Solar Adoption for MSMEs: How Aerem is Empowering Small Businesses

The Adoption of solar on Indian rooftops has today become as common as the TV’s D2H dishes.  But considering India’s potential, we still have a long way to go. Over the last decade, India made tremendous progress with installed renewable energy capacity of more than 40% of the total capacity installed. Indian rooftop owners now understand the benefits of solar adoption in terms of savings and for a greener planet but Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) remain largely untapped for their rooftop solar potential. 

MSMEs are one of the strongest drivingforces in India’s economic growth, in 2019-2020, MSMEs accounted for about 30% of India’s GDP, employed 110 million workers, and had a 49% share in exports.Hence it becomes even more important to decarbonize the MSME sector which accounts for 110 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the energy usage of up to 50 million metric tonnes of oil per year from 200 energy-intensive manufacturing clusters in India, according to a 2018 report.

Additionally, MSMEs have a large carbon footprint, partly because of the nature of energy consumption, with over 80% of the energy consumed required for thermal processes to produce heat (eg. boilers and furnaces). These thermal energy demands have traditionally been met through fossil fuel sources (such as coal, natural gas, and pet coke), making MSMEs a hard-to-abate sector. Thus, emission reduction and hence solar adoption in the MSME sector is necessary for achieving India’s ambitious net-zero targetsby 2070.

Having said that, the access to initial investment or CAPEX required to install the solar plant is still one of the biggest hurdles. Businesses often invest in avenues that generates more profits, say a new machinery or increase in manpower or say plant expansion but saving measures like solar often take a backseat, one obviously because of the investment needed, other because most of them have never had the experience of installing solar and hence remain unsure of the proposition.

At Aerem, we have brought together our expertise to develop an all-in-one platform that manages every aspect of solar energy, from financing to post-installation plant monitoring. We have digitized the entire process, easily tracked through our cutting-edge Aerem app for as mooth solar journey.

Let's delve into how Aerem is empowering MSMEs through Solar Adoption.

Solar Financing

If you go back about a couple of years ago,securing solar loans would have been an impossible task for MSMEs. Aerem’s pioneering solution on building India’s first rooftop solar financing platform is ensuring MSMEs have access to affordable solar loans.

Aerem platform through its RBI-licensed NBFC provides loans that are:

• Collateral free
• Competitive interest rates
• Up to 90% of project cost
• Longer and flexible tenures up to 5 years
• Disbursement within 12 hours
• Complete digital journey

All the above features make it very easy and seamless for a business owner to start saving with solar. With The trust of our valued customers, we successfully financed 450 MW of solar rooftops through more than 500 projects.

EPC Partners

Aerem’s financing solutions solve the biggest problem which is financing. But we didn’t stop here, we made it even more convenient for business owners.

Aerem has partnered with 800+ trusted solar EPC companies across India. With all the necessary due diligence performed with these EPC partners, rooftop owners can rest assured of the quality of materials used, the workmanship, and the overall service provided by the EPC company.

This also reduces the hassle of reaching out to a number of companies, comparing quotations, and finalizing the right bill of material. Our team at Aerem assists rooftop owners in the entire process and becomes their consultant in choosing the right partner and the right capacity for solar power plant.

Project Status Updates

Installing solar is a project onits own, involving several steps including but not limited to feasibility,design, procurement, delivery, installation, commissioning, and government approvals for net metering. A complete solar project can take from 1 -3 months depending on the scale and complexity of the project. This demands a robust system to monitor the activities of the project.

This is where Aerem’s app comes into the picture, rooftop owners can track their loan application through the Aeremapp, once the loan is approved and disbursed, the project status can also be viewed in the app. This improves transparency and makes the process more efficient and system-dependant rather than people-dependant especially avoiding the challenges of coordination between multiple stakeholders. Whether rooftop owners want to check the material delivery status or schedule plant maintenance during the project installation, they can check the Aerem app for the project status.

Asset Care

Once the solar rooftop plant was commissioned, any downtime of the solar plant, reduces solar generation and savings. it is important to monitor the plant closely in order to identify any faults early on in order to prevent any major faults in the future, i.e.preventive maintenance.

All this is possible through the Aerem’s AeROC(Aerem Remote Operations Centre) dashboard on the Aerem App. The Remote monitoring platform helps rooftop owners monitor the performance of the plant through their mobile devices remotely. It is always advisable that rooftop owners have access to the remote monitoring system and regularly check the portal.

1. Energy trends: Monitor energy output and savings trends of the solar plant. This can help rooftop owners understand the savings from the solar power plant.‍
2. Analysis & reports: Monitor energy generation to optimize performance, assess financial viability, and track environmental impact of the solar plant‍
3. Downtime Alerts: Enable proactive identification of issues, reducing downtime, optimizing performance, and ensuring efficient operation of solar infrastructure.

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This is how Aerem effectively tackles and resolves all the pain points that MSMEs may encounter when adoptings olar. Our all-encompassing solution guarantees a seamless transition to cleanenergy, facilitated by a fully digital and transparent process through the Aerem App.

To secure a solar loan for your rooftop, feel free to reachout to us at loans@aerem.co and for queries write to us at  connect@aerem.co , and our team of experts will shortly get in touch with you.