State Wise Solar State Rankings – India 2019-20

Top Indian states with Highest Solar Installed Capacity – March 2020

Dear Readers, like every year we have collated a list of top states in India on the basis of highest rooftop solar installed capacities. I have tried to make the list more informational by adding major events that happened last year. Hope you like it.

10. Telangana

Telangana ranks tenth on the list with an installed rooftop solar energy generation capacity of 90.46 MW as of February 2020. Its total installed solar energy capacity stood at 3,620 MW.  The state ranked amongst the highest in terms of new solar capacity addition in the last couple of years. Telangana suffered some major setbacks on the renewable energy front due to the new Jagan Reddy government coming into power last year.

9. Punjab

Punjab had the ninth-largest installed rooftop solar energy generation capacity of 118.5 MW as of February 2020. however, its total installed solar energy capacity stood at 947 MW.

8. Haryana

Haryana ranks eighth on the list with an installed rooftop solar energy generation capacity of 121 MW as of February 2020. Its total installed solar energy capacity stood at just 252 MW.  Haryana state has allowed 1000 MW of open access solar energy to be set up in the state. But now the state is using red tape to stop the growth of open access solar.

7. Uttar Pradesh

UP ranks seventh on the list with an installed rooftop solar energy generation capacity of 146 MW as of February 2020. Its total installed solar energy capacity stood at 1,095 MW.

6. Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu comes sixth on the list with an installed generation capacity of 156 MW as of February 2020. Its total installed solar energy capacity stood at 3,915 MW.

5. Delhi

Delhi has made a good progress on the rooftop solar energy installations with total rooftop capacity standing at 156MW and a total solar capacity of 165 MW. So most of the solar capacity comes from rooftop installations as the city has sparsely any land left for ground-mounted plants. Delhi aims to generate 2000 MW of solar energy by 2025 and is also trying to lift up rooftop solar power generation. The Renewable Energy Service Company model or RESCO mode as it is popularly known as is expected to generate an aggregated demand of 40 MW.

4. Maharashtra

The central state of Maharashtra ranks fourth on the list with an installed generation capacity of 219 MW as of February 2020. Its total installed solar energy capacity stood at 1,800 MW.  Did you know India’s western city of Pune has the highest rooftop solar installed? But the renewable energy in the state has been currently witnessing a backlash from utilities. The regulator is trying to remove net metering for commercial and industrial consumers.

3. Rajasthan

The Indian Western state of Rajasthan has the third-largest rooftop installed generation capacity of 224 MW as of February 2020. Its total installed solar energy capacity stood at 5,035 MW.  The state has now come out with a new solar energy policy where it has set a target of 30,000 MW by 2025 building upon the 5 GW of existing solar capacity in the state. The state will give out a number of incentives such as relaxations in stamp duty, electricity duty, and transmission and wheeling charges, etc. Besides ultra mega parks, Rajasthan will also support smaller ground-mounted solar plants which will be developed by the private sector. The state will also support the KUSUM scheme under which rural small solar plants and solar pumps will be built out.

2. Karnataka

The southern state of Karnataka ranks second on the list with an installed generation capacity of 233 MW as of February 2020. Its total installed solar energy capacity stood at a whopping 7,278 MW.  However, the rapid growth has led to the Karnataka energy regulator to halt in any new solar power capacity creation for the next three years. The commission in order has said that though the prices of wind and solar power were low, the problem is that while the state can get prices of wind and solar for a low cost, they still have to pay the fixed costs for a thermal power plant which they have contracted to.

1. Gujarat

Gujarat tops the list with the highest rooftop solar installed generation capacity of 469 MW as of February 2020, and a total installed solar energy capacity of 2,886 MW.  Now, Gujarat is set to become the first state in India to use geothermal energy. The Dholera geothermal power plant was expected to be operational in April this year.

Compare the state-wise solar rankings with the earlier years:

2017-18 and 2015-16.

Data from Saur Energy.