Updated for the City of Cape Town’s 2026/27 tariffs (1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027).
The City of Cape Town was the first metro in South Africa to pay households and businesses for the solar power they feed back into the grid. If your system is registered and grid-tied, every unit you export is credited to your municipal account – and once your whole account is offset, the City pays out the balance in cash.
What you earn in 2026/27
- Residential feed-in tariff: about R1.24 per kWh exported
- Plus the feed-in incentive: 28.75c per kWh (applies to all feed-in tariffs)
- Total: roughly R1.53 per unit you send back to the City
Compare that with what you pay: on the Domestic tariff a unit now costs R4.14 (first 600 units a month) or R4.94 (above 600). Exporting is worth doing, but self-consumption is worth roughly three times more. That is why we size systems to use as much of your own solar as possible first, with feed-in as the bonus on top.
The City reviews the feed-in rate every year in its budget, so the figure above changes each July. We update this page when it does.
How the money reaches you
- Your exported units are credited against your electricity charges.
- Any remaining credit is applied to the rest of your municipal account (rates, water, refuse).
- Once the whole account is offset, credit keeps accumulating.
- Under the Cash for Power programme the City pays out that balance: households once a year, when the credit balance exceeds R1,000; businesses once a month, when the balance exceeds R5,000.
To join Cash for Power you send an Expression of Interest to the City (electricity.retail@capetown.gov.za). We do this for you as part of your SSEG registration.
What you need to qualify
- An approved, grid-tied SSEG system (authorised by the City before it is switched on).
- A bi-directional AMI meter. The City introduced a cheaper meter option for residential feed-in customers, which is what made small home systems worth registering for export.
- To be on the Home User tariff. Every residential customer with registered solar is billed on Home User. It carries a fixed service and wires charge (about R424 a month in 2026/27) but a lower per-unit price than Domestic, which is exactly why the system must be sized properly – the fixed charge does not disappear when your usage does.
Is it worth it for your home?
It depends on three things: how much you use during the day, how much roof you have, and whether you spend more than about R1,500 a month on electricity. Put your monthly bill into our free Solar Savings Calculator and the report will show your expected self-consumption, export credits and payback period.
We handle the registration
SSEG authorisation, the AMI meter application, the CoC and the Cash for Power expression of interest are all part of a First Energy installation. You sign; we file. See Registering your solar system with your municipality for the step-by-step.
Not in the City of Cape Town’s supply area? Eskom Direct customers register with Eskom rather than the City and have a different feed-in arrangement – use our Eskom feed-in calculator or ask us which applies to your address.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get cash every month?
Households are paid once a year once the credit exceeds R1,000. Businesses monthly once above R5,000. Before that point the credit simply reduces your municipal bill.
Can I sell power without a battery?
Yes. A grid-tied inverter with panels can export. A battery changes when you use your own power, not whether you can export.
Will the feed-in rate stay at R1.53?
No – it is set annually by Council. It has been adjusted in past years, so a system should make financial sense on self-consumption alone, with export as extra.
I already have solar but never registered. Can I still join?
Yes, if the system uses a City-approved inverter and passes inspection. We can assess an existing installation and handle the retro-registration.
Contact us to find out more about solar power installations, or join us on social media to stay up to date with the latest info.
