South Africa’s richest city wages war on households with solar panels on their roof

South Africans who have installed solar panels are coming under increasing pressure, particularly in Johannesburg.

South Africa’s richest city has not only implemented some of the highest electricity tariff charges in the country, but is now also forcing solar users to switch from prepaid to postpaid tariffs.

This switch triggers dramatically higher fixed charges for solar users, while promises that they will one day be able to export excess energy back to the grid remain largely theoretical.

This is according to GoSolr’s latest Quarterly Solar Update, released in May 2026. The firm’s so-called ‘Light Paper’ for this quarter focused on South Africa’s rising electricity prices.

The group said that the treatment of customers who invest in alternative energy is perhaps the most dangerous consequence of the country’s current pricing regime.

“South Africa desperately needs more distributed generation,” GoSolr said. “Rooftop solar, batteries, and hybrid systems reduce pressure on the grid and improve resilience.” 

“Yet, the system is increasingly designed to discourage it.” The group went so far as to describe the current approach as a “war on solar”.

South African households and businesses’ adoption of private electricity generation, particularly rooftop solar, is one of the main drivers behind the relative electricity supply stability the country has experienced over the past few years.

While Eskom has made meaningful progress in improving its operations and energy availability factor, the impact of widespread solar adoption is undeniable.

ESG analyst Raine Adams explained earlier this year that the widespread adoption of rooftop solar PV and embedded generation, particularly from mining companies, has led to significantly lower demand.

Adams said rooftop solar went from supplying just under 2.5 GW four years ago to 7.5 GW today.

She explained that this has seen electricity demand between 2.5 and 3 GW lower in 2025 than in prior years of load-shedding.

The lower demand, in turn, has taken pressure off Eskom and freed up a significant fraction of the utility’s capacity during the day.

Joburg vs solar users

Despite the positive contributions solar adoption has made to South Africa’s electricity sector, these users continue to face pressure from both Eskom and metros.

For example, in Johannesburg, City Power is now legally forcing households that install solar to switch from prepaid to postpaid tariffs. According to GoSolr, this switch triggers dramatically higher fixed charges for solar users.

In Joburg, prepaid users pay around R242 per month in fixed charges, while three-phase postpaid users are hit with a charge of R1,761 per month before using any electricity.

“Promises of being able to export excess energy back to the grid remain largely theoretical, with little evidence of meaningful compensation in practice,” the group said.

“In some cases, billing is inconsistent due to irregular meter readings, creating further uncertainty.”

GoSolr said South Africans must now invest in alternative energy sources at their own risk.

It said this comes at a time when developers abroad are soon to be required to install solar panels and heat pumps in all new homes as part of updated planning requirements published by the government. 

“This clear focus to ramp up solar reinforces a simple truth: clean power is considered an essential need – so why are we creating more barriers to adoption in South Africa?” the group asked.

South Africa also struggles with electricity inequality, with only relatively well-off South Africans able to invest in alternative energy sources. This sets up a big problem for Eskom and its remaining customers in the years to come.

This is because, as more consumers reduce their power usage or partially defect from the grid, the remaining users are forced to absorb a larger share of fixed costs. 

“This creates a vicious cycle: higher prices drive lower consumption, which drives even higher prices,” GoSolr warned.

“At its core, electricity pricing is simple math: divide total costs by total energy sold. But South Africa is heading in the wrong direction on both sides of that equation.”