Will Rooftop Solar be the New Global Solar Mantra

Rooftop Solar are gaining popularity because they do not require huge amount of land as is the case with large solar farms and also reduce transmission costs. USA installed 437 MW of rooftop solar in Q1 2015, with California topping the list installing more than 50% alone. This was the highest quarterly installation that USA has ever reached. The country houses some of the biggest solar installers like SolarCity (SCTY), Vivint Solar (VSLR). SolarCity is aiming to install more than 1 GW of rooftop solar in 2015. With the ITC expiring in December 2016, installers are making the most of their time now. After the expiration of the ITC credit, the residential credit comes down from 30% to 0. The commercial and utility systems will still collect the 10% tax credit and accelerated depreciation.

Other states to achieve record installations in USA are New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Arizona. The cost of system installation has also come down to ~$3/ watt. The current cost of installation of solar power are as low as $2.86 per watt for SolarCity and $2.96 per watt for Vivint Solar. These prices are expected to further fall in the future.

Rooftop Solar is fast gaining traction around the world. India has increased its target of solar installation to 100 GW by 2022, 40% of which is aimed as rooftop solar. China has installed 5.3 GW of rooftop solar till date and has plans to install 17.8 GW of solar till 2015. Rooftop solar makes energy more democratic and also ultimately reduces transmission costs. Given the land crisis in the emerging markets, it makes more sense to deploy rooftop solar. India should take a hint from its western counterparts to install more and more rooftop solar as it will reduce cost of both transmission and land. India’s reduced subsidy on rooftop installation by 50% coming down to 15% currently. This is not a good sign, as a lot of the customers will be reluctant to fund the high initial costs of solar installations. A better way would have been providing incentives in the form of stamp duty or property tax exemptions.

Read about Solar installers in India.