The City of Cape Town says its “rooftop solar boom” has reached a new record, with August seeing the highest ever level of solar photovoltaic (PV) installation applications. 

More than 1 500 small scale embedded generation (SSEG) applications were received in August, which is a 50% increase compared with July, the previous record month at around 1 000 applications. 

This comes as more and more Capetonians are installing solar PV and battery systems to side-step loadshedding and to take advantage of forthcoming incentives which will see the city pay cash for power generated by residents. 

The city says it is working to shorten authorisation times by developing an online applications portal. 

“Turnaround times are also expected to be drastically reduced from October 1 ­­– the date from which all SSEG systems 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 which are not wired correctly, a practice which is contributing to extended outages when power returns after loadshedding.”

The city notes that each new month since May has broken the previous record set for solar PV applications, with more than 100 MW of capacity already installed.

“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,” says Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

“Enabling more rooftop solar forms part of our broader plans to add 1 GW of independent power from various sources to Cape Town’s grid over time. 

“The first 650 MW 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; 500 MW of dispatchable energy; as well as demand management programmes, including the forthcoming Power Heroes incentives for households to flatten peak usage,” notes Hill-Lewis.

“The city is moving toward a future grid for all – where customers use and generate electricity as part of an integrated network,” adds Cape Town Energy MMC Beverley van Reenen.

“This is the exciting future of the changing energy environment internationally and also in our own backyard.”