India Solar Growth – Story So Far

India has set a huge example for most of the developing nations when it comes to adopting an aggressive solar policy to improve the state of power in the nation. India has already achieved 23 GW of solar installations while 40 GW of solar power is still in the pipeline. The country has demonstrated strong commitment with nearly 25 GW of grid-connected solar power capacity today, as compared to 9 GW in 2015.

India is closing down to achieving its target of getting electricity to every home in the country and renewable sources of power especially solar energy has played a major role in that. Solar energy also has the potential to create new jobs, 1 GW of solar manufacturing facility generates approximately 4000 jobs. Effective and economical storage options will surely help the country in supplying power to every corner. The country is also taking steps to strengthen the overall grid integration and transmission infrastructure which will help in the seamless distribution of power.

However, one area where the country lacks is solar manufacturing. India imports a large chunk of its requirement from neighboring countries, so much that it has already imposed safeguard and anti-dumping duties in the interest of domestic manufacturers.

Renewable energy sources of power have made rapid advancements in terms of cost and efficiency. For developing countries, with huge power needs, adopting a much cleaner approach makes complete economic sense today. Renewable energy sources of power now account for one-third of overall global power capacity, according to International Renewable Energy Agency. About 171 GW of new renewable capacity was installed in 2018 itself. Asia accounted for 61% of total new renewable energy installations, demonstrating growth of more than 11%. Wind energy was the second largest new renewable energy source last year, with China and the US being the major contributors.

India has set an ambitious target of installing 100 GW of solar power by 2022. Given its huge power needs and increasing carbon footprint, the country needs to concentrate on renewable sources of power not only because it is green but also becoming cheap. Storage and domestic manufacturing are the two areas where the next phase of development should come from. Imposition of duties on neighboring countries’ imports should act as a huge tailwind for improving the state of affairs for “Make In India“.