Installation of photo voltaic rooftops in India witnessed a 78 per cent spike in the final one 12 months, with capacities crossing the 12 GW mark in April, 2024.
Currently, Gujarat is main the states, with over 3,455 MW of put in photo voltaic rooftop capability, adopted by Maharashtra (2,071 MW), and Rajasthan (1,154 MW). In the final one 12 months, between April, 2023 to March, 2024 – the photo voltaic rooftop put in capability in the nation, elevated from 6.645 MW to 11.869 MW. More than 56 per cent of those capacities are in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The quickest growth in the photo voltaic rooftop installations might be seen in southern states like Tamil Nadu (599 MW), and Kerala (675 MW), the place, the put in capacities grew by 55 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively .
After the Union Government introduced the PM Surya Muft Bijli Yojana, in February, 2024, and focused to put in photo voltaic rooftops on 10 million properties, the installations of photo voltaic rooftop methods, has been lacklustre and is anticipated to select up solely after the outcomes of the Lok Sabha elections are introduced. Compared to a mean 400 MW of photo voltaic rooftop installations each month, solely 144 MW of capability, was added throughout the nation in the month of April, 2024. Though this 144 MW of capability helped India’s photo voltaic rooftop capability cross the 12,000 MW, a lot of the installations have remained restricted to Gujarat, (51MW), Rajasthan (38 MW), and Tamil Nadu (23 MW).
“The scheme targeting solar rooftops for 10 million households, has a lot of potential for us manufacturers. Because of this scheme, 25-50 GW of the market becomes available. We believe that the scheme will pick up once the elections conclude, and there is more clarity with regard to the subsidies,” mentioned Vinay Thadani, director of Grew Energy Pvt Ltd, the solar energy arm of Gujarat-based Chiripal Group.
Eyeing the prospects in photo voltaic rooftops and photo voltaic parks, Grew Energy not too long ago translocated its proposed ₹4,500 crore photo voltaic module manufacturing unit to Jammu from Gujarat. Few days in the past, the corporate carried out ground-breaking for its facility at Kathua, the place, a producing unit for 3.2 GW of high-efficiency photo voltaic modules and a pair of.8 GW of ingots, wafers, and cells, yearly, can be constructed.
“The initial plan was to set up the project in Dholera in Ahmedabad. But then we selected Jammu, as there is a huge government support, for setting up solar parks in Ladakh and Uttar Pradesh. We have a time-line committed to the central government under the PLI scheme, and so we did not want to delay it any further,” Thadani advised businessline. The challenge is anticipated to be commissioned by the primary quarter of 2025-26.
The official mentioned that the challenge in Jammu, can also be meant to satiate the demand arising from photo voltaic rooftops which might be anticipated to be set up below the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijili Yojana. “We will also be catering to the demand for solar rooftops. In these kinds of schemes (solar rooftop schemes), you need to procure a module that is manufactured in India. It is only for DCR Solar Modules and those with Domestic Content Requirement, that the government will provide subsidies. Any person setting up a cell fab or a backward integration, is expected to benefit,” mentioned Thadani about his firm’s plans.
Grew Energy, is at the moment importing a lot of the photo voltaic cells, wanted for its facility in Jaipur from China. The Jammu challenge is anticipated to assist it not solely to chop down on imports, but additionally concentrate on the home demand, particularly in states like Uttar Pradesh (265 MW of photo voltaic rooftops), and Jammu and Kashmir (37 MW), the place, the photo voltaic rooftop installations are much less.
Pointing out that the federal government’s rooftop photo voltaic subsidy scheme presents a USD 1 billion alternative for Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd, Deepesh Nanda, MD & CEO of the corporate mentioned southern states with excessive photo voltaic irradiation like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telengana, together with western states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are well-positioned to excel.
“States like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are expected to emerge as frontrunners and surpass strongholds like Gujarat and Rajasthan. Maharashtra, with its sizable power consumer base and escalating energy demands, presents a promising market for rooftop solar systems. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh, boasting a significant rural and semi-urban population, harbors immense potential for solar energy adoption, particularly in households witnessing a surge in electricity consumption due to the widespread use of various appliances. Keeping all these factors at the forefront, Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited plans to double its network of channel partners from over 500 to 1,000 across 450 cities, facilitating the widespread adoption of rooftop solar units,” Nanda added.
In Gujarat alone, over 5.1 lakh households, have put in photo voltaicrooftops, and these methods have generated greater than 5,200 million models of solar energy. The Gujarat authorities can also be making an attempt to draw photo voltaic system producers to the state. “There is a huge gap between solar cell capacities that exists in India. Today we have 5 GW of capacity for manufacturing solar cells in India, while the solar module manufacturing capacity is 45 GW,” mentioned, a state authorities official mentioning how India is basically depending on China for procuring the methods wanted for photo voltaic rooftops.