Rooftop solar capacity up 26 % in India in Jan-June amid govt push

The country registered 26 percent growth in rooftop solar capacity addition (year-on-year) at 1.1 gigawatts (GW) in the first half this year -- from 873 MW installed in the same period last year, a report has said. The 1.1 GW of rooftop solar capacity is the highest half-yearly installations to date, according to Mercom India's report. Residential rooftop solar projects largely drove the installation growth under the 'PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana'.

The report mentioned that the rooftop solar capacity additions in the second quarter this year (April-June period) were unprecedented, with 731 MW, up 89 percent YoY from 388 MW. According to Priyadarshini Sanjay, Managing Director of Mercom India, the residential sector's contribution, historically overshadowed by the commercial and industrial (C&l) sector, soared around 10-fold from the previous quarter.

Sequentially, capacity additions grew by 99 percent from 367 MW. Rooftop solar accounted for almost 15 percent of total solar installations in the quarter. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu were the leading states for rooftop solar capacity additions during the quarter, collectively contributing over 81 percent of the total installations. India's cumulative installed rooftop solar capacity reached 11.6 GW (As of June).

The top 10 states accounted for over 78 percent of this cumulative capacity, said the report. Meanwhile, India's addition to solar power capacity jumped by 282 percent to nearly 15 GW in the first half of 2024, which is the highest-ever half-yearly installation. In the second quarter of the calendar year 2024, the country commissioned 5 GW of solar capacity while in the first quarter (January-March) the new capacity that was added surged by as much as 9.9 GW, the report said.

As of June 2024, the country's installed solar capacity stood at 87.2 GW and accounted for 19.5 percent of the total energy mix. India's large-scale solar project pipeline stood at 146 GW, with projects totaling another 104 GW tendered and pending auctions as of June. India has emerged as one of the world leaders in Energy Transition and fixed a target of adding 500 GW of renewable energy capacities by 2030, with solar expected to play a major role in achieving this goal.