Industry · Solar & Energy Installers

Automation for solar installers and roofing contractors in South Africa

Enquiries answered and qualified on WhatsApp, site assessments booked, quotes built from the assessment, and every SSEG application, CoC and commissioning letter tracked until the system is allowed to switch on. Built around the paperwork, not just the lead.

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~6 800 MW
of rooftop solar PV installed in South Africa by mid-2025, up from ~5 600 MW a year earlier
Source: CSIR, Utility-scale Power Generation Statistics 2025
190%
rise in national average electricity tariffs since 2014, mostly above inflation
Source: CSIR, Utility-scale Power Generation Statistics 2025
5 days
to disconnect an unregistered solar system after a City of Cape Town contravention notice (working days)
Source: City of Cape Town, SSEG authorisation

Why solar installers lose jobs after the quote, not before it

Automation for solar installers usually gets pitched as lead capture: answer faster, win more. That still matters. But South Africa's rooftop market has grown up — the CSIR puts embedded rooftop PV at roughly 6 800 MW by mid-2025 — and the reason a customer buys has shifted. Load-shedding fell about 82% in the first half of 2025, while average tariffs are up 190% since 2014. Buyers now ask about payback, not backup, and they compare quotes more carefully.

The bottleneck has moved too. A signed quote is not a working system. In the City of Cape Town, a new PV or battery system needs a Permission to Install letter, a City-approved inverter, a Certificate of Compliance, sign-off by an ECSA-registered professional and a Commissioning Letter before it may be switched on. Eskom-supplied customers apply to Eskom instead, and other municipalities have their own forms. Every one of those is a document that can go missing, and every missing document is a job that cannot be closed or invoiced.

That is where we focus. We automate the front of the funnel — WhatsApp and web enquiries qualified on roof type, monthly bill and supply authority, site assessments booked straight into the diary — and we automate the back of it: a job record that knows which SSEG step each installation is on, who owes what, and what has been waiting too long. Your electricians and sales staff stay on site and on the phone; the system chases the paperwork.

If you develop, own or trade utility-scale or wheeled energy rather than install on roofs, our renewable energy page covers that ground — curtailment, wheeling reconciliation and grid-queue data.

WhatsApp automation for enquiries and follow-upCRM automation for quotes and pipelineUtility-scale and wheeling: our renewable energy page
How it works

How a rooftop solar job moves from enquiry to switch-on

This is the workflow we would automate for most installers. The system does the asking, booking, drafting and chasing; your team does the selling, the engineering and the signing.

  1. STEP 01

    Enquiry answered

    A WhatsApp, web or Facebook enquiry gets a reply within minutes, day or night, and a short qualifying conversation: property type, roof, monthly bill, supply authority, timeline.

  2. STEP 02

    Site assessment booked

    Qualified leads pick a slot in your assessor's diary. Reminders go out the day before, and the assessor arrives with the customer's answers and bill already on the job card.

  3. STEP 03

    Quote drafted from the assessment

    Measurements, photos and the load profile captured on site feed a draft quote built from your own pricing and component rules — consistent, traceable and fast to check.

  4. STEP 04

    SSEG paperwork opened

    Once the quote is accepted, the job record opens the authorisation checklist for that customer's supply authority: application, Permission to Install, CoC, commissioning sign-off, switch-on.

Automated

Standard job: tracked automatically

Documents are requested, received and filed against the job; reminders go to whoever owes the next one; the customer gets a status update at each stage without anyone typing it.

Human decides

Exception: routed to a person

Large C&I systems, unusual roofs, a municipal query or a step overdue past your limit go to the right person — sales, engineer or ECSA professional — with the full job history attached.

Every job closable

Quote, CoC, commissioning letter and as-built record in one place, so a job can be invoiced, a warranty claim answered and an inspector's request met without searching three inboxes.

Guides

Solar installer automation, explained

The questions installers and contractors actually ask about automating their business, answered plainly. Each one starts with a short answer you can act on, then the steps or reasons behind it.

01 · How to

How do solar installers automate lead response and qualification?

Short answer

Put one assistant on every channel enquiries arrive on, usually WhatsApp and the website. Have it reply immediately, ask the questions your best salesperson asks — property type, roof, monthly bill, supply authority, timeline — and book a site assessment for qualified leads. Hand the conversation to a person whenever the customer asks.

  1. 1

    List every place enquiries arrive today — WhatsApp, website form, Facebook, phone — and route them into one queue with a reference number.

  2. 2

    Write down the five or six questions that separate a real lead from a browser, and let the assistant ask them in plain language.

  3. 3

    Ask for a recent electricity bill and roof photos early; they make the site visit and the quote faster. (Experience-based.)

  4. 4

    Send unqualified enquiries useful information instead of a sales call, so they come back when they are ready.

  5. 5

    Book qualified leads straight into the assessor's diary with a reminder the day before.

  6. 6

    Record consent and keep the conversation history with the lead, so the salesperson does not ask the same questions twice — and so POPIA obligations can be met.

02 · How to

How do you register a rooftop solar system with the City of Cape Town?

Short answer

Apply online through the City's e-Services Energy Services platform before installing. You receive a Permission to Install letter, may install but not switch on, then upload the Certificate of Compliance and signed supplemental contract. An ECSA-registered professional signs off the commissioning report, and the City issues a Commissioning Letter allowing switch-on.

  1. 1

    The electrical contractor and ECSA-registered professional complete Service Provider Registration on e-Services first.

  2. 2

    The property owner can grant the installer proxy authorisation to apply on their behalf.

  3. 3

    The application needs the system's technical details and an inverter from the City's approved equipment list.

  4. 4

    After the Permission to Install letter the system may be installed, but not switched on.

  5. 5

    Upload the CoC and signed supplemental contract; the ECSA-registered professional signs off the commissioning report online.

  6. 6

    Feed-in systems need an AMI meter installed at the owner's cost; non-feed-in systems need reverse power flow blocking and stay on their current tariff.

  7. 7

    Customers in Eskom's area of supply apply to Eskom for consent to connect instead.

Source: City of Cape Town — apply for SSEG authorisation
03 · Why

Why does a solar installation need a Certificate of Compliance?

Short answer

Because the Electrical Installation Regulations say no completed electrical installation may be connected to the supply until a registered person has inspected and tested it and issued a Certificate of Compliance. A PV system is an electrical installation. Municipal authorisation and, while it ran, the Section 6C solar tax credit both depended on it.

  • The CoC is issued by a registered person: an electrical tester for single phase, an installation electrician or a master installation electrician.

  • The user or lessor of an installation must produce the CoC on request to an inspector, the supplier or an approved inspection authority.

  • The City of Cape Town requires the CoC to be uploaded before it issues a Commissioning Letter.

  • SARS made an electrical CoC a condition of the Section 6C solar tax credit, and generally treated the CoC date as the date the panels were brought into use.

  • Because so much depends on it, the CoC should be a tracked document on every job, not a PDF in someone's email. (Experience-based.)

Source: SARS, Guide on the Solar Energy Tax Credit (section 6C)
04 · Why

Why are solar customers asking different questions now load-shedding has eased?

Short answer

Because the reason to buy has changed. The CSIR reports load-shedding fell about 82% in the first half of 2025, while national average tariffs have risen 190% since 2014. Customers who once bought for backup now buy for savings, so they compare payback, quality and paperwork more carefully before signing.

  • Load-shed energy fell from 4 126 GWh in 2024 to 749 GWh in the first half of 2025, according to the CSIR.

  • Rooftop PV still grew to roughly 6 800 MW by mid-2025, so the market is larger and more competitive than in the load-shedding peak.

  • Savings-led buyers ask about payback, tariffs and feed-in, which means quotes need consistent assumptions. (This and the next point are what we see in the work, not survey findings.)

  • Comparison shoppers get several quotes; a fast, accurate one that answers those questions is the one that is remembered.

Source: CSIR, Utility-scale Power Generation Statistics 2025
05 · How to

How do you stop SSEG paperwork delaying commissioning and payment?

Short answer

Treat authorisation as part of the job, not an afterthought. Open a checklist for the customer's supply authority the moment a quote is accepted, attach each document to the job as it arrives, remind whoever owes the next one, and review everything overdue weekly. A system installed but not authorised cannot be switched on.

  1. 1

    Confirm the supply authority — municipality or Eskom — at the enquiry stage, because the forms and steps differ. (Experience-based.)

  2. 2

    Check the inverter against the authority's approved equipment list before quoting, not after installing.

  3. 3

    Submit the application before installation where the authority requires it; in Cape Town the Permission to Install letter comes first.

  4. 4

    Attach the CoC, test report, supplemental contract and commissioning sign-off to the job record as each is issued.

  5. 5

    Set a time limit for each stage and flag jobs that exceed it to a named person.

  6. 6

    Tie final invoicing to the commissioning letter, so a job is not closed while the customer still cannot switch on. (Experience-based.)

Source: City of Cape Town — apply for SSEG authorisation
Challenges We Solve

The hard problems Solar & Energy Installers faces

Slow First Response

Rooftop solar is a considered, comparison-shopped purchase. An enquiry that waits until the evening for a reply has often already booked a site visit with someone else.

Quotes That Don't Match the Roof

Quotes rebuilt by hand from site notes, photos and a utility bill are slow and inconsistent — and an error on panel count or inverter size becomes a variation order later.

SSEG and CoC Paperwork Stalls Jobs

A system that is installed but not authorised cannot be switched on. Missing CoCs, unsigned commissioning reports and unanswered municipal queries leave finished jobs open and unpaid.

Follow-up and Aftercare Fall Away

Long consideration cycles, finance approvals and post-install service visits all depend on someone remembering to follow up. When the team is busy on site, nobody does.

By line of business

Where automation fits, by type of contractor

A residential installer, a commercial EPC and a roofer who has added solar all lose time in different places. The first thing worth automating is different for each.

First win: Enquiry volume

Residential rooftop installers

Many small enquiries, most of them comparison-shopping. Fast qualification and booked site visits matter most, followed by tracking each home's SSEG application so finished systems are switched on and paid for.

First win: Quotes and compliance

Commercial and industrial installers and EPCs

Fewer, larger jobs with longer sales cycles, more stakeholders and more engineering. The payoff is in consistent proposals, document control and a reliable record of who signed what — on systems where a utility may ask for more than the standard forms.

First win: Cross-sell and scheduling

Roofing contractors adding solar

Roof inspections and repairs are a natural way into solar, but the two trades run on different calendars and paperwork. Shared job records let a roofing lead become a solar quote without being re-captured.

First win: Dispatch and certificates

Electricians and home-services firms

Electricians, geyser and backup-power specialists live on call-outs and certificates. Automating dispatch, job cards and CoC records cuts admin — and in Cape Town even a solar PV geyser has to be authorised.

Our Solutions

What we build for you

01

Enquiry Qualification on WhatsApp and Web

An assistant that replies to every enquiry, asks the questions your sales team would — property type, roof, monthly bill, supply authority, budget — and books a site assessment for the leads worth a visit.

02

Assessment-to-Quote Automation

Site assessment captured once on a phone, with photos and measurements, then turned into a draft quote from your own pricing and component rules for a person to check and send.

03

SSEG and Compliance Tracking

Every job tracked through Permission to Install, installation, CoC, commissioning sign-off and switch-on, with reminders to whoever is holding the next document and a view of everything overdue.

Regulatory context

The rules a rooftop solar job has to clear

Rooftop solar in South Africa is regulated, and the paperwork is where most delays come from. Here is what applies as of October 2026, with dates, so you can check rather than take our word for it. Rules differ by municipality; the City of Cape Town is used as the worked example because its requirements are published in full.

  1. In force

    Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009 — Certificate of Compliance

    No completed electrical installation may be connected to the supply unless it has been inspected and tested by a registered person and a Certificate of Compliance has been issued. A PV installation is an electrical installation, so the CoC is not optional — and it is the document every later step depends on.

  2. Since 1 October 2023

    City of Cape Town: all new PV and battery systems treated as grid-tied

    New solar PV and battery systems in the City's supply area must use City-approved inverters, have professional sign-off and be authorised before switching on. The City no longer accepts new applications for standby and off-grid systems, and applications are made online through e-Services.

  3. Current City policy

    City of Cape Town: enforcement on unregistered systems

    The City cross-checks registrations against aerial photographs. An unregistered system earns a contravention notice and a service fee, with five working days to disconnect, one month to register and three months to complete authorisation. Customers in Eskom's supply area apply to Eskom for consent to connect instead.

  4. Edition 3, 2024 — confirm exact publication date

    NRS 097-2-1:2024 (Edition 3) — utility interface for SSEG

    The Eskom-issued specification that grid-connected inverters are type-tested against. Inverters certified to earlier editions may still be installed for two years after this edition's publication, after which certification must be to the 2024 edition — which makes the approved-equipment list something to check per job.

  5. 10142-1-2 withdrawn after 2022 appeal; Ed. 3.3 draft circulated 30 January 2026 — final publication not confirmed by us

    SANS 10142-1-2 withdrawn; SANS 10142-1 Edition 3.3

    The standalone SSEG wiring standard was published in October 2021, appealed in early 2022 and withdrawn; its content is being folded into SANS 10142-1. The Edition 3.3 draft adds an Annex S test report for generating plants (PV and battery) that must be attached where an installation includes one. Industry reports say Edition 3.3 was published in June 2026; check the SABS before relying on that date.

  6. Ran 1 March 2023 – 29 February 2024; expired

    Section 6C solar energy tax credit

    Individuals could claim 25% of the cost of new solar panels, up to R15 000, for panels brought into use in that window — and only if an electrical Certificate of Compliance was issued. The credit has closed, but it showed how quickly a missing CoC becomes a customer's problem as well as the installer's.

  7. Voluntary industry programme

    PV GreenCard (SAPVIA)

    An as-built report issued to the system owner by certified PV GreenCard installation companies, capturing equipment, system design and performance at completion. Not a legal requirement, but a structured record that finance and insurance buyers recognise — and one more document a job system should hold.

Where we start

Engagements we run in Solar & Energy Installers

01

WhatsApp enquiry qualification

An assistant that answers every enquiry on WhatsApp and the website, asks for a recent electricity bill and roof photos, and scores the lead before a salesperson calls — with a person taking over the moment the customer asks to speak to one.

02

Site assessment booking and job cards

Qualified leads book directly into the assessor's diary; the assessor gets a mobile job card pre-filled with the customer's answers, captures measurements and photos on site, and the data flows straight to quoting.

03

Assessment-to-quote drafting

Draft proposals built from the site data and your own pricing, component and margin rules, checked by a person before they go out — so two salespeople quoting the same roof produce the same quote.

04

SSEG and CoC document tracker

Each installation tracked through its supply authority's steps — application, Permission to Install, CoC, commissioning sign-off, switch-on — with automated reminders and a weekly list of jobs stuck at each stage.

05

Customer status updates

Automatic WhatsApp updates at each milestone — quote accepted, installation booked, paperwork submitted, approved to switch on — so customers stop calling the office to ask where their system is.

06

Aftercare, service and referrals

Scheduled service reminders, warranty records tied to the as-built documents, and a referral request sent once the customer has had a few months on their first lower bill.

Key terms

Solar & Energy Installers terms, in plain language

SSEG (small-scale embedded generation)
A generator such as rooftop solar PV connected inside a customer's electrical installation. The City of Cape Town applies the term to systems smaller than 1 MVA.
Certificate of Compliance (CoC)
The certificate a registered electrical person issues after inspecting and testing an electrical installation. Required before an installation is connected to the supply.
NRS 097-2-1
The specification for the utility interface of small-scale embedded generators, issued through Eskom. Grid-connected inverters are type-tested against it; the current edition is NRS 097-2-1:2024.
Permission to Install (PTI)
The City of Cape Town letter that allows an SSEG system to be installed after the application is submitted. The system may not be switched on yet.
Commissioning Letter
The City of Cape Town letter issued after the CoC is uploaded and the ECSA-registered professional signs off the commissioning report. It allows the system to be switched on.
ECSA-registered professional
An engineering professional registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa. The City of Cape Town requires one to sign off SSEG installations, except solar PV geysers.
Reverse power flow blocking
A setting that stops a system exporting electricity to the grid. Non-feed-in systems in Cape Town need it; feed-in systems need an AMI meter instead.
PV GreenCard
SAPVIA's voluntary as-built report for a solar PV installation, issued to the system owner by certified PV GreenCard installation companies at completion.
FAQ

Solar & Energy Installers questions

From our blog

POPIA-compliant WhatsApp automationWhatsApp data collection for field teams: a practical guideDocument workflow automation: beyond the PDF

Sources & further reading

Related Services
WhatsApp AutomationCRM AutomationWorkflow Automation

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