Eskom has warned home owners with rooftop sollars and other small scale embedded generators to come forward and register. This is line with National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA). “NERSA has statutory obligations that Eskom as a licencend distributor should adhere to “ said Eskom Spokesperson, Ms Daphne Mokwena. She further made a call to all homeowners to ensure that their home installations are inspected and approved by qualified engineers or technologists.

Whilst there will be no connection fee charged to home owners with 50 KVA solar systems , homeowners are worried about the exorbitant costs of the inspection fees.

Costs of bringing in an engineer is estimated between R 27000 and R50 000. This is not a concern for homeowners only but for the informal economy as well. South Africa’s SME economy is characterised by huge numbers of informal traders who work from home. Will they afford exorbitant fees of engineers ? In an already constrained economy small businesses and informal traders will certainly take the heat.