What should I look for when looking for a Photovoltaics (PV) installer?
• How much experience does the installer has? How many installations has they completed similar to what you require?
• Have they done an energy audit to ensure that they have correctly sized the generation system for your specific usage pattern or based on your budget and minimum requirements? Example have they included adequate storage to ensure you can operate all the appliances that you require during load shedding?
• Check references of completed work?
• Are they registered with any industry led quality assurance skills program such an PV Greencard PV Green Card: A SAPVIA (South African Photovoltaic Industries Association) endorsed programme to ensure the quality and safety of PV installations or P4 quality assurance certification.
• Is the equipment offered certified to the NRS 097
• What is the warranty of the different product and installation?
• Some equipment needs to be installed by a registered installer for that specific brand in order to ensure the manufacturer holds their warranty. Is the installer a registered installer for the brand of equipment such as inverters that they will be installing?
• What is the turn around time to attend to faults on the generation system and to honour warranty claims?
• Who will perform equipment maintenance and claiming for solar panels, etc and at what cost?
• Will the system be signed off by an installation electrician and a professional engineer/technologist?
What is an illegal embedded generation system?
Any embedded generation system that has not been approved by the eThekwini Municipality, the customer has not followed the application process and obtained written approval from the Municipality.
What are the risks of an illegal embedded generation system?
Increased risk of fire and other hazards. Possible reason for insurance companies to reject an insurance claims. Result in injury or death, especially if it is still feeding into the grid during a power outage. The property owners will be at risk of legal recourse under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Quality of supply problems on the electricity grid, specifically from unknown capacity and schedules of all generation on the network. This information is needed in order to maintain the balance of load and electricity quality.
What will happen if the municipality catches me with an unregistered embedded generation system?
You will be immediately issued with a contravention notice and will be liable for a fine and instructed to:
• Disconnect the embedded generation system within seven working days
• Provide a Certificate of Compliance (CoC) as proof of the disconnection
• You will be required to register the embedded generation system with the municipality immediately
• Failure to comply could result in the disconnection of the electricity supply to your property.
What is a grid tied PV system?
An SSEG installation that is connected to the municipal electrical network either directly or through a customer’s internal wiring is said to be “grid-tied”. The export of energy onto the municipal electrical network is possible when generation exceeds the customer’s consumption at any point in time. The system only operates when the Municipal grid is available and switches off immediately when the municipal grid is off.
What is a Hybrid Grid Tied Solar PV system?
Grid tied/connected hybrid systems are those that combine two or more energy sources like solar PV, batteries, diesel generator or wind, which are connected to and runs in parallel with the utility network. These systems can operate in grid-tied mode as well as independently of the grid – for example during loadshedding. The most common and most relevant hybrid system for Municipal Distributors is a solar PV - battery hybrid. These systems mainly run from the solar PV and battery power, and only use the utility to supplement the supply when there is insufficient capacity from the PV or batteries. These systems can also operate during a power outage – hence their increasing popularity.
What is SSEG/net billing tariffs?
The Municipality aims to implement SSEG tariffs which both cover municipal costs (fixed and variable) in different tariff categories and will also be cognizant of a reasonable return-on-investment for the SSEG customer. The tariff will be implemented only once Municipality has approved such a tariff. Prior to such tariff implementation, reverse feed-in to the Municipal grid will not be permitted and no financial compensation will be given.
What is a bi-directional meter?
A bi-directional meter is a meter that separately measures electricity flow in both directions (import and export). Such a meter displays both imported and exported electrical flow energy in separate registers which can then be used for billing purposes according to the Municipal Net billing tariff structure.
What is an “Export tariff”?
A payment for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of surplus electricity a customer system exports to the electricity grid.
What is an “Import tariff”?
A payment for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity imported to a customer from the electricity grid.
