Eskom's solar registration drive collides with country's reality

Customers have until March 31 to register roof panels

- By Tebogo Magoba - ESG Now News

Eskom's authority to enforce registration of rooftop solar installations is being questioned.

(E.S.G)

South Africa's rooftop solar revolution has delivered one of the most meaningful interventions in the country's energy crisis. This expansion unfolded against an unprecedented electricity crisis, with South Africa experiencing load shedding on more than 300 days in a single year, while Eskom's energy availability factor fell below 60% between 2023-2024, accelerating the shift towards private generation

Yet, Eskom’s renewed push to force registration of household solar systems risks undermining that success. Despite incentives and regulatory concessions, the campaign is increasingly being viewed as destined to fail. Not because regulation is unnecessary, but because it is being applied in a system already strained by distrust, fragmentation and policy inconsistency.