The year 2021 was so far the best year for rooftop solar installations in India. Mercom India Research said that the annual addition of 1.7 GW last year was the highest ever recorded for the segment in a single calendar year (CY), taking cumulative to 7 GW. The addition of 1.7 GW was up 210% over CY2020.
Of the annual total, 341 MW was installed in Q1/2021, 521 MW in Q2/2021, and the next 2 quarters added 448 MW and 402 MW, respectively. It previously stated highest ever annual solar capacity addition for India in CY2021 with 10 GW installed overall (see 10 GW New Solar Installed In India In 2021). Rooftop solar accounted for 15% of the total solar installations.
"The rooftop year, largely due to the pent-up demand from 2020, which experienced a severe decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic," explained Mercom Capital Group's CEO Raj Prabhu. "Certainty around the net metering policy helped with consumers demand across all segments—residential, industrial, and commercial—were responsible for the growth in installations."
In its Mercom India Rooftop Solar Market Report Q4 and Annual 2021, the analysts counts residential rooftop PV segment as accounting for 35% and commercial 33% of the total added last year. Another 26% came from industrial installations and government segment represented 2% additions.
Gujarat leads the tally with 27% of total installations, followed by Maharashtra with 14% and Rajasthan with 10%. Top 10 states accounted for 83% of the total cumulative installations at the end of Q4/2021.
While the going was good, Mercom analysts point out the price rise of PV components, commodities and raw materials as having impacted the installations, as did the increase in Goods and Services Tax (GST). "If not for the policy uncertainties and market volatility, the installations could have been higher," they claim.
Prabhu expects positive growth in 2022, but says high component costs will 'dent demand'.
The report can be purchased from Mercom's website.