Challenges of tying small scale renewable energy systems to the grid in South Africa

Connecting private individual small scale renewable electricity generators as power producers would diversify the risk of relying on a single entity to control the entire power-generation market. However, is it as straightforward as giving private individuals microlicences for renewable electricity generation to homeowners to become power producers and does the grid code cover small scale generators? Although it is technically possible to connect distributed electricity generators to the grid, the concern and emphasis should be placed on: “Grid tied renewable applications and installations will have to meet legal and technical qualification requirements”. What makes it even more challenging is the fact that there is no mandate allowing Municipalities or Eskom to purchase excess generated electricity from small scale embedded generators.