Prime Highlights
- The government has launched a ₹2.3 crore innovation challenge for rooftop solar and distributed renewable energy solutions.
- Successful companies will have a chance to win up to ₹1 crore in prize money, incubation, and pilot project funding.
Key Facts
- The challenge is being held jointly by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the National Institute of Solar Energy.
- It is open to startups working in green tech, IoT, AI, energy hardware, fintech, and waste management.
- Submission deadline is August 20, and the winners will be announced on September 10.
Key Background
As one of the high-level initiatives to encourage innovation and accelerate rooftop solar system adoption, the government of India has launched the “Innovative Projects Start-Up Challenge on Rooftop Solar and Distributed Renewable Energy.” The initiative was designed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) with a budget of ₹2.3 crore and executed by the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) with the aim of discovering and establishing innovative technology and business models in an effort to address rooftop solar installation challenges.
The scheme is a successor plan to previous “PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana” introduced in February 2024. With a budget of ₹75,021 crore, that flagship program plans to promote rooftop solar’s uptake by residential customers, with financing and one online platform for consumers. Over 10 lakh systems have already been installed under it, contributing over 3 GW of clean capacity to India.
The startup is aimed at assisting cutting-edge Indian startups with the potential to make rooftop solar more technologically viable, affordable, and accessible. Startups across industries, such as renewable energy technology, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain, construction, energy hardware, fintech, and waste management, are eligible to apply.
The prize money is quite substantial: ₹1 crore for the winner, ₹50 lakh for the runner-up, ₹30 lakh for the third place, and ten consolation prizes of ₹5 lakh each. In addition to financial awards, award-winning startups will also receive business incubation, pilot deployment, and industry and government expert mentoring.
This issue is timely when India is forcefully developing solar capacity and facing working problems such as delay with DISCOMs, net metering issues, and manpower shortage. With the aid of technology advancement and entrepreneurial ecosystem support, the government is trying to overcome such problems and drive the national goal of commissioning 30 GW rooftop solar capacity between 2027.
