1GW solar rooftops installed in India

Finally India crosses the 1 GW mark in the rooftop solar segment. The country has set up an ambitious target to install 40 GW by 2022, and thus has a long distance to cover to reach the mark. India is a hot country with good amount of solar isolation coupled with rising demand for electricity. The power tariffs are also increasing and a large chunk of the population still cannot afford electricity. Given all these facts, solar seems to be an obvious answer to the country’s problems. However India’s regulations extremely hazy and distribution utilities are creating hurdles  which is stalling the rooftop growth in India.

While utility solar installations have taken off in the country, the growth in rooftop segment is not as per expectation. Tata Power Solar maintains its position as a leader in the rooftop segment in India, installing nearly 40 MW of solar rooftops in the past year alone. India reaching this 1 GW mark may mark the dawn of a new era in this regard. The rooftop segment entailed a growth of 113% in the last one year. While it looks close to impossible that India will attain its aggressive target, it is expected to install 12.7 GW of solar rooftops by 2021.

Bridge to India MD Vinay Rustagi said, “Rooftop solar has been a side-story in the Indian solar sector so far but that is beginning to change now. The sector is growing rapidly and beginning to realise its potential, thanks largely to increasing cost competitiveness of rooftop solar power vs grid power.”

Source: NDTV

Rooftop solar makes economic sense for consumers in all segments – residential, commercial and industrial. Industrial and commercial consumers accounted for more than 60% of the total installed capacity, with 17 states in India achieving grid parity. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have remained the largest in terms of rooftops installed so far. More than 20% of the projects have been installed through PPAs, with CleanMax, Cleantech Solar, Azure Power, Rays Expert being the top companies offering PPAs. The government had mandated installing solar rooftops on government buildings, as a result of which the government rooftop solar segment has grown by more than 10% in total installed capacity. According to few industry analysts rooftop solar can also outpace the utility solar market growth in the years to come.

The country has a huge potential to grow on the rooftop solar front. While the country has successfully implemented subsidies and net metering policy in the country to boost rooftop solar, it can do much better. With the government’s support we hope to come across more bullish numbers in this segment.