied and still needs authorisation.
What the City does not count as SSEG is narrow: solar water heaters that heat water directly from the sun, and plug-in portable inverters that are not wired into the distribution board and have no fixed panels. A system described as “off-grid” or “standby” on a property with a City supply is treated as grid-tied, and a solar PV geyser needs authorising too.
A Certificate of Compliance is not City approval
Your electrician issues a Certificate of Compliance for the wiring in your house. It is a necessary document and the City asks for it, but it is not registration. Having one does not mean the City knows your system exists. This is the single most common misunderstanding we correct.
If you hold a Commissioning Approval letter from the City for the system on your roof, you are registered. If you do not, you are not. Even with the letter, it is worth checking that the City finished its side, such as swapping a credit meter for a split prepaid meter.
The inverter has to be on the City’s approved list
The City keeps a list of inverters it accepts for grid-tied systems. The list applies to every grid-tied system, exporting or not, so choosing not to export does not get around it. If yours is not on it, it is replaced before the system can be registered.
An ECSA-registered professional signs it off
The City requires its commissioning report to be completed and signed by a professional registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa. It is the step homeowners most often get stuck on, because a homeowner cannot sign it and most installers cannot either.
This is the process as we run it for a home that does not export. The tags on each step say who does the work.
Your details, and the inverter check
YouGrid OkesYour name, number and email, then your inverter’s make and model if you have it to hand. Your inverter has to be on the City’s approved list whether or not the system exports, so it is checked before anything else: before we book an inspection if you give us the model, or by the engineer from the photo we take of its label if you leave it blank.
An inverter that is not on the list cannot be registered. It is replaced, and there is no paperwork route around it.
We inspect and document the installation
YouGrid OkesYou pick a day for our site inspection. We photograph the inverter label, the DB board, isolators, earthing and the panels for the engineer, and collect documents such as your Certificate of Compliance and the spec sheets from your installer’s handover pack. Nothing is paid until after the inspection.
An ECSA-registered engineer reviews them and signs off
ECSA engineerAn ECSA-registered professional checks that the inverter is approved and set up not to export, and signs off the installation. The City requires that sign-off for every grid-tied system, exporting or not. A homeowner cannot sign it, and neither can most installers.
The application is lodged, and the City approves in about a week
Grid OkesThe CityThe application goes in on the City’s e-Services platform, against your municipal account. The account holder’s details have to match the account exactly. We answer the City’s queries, and send you the approval letter and your compliance pack.
The City’s meter swap, where it applies
The CityIf you are on a credit meter, the City exchanges it for a split prepaid meter at its own cost. The City arranges and runs that itself.
Your meter
A credit meter can run backwards when solar is connected, so the City does not leave one in place on a registered system.
- A credit meter drawing under 100 A — the City replaces it with a split prepaid meter, at the City’s cost. This covers almost every house.
- A supply drawing more than 100 A — the City asks for the capacity to be reduced below 100 A, or for an AMI meter at the owner’s cost.
- Already on a prepaid meter — nothing changes at the meter.
Your tariff
The City bills registered solar homes on its Home User tariff, which has a R424.30 monthly service charge. Whether that changes anything for you depends on how you pay today:
- Already on Home User (a monthly bill, or a property valued at R1 million or more) — No change
- Prepaid, with a property valued under R1 million — Roughly R90–R260 a month more for most solar homes
- On Lifeline — Talk to us first: registering ends Lifeline and free basic electricity
When you sell
The City’s requirements deal with a change of ownership directly. If the system is authorised, the new owner signs a new Supplemental Contract with the City and carries on. If it is not, the new owner becomes responsible for getting it authorised, or for having it decommissioned, and the Certificate of Compliance issued for the transfer has to state whether the system is connected or disconnected.
That is why conveyancers ask. An unregistered system is something a buyer can insist is fixed before transfer, or price into their offer. The approval letter answers the question before it is asked.
These do not apply to every property. Open only the ones that describe you.
Overhead supplyIf your supply comes in from a pole
An overhead supply does not stop you registering a system that does not export. The City’s requirement to convert the supply to underground applies to systems that export. A non-export registration leaves your supply as it is.
Panel height and heritage propertiesIf your property is heritage-affected
Registration is an electrical process, but it does not override the City’s planning and heritage rules. Two things can bring a second approval into play:
- Panel height above the roof. Panels mounted flush to the roof are generally treated as part of it. An array more than 1.5 m above the roof surface, or more than 600 mm above the highest point of the roof, can need building-plan approval. Tilt frames are the usual reason.
- Heritage status. Properties older than 60 years, and anything in a heritage protection overlay zone, can need heritage consent for visible roof changes.
Where that clearance is needed, the City will not consider the application until it is in hand. We tell you at the start if your property is likely to be affected.
Lifeline and free basic electricityIf you are on Lifeline
Registered solar homes are billed on Home User, so registering ends Lifeline and any free basic electricity. If you are on Lifeline, talk to us before you start, so you can weigh that up first.
Taking the system out insteadIf you would rather remove it
The City’s alternative to registration is decommissioning. The system is disconnected from the network at the owner’s cost, an electrician issues a Certificate of Compliance saying so, and a decommissioning report is submitted to the City. If the panels stay on the roof, the City charges for a compulsory AMI meter; if they come off, it fits a split prepaid meter at its own cost.
How we do it: R3,500, once-off.
We inspect and document the installation, check the inverter, our contracted ECSA-registered professional signs off the installation, and we lodge the application, answer the City’s queries and send you the approval letter and compliance pack. Paid in full after the site inspection.
See SSEG registrationAbout a week to approval · Nothing to pay until after our inspection
Sources
Everything on this page traces back to a published document. These are the ones it rests on, so you can check any of it yourself rather than taking our word for it.
City of Cape Town — primary
- Requirements for Small-Scale Embedded GenerationSeptember 2023, v51. That every system on a City supply is treated as grid-tied from 1 October 2023 (Scope), non-export systems and reverse power flow blocking (§1.4), the credit-meter swap and the 100 A rule (§1.7b), change of property ownership (§1.12), decommissioning (§1.13), the application steps (§2.3) and approvals from other City departments (Appendix 2).
- Energy Services Applications: SSEG How-To GuideThe e-Services platform process, and confirmation that the ECSA professional named on the application completes commissioning sign-off.
- Understanding Residential Electricity TariffsConfirms residential SSEG customers are billed on Home User, and sets out the 2026/27 Home User and Domestic rates.
Corroborating — third party
- ECA(SA): Navigating SSEG Installations in Cape TownUpdated October 2025 with City input. An independent confirmation that ECSA professional sign-off is still required.
This page describes the City of Cape Town’s residential SSEG registration for systems that do not export, current to 8 October 2026. The City publishes its own requirements, forms and approved-inverter list at capetown.gov.za, and reviews them periodically. Grid Okes is an independent service by Edna Labs (Pty) Ltd and is not affiliated with the City of Cape Town. Approval and metering decisions rest with the City.