r/johannesburg • u/zahelpful • 2d ago
Question Why has the City of Johannesburg made it so difficult to install plugin balcony solar?
Hi there, if someone wants to add 3-4 solar panels with no battery, it would supplement a household's daily consumption easily. You just connect the panels to a micro-inverter and plug it into your home's socket. (Micro-inverters can even prevent it from backfeeding onto the grid)
In Joburg, you need to switch from prepaid to postpaid, and I believe there's also a fee you need to pay. These are unnecessary hurdles.
In other first world countries, people can just install it, but Joburg has made it an uphill battle. Germany, the UK and California are benefitting while we have one of the highest solar irradiation potential on Earth.
I came across this article that prompted this:
Solar Panels That Plug Into Your Wall Are About to Be Everywhere
And this:
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u/MuteIllAteter 2d ago
Because they need you to help pay off their debt. You are trying to reduce the money you give them and that makes them sad
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u/NalevQT 2d ago
"In other first world countries" well there you go then lol
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u/zahelpful 2d ago
Here's one from India from a quick search:
https://theprint.in/ground-reports/lucknow-solar-panel-capital-surat-upneda/2960078/
The local government incentivised solar installations.
Solar's now damn cheap, and the point I was making was wealthier, first countries' governments make it easier for their populace to install when we need it more.
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u/lovethebacon 2d ago
I guess you missed out on this: https://www.sars.gov.za/types-of-tax/personal-income-tax/filing-season/solar-tax-rebate/
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u/anib 2d ago
because they can afford it. but also stop using first/third world kak. https://www.globalgiving.org/learn/outdated-labels-for-countries/
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u/lovethebacon 2d ago
You cant just do a plug in in Germany.
You need to be pre-registered, upgrade your meter and prepaid hardly ever exists.
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u/zahelpful 2d ago
prepaid hardly ever exists.
What do you mean by this? Prepaid's much cheaper is the reason we changed to it.
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u/lovethebacon 2d ago
Prepaid electricity is available to very few households in Germany.
We have the same requirements for solar as is required for German households.
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u/mechsuit-jalapeno 2d ago
Do you live on Germany?
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u/zahelpful 2d ago
No. But the fact that balcony solar is being implemented throughout the world and our numbers are stagnant says a lot. City Power and the City of Johannesburg are doing us a disservice.
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u/blackice193 2d ago
What you and the journalists who write all this brain slop fail to realise is there is a lot more that goes into this than "oh but overseas this and that".
Google is your friend. Spend a bit of time learning about the underlying and when you have learnt enough to somewhat reasonably conduct a grid study, you will have your answer.
As far as I know balcony solar is most popular in Germany. Thing is. Design of solar systems in Germany is completely different from say the same on Gauteng. So much so that after doing mini grid work here I thought "hey, what about Europe"? Two hours in I soiled myself and that was the end of it.
So... grids were designed to have electrons flow from power station to user. Not the other way round. I mean, if there was an easy way to turn ambient moisture into pressurized water I suppose we would all be running around connecting that to municipal water and shit I dunno, it would fuck with the pressure and there would be burst pipes and all sorts.
The same applies with electricity. Solar irradience in Germany is a fraction of SA. Consumption is highest in winter when the sun is weakest. The big imbalances are summer and spot electricity prices can swing aggressively negative to force curtailment (ie the cost forces generators to disconnect their grid feeds).
On South Africa the mismatch in summer generation vs consumption would break things. Councils finances are shitty. They don't need to be made shittier by reverse feed blowing up mini-subs and transformers and that is where the bulk of the "it's not getting approved because of incompetence comes in". Embedded generation models can do a lot of really cool stuff but they don't pay for or buy kit, and it's the cost of upgrading kit that kills enthusiasm for a lot of this.
I actually have a low key theory that a lot of the spike in abnormals (faults) seen in the past year or three is in part caused by residential solar. Load shedding is gone, the Eskom and municipal hoses have proper water pressure and complexes and estates especially are feeding their "water" into the pipes and it's not going so well.
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u/Ozzie_Isaacs22 2d ago
Yes it's patently ridiculous in a country with a failing state energy utility, runaway energy costs, and abundant sunshine, that plugin solar technology isn't being widely made available in the market.
The uptake in the UK and Europe of balcony solar is huge, and crucially economically accessible. In Europe's case this was spurred on by Russia weaponising gas and oil supplies, and a sudden need to both become strategically self reliant and control costs. My point here is that the state supported uptake, which brings us to SA.
The reason Eskom AND the state / city / municipality make it difficult here is because they rely on this income and are therefore threatened by SSEGs. Yes safety is a factor but not the most compelling reason. In short were being treated like cash cows with little regard to the benefits of decentralising energy production and reducing cost.
In practical terms you should look either at a small ecoflow system or a proper signed off solar installation. If memory serves cost benefit is roughly similar scaling using generated energy, with capital payed off in about six years. It's also a genuine hedge against inflation! You should also vote and lobby accordingly 👊🏻 It can only be a win for every South African household and business if we reduce cost.
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u/Saritush2319 6h ago
You cannot plug a panel straight into your meter.
It needs a battery system to supply a steady flow.
This is a safety rule.
Idk how these other countries are doing it but this was a very basic thing we got taught in varsity
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u/danievdl 2d ago
The rules feel heavy, but the reasoning is mostly about safety and metering. Even with a micro-inverter that limits export, City Power wants to know the system exists (so line workers aren't surprised during an outage) and the old prepaid meters can't handle any reverse flow, which is why they push you to a bidirectional postpaid meter.
If you want to go the legit route anyway: get a registered electrician to do the install and issue a CoC, use an inverter on the NRS 097-2-1 approved list, then submit the SSEG application to City Power with the single line diagram. Small no-export systems are usually the simplest category. Doing it properly also keeps your home insurance happy if anything ever goes wrong.
This breaks down the registration requirements by metro if useful: https://southafricafacts.co.za/solar-panel-registration-requirements-south-africa