The Short Answer
Adding an inverter, a battery or a PV array to your house is an alteration to a fixed electrical installation. Under the Electrical Installation Regulations, any alteration requires a Certificate of Compliance issued by a registered person. There is no residential exemption, no size threshold, and no version of this where a 5 kW hybrid inverter counts as an appliance you can plug in.
The second requirement catches people out more often. If the system is connected in parallel with the municipal or Eskom supply, and virtually every hybrid or grid-tied installation is, it has to be registered as Small Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) with whoever supplies your electricity. That approval is meant to happen before the installer arrives, not after.
What you need, in order
- SSEG pre-approval from the City of Tshwane or Eskom, submitted before installation begins
- A compliant installation built to SANS 10142-1 Edition 3.2 with an NRS 097-2-1 approved inverter
- A Certificate of Compliance covering the entire installation, signed by a registered person
- As-built submission back to the supplier: COC, commissioning report, final single-line diagram
- A bi-directional meter fitted by the supplier if you intend to export or bank credits
Most of the systems we are called to certify in Pretoria arrive at step three with steps one and two already skipped. That is a fixable problem. It is just cheaper to fix before the panels go up than after.
A COC and SSEG Registration Are Not the Same Thing
This is the single biggest source of confusion we deal with. An installer hands over a COC, the customer assumes they are finished, and eighteen months later the City sends a letter. The two documents do completely different jobs.
Certificate of Compliance
- Who issues it: a registered person, not the municipality
- What it says: the installation is electrically safe and meets SANS 10142-1
- What it covers: the whole property, including the pre-existing circuits
- When you need it: after any alteration, and again when you sell
SSEG Registration
- Who issues it: City of Tshwane or Eskom, depending on who bills you
- What it says: the supplier permits this generator to run alongside their network
- What it covers: the generating equipment and its grid interface
- When you need it: before connection, and it stays with the property
Note the dependency. The SSEG application asks for a COC as a supporting document, so you cannot get registered without one. But holding a COC gives you no protection at all against a supplier acting on an unregistered system. Both, or neither counts.
A note on conveyancing
Attorneys have become noticeably stricter about this since 2025. If you have solar and you are selling, expect the buyer's attorney to ask for the SSEG approval letter alongside the COC. We have watched two transfers in Faerie Glen stall for six weeks over exactly this. If you are preparing to sell, read our guide on COC requirements when selling a house and sort the registration out early.
Which Standard Applies in 2026
You will still find installers quoting SANS 10142-1-2 as the solar standard. It isn't. That document was published in October 2021, appealed the following year and then withdrawn, and its contents are being folded into the main standard instead. The Electrical Contractors Association of South Africa has been fairly blunt about people needing to stop citing it.
What actually governs a solar installation right now is a short stack of documents:
Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, and the Electrical Installation Regulations 2009
The legal backbone. This is where the obligation to issue a COC after any alteration comes from, and where "registered person" is defined. Everything else sits underneath it.
SANS 10142-1 Edition 3.2, released 12 August 2024
The wiring code for premises. Edition 3.2 brought in updated treatment of alternative supplies, battery storage, surge protection and arc fault detection, along with revised earthing and voltage drop requirements. If your installer is working from an older printed copy, some of what they are doing is out of date.
SANS 60364-7-712
Adopted in 2017 from the IEC standard, this covers PV specifically as an alternative power source. DC string design, array isolation and PV-side protection live here.
NRS 097-2-1
Not a wiring standard, a grid interface standard. It defines how an embedded generator must behave towards the network, including anti-islanding. Tshwane works to the 2024 revision. Your inverter needs a third-party type test certificate proving it complies, and the City will ask for it by model number.
The practical consequence of the NRS requirement is worth spelling out. If you bought a cheap imported inverter that has no South African type test certificate, no amount of good wiring will get it registered. We have had to tell homeowners in Montana and Wonderboom that the R28,000 unit on their wall cannot be approved. That conversation is why we ask for the inverter model before we quote.
How SSEG Registration Works in Tshwane
Tshwane runs a two-stage process. You apply before you build, then you submit the as-built pack once it is commissioned. The City targets 30 working days for a complete application, and in our experience residential approvals land somewhere in the four to six week range when the paperwork is right the first time.
Stage 1: Pre-application
- Completed SSEG application form emailed to the City
- Inverter specification sheet plus NRS 097 type test certificate
- Proposed single-line diagram showing the point of connection
- Site plan and panel layout
- Department of Employment and Labour registration for your installer
Stage 2: As-built
- Certificate of Compliance for the completed installation
- As-built single-line diagram reflecting what was actually built
- Commissioning report with test results
- Final system specification sheet
- Meter exchange arranged if you are banking or exporting
Export is capped. Tshwane allows up to 10 kVA on a single-phase connection and 25 kVA on three phase under the residential SSEG route. Anything above that moves to the commercial track through the large customer desk, and you will generally need a professional engineer signing off. Most Pretoria homes sit well inside the residential limits, so this only bites on larger estates and small commercial premises in places like Silverton and Rosslyn.
Tshwane also enforces. Inspectors pick up unregistered systems during routine work at the meter, and the City's position is that a system installed without pre-approval can be disconnected. That is not a theoretical risk. It is the reason people phone us in a panic on a Friday afternoon.
If Eskom Supplies You, There's a Deadline Worth Knowing About
Not every property in greater Pretoria buys electricity from the City. Pockets of the north, parts of the far east and a fair number of smallholdings and estates are billed directly by Eskom. The quickest way to check is to look at the name on your account, or at whose vendor you buy prepaid tokens from. If it says Eskom, your SSEG application goes to Eskom rather than Tshwane, and the rules differ.
Time-sensitive
Eskom has been waiving registration and connection fees, including the bi-directional smart meter, for systems up to 50 kVA. That waiver is set to end on 30 September 2026, after which standard fees apply. The obligation to register does not change either way. If you are Eskom-supplied and sitting on an unregistered system, this month is the cheapest it is going to be.
The document pack Eskom wants is broadly similar to Tshwane's, with two additions that catch people: proof of public liability insurance, and an approved building plan where the installation affects the structure. Getting building plan approval through the municipality is its own timeline, usually four to eight weeks, so start it in parallel rather than in sequence.
What We Check Before We Sign a Solar COC
A COC on a solar property takes longer than a standard house inspection because there are two electrical systems to test, and the DC side has failure modes that the AC side doesn't. Here is what we work through, roughly in order.
String voltage against the inverter window
Panel open-circuit voltage climbs as temperature drops. A string sized on a warm Pretoria afternoon can overshoot the maximum input rating of the inverter on a cold July morning. We calculate it at the minimum expected temperature, not at whatever the meter reads on the day.
DC isolators, and where they are
There must be a means of isolating the array at the inverter and, in most configurations, at the array. We check the rating, the polarity and whether the isolator is actually accessible without a ladder and a prayer. Roof-mounted DC isolators in cheap enclosures are a recurring problem in Highveld sun.
Earthing and bonding of the mounting structure
Panel frames and rails need to be bonded properly. We test continuity back to the main earth bar rather than assuming the rail clamps are doing the job. On a metal roof this matters more, not less.
Surge protection on both sides
Pretoria sits in one of the highest lightning-density regions on the planet. A PV array is a large conductive structure on your roof feeding a sensitive electronic device. DC-side surge arrestors are routinely left out to save R2,000 on a quote. We flag it every time. Our guide to surge protection covers why this matters.
The neutral-earth reference in island mode
This one gets missed constantly. When a hybrid inverter disconnects from the grid and runs the house on battery, something must provide the neutral-earth bond, or your earth leakage protection has no reference and will not trip on a fault. Some inverters do it internally, some need an external contactor arrangement. We test it by simulating a grid outage and verifying earth leakage operation on battery.
The essential loads board and its labelling
Splitting essential circuits off means a second board, and that board needs proper circuit identification, correctly rated protection and its own earth leakage arrangement. Unlabelled essential boards are the most common paperwork failure we write up.
Battery installation and ventilation
Clearances, mounting, ambient temperature, and the protective device between battery and inverter. Lithium batteries mounted in a sealed hot cupboard in a Centurion garage will derate and, eventually, fail in a way you do not want to be present for.
The existing house installation
The COC covers everything, so the twenty-year-old wiring nobody has looked at since 2004 is now in scope too. This is where most of the unexpected repair cost comes from, and it has nothing to do with the solar.
If your DB board is an old fuse-and-porcelain arrangement, the solar install is usually the moment it has to change. See our DB board upgrade cost guide for what that adds.
The Failures We See Most on Pretoria Solar Installs
These come up often enough that we can almost predict them from the photos people send us on WhatsApp.
No DC surge arrestor
Left off the quote to win the job. In a lightning corridor like the Highveld this is the difference between a R900 component and a R40,000 inverter replacement that insurers will argue about.
Undersized DC cabling on long roof runs
Panels at the far end of a double-storey roof in Waterkloof Ridge feeding 4mm cable back to an inverter in the garage. Voltage drop kills yield and the cable runs warmer than it should.
Earth leakage that does not work off-grid
The neutral-earth reference problem described above. The house looks fine on grid power. During load shedding, the protection is effectively absent.
No labelling or single-line diagram at the board
SANS requires the installation to be documented at the board so the next person can work on it safely. A wall of unmarked breakers is both a compliance failure and a hazard.
Inverter with no NRS certificate
Grey-import units bought online. Electrically they may be fine. They still cannot be registered, which means the system cannot legally stay connected.
Roof penetrations done by the solar crew, not a roofer
Not an electrical failure, but we note it anyway because we see the water damage a season later. Ask who is warranting the waterproofing.
What Compliance Costs in 2026
Figures below are Pretoria and Centurion market ranges for 2026. Ours are the ones we can hold you to; the rest move with the municipality.
| Item | 2026 range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard residential COC | From R1,200 excl VAT | House with no embedded generation |
| COC on a grid-tied solar or hybrid system | R1,800 to R3,500 | Extra time for DC testing, battery and island-mode checks |
| Remedial work to pass | R500 to R8,500 | Depends entirely on what the existing house throws up |
| DB board upgrade if required | R4,500 to R8,500 | Often triggered by adding an essential loads board |
| Building plan approval | R2,000 to R5,000 | Municipal, only where the structure is affected |
| SSEG registration and inspection | R0 to R8,000 | Free on Eskom until 30 September 2026; varies by municipality |
Against a R180,000 solar installation, the compliance layer is a rounding error. Against the cost of a disconnection or a declined insurance claim, it is cheap insurance. Full pricing for our inspection work is on our COC cost guide.
Your System Is Already Up and Unregistered. Now What?
You are in the majority, and it is recoverable. Retrospective registration is accepted. What you cannot do is wait for the letter.
Find your paperwork first
Dig out the invoice, the inverter and panel model numbers, and any COC the installer issued. If the installer has since disappeared, which happens a lot with the 2022 to 2023 load shedding rush, the equipment labels on the wall will tell us most of what we need.
Get an independent inspection
Not from the company that installed it. We inspect against SANS 10142-1 and NRS 097-2-1 and give you a written list of what stands between you and an approvable system, with costs.
Fix, then certify
We do the remedial work and issue a COC covering the whole installation. If the inverter itself has no type test certificate, we will tell you before you spend money on anything else, because that decision changes the budget.
Submit the SSEG application
We prepare the single-line diagram, commissioning report and document pack, and lodge it with Tshwane or Eskom. You do not need to sit in a municipal queue.
On penalties
There is no single national fine. Penalties are set municipally and reported figures across South African metros run from about R6,000 to R30,000, with removal and reconnection charges on top where a supplier disconnects an unauthorised system. Tshwane's stated position is disconnection. Treat the number as less important than the disruption.
Questions We Get Asked
Straight answers, from a Pretoria electrician who signs these certificates.
My inverter never exports. Do I still register?
In Tshwane, yes. The trigger is parallel connection to the supply, not export. Zero-export settings can be changed in software, which is exactly why the City does not treat them as an exemption.
Can the solar company issue the COC themselves?
Only if they have a registered person on staff and that person personally inspected and tested the installation. A COC signed by someone who never visited the site is worthless and, for the signatory, a serious problem.
Does the COC only cover the solar part?
No, and this surprises people. A COC applies to the installation as a whole. If the geyser circuit has no earth continuity, that fails, regardless of how neat the solar work is.
How long is the COC valid?
It does not lapse with time while nothing is altered, but a property cannot be transferred on a COC older than two years. Any further work, including adding a second battery, requires a new certificate covering the change.
Will my insurer ask for this?
Increasingly, yes. Several South African insurers now ask for both the COC and proof of SSEG registration when a solar system is added to a policy, and again when a claim involves fire or lightning.
What about a portable trolley inverter?
If it plugs into a socket and nothing is hard-wired, it is an appliance and falls outside this entirely. The moment an electrician wires it into the DB board, it is an alteration and everything above applies.
Can I register the system myself?
You can submit the forms yourself. You cannot produce the COC, the commissioning report or the single-line diagram without a registered person, and those are the parts the City actually scrutinises.
Does a generator need SSEG registration too?
A generator on a manual changeover switch, where it can never run in parallel with the grid, generally does not. Anything with automatic paralleling does. Our generator installation guide covers the changeover options.
Get It Sorted Before Someone Else Raises It
Solar compliance in Pretoria comes down to two documents and one sequence: register, build, certify, submit. Done in that order it is straightforward and mostly invisible. Done backwards it costs money and time, usually at the worst possible moment, which in our experience is three weeks before a transfer date.
We inspect and certify solar and hybrid installations across Pretoria, Centurion, Midrand and the surrounding areas, and we handle the SSEG submission for you. If your system is already installed, we will tell you honestly what it needs, including the answer you might not want, which is that some inverters cannot be approved at all.
Call 072 681 4615 or request a quote online. Send us the inverter model when you make contact and we can usually tell you within a few minutes whether registration is going to be simple.
Written by Andre
Registered Electrician & Founder of INC Unlimited Pty. Ltd
With over 30 years of experience in the electrical trade across Pretoria and Gauteng, Andre and the INC Unlimited team have completed over 500 COC inspections, installations, and electrical projects. SANS 10142 compliant. Based in Equestria, Pretoria.