Many commercial solar systems produce more than the building uses, especially at weekends and over holidays. Some of that surplus is exported at the municipal rate; some is curtailed and simply lost. We help owners find the best home for it, including selling it to businesses that want renewable power, delivered over the existing grid through wheeling.
The City pays more when it keeps the green attributes of your power, and less when you keep them. Businesses with their own renewable energy targets value those attributes too. That is why the municipal rate is the starting point for your surplus, not necessarily its best home.
City of Cape Town, non-residential customers, 2026/27 tariff year, excluding VAT. Cash payouts require an annual Cash for Power application. Source: City of Cape Town 2026/27 tariff book, Annexure 6. Other municipalities pay different rates, and some do not offer cash at all.
Many systems are set to zero export. When the building's load drops, the inverter throttles back and power the panels could have produced is never generated.
What exported power earns, and whether it is paid in cash or bill credit, is set municipality by municipality. Two identical roofs in different cities can earn very different amounts.
A kilowatt-hour from your roof is clean power with a traceable source. Businesses that need renewable energy for their own targets will contract for exactly that.
And is it currently set to zero export, curtailing output the panels could produce?
Selling to a buyer needs interval metering that records what leaves the site, and when.
Small-scale embedded generation approval from the municipality, or Eskom, is the foundation for everything else.
Frameworks differ. Some municipalities have published wheeling tariffs and processes; others are still developing them.
Some municipalities set size thresholds for wheeling, such as Nelson Mandela Bay's 500 kW (AC) threshold.
A recent bill and the system size are enough for a first view. We will tell you which checks your site passes.
Size, inverter, export setting and a recent municipal or Eskom bill.
When it occurs, how much there is, and what your municipality's rules allow.
Your options side by side: municipal buyback, selling to a buyer through wheeling, or a mix.
If selling suits your site, we put the agreements in place and take the municipal applications forward with you.
Exported energy is metered and settled against what was delivered to the buyer.
Sites whose solar regularly produces more than the building uses: quiet at weekends, closed over holidays, or with a large system relative to its load.
We are working in Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town first, and will look at any site in a municipality with a workable wheeling framework.
Installers and O&M providers: if you look after systems that curtail or export, talk to us about your clients' surplus.
Fill this in and your email client will open with the details ready to send to info@earthandwire.com. Attach a recent bill if you have one to hand; if not, we will ask.