Eskom wants owners of PV (photovoltaic) systems in areas outside of its service, to register with their local municipality.
The systems to be registered are residential PV installations, up to 16kVA.
Since March 2023, Eskom has not charged any registration fees or the cost of a Smart Meter (which is bi- directional) for households with installations of up to 50kVA.
Others needing registration, are Non-residential Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) systems, above 50kV.
Once registered, customers will be converted to the Homeflex tariff, however, the SSEG and non- SSEG residential customers, will pay the same fixed charges.
Since March 2023, Eskom has not charged households with solar photovoltaic (PV) installations of up to 50kVA for registration fees, installation and sign off and for the smart meter.
Eskom said this will remain in place for eligible households until March 2026, including those who have not yet installed PV systems.
Furthermore, Eskom will continue to apply the previous year’s connection charges for non- residential SSEGs, ensuring ongoing cost savings.
To highlight these savings, from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, households with SSEG systems rated at 16kVA—the typical size for most PV installations— attract zero fees and could save up to R9,132 due to Eskom’s exemption from connection fees. In addition to these savings, households will continue to receive credits for exporting energy to the Eskom grid under the NERSA approved Homeflex tariff, providing further financial benefits.
Eskom said registration is required by NERSA regulations, businesses and households with embedded generation systems of less than 100KVA (including solar PV systems) to be registered with the national power utility, even if they do not export power to the grid. However, customers who are fully off-grid and not connected to Eskom’s network are not required to register, but must provide proof that their systems operate independently of Eskom’s supply.
New online customer tool to check savings
Customers can use the new Small Power User (SPU) tool available at https://www.eskom.co.za/distribution/2025-2026-price-increase/ to see how conversion to the Homeflex tariff can lead to significant financial savings.