Will SRISTI and LiDAR provide the necessary boost to the Indian Rooftop Industry

Rooftop SRISTI Scheme

The government of India is taking various steps in a bid to boost rooftop solar installations in the country. The latest effort is a proposal to set up Sustainable Rooftop Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India (SRISTI), to provide financial aid of INR 23,450 crore from the government. India has planned to install 100 GW of solar power by 2022, out of which 40 GW will be rooftop solar installations. However, the country has achieved a meager 1.6 GW of rooftop installations as of December 2017.

As a result, to further encourage rooftop installations, the government has planned to increase rooftop solar subsidies by five times. According to this program, a maximum subsidy of INR 18,000 per kW will be provided to the residential sector, while it will be INR 5,500 per kW for all social, institutional, government, commercial and industrial sectors. The subsidy will be limited to a maximum of 5 kW for residential rooftop installations. The total outlay is INR 23,450 crore for 40,000 MW of rooftop solar installations. Note the policy is still waiting for approval.

Though the new SRISTI scheme does not guarantee that India will achieve its rooftop target of 40 GW by 2022, it surely does try to overcome the shortfalls of the existing programs, according to the Secretary of MNRE.

LiDAR Technology in rooftop segment

Another laudable step undertaken by Bangalore Electricity Supply Co. Ltd. (BESCOM) is the application of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology to map the rooftop solar potential of the city. BESCOM aims to generate 1,000 MW of rooftop solar energy by 2022 from Bengaluru itself. Such initiatives will be directed towards assessing the real risks and potential and thus help in designing clear plans and achievable policies.

Tamil Nadu was the leading Indian state by rooftop installations till March 2017, followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, cost of electricity from rooftop solar has nearly halved in the last five years.

Also, read Can Chandigarh Bring the Solar Change And set An Example For Other Indian States

Leading Indian States    Cumulative Rooftop Installation (in MW)

Tamil Nadu                                                  163

Maharashtra                                                137

Rajasthan                                                       88

Gujarat                                                            87

Karnataka                                                       83

Haryana                                                          78

UP                                                                    68

Punjab                                                             66

Delhi                                                                53

Telangana                                                       43

AP                                                                     40

As of March 2017

Read more: State Wise Solar State Rankings – India 2017-18