India Set to Install Record-High Rooftop Solar Capacity in 2024 Fiscal Year

 India is on track to install a record-high capacity of solar rooftops in the 2024 fiscal year as solar module prices are falling and enterprises are looking to source greener energy, a new report showed on Friday.

Rooftop solar is booming in India and the country is expected to install a record-high 4 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in fiscal year 2024, which runs between April 2023 and March 2024, according to the joint report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and JMK Research & Analytics.

India already added nearly 2 GW of rooftop solar capacity between April and July 2023, which is just below the capacity installed in the entire fiscal year 2023.

Growth momentum is set to be sustained in the near to medium term thanks to declining prices for solar modules, the report found.

The total rooftop solar installed capacity in India was 10.9 GW as of July 2023, per data by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) cited in the report. This accounts for about 15% of the total solar installations in India.

Until fiscal year 2019, rooftop solar installations in India were a total of only 1.8 GW. Since then, the rooftop solar market has consistently grown by around 1.9-2.2 GW annually. In the fiscal year 2023, the annual growth in installations is expected at a record 4 GW, IEEFA and JMK said in the report.

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) have emerged as a potential growth area for rooftop solar, as lenders have improved financing.

Still, India’s rooftop solar market faces challenges including regulatory concerns and financing, the authors of the report noted.

“To spur activity in the rooftop solar market, regulators are actively exploring new and innovative business models, such as virtual net metering and peer-to-peer (P2P) trading,” they wrote.

India also needs state-level policies to support rooftop solar, according to the recommendations in the report.