Deputy Minister: There is no reason for the Ministry of Industry and Trade to make it difficult for people to install solar power.

At the Ministry of Industry and Trade 's third quarter press conference on the afternoon of October 8, Dan Tri newspaper reporters asked about the fact that many households and associations reported that the procedures for installing self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power are currently quite complicated, requiring documents to be sent to many agencies such as the Department of Industry and Trade, electricity, fire prevention and fighting, etc.

"Some opinions say that the current regulation is "playing with words" with the concept of notification, but in reality it is "asking permission" to many competent authorities. What is the Ministry of Industry and Trade's opinion on the above issue and in the draft amendment to Decree 58/2025, does the Ministry have a plan to simplify this process?", the reporter asked.

Procedures for installing rooftop solar panels will be simplified

Responding to this issue, Mr. Bui Quoc Hung, Deputy Director of the Electricity Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power mainly serves the needs of households, the surplus can be sold to the grid.

For households, except for a few cases in mountainous and island areas that cannot be connected to the national grid, using independent renewable energy systems, self-producing and self-consuming without connection to the national grid, there is no need to register or notify.

"However, all electricity customers who have installed rooftop solar panels must now connect to the national grid and still buy electricity from Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) and EVN units to serve their daily needs, meaning they are EVN customers," he said.

Mr. Hung said that currently there is a mechanism for installing rooftop solar power to produce and consume a part of it for people's own needs. Except when there is no solar power, such as at night, people still have to use the national grid. So there must be regulations such as announcements, not a mechanism for registration or asking for permission.

"People only need to notify the management agency of the Department of Industry and Trade and the local electricity unit so that the local electricity management agency knows about people's use of grid electricity and solar power, ensuring balance of supply and demand, and appropriate regulation," he affirmed.

Mr. Hung said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is developing a Decision to encourage the development of self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power, which will cut down many procedures and simplify the process in the direction that people only need to send registration documents and confirmation forms to the ward or commune information portal, which is the only unit that receives information, then the electricity unit will come to install and measure. Thus, the procedure will be very simple.

"In addition, the Ministry also proposed a preferential loan policy from the Social Policy Bank, with support of 2-3 million VND/project and a mechanism to encourage the sale of electricity to EVN," he informed.

"The Ministry of Industry and Trade has no reason to set up difficult regulations"

Sharing more about this issue, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan affirmed that the goal of self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power in the Power Plan 8 is to reach 50% of households installing it. Therefore, there is no reason for the Ministry of Industry and Trade to set up procedures that make it difficult for people and limit the installation of rooftop solar power.

Regarding the need to carry out procedures for installing self-produced and self-consumed rooftop solar power, the Deputy Minister said that the electricity industry needs to grasp information about the power capacity of rooftop solar power systems to supply electricity appropriately.

"This procedure is necessary, but it is not for management purposes. People only need to notify relevant agencies. However, because the electricity industry is a special industry, the technical content is difficult, so we need consultants to help people during the installation process and provide parameter information for people to work," Mr. Tan affirmed.

The Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade said that he is also aiming for localities to carry out online procedures to simplify the process. At the same time, he is promoting this more widely for people to do.

"The Industry and Trade sector wants to develop rooftop solar power, there is no reason for the Ministry of Industry and Trade to make things difficult. The Ministry is also assigning the Electricity Department to review Decree 58/2025 to further simplify administrative procedures," the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade affirmed.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/thu-truong-khong-ly-gi-bo-cong-thuong-lam-kho-nguoi-dan-lap-dien-mat-troi-20251008171458761.htm