Govt Steps Up Cyber Checks for Rooftop Solar Equipment

Amid cyber threats emanating from China, the Union’s new and renewable energy ministry has mandated all original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) supplying inverters under the ‘PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana’ to connect their inverters to the ministry’s national servers and software platform.

- Rituraj Baruah

The ministry will notify the date for implementation of the directive. In a notification, the ministry said that the integration of 10 million rooftop solar systems under the scheme will introduce challenges regarding grid stability and cybersecurity concerns.

It said inverter communication modules transmitting data to servers outside India not only pose risks of unauthorized control but also threaten national energy sovereignty by exposing sensitive power consumption and generation data.