Rooftop solar installation sector is poised to be one of India's biggest job creator. However, it is not adequately represented. Rules keep changing and we have no say. Our partners struggle to engage with government, Discoms and regulators. The association will help change this status quo.
There is an immense opportunity for India's rooftop solar installers to network and collaborate to ensure better engagement with each other but also with manufacturers, equipment suppliers and other stakeholders. We hope to ensure better collaboration.
Rooftop solar installers spend time and resource to educate customers. There is an opportunity to engage and educate customers and build awareness ensuring benefits to all partners.
City chapters - We hope to start with 20-30 city chapters and grow to 300 by 2026. City chapters will emerge from any existing collaborations that have been created through Whatsapp groups or other mediums, but have not yet been brought under any formal governance process. City chapters will chose their own leadership through a voting or nomination process. City chapters will be responsible for ensuring local engagement with DISCOMs, dissemination of common educational resources with customers, joint procurement negotiations and sending representations for engagement with Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy at state and national level. Another responsibility of city chapters will be to ensure patronage from business, political and public figures in the city for applauding and showcasing noteworthy installations and creating new opportunities for community deployment of solar through tender processes. Regional and national players will be requested to have an active representation in all active city chapters to avoid divergence of interests. National chapter and secretariat will provide foresight and guidance to city chapters to align national efforts on skilling, quality, customer education, technology and other areas of common interest.
State chapters - We hope to create a chapter for each state by 2026. State chapters will emerge from amalgamation of city chapters. Our aim is to ensure that all EPC companies active in the region are represented in the state chapter. State chapters will chose their own leadership through a merit based voting process - that ensures that most active contributors with the required policy influence are nominated for leadership. Regional chapters will act as a bridge between city chapters and the national chapter. Regional chapters will create opportunities to engage with relevant ministries within the state governments and power sector regulators of the state and create public-private collaborations to activate state resources for customer education, skilling, quality control and other common priorities. State chapters will send relevant monthly memos to both city chapters and national chapters to ensure necessary collaboration and coordination.
National chapter - A national chapter will be created alongside the city and state chapters. The national chapter will have a decision council having representation of all state chapter leaders and select national rooftop solar installers (in a 70:30 ratio). The national chapter will ensure engagement with relevant ministries and regulators at the central government level. Key responsibilities of the national chapter will be to create multi-lingual customer engagement and education material, promote rooftop solar through online and mass media, ensure ease of doing business for all rooftop solar installers, make policy representations to advance interests of the rooftop solar installers across the country, solicit patronage of India's most prominent business, policy and other public figures for advancing rooftop solar in the country and take up policy related grievances and suggestions from city and national chapters. The national chapter will work with key solar events (or create its own events) to ensure collaboration amongst its thousands of partners.
Indian National Association for Rooftop Solar Installers (INARSI) is a concept proposed by prominent but neutral industry experts. An advisory board for the association will be constituted and relevant society registrations will be carried out after critical mass of interest is received from installers across India. More details will be shared after we get interest from at least 5,000 installers. This will help us validate the need for the this association.