All You Wanted To Know About The SUPRABHA Solar Scheme

SUPRABHA or Sustainable Partnership for Rooftop Solar Acceleration in Bharat is a program led by The World Bank and State Bank of India. This scheme is implemented in partnership with the MNRE and is a $13 million plan. It is basically a solar technical assistance five-year program.

In order to boost rooftop solar in India, the World Bank has allocated funds to the tune of $625 million and entrusted SBI to disburse the same. The State bank of India has taken up the herculean task of raising awareness about the easy availability of finance and facilitating the uptake of rooftop solar PV installations across the country.

Also, read about the SRISTI scheme

14 Indian states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi will receive technical assistance as per this program. This will help support the faster adoption of grid-connected rooftop solar. Meghalaya and Sikkim governments have already engaged in formulating their rooftop solar policies. The scheme has been successful in stirring demand aggregation support for bidding by partner states such as Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh for more than 120 MW till date. The SUPRABHA scheme covers a wide range of stakeholders including consumers, regulators, distribution companies, financial institutions and entrepreneurs.

The State bank of India had also imparted solar training to its employees recently, in order to better understand the concepts and approve solar loans. In all, 150 SBI officers have been trained so far. Here is the list of documents and compliances required for inspection/ evaluation of a proposal:

• Technical feasibility approval by Discom
• System design document
• Roof owner and their NOC, agreement or ownership documents
• Roof structural strength report by structural engineer
• Completion certificate from EPC / Installer
• Product and performance warranty certificates of components
• Earthing report showing resultant resistivity of earth pit
• Module mounting structure report
• PPA / Interconnection agreement
• Licensed electrical contractor / Discom engineer / Electrical Inspector certification