debeerx2

OK... that article is behind a pay-wall and so I can't read it. But I can maybe share some information that may help you.

Firstly, my system is registered with the municipality. This is actually a requirement and has been for some years. In fact, as in COCT, we are supposed to apply before we install, but for now, and until they change their minds, the City is allowing retrospective registrations as long as your system meets standards and you make a proper application (which will require input from an engineer).

Why do I tell you this? Because I was on pre-paid before I had solar and I am still on pre-paid. And they know that I am on pre-paid because this has to be indicated on the application forms.

There seems to be a grey area in the regulations. If you have SSEG and you want to resell then you must switch to the reseller's tariff (at your cost, and that includes a new meter). But they don't say explicitly what happens if you have SSEG and do not wish to resell.

Anyway, I have hidden nothing from them. They have been here, they have seen my system, seen my pre-paid meter (and I declared that I was on pre-paid as part of the registration process).

They have also been out to inspect my meter (as they sometimes do) and have seen the signage to advise that there are two sources of power supplying the property (this was required as part of the registration process). 

They haven't made me change anything. So my worthless, non-expert, non-legal opinion that you should take from where it comes is that they are currently allowing the combination of PV and pre-paid.

If you want to switch to pre-paid then that is at your cost (meter may need upgrading or replacing depending on what you have). When I converted (some years ago, before I had solar)I had to fill in paperwork (the application has to come from the property owner, not from a tenant) and the City sent out a technician to have a look and then I was quoted. Once I accepted the quote they billed me for that amount AND THEN you have a couple of months of paying off your old post-paid balance and feeding the pre-paid. 

But there is a savings to be had on pre-paid, even with the monthly fixed fee that now applies. 

Note that the way they recover the flat fee means that you need to buy for a minium of R400 each month. That settles the fixed fees and gets you 62.5 units.

This is all as it is right now. The City have said that they want to narrow the gap between post and pre paid, and I don't think that means they are going to lower the post paid tariff. So we should expect some adjustment to pre-paid tariffs mid next year.
So download the tariff documents, remember what I said above about a minium purchase of R400, and do the sums. I don't know what the cost of the change over is now, but maybe they will tell you if you enquire, or maybe it is in the tariff documents. Then you are able to see what sort of saving there will be for you and if it's worth the pain.

I don't know if they are going to tell you to register your system first.  They are certainly entitled to, but usually they will send out a contractor who just wants to get the job done so he can get paid for it.

Like you, I have no intention to sell back. I can only lose on the deal because of the cost of the meter, the higher fixed charges per month, and the net consumer requirement IE you cannot sell back (or get paid for) more than you consume a month. Since I consume about 60 units in a month with good weather, and since I would get paid less than R1 a unit that I sell back, it is not worth my while. But again, if you have the tariff documents you can do the sums and see if it's worth while to you.
Finally, you should expect regular (every few months) visits from City Power. They will want to check your meter and see if it is bridged (the contractor will take a photo). They do monitor meters, and if you have pre-paid they can see how much you purchase. Meters that are showing a low usage get flagged for inspection. 

I recently discovered a very interesting situation in our solar system after the installation of 2 additional batteries.  The system now consists of a Sunsynk 8kW single phase inverter, 4 x 5.3 kWh batteries, 16 x 545W panels.  The inverter was set to accept 0W of trickle feed from the grid.
After the installation of the additional batteries the Sunsynk app showed that the household used 45 kWh for the month of February, but the utility bill showed that we utilised about 150 kWh of power from the grid.  I then started monitoring my electricity meter and app on a daily basis and found that the electricity meter still showed around 5kWh of grid consumption per day on days where the Sunsynk app showed zero grid consumption.
Some research on the Internet pointed me to a possible problem with the CT coil, which was connected with 30m of flex cable running adjacent to the 230V cables to the inverter (similar thickness to the original black and white cable attached to the CT coil supplied with the Sunsynk inverter).
I installed a new cable from the CT coil to the inverter.  It was a CAT 6a foil shielded cable where the 4x internal white cables were joined together to form one conductor, and the 4x internal coloured cables were joined to form the other conductor.  It would have been ideal to ground the shield of the CAT cable on the earth connection of the house, but my house has a neutral to earth bond which caused problems, and the shield was left unearthed.  The CAT cable was also installed so that it did not run directly next to the 230V cables to the inverter.
The results were excellent:  in a 24-hour period where the Sunsynk App showed zero grid consumption the actual consumption via the electricity meter dropped to around 300W for the same period.  This result was also confirmed over the next 7 days where the App showed zero consumption from the grid and the actual consumption remained around 300W per day.