The practise note provides insights on the pilot project implementation of renewable energy adoption in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by aggregation of rooftop solar demand (RTS) at the cluster level in the state of Haryana. Aggregation of demand is a valuable strategy that offers advantages over individual SMEs investing independently in this technology. This, combined with technical handholding and the type of transparent process that WRI India piloted, can help maximize RTS adoption.


For SMEs, which face technical, regulatory, and financial obstacles when considering RE adoption, WRI India piloted the following step-by-step process: raising awareness, building partnerships, assessing solar potential, assisting in the selection of solar vendors, and conducting regular follow-ups leading to the final installations. Through open-source machine learning methods to assess solar rooftop potential across 4 clusters, the idea of demand aggregation was floated. WRI India aggregated individual RTS demand in the Yamunanagar plywood cluster in Haryana, and with its support, some industrial units installed a combined RTS capacity of 206 kW on two rooftops during the initial stages of this study. This not only led to cheaper discovery of prices and better service offers for the RTS system but also created a conducive environment for SMEs to understand and prioritise uptake of innovative technologies and be part of the clean energy transition.