This initiative was first proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech in November 2015 at Wembley Stadium in which he referred to sunshine countries as Suryaputra ("Sons of the Sun").

[3] Bangladesh boasts the world's most extensive off-grid solar power initiative, a valuable source of insights and guidance for other nations seeking to enhance availability of economical and eco-friendly electricity.

[4] The initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the India Africa Summit, and a meeting of member countries ahead of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015.

[7] In January 2016, Narendra Modi, and the then French President François Hollande jointly laid the foundation stone of the ISA Headquarters and inaugurated the interim Secretariat at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in Gwal Pahari, Gurugram, India.

The launching of such an alliance in Paris also sends a strong signal to the global communities about the sincerity of the developing nations towards their concern about climate change and to switch to a low-carbon growth path.

[10] India's pledge to the Paris summit offered to bring 40% of its electricity generation capacity (not actual production) from non-fossil sources (renewable, large hydro, and nuclear) by 2030.

[12] The sunniest countries of the world are on the African continent, ranging from Somalia- Horn of Africa-, east to Niger, west and north to Egypt.

[citation needed] Countries marked with a plus also ratified the framework,[18] such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Congo, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liberia, Luxembourg, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Oman, Paraguay, the Philippines, Romania, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States, and Brazil is the newest member of this alliance.

The World Bank announced, "This tool will help governments save millions of dollars on their own research and provide investors and solar developers with an easily accessible and uniform platform to compare resource potential between sites in one region or across multiple countries.

We hope that the Global Solar Atlas will help inform the crucial planning and investment decisions that will need to be taken over the next decade to shift to more sustainable forms of energy.

"[citation needed] India, with the support of France, invited multiple nations, such as the United States, Japan and Brazil, to facilitate the infrastructure for the implementation of solar projects.

The Bank will have a major role in mobilizing more than US$1 trillion in investments that will be needed by 2030, to meet ISA's goals for the massive deployment of affordable solar energy.