Solar Registration in South Africa: OUTA and Eskom Remain at Odds as 30 September Deadline Arrives
30 September 2026 | Industry News & Regulatory Update
South Africa’s solar industry has reached another important date in the ongoing debate surrounding the registration of residential solar PV and battery systems.
Today, 30 September 2026, marks the end of Eskom’s current waiver of certain registration, quotation, connection and metering charges for qualifying Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) installations of up to 50 kVA.
But while Eskom continues to maintain that grid-connected SSEG installations must be registered, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) continues to challenge the legal basis on which Eskom says it can compel residential customers to do so.
For electricians, solar installers, Registered Persons and electrical contractors, it is important to understand that there are currently two clearly different positions being presented.
This article does not attempt to decide the legal dispute. Instead, we look at what Eskom says, what OUTA is challenging, what has changed during their engagements, and what electrical contractors should be telling their customers.
Eskom's position: Grid-connected SSEG must be registered
Eskom's published position remains that households and small businesses with SSEG systems below 100 kVA that operate in parallel with its network must register those systems with Eskom, even where the installation is configured not to export electricity.
Eskom states that registration is necessary to ensure that embedded generation is safely and responsibly integrated into the electricity network.
Among Eskom's stated concerns are:
- possible back-feed onto the electricity network;
- safety of personnel working on the network;
- voltage and power-quality effects;
- network planning; and
- ensuring that embedded generation complies with applicable technical requirements.
Eskom's current SSEG information states that customers registering an installation generally require three key documents:
- A valid electrical Certificate of Compliance (CoC) signed by the appropriate Registered Person;
- An NRS 097-2-1 type-test certificate for the inverter; and
- An Embedded Generation Installation test report.
Eskom also confirms that the EGI test report may be signed by an appropriately registered Installation Electrician or Master Installation Electrician and is no longer restricted to an ECSA-registered professional.
This is itself an important development for our industry.
The 30 September 2026 fee waiver
Earlier this year Eskom extended its SSEG registration fee waiver from 31 March 2026 until 30 September 2026.
According to Eskom, qualifying systems up to 50 kVA could benefit from waived registration-related charges, including certain quotation, connection and metering costs.
Eskom indicated that this could represent assistance of more than R10,000 for some urban/residential customers and considerably more for certain rural customers.
Eskom's published 2026/27 Schedule of Standard Fees also records the six-month SSEG concession from 1 April to 30 September 2026 and sets out the standard quotation, connection and metering charges that otherwise apply.
As at 30 September 2026, contractors should therefore not assume that the current waiver will continue beyond today unless Eskom formally announces a further extension.
OUTA challenges the legal basis
This is where the matter becomes considerably more complicated.
OUTA is not arguing that solar installations should be unsafe or that electrical compliance is unnecessary.
In fact, OUTA strongly supports the requirement that installations must be properly installed, inspected, tested and covered by a valid electrical Certificate of Compliance.
Its dispute is specifically about whether Eskom has demonstrated the legal authority to impose an additional compulsory registration regime on compliant residential solar PV and battery systems installed behind the electricity meter.
OUTA argues that a low-voltage residential solar PV/BESS installation below 100 kVA, situated behind the meter and connected to the customer's electrical installation, is already subject to electrical safety requirements under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Electrical Installation Regulations and applicable national standards.
OUTA maintains that Eskom has not adequately demonstrated where the Electricity Regulation Act or associated regulatory framework gives Eskom the authority it claims to compel registration of these installations.
That interpretation is disputed by Eskom.
Eskom maintains that the regulatory framework requires grid-connected SSEG systems to be registered with the relevant electricity distributor.
The meeting between Eskom and OUTA
An important development occurred when OUTA met senior representatives of Eskom Distribution on 2 September 2026.
Following these engagements, Eskom's position appears to have softened in several important respects.
According to OUTA, Eskom confirmed that residential customers would not simply be fined or disconnected solely for failing to register their solar systems.
OUTA also reported that Eskom had dropped the previous requirement for an ECSA-registered professional to sign off these installations.
Eskom's own current SSEG information supports the latter change: its requirements now allow the relevant installation test report to be signed by appropriately registered electrical persons, including Installation Electricians and Master Installation Electricians.
This is an important distinction from some of the more alarming messages that circulated previously.
It does not, however, mean that Eskom has abandoned registration.
Eskom's official position remains that qualifying grid-connected SSEG systems must be registered.
The real argument: What happens behind the meter?
At the centre of the dispute is a fundamental regulatory question:
Where does Eskom's authority over its distribution network end, and where does the electrical installation governed by the OHS Act and Electrical Installation Regulations begin?
OUTA argues that compliant residential PV and battery systems installed behind the customer's electricity meter fall primarily within the electrical installation regulatory environment.
Eskom takes the broader view that because these systems operate in parallel with its distribution network, their operation can affect the network and therefore requires registration and technical oversight.
This is why the debate is about much more than filling in an application form.
It concerns the boundary between:
electrical installation safety and compliance, and
electricity distribution network regulation and connection requirements.
What about the Certificate of Compliance?
For electrical contractors this is perhaps the most important part of the entire discussion.
Regardless of the OUTA/Eskom disagreement, a solar installation does not suddenly become exempt from electrical safety requirements.
A valid CoC remains critically important.
OUTA specifically advises homeowners to ensure that solar installations are properly installed, that the applicable technical standards are met and that a valid CoC is obtained and retained.
Eskom similarly requires a valid CoC as one of the principal documents supporting its SSEG process.
So there is one point on which both sides are effectively aligned:
Solar installations must be safe and technically compliant.
The disagreement concerns the additional registration process and the legal authority behind it.
Registration and electrical compliance are not the same thing
This distinction needs to be understood by contractors and consumers.
A Certificate of Compliance relates to the electrical installation and confirms compliance within the applicable electrical installation regulatory framework.
SSEG registration, on the other hand, is the process Eskom says is required for generation operating in parallel with its distribution network.
The two should therefore not be presented to customers as though they are the same document or the same regulatory process.
Having registered an SSEG system does not remove the requirement for a valid electrical CoC.
Similarly, the present dispute is whether a compliant installation with a valid CoC must additionally be registered with Eskom under the authority Eskom claims.
What about completely off-grid installations?
Eskom makes an important distinction for installations that are genuinely independent of its network.
According to Eskom, customers who are fully off-grid and not connected to Eskom's network do not have to register the generation system, although they may need to declare and demonstrate that the installation is fully independent from Eskom's supply.
Contractors should therefore be careful with terminology.
A system configured for zero export is not necessarily the same as a fully off-grid system.
A hybrid inverter that remains electrically connected and operates in parallel with the utility supply may still fall within Eskom's definition of SSEG even when export is prevented.
Eskom customers versus municipal customers
Another important warning: this dispute must not automatically be applied to every electricity consumer in South Africa.
OUTA's September communication specifically notes that the position discussed in its engagement with Eskom relates to Eskom-supplied customers.
Municipal electricity distributors may have their own requirements, processes and by-laws.
An electrician working in Cape Town, Johannesburg, George, Tshwane or another municipal supply area should therefore establish the requirements of that particular electricity distributor.
Do not simply assume that an Eskom procedure—or an OUTA challenge to an Eskom procedure—automatically determines the requirements of a municipality.
What should electrical contractors do right now?
For contractors, the safest professional approach is to separate what is legally undisputed from what is currently being challenged.
First and foremost, ensure the installation itself is compliant.
That means using suitable and compliant equipment, ensuring correct protection and isolation, complying with applicable standards, performing the necessary inspection and testing, and issuing the appropriate CoC through the correctly registered person.
Secondly, establish who the electricity distributor is.
If it is Eskom, explain Eskom's current SSEG requirements to the customer.
If it is a municipality, establish that municipality's SSEG requirements.
Thirdly, do not tell a customer that OUTA has "cancelled" Eskom's registration requirement.
It has not.
OUTA is challenging Eskom's interpretation and authority, while Eskom continues to state that registration is required.
Those are materially different statements.
Where does this leave us on 30 September 2026?
At the time of publication, the situation can be summarised as follows:
Eskom says: Grid-connected SSEG systems below 100 kVA must be registered with the electricity distributor, including systems that do not export electricity.
OUTA says: Eskom has not demonstrated sufficient legal authority to compel registration of compliant residential systems situated behind the meter and below the relevant threshold.
Both sides recognise: Electrical installations must be safe and compliant, and the electrical CoC remains fundamental.
Eskom has changed its approach: The previous ECSA-only professional sign-off requirement has been relaxed, and Eskom has confirmed through its engagement with OUTA that customers will not simply be fined or disconnected merely for failing to register.
The current fee waiver: Eskom's published waiver for qualifying systems up to 50 kVA runs until 30 September 2026.
This story is not finished
For South Africa's electrical and solar industries, this is an important regulatory discussion.
We need safe installations.
We need competent installers.
We need correctly registered electrical persons issuing CoCs within the scope of their registration.
We also need clear regulatory boundaries so that contractors and consumers know exactly what legislation requires of them.
The continuing engagement between OUTA and Eskom may ultimately provide greater clarity on those boundaries.
Until then, electrical contractors should avoid both extremes: do not ignore published distributor requirements, but equally do not present disputed regulatory interpretations to customers as though the legal debate has already been settled.
Document your work, ensure technical compliance, issue the correct CoC and keep customers properly informed.
TDMI Training and Nearby Electrician will continue following developments between Eskom, OUTA and the relevant regulatory authorities and will update our members when further official information becomes available.
Sources
OUTA — “Eskom backs down on solar threats as OUTA challenges registration powers”, 10 September 2026.
OUTA — Solar/SSEG Registration FAQ and analysis.
Eskom — Small-Scale Embedded Generators information and registration requirements.
Eskom — “Eskom extends rooftop solar registration fee waiver by six months”, 26 March 2026.
Eskom — Schedule of Standard Fees 2026/27, including SSEG connection charges and concession.
Financial Mail — “Solar row hots up as Eskom waiver nears end”, 17 September 2026.
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