Solar Inverter Certification Deadline Extended

The suppliers will be allowed to self-certify their product without having the need to submit their the sample to the test lab.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) offered relief to the manufacturers of solar inverters and has extended the deadline for getting BIS certification by 6 months.

After a meeting of MNRE officials with the stakeholder this decision was taken. The new deadline is June 30, 2019.

The suppliers will be allowed to self-certify their product without having the need to submit their sample to the test lab, as the guidelines for submission and further handling is currently under preparation.

The relaxation is subjected to the fact that the supplier must have a valid IEC report from international test labs which correspond with Indian standards.

The certification mechanism was ripe with a lot of issues which was hampering the entire process. Some of those issues were the unavailability of labs, lack of testing facilities and manpower, unreasonable costs of testing, absence of series guidelines, and confusion by MNRE notifications.

The latest notification by MNRE states that,  “And whereas, the issues related to testing of inverters (items 4-5) was discussed with industry and test labs recognized by BIS, it is hereby notified that the date of self- certification relaxation for these items stands extended by six months i.e. up to 30th June 2019 subject to the condition that such manufacturers should have valid IEC and test reports from international test labs corresponding to IS. These manufacturers will be allowed self-certification without submitting samples to test labs as the series guidelines for submitting samples to test labs are under preparation.”