Renewable energy generation, especially in rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, is
expected to play an important role in South Africa's future energy mix. The national
government and various municipalities at local government level are introducing
regulatory incentives to promote the uptake of solar PV systems in the private sector.
These incentives include feed-in tariffs (FITs), capital subsidies and tax benefits. In
addition to the regulatory incentives, there are non-regulatory drivers for private property
owners to pursue solar PV systems. These drivers include environmental considerations, cost savings, energy security, tenant requirements, and green-energy finance.

This study examines the different regulatory incentives available to residential and non-residential property owners located in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality to pursue solar PV systems. The City of Cape Town is selected as a single case-study area. This municipality creates a conducive environment through its regulatory framework for property owners to pursue private embedded generation systems. The research establishes to what extent the regulatory incentives influence private property owners to pursue solar PV systems compared to non-regulatory drivers and benefits.

The study reveals that the various regulatory incentives differ for residential and non-residential property owners. These differences impact the extent to which the regulatory incentives motivate particular property owners to pursue solar PV systems. The research suggests that, although regulatory incentives play a role in private property owners' decisionmaking process, the non-regulatory drivers are the main motivating factors for private property owners pursuing solar PV systems.

Keywords: renewable energy, regulatory incentives, solar PV, energy security, private
property sector, South Africa.