Momentum Building For India’s Residential Rooftop PV

• IEEFA and JMK Research says residential rooftop solar's contribution to overall rooftop solar in India as of March 31, 2022 was 2.01 GW
• Low installations can be attributed to a number of factors as lack of consumer awareness, implementation and administrative issues in net metering approval, lack of timely disbursement of central and state subsidies, and the like
• Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra are the most favorable states when compared with the rest for availability and disbursal of subsidies and net metering approvals
• By FY2023, its total contribution is likely to increase to 3.2 GW with strong policy push and increase in awareness

India's cumulative installed residential rooftop solar PV capacity as on March 31, 2022 was only 2.01 GW, and it is likely to reach 3.214 GW by the end of FY 2023, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and JMK Research & Analytics. Although this is absolutely a small number, it would mean strong annual growth.

The 2.01 GW was the contribution of residential rooftop solar out of 11.8 GW cumulative rooftop solar capacity across segments. The 3.2 GW will be close to 60% annual increase in installations, and includes both subsidized and unsubsidized projects. India's overarching rooftop solar target for December 2022 is 40 GW, which will be missed dramatically.

Analysts list a number of reasons for such low installations in this segment. The list includes lack of consumer awareness, implementation and administrative issues in net metering approval, lack of timely disbursement of central and state subsidies, lack of availability of attractive financing options, among others.

They also believe there is a need to enhance the quality of residential solar installations and provide robust after-sales service. It will help build consumer confidence.

Even though the government has introduced several incentive schemes, at central and state level, the report writers argue that there need to be concerted efforts in streamlining/expediting net metering and subsidy-related procedures for consumers. It will include reducing discom intervention in the entire process of residential rooftop solar installation.

Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra are the most favorable states, as per the analysts, for this segment when compared with the remaining for availability and disbursal of subsidies and net metering approvals.

Even as this segment currently lying low, the analysts expect it to grow in the near term with the government providing strong policy push and resurgent market demand.

"Also, lately, several residential consumers are shifting towards high-end rooftop solar offerings. These include utilizing high-wattage modules and integrating battery energy storage with rooftop solar. We expect these trends to become mainstream in the near term," state the analysts. "And going forward, establishing a robust value chain infrastructure will be vital to develop an adequate number and variety of high-quality rooftop solar offerings."