The Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities (AMEU) has proposed that municipalities implement requirements, in addition to a Certificate of Compliance (CoC), for rooftop solar installations.
This is according to its position paper on safety compliance for low-voltage small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) installations up to 1MVA (1MW).
“Regulation 7 (of the Occupational Health and Safety Act) mandates that a valid CoC, accompanied by an approved test report, is required for all electrical installations,” it said.
It added that the absence of this required documentation generates considerable risk and liability. Moreover, it said a CoC isn’t the sole requirement.
“It must be accompanied by appropriate documentation that verifies compliance, which currently lacks a standardised test report for SSEG installations,” AMEU said.
It added that, in accordance with Regulation 5, installations must adhere to strict safety standards and that municipalities mustn’t authorise any installations that don’t conform to the standards.
“This includes both AC and DC wiring, which must be treated separately from the commissioning of inverters,” AMEU said.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) responded to the AMEU’s position paper, raising concerns over the requirements for additional approval processes.
“This contradicts the Electrical Installation Regulations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which give Registered Persons the sole authority to inspect, test, and certify electrical installations,” it said.
A valid CoC confirms legal safety compliance for the entire installation, and municipalities aren’t enforcement authorities under the act. They can’t override the Registered Person’s certification.
“Refusing connection or effecting a disconnection of safety grounds where a valid CoC exists would be a direct violation of the regulations and an unlawful interference in the statutory duties of a Registered Person,” Outa said.
The civil action organisation also rejected the AMEU’s claim that the withdrawal of the South African National Standard (SANS) 10142-1-2 has created a gap in the standards governing SSEG installations.
It highlighted that South Africa has already adopted International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60364-7-712 as a standard applicable to generation plants.
“In addition, SANS 10142-1 contains clear requirements that address DC photovoltaic installations and inverter integration,” said Outa.
“There is no vacuum in the regulatory framework, and certainly no need for municipalities to introduce interim engineering sign-offs or parallel safety systems.”
Four major metros still require engineer sign-off
Eskom recently scrapped its requirement for an Engineering Council of South Africa (Ecsa) registered person to sign off on SSEG installations.
However, South Africa’s four largest metros — Johannesburg, Cape Town, eThekwini, and Tshwane — still require sign-off by a professional engineer, according to their latest SSEG policies and application forms.
Johannesburg and eThekwini specify the requirement for an Ecsa-registered electrical engineer or engineering technologist to sign off on the photovoltaic commissioning form.
MyBroadband was unable to find any record of an SSEG policy in Tshwane online, despite claims that it had been approved.
The metro’s SSEG application form requires approval from an Ecsa-registered professional. However, it doesn’t specify further details about the type of professional who can approve an installation.
The City of Cape Town is slightly more forgiving. It allows sign-off by a professional Ecsa-registered engineering technician.
This is the only professional who can be registered with Ecsa with a B.Tech degree rather than a BEng or BEng Tech qualification.
Nonetheless, this is still a far more stringent requirement than the Installation Electrician or Master Installation Electrician qualification that Eskom now accepts.
The table below summarises the level of qualification required for sign-off on SSEG systems for customers connected to Eskom Direct in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Ethekwini, and Tshwane.
| Power utility | Minimum qualification allowed for sign-off on residential system |
|---|---|
| Cape Town | Ecsa-registered professional technician |
| Eskom Direct | Master Installation Electrician or Installation Electrician registered with the Department of Labour |
| Ethekwini (Durban) | Ecsa-registered professional electrical engineer or technologist |
| Johannesburg | Ecsa-registered professional electrical engineer or technologist |
| Tshwane | Ecsa-registered professional |