The City of Cape Town has launched a new online application portal for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations.

More than 5 000 solar PV systems have been authorised to date, totalling 126 MVA, with monthly applications to the city tripling between 2021 and 2023.

The new portal is expected to dramatically bring down solar PV authorisation timeframes, promises Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

“We pledged to remove obstacles to solar power investment and to make more of our services digitally available, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.

“Capetonians can now get a much faster turnaround on permission to install a solar PV system. With the city’s new online Energy Services Applications platform you can apply, track your status, and get approval in a shorter timeframe.

“Incentivising widespread take-up of safe, grid-tied solar PV is a key part of Cape Town’s plans to lessen Eskom reliance and end loadshedding over time,” adds Hill-Lewis.

“The city is looking to buy as much excess solar power as residents and businesses are willing to sell via the Cash for Power programme, under which Capetonians can earn municipal bill credits and cash.”

Authorising solar PV systems is a safety requirement as fires and power outages can be caused by inferior, unauthorised PV systems.

“The city has already halved the wait for Permission-to-Install letters by only accepting grid-tied small-scale embedded generation systems using city-approved inverters, for the safety of our customers, our city teams, private installers and our grid itself,” notes Hill-Lewis.

“We have also streamlined the process to get inverters onto our city-approved list, making the verification of applications easier and faster.

“Now, the new Energy Services Application portal will automate the issuing of Permission-to-Install letters for certain types of applications, such as small residential solar PV and battery systems, vastly reducing turnaround times.”

If residents already have a pending application, there is no need to re-submit that application.

The city says it will automatically upload all existing applications.

Any installer, property owner or service provider involved in solar PV installations must register on the city’s e-Services tab and activate the Energy Services tile in order to gain access to Energy Service Applications.

Register for e-services here: https://eservices.capetown.gov.za. Consumers can then apply to authorise their solar PV systems via the online portal: http://www.capetown.gov.za/ApplyForSSEG.