• Operation Duration: Must be a maximum of 10 years – calculated from incorporation date until public nominations open
• Revenue: Participant must be generating monthly revenue from operations
• Innovation: Should have a minimum viable product and/or service explicitly related to innovation

The broad areas for problem statements include:

• Develop scalable and sustainable off-grid solar solutions (Solar Home Systems (SHS), Mini-Grids, Solar Microgrids) to address energy poverty in remote and underserved areas across APAC countries
• Develop scalable models to boost cost competitiveness in solar applications for logistics, manufacturing, and supply chain. By optimizing energy-intensive production processes, solar-transportation vehicles, and Solar powered smart logistics systems.
• Development of innovative, space-efficient solar technology, essential to address the challenge of limited land availability in densely populated/land deficient countries
• Development of circular economy in solar for recycling end-of-life solar panels, reducing electronic waste, and ensuring responsible disposal.
• Develop AI, IoT, GPS-based SaaS tools to enhance manufacturing, deployment, and integration of solar energy for eg. land mapping, 3D modelling, project monitoring, tools.
• Innovate manufacturing for sustainable, efficient materials, to enhance energy output, cost reduction and improved efficiency in solar equipment, such as high-efficiency inverters, ACDBs, DCDBs, and other components.
• Technical or business model innovations to reduce cost of grid integration, optimizing energy distribution of rooftop solar, utility-scale solar, energy storage solutions to address intermittency issues associated with solar power generation.
• Implementing solar-powered technologies such as high-efficiency DC pumps with smart controllers for water pumping, purification, and irrigation to promote sustainable water management in various regions
• Promoting the development and adoption of solar-powered solutions for innovative business models for emerging use cases such as E-Mobility, green Hydrogen, AgriPv, transportation, solar-charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, etc
• Other Areas of Solar Application with on-ground applications

Apply now

Have a query? Connect with us at solarxstartupchallenge@investindia.org.in  or Click Here

The winners will be incentivized through two modes:

• International Solar Alliance (ISA): The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies as a means for bringing energy access, ensuring energy security, and driving energy transition in its member countries. The ISA was conceived as a joint effort by India and France to mobilize efforts against climate change through the deployment of solar energy solutions. Currently, the ISA has 9 comprehensive programs, each focusing on a distinct application that could help scale the deployment of solar energy solutions. Activities under the program focus on 4 priority areas – Analytics & Advocacy, Capacity Building, Programmatic Support, and readiness and enabling activities, that help create a favourable environment for solar energy investments to take root in the country.
• Invest India: Invest India is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India with experience in delivering projects of national and international importance. These projects aim to drive the socio-economic development of the target section. Invest India has been assisting the Government of India as a program monitoring unit since its inception hence the targeted outcome has never been profit- making rather larger socio-economic well-being is paramount. Invest India is the most awarded investment promotion agency in the world and is the elected President of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland aiming to create a global collaborative environment for direct investment.