India is speeding towards increasing its solar capacity, as evident in the second quarter of 2021. With 521 milliwatt of solar rooftop added in this time period, India has recorded a jump of 517 per cent over the same quarter in 2020.
With a cumulative installed rooftop capacity of 6.1 gigawatt, India just witnessed its most successful quarter in terms of rooftop solar absorption.
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Gujarat, Maharashtra lead rooftop solar installations
According to a report by Mercom India, this happened even with a slight cost increase. 10 Indian states account for 83 per cent of all solar rooftop cumulative installations, Mercom report revealed.
Gujarat accounted for 55 per cent of total added rooftop solar energy capacity with 1.3 gigawatt, followed by Maharashtra at 700 milliwatt and Rajasthan at 450 milliwatt.
Western Indian states are leading the rooftop solar energy installations pack for now, whereas eastern Indian states, along with Jammu & Kashmir, still need to get serious about their commitment to solar energy.
Mercom Capital Group’s CEO Raj Prabhu told PV-Tech that finalising the metering cap at 500 kilowatt has helped remove uncertainty for installers in India, paving the way for future. However, he added – “haphazard rooftop solar policies across states and a lack of support from distribution companies are holding back the sector.”
Solar intstallations getting more expensive in India
The report also revealed the skyrocketing cost of rooftop solar tech in India, with an average increase of 3 per cent to 39.1 million/milliwatt in the first quarter of 2021 vs 38 million/milliwatt in the first quarter of 2020.
India is on its way to making a switch to solar and a joint venture by Coal India and NLC India is set to invest ₹125 billion in solar power projects across the country.
Coal is being phased out systematically while solar is being prioritised, and hopefully this will not only add some much needed momentum into India’s solar energy adoption curve but also reduce the price involved in rooftop solar energy installations around the country.