India’s solar rooftop market grew by 1,748 MW during July ’20 to June ’21: Report
Report forecasts a steady rooftop solar market growth in future due to increasing consumer awareness, affordability, financial viability, financing options, and the entry of large corporate installers.
According to renewable energy consultancy Bridge to India, the rooftop solar market in India grew by 1,748 megawatts (MW) in the 12-month period from July 2020, representing a 53 percent increase, and is estimated to have reached 7,701 MW by the end of 2021.
The highest contribution was from the private commercial and industrial (C&I) sector accounting for 72% of the market. While, the public sector and the residential sector consumers made up for 11 percent and 17 percent of the total market, respectively.
In terms of business models, the share of the opex model declined sharply from 39 per cent in the previous year to 20 percent. Of the 7,701 MW total capacity, capex made up 71 percent, while OPEX stood at 29 percent.
“OPEX is projected to remain low, since small and medium enterprises and other smaller customers, which rely on their own funding, will increase at a faster rate,” the firm noted.
According to the consultancy firm, several factors are expected to contribute to a steady market growth for instance, increasing consumer awareness, affordability, financial viability, financing options, and the entry of large corporate installers.
Five states accounted for 52 percent of total rooftop capacity – Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka. Maharashtra had a 17 percent share of total capacity as of 31 June 2021, followed by Rajasthan with 10 percent, and Tamil Nadu with 9 percent. “In comparison with other states, C&I consumption is higher in these states,” it noted.
The firm further explained that rooftop solar is most popular with the manufacturing sector, accounting for 15 percent of total market share, followed by infrastructure at 12 percent, education at 7 percent, automotive at 7 percent, and energy at 6 percent.
On average, the size of the installation has decreased from 130 kW by June 2020 to 113 kW by June 2021, but 83 percent of all installations estimated to be larger than 250 kW, the consultancy firm noted.
The EPC market is highly fragmented, with only 22 percent share owned by top 10 players from July 2020 to June 2021. Tata Power, Fourth Partner, Mahindra Susten, Prozeal Infra, and Orb are among the top five players.
As part of this analysis, Bridge to India collected data over the past seven years from over 350 market participants to create a database containing 35,571 installations with an aggregate capacity of 3,997 MW.
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