Prospective Implementation of Grid-Interactive Photovoltaic Systems in the South African Residential Sector

The current increases in energy demand is in effecting renewable resources of energy an attractive option. The steady progress in renewable energy technologies is treating new opportunities for the utilization of renewable energy resources. Photovoltaic (PV) systems are among one of the most popular renewable energy sources that may be integrated with an electricity grid. With the new feed-in tariff scheme implemented by a few of the municipalities in South Africa, a new opportunity opened for residential consumers with the ability to generate energy. There is a list of regulations and policies that should be executed before the municipality should allow the consumer to connect the grid. However, apart from infrastructure, government policy and other techno-economical aspects, residential application of solar PV systems remain promising. This paper will review the relevant literature on photovoltaic technology, under the time of use (TOU) tariff and feed-in tariff scheme, applicable to residential consumers of energy in South Africa. Key elements such as operation, design, application and previous studies of PV systems used in residential application, will be discussed.