January 19, 2015: The Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI), Gandhinagar, has launched a National Certification Programme to promote and facilitate rooftop solar PV installers. The programme was announced in presence of the union minister for power, coal and new and renewable energy Piyush Goyal.
The announcement took place at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2015 and during this event , GERMI also inked memorandums of understanding (MoU) with eight state nodal agencies and 20 solar players of the country including Azure Power, SunEdison, Azure Power, Energy and Environment Foundation, GMR Group, WAREE Energies, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Madhav Group, Harsha Abakus Solar, Studer Innotec India, Tata Power Solar System, IL&FS Energy Development Company and Bergen Solar Power & Energy Ltd (BSPEL).
The state nodal agencies which inked the MoU include renewable energy development agencies from Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, besides distribution companies including Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM), BSES Rajdhani Power Limited and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd.
The certification programme is aimed at developing skilled and qualified manpower to set up rooftop PV system installation. People including technicians, students and entrepreneurs can participate in the programme. The final goal of the certification programme is to help MNRE achieve the target of installing 4,000MW of rooftop solar systems by 2022.
According to GERMI, India has 300MW of solar PV installed on rooftops, of the total 2900MW of solar installations.
GERMI is a technical back-stopper of the Government of Gujarat and has made it presence felt from the MoU’s signed in the first Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2003. It operates with a mission to train and retrain professional in energy sector by providing them facilities and opportunities for creation of knowledge, blue print of futuristic technologies and new business opportunities.
GERMI also commits itself for societal good in all walks of human endeavour at macro as well as grassroot levels.
