The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has mandated generating and inputting the 16-digit Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) certificate number on the PM Surya Ghar portal to prevent duplicate module serial number issues.

Vendors will no longer be allowed to enter the serial numbers manually, and the integrated DCR and PM Surya Ghar portal will auto-generate the module serial numbers.

The process will likely remove any possibility of inadvertent errors while entering module serial numbers and remove chances of duplicate serial number issues.

For several weeks, the portal faced the problem of duplicate serial numbers due to some vendors uploading serial numbers different from those of the installed modules/inverters. The system would prevent vendors from inputting installation details as the system would throw an error stating ‘Serial number already exists. Due to the portal issue, some vendors could not submit their installation details, and projects were stalled.

MNRE has said vendors must generate a B2C certificate, also known as a DCR certificate, from the DCR verification portal for the end consumer. After getting the modules verified for the DCR mandate and checking for any  duplicates in the system, the portal will issue the certificate.

Since December 2024, all modules used in MNRE’s Central Public Sector Undertaking Phase-II, PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, and PM-KUSUM must be verified through the DCR verification portal.

While entering the installation details in the PM Surya Ghar portal, the vendor must input the DCR certificate number, which will automatically fetch the corresponding module’s serial number. The module serial number will get entered automatically into the PM Surya Ghar portal without the need for manually inputting the serial numbers.

MNRE  has also introduced a new provision to rectify duplicate serial numbers for solar modules and inverters registered on the PM Surya Ghar portal. The provision allows vendors to process applications with duplicate serial numbers.

MNRE has now mandated that vendors with repetitive serial numbers must submit a legal undertaking stating that they have entered the correct serial number or issue an undertaking to correct them. If the vendors submit a legal undertaking, vendors can submit installation details even if the portal flags the issue of repeated serial numbers.

All submitted applications at various stages with repeated serial numbers will be returned to the vendors with the repeated serial number flag.

However, the applications already inspected by distribution companies (DISCOM) will be returned with a ‘repeated serial number’ tag and a ‘re-verification flag to the DISCOMs. The DISCOMs will reverify the serial numbers submitted before processing the applications further. They will also enter the net metering date to ensure no additional charges are imposed while resubmitting the applications.

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