{"id":103615,"date":"2025-10-23T10:47:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T10:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/?p=103615"},"modified":"2025-10-23T10:53:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T10:53:25","slug":"eskom-relaxes-solar-panel-registration-requirements-thanks-to-afriforum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/eskom-relaxes-solar-panel-registration-requirements-thanks-to-afriforum\/","title":{"rendered":"Eskom relaxes solar panel registration requirements, thanks to AfriForum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Deidre-Steffens-_ENG.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soundbite: Deidr\u00e9 Steffens (English)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Deidre-Steffens-_AFR.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soundbite: Deidr\u00e9 Steffens (Afrikaans)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After continued pressure from AfriForum, Eskom finally relented and announced a partial relaxation of the registration and certification requirements for small-scale embedded generation (SSEG). This amendment applies to domestic consumers who receive power directly from Eskom and means that it is no longer necessary for a professional engineer to sign off on these installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, AfriForum sent a formal letter to Eskom seeking clarity on the legal and regulatory framework on which the power provider relies to enforce the mandatory registration of SSEG systems, which generate less than 100 kW. After receiving no response, AfriForum sent a second letter and ultimately a legal letter to Eskom, which forced the utility to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cAfriForum has emphasised from the outset that Eskom does not have a clear legal basis to require stringent and costly signoffs from engineers,\u201d says Deidr\u00e9 Steffens, AfriForum\u2019s Advisor for Local Government Affairs. \u201cThe fact that Eskom itself now acknowledges that electricians can do the work confirms our position that these requirements were unrealistic and unlawful,\u201d adds Steffens.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the new Eskom measures, domestic solar installations can now be certified by a registered electrician from the Department of Labour (excluding single-phase testers). AfriForum views this step as an important victory for ordinary consumers and clear proof that community pressure works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although AfriForum welcomes this move, the organisation remains concerned about Eskom\u2019s continued reference to so-called \u201cmandatory registration\u201d and possible fines that could be imposed after March 2026. Eskom has still not identified a single regulation or legal provision that would authorise it to impose fines on consumers who do not register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe will continue to monitor this process closely,\u201d warns AfriForum. \u201cWe support safety and compliance with valid standards but will not allow consumers to be forced to comply with unsafe or illegal requirements,\u201d concludes Steffens.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>AfriForum views Eskom\u2019s move as a win for the community and a confirmation that justified civil pressure can lead to real change. The organisation will continue to closely monitor Eskom and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa&#8217;s (NERSA) policies to ensure that any future requirements are fair, transparent and legally based.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After continued pressure from AfriForum, Eskom finally relented and announced a partial relaxation of the registration and certification requirements for&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":86785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11173,11162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-government-affairs-media-statements","category-media-statements"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":11173,"label":"Local Government Affairs Media statements"},{"value":11162,"label":"Media statements"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Sonkrag-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"AfriForum","author_link":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/author\/ischkevaneeden\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":11173,"name":"Local Government Affairs Media statements","slug":"local-government-affairs-media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11173,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":11162,"count":159,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11173,"category_count":159,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Local Government Affairs Media statements","category_nicename":"local-government-affairs-media-statements","category_parent":11162},{"term_id":11162,"name":"Media statements","slug":"media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11162,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":2588,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11162,"category_count":2588,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Media statements","category_nicename":"media-statements","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103615"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103619,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103615\/revisions\/103619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}