Smarten Power Systems, an NSE-listed maker of power backup and solar equipment, has unveiled seven new products. The launch came at REV Expo Lucknow 2026, held from 11 to 13 September at the Defence Expo Ground. The lineup spans hybrid inverters, one on-grid solar inverter and three backup units. Roughly 10,000 visitors came to its stall, the company says, generating “multiple business queries” over three days.
The showcase lands in the middle of India’s rooftop solar boom. It also lands on a financial year when revenue grew about 20% while profit fell by nearly a third. Seven new products are one answer to that squeeze. Whether they are the right answer is a question the release never touches.
Why the Smarten Power Systems Showcase Happened Now
Three threads converged in Lucknow.
Uttar Pradesh is the market of the moment
Uttar Pradesh became India’s largest residential rooftop solar market in August 2026. It added 228.95 MW in a single month, according to JMK Research data reported by Financial Express. The state ranks third nationally in cumulative installations under the PM Surya Ghar scheme. For a company whose strengths sit in North India’s backup-power belt, a product blitz in Lucknow is geography as strategy.
The subsidy engine keeps accelerating
PM Surya Ghar, the world’s largest rooftop solar programme, crossed 50 lakh beneficiary households in August 2026. That compares with 7.94 lakh installations in the entire preceding decade. The scheme now adds roughly one lakh households every six days. An interim target of 75 lakh is set for December 2026.
Systems of 3 kW and above earn a central subsidy of ₹78,000. A 3 kW on-grid inverter, the segment Smarten just entered, sits exactly where the money flows.
A newly listed SME needs a story
The company listed on NSE Emerge in July 2025 at ₹100 per share and debuted at a 44% premium. Fresh capital funded a battery plant at Baddi. A new Jhajjar facility is designed to double inverter capacity to 1,200 units a day. Product launches keep the narrative alive between quarterly results. The most recent results explain the urgency.
The Competitive Picture: Fragments of a Fallen Leader
Smarten Power Systems competes in India’s most fragmented corner of solar hardware. In residential string inverters, Growatt and Luminous lead by unit volume. Havells, Microtek and dozens of domestic brands trail them. No single brand holds more than 15-20% of the residential market.
Chinese suppliers — Sungrow, Huawei, Growatt — hold over 55% of utility-scale megawatts. The sub-10 kW residential segment remains a local brawl fought through dealer networks.
The company’s chief executive, Rajnish Sharma, spent 22 years in power backup and worked extensively at Su-Kam. That brand, once India’s most celebrated inverter maker, collapsed into insolvency around 2019 as its dealer network dissolved. His current company follows the same playbook that made Su-Kam dominant: distribution first, manufacturing added later. Luminous, now owned by Schneider Electric, runs the same legacy strategy with far deeper pockets.
Hybrid inverters are the fastest-growing category precisely because of states like UP. Households there want subsidy-eligible solar and backup in one box. Both Hybrid Ultra+ models aim there. One catch: any inverter seeking PM Surya Ghar customers must appear on the ALMM list, the government’s approved-manufacturer registry. The release does not say whether the new on-grid unit has that clearance.
What the Data Shows About Smarten Power Systems
The public filings frame the launch.
Growth without profit
Consolidated revenue for FY2025 came in at ₹201.75 crore, with a net profit of ₹12.77 crore. FY2026 tells a harder story. Revenue rose to roughly ₹242.7 crore, up 20.3%. Net profit fell about 31% to ₹8.8 crore. Operating profit dropped by a similar margin.
The company still trades near its IPO price territory with a market capitalisation of roughly ₹103 crore. Costs of traded goods — panels and batteries bought for resale — sit at the heart of the squeeze. That is why the Baddi battery plant matters more than any single inverter.
A manufacturing pivot in progress
The Baddi facility, its movable assets bought from a firm called Su-Urja using IPO proceeds, can make 8,000 batteries a month across the 20Ah-250Ah range. Management describes a shift “from a trading-led model to a manufacturing-driven business.” About 76% of revenue is domestic; exports take the rest. All seven products at Lucknow are the visible edge of that transition.
Visitor numbers in context
The release counts “approximately 10,000+ visitors” at its stall. The expo’s own previous edition reported 15,000-plus total trade visitors across all exhibitors. It is not impossible — footfall at a free-entry regional show runs high — but the claim is unverifiable and unaudited. Treat it as colour, not data.
What’s New vs. What’s Repackaged
Genuinely new: the On-Grid Star 3 kW, presented as in-house manufactured, marks the company’s entry into the grid-tied segment where subsidies concentrate. The remaining six products extend existing hybrid and backup lines — a 4.5 kVA and 7.5 kVA hybrid pair, a Helio unit, and three backup models that largely restate the current catalogue. The release’s closing line about “fusion is the future” recycles standing boilerplate from the annual report, odd phrasing for a solar-backup company. What stays unclear: prices, warranty terms, efficiency ratings, launch dates and ALMM status.
The Question the Press Release Doesn’t Answer
Can a subsidy-linked inverter sell without subsidy clearance? If the On-Grid Star 3 kW lacks ALMM listing, PM Surya Ghar customers cannot use it. Nothing in the release addresses this.
Second: what do the products cost? A 3 kW on-grid inverter typically retails between ₹20,000 and ₹48,000 depending on class. Without pricing, the “10,000 visitors” claim cannot convert into an addressable market.
Third: what fixes the margin? Revenue grew a fifth last year while profit fell by almost a third. Product launches widen the catalogue; they do not by themselves explain how the trading-to-manufacturing pivot restores profitability.
What the Smarten Power Systems Launch Means for You
If you are buying rooftop solar in UP, confirm the installer’s inverter is ALMM-listed before signing — subsidy money depends on it. Ask for the On-Grid Star’s listing status, warranty period and efficiency rating in writing.
If you invest in the NSE SME stock, track two numbers over the next two quarters: gross margin, which the battery plant is meant to lift, and revenue mix between manufactured and traded goods. Expo footfall is not a KPI.
If you follow India’s inverter market, the pattern is familiar — a distribution-led challenger from the old Su-Kam school pushing into hybrids and on-grid while Luminous, Microtek, Growatt and 30-odd ALMM-listed brands fight for the same rooftop. Capacity, not launches, will decide who survives the shakeout.
Editor’s Note
This article draws on the Smarten Power Systems press release dated 20 September 2026, the company’s NSE filings (FY2025 annual report, H1 FY26 investor presentation, IPO prospectus), Business Standard reporting on its July 2025 listing, government data on the PM Surya Ghar scheme (MNRE, Lok Sabha replies, PIB), JMK Research monthly data as reported by Financial Express, and market research on India’s inverter industry (Mordor Intelligence, JMK Research, Mercom India, third-party brand analyses). Visitor and lead figures are the company’s claims. Stock performance references are contextual, not recommendations. Nothing here is investment advice.