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Your inverter brand may be off the PM Surya Ghar list

MNRE has told inverter makers to host monitoring servers and generation data inside India. Brands that did not confirm cannot be installed under the scheme.

GridZero4 min read

MNRE data localisation requirement for solar inverters under PM Surya Ghar

Compliance news in this sector usually arrives as something about modules. This one is about inverters, and it has a deadline that has just passed.

On 17 August 2026, MNRE's Rooftop Solar Division directed inverter manufacturers supplying under PM Surya Ghar to host their monitoring software, control servers and real time generation data in secure, encrypted facilities located entirely within India. Manufacturers were given 30 days to confirm compliance in writing to REC Limited, with a copy to MNRE.

The consequence for a manufacturer that did not confirm is blunt: their systems are not permitted to be installed under the scheme.

Why this is your problem, not the manufacturer's

Because you are the one with a signed order and a brand written on it.

If a customer has accepted a proposal naming a specific inverter, and that brand turns out not to have confirmed, you are choosing between substituting the inverter, delaying the job, or discovering the problem at the subsidy stage. All three cost you something, and only one of them is cheap if you find out early.

The practical step this week is simple. Ask your distributor, in writing, whether each inverter brand you carry has submitted its confirmation. Not whether it is "compliant". Whether the confirmation was submitted.

What the directive actually asks for

Beyond the data hosting itself, four requirements matter to how you specify and price a job.

  • Daily cumulative generation data must reach the National Portal through standardised APIs, keyed to the inverter's unique serial number.
  • Machine to machine SIM communication is required for that link.
  • The data logger warranty must sit inside the main inverter warranty, rather than being a separate item with its own shorter term.
  • Written confirmation covering cybersecurity compliance, the physical locations of the Indian data centres and authorised contacts.

Until state level server systems are operational, the daily transmission to the National Portal continues.

The three things this changes in a quotation

1. The connectivity line stops being optional. If every scheme installation must report generation daily over an M2M SIM, then connectivity is part of the system, not an accessory the customer declines to save money. Put it in the bill of materials and say who pays for the SIM in year two and beyond.

2. The warranty section gets simpler, in your favour. The old pattern was a five or ten year inverter warranty with a data logger quietly carrying one or two. That pattern is now out of line with the requirement. State the logger as covered within the inverter warranty, and use it: it is a genuine point of difference against a quotation that still hides the distinction.

3. Brand substitution clauses need to be real. Your proposal should already allow substitution of equivalent equipment on reasonable notice. If it does not, add it, because compliance requirements are now moving faster than the average sales cycle.

What to do with jobs already quoted

Split them by stage.

  • Quoted, not signed: confirm the brand's status before the customer signs, and reissue the specification if needed. The cheapest moment to change an inverter is before anyone has agreed to it.
  • Signed, not installed: talk to the customer now if the brand is in doubt. A conversation about substituting an inverter for compliance reasons is easy in week one and painful in week six.
  • Installed, awaiting subsidy: check whether generation data is actually reaching the National Portal for that serial number. A silent data logger is a claim waiting to be questioned.

The wider direction

Read this alongside everything else that has moved in 2026: cells on ALMM List-II, storage mandates above 100 kW in Maharashtra, net metering narrowing, and now inverter data localisation. The pattern is a scheme that has grown large enough that the government wants verifiable data about every asset it subsidised, and is willing to use scheme eligibility as the lever.

For EPCs, the operational conclusion is that equipment choices now carry regulatory risk as well as technical and commercial risk. The brands you carry should be reviewed quarterly, not annually, and your proposal template should assume the specification may need to change between quotation and commissioning.

The short version

  • MNRE directed inverter manufacturers on 17 August 2026 to host monitoring servers and generation data inside India, with 30 days to confirm in writing to REC Limited.
  • Manufacturers who did not confirm cannot have their systems installed under PM Surya Ghar.
  • Ask your distributor in writing whether each brand you carry submitted its confirmation.
  • Daily generation must reach the National Portal via standard APIs over an M2M SIM, keyed to the inverter serial.
  • Data logger warranty must sit within the inverter warranty. Say so in your proposal.
  • Review quoted, signed and installed jobs separately. The cheapest time to substitute is before signature.

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