2019 - 2020 | Ghaziabad, India

Under the Indo-German bilateral cooperation with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), GIZ India has been conducting Trainings on Rooftop Photovoltaic systems in India (TROPHI). TROPHI project aims at building capacities of the relevant actors including Suryamitras, Distribution companies (DISCOMs), State Nodal Agencies (SNAs) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) with the support of Skills Council of Green Jobs (SCGJ) and Power Sector Skill Council (PSSC). 

SECI is a company set up under MNRE, Government of India, established to facilitate the implementation of the National Solar Mission (NSM). In 2018, SECI and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL, an Indian state-owned telecommunications company) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for utilising BSNL engineers for third party inspections of grid-connected solar rooftop systems installed on government buildings under the 1000 MW SECI tender. These inspectors were asked to conduct performance and acceptance tests of PV systems connected to the electrical grid to ensure their correct technical installation and operation.

Under TROPHI, GIZ conducted capacity-building workshops for the BSNL engineers to perform the third party inspection of the solar rooftop systems. 126 engineers were trained through six training workshops at Advanced Level Telecom Training Centre (ALTTC) in Ghaziabad, including a pool of trainers who further impart these training to other BSNL Employees, increasing the outreach to more than 250 BSNL employees.

These Certified Solar Inspectors were engaged by SECI, and have successfully inspected the rooftop solar capacity of 42 MW till date, bringing in a revenue of INR 33 Lakhs for BSNL. After the satisfactory performance, SECI has further engaged the Solar Inspectors for inspection of 98 MW rooftop solar capacity under the new tender for government buildings.

Under TROPHI, a total of 22,088 professionals have been trained with direct and indirect training, which includes 9,204 SNA officials, 8,122 Discom officers, 4,512 Suryamitras and 250 Solar Inspectors.

For more details please contact Mr. Joerg Gaebler (Joerg.gaebler(at)giz.de) or Mr. Kuldeep Sharma (Kuldeep.sharma(at)giz.de).