Costs & savings
Why is my Cape Town bill still high after solar? Fixed charges explained
Cape Town Home User still bills a services and wires fixed charge (about R424.30/month in the 2026/27 budget figures we cite) plus AMI where fitted — solar self-use cuts kWh lines, not those fixed rands. Model both before you judge payback.
Updated 27 October 2026 · Illustrative ranges — not a formal quote, credit decision or legal advice.
Answer first: Open the bill: fixed / services charges remain after panels. Self-use savings sit on the variable kWh lines. Cape Town Home User’s published services/wires charge around R424.30/month plus ~R6.80 AMI (where fitted) is a useful worked example from the 2026/27 budget materials — confirm on your live statement.
What solar changes vs what it does not
- Changes: imported kWh, and export credits if you are on approved SSEG with FIT + incentive.
- Does not remove: fixed services/wires, many capacity-related lines, and unpaid debt.
Export credit reminder
Residential SSEG feed-in on Home User is 107.98 c/kWh excl. (124.18 incl.) plus 25.00 c excl. (28.75 incl.) SSEG incentive in the 2026/27 Ann06 figures — about 152.93 c/kWh incl. when both apply. That is still usually below retail import blocks, so self-use leads — CPT net billing · export vs self-use rand.
Checklist when the bill “feels wrong”
- Compare kWh imported vs same month last year.
- Highlight fixed lines that never moved.
- Check whether you are actually on Home User SSEG vs another tariff.
- Verify export limit / CT polarity if production looks fine but credits are zero.
SA desk notes that keep quotes honest
Ask every partner for Incl. VAT line items, NRS-listed SKUs where relevant, and who owns metro paperwork after deposit. Compare at least two written scopes before you pay — read a quote · choose installer · NRS list · SSEG.
Worked homeowner checklist
- Photograph the DB, roof and meter before the survey.
- Export twelve months of kWh or summer+winter bills.
- Write Stage priorities (fridge, routers, lights) before shopping kWh.
- File CoC, warranties and SSEG refs in one folder after handover.
Related hubs: load shedding · metro tariffs · costs & savings · check a quote.
Tariff and fixed-charge reminder
Self-use savings sit on top of fixed charges that do not disappear. Model both before you celebrate a payback slide — fixed charges · monthly savings · export vs self-use · tariffs 2026.
Safety and paperwork close
- No DIY on dual-supply boards or MC4 strings.
- Keep dual-supply labels readable for inspectors.
- Register warranties before the deadline printed on the pack.
More: CoC · inspector tips · warranties · DIY risks · red flags.
Monitoring and aftercare
Watch daily kWh, backup SoC before forecast Stages, and any new earth-leakage or isolation alarms. Export CSVs monthly — monitoring numbers · Wi-Fi dongle · SoC settings.
When to call vs when to wait
Call for burning smells, repeated RCD trips, zero production in full sun with isolators on, or firmware prompts you do not understand — fault codes · MC4.
Worked Home User bill skeleton (illustrative)
Suppose a month shows R424.30 services/wires + R6.80 AMI + 450 kWh imported at your block rates + a small SSEG export credit. Solar that cut imports from 650 kWh to 450 kWh saves the avoided 200 kWh at retail — that is the win — while the ~R431 fixed pair barely moves. Homeowners who only watch the total rand and ignore the fixed block often think “solar failed.”
- Highlight fixed vs variable lines with a pen on a paper bill once.
- Ask the installer to reprint the savings slide with fixed charges left in.
- If you are not on Home User, stop using Home User examples — paste your tariff code instead.
SSEG incentive sensitivity
The 25 c/kWh excl. SSEG incentive is powerful when stacked on FIT, but Cape Town reviews it. Run payback with incentive on and incentive off. Related: payback · export vs self-use · bill still high · metro tariffs · costs & savings · fixed charges.
Prepaid and AMI caveats
Prepaid and AMI paths change how credits appear. Some households must convert meters before SSEG export credits show. Budget the conversion and a token buffer — prepaid vs solar · prepaid→conventional · smart meters.
How installers should present CPT savings
A fair Cape Town savings page shows: (1) avoided import kWh × your blocks, (2) export credits at live FIT + incentive if approved, (3) fixed Home User / AMI lines unchanged, (4) a zero-export sensitivity, (5) maintenance and inverter replacement sinking fund. Anything that hides the fixed block to inflate monthly “savings” fails this desk’s check-quote test.
- Attach Annexure 6 / tariff PDF date-stamped on the quote.
- Show summer and winter months separately.
- If TOU feed-in is not yet enabled on the City’s back-end, do not model peak export credits as cash today — CPT TOU · CPT SSEG steps · read a quote.
Related metro comparisons
Joburg/City Power, Tshwane, eThekwini and Ekurhuleni each publish different export and fixed structures — never paste CPT R424 maths onto a Pretoria bill — City Power · Tshwane · eThekwini · Ekurhuleni · tariffs 2026.
Extra SA context for cape town fixed charges solar bill sa
Keep primary PDFs open while you read this page. When a WhatsApp forward disagrees with a metro tariff book, OEM manual or DriveElectric-cited rate card, the primary wins. File CoC, warranties and app screenshots after every install or public-charging expense claim. Related: FAQ · about · choose installer · NRS list · SSEG · load shedding · metro tariffs · costs & savings · get quotes · check a quote.
Step-by-step: rebuild your CPT bill after solar
- Download three recent statements from the City e-services portal.
- Circle every fixed / services / AMI line and average them.
- Tabulate imported kWh by block or TOU period.
- If SSEG-approved, tabulate exported kWh and the credit rate used.
- Subtract the installer’s promised monthly saving from the variable portion only.
- Add back the fixed average — that is your honest post-solar bill shape.
Homes that also added a heat pump or EV in the same quarter should split those load changes out, or solar will be blamed for lifestyle kWh. For EV households watching Richmond Park’s published R2.49/R3.49 public DC window, remember public charging does not shrink the City’s fixed wires charge either — it only changes where traction kWh are bought.
Inspection and AMI timing
Some fixed / AMI lines only appear after meter swaps tied to SSEG. Budget a messy transition month. Keep screenshots of pre- and post-swap tariffs. If credits are missing after approval, check CT polarity and export-limit screenshots before escalating at the City — CT direction · export limit · inspection · CPT SSEG.
Fixed charges stay after solar — plan for them
Cape Town’s residential bill keeps a service / capacity charge even when daytime kWh imports collapse. Solar cuts the energy line; it does not delete the fixed line. Model savings on variable kWh only, then subtract the fixed charge that remains every month.
TOU and SSEG customers who export get paid on export energy, not on a waiver of fixed charges. If your quote shows “bill to near-zero” without a fixed-charge residual, the model is wrong. Pull your latest municipal statement, circle the fixed lines, and insist the installer’s cash-flow sheet keeps those lines intact.
Action this week: open your latest City of Cape Town statement, highlight every non-kWh line, and send that photo to the installer with a one-line brief — “savings model must keep these fixed charges.” Any spreadsheet that drives the bill to zero without those lines fails the review.
When the metro revises fixed charges mid-year, update the savings sheet the same week the notice lands. Stale fixed-charge assumptions are how “on-track” projects miss cash-flow targets by a quiet R200–R400 every month.
Quick questions
Will solar remove the R424 line?
No — treat fixed services/wires as remaining. Savings come from lower imported kWh and any approved export credits.
Is the SSEG incentive permanent?
Cape Town reviews it annually — do not bake a forever 25 c into a 10-year payback without a sensitivity.
What if I am on prepaid?
Prepaid maths differs; confirm whether SSEG requires a meter change — see prepaid answers.