Ground mounted

The first Indian power plant, with a capacity of 5.5 MWp, was inaugurated in 2017 in the state of Uttarakhand. With the just commissioned photovoltaic power plant of 27 MWp, the developer claims to offer the lowest price of solar electricity in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

South Central Railway’s Nandyal-Yerraguntla section in Guntakal Division has been declared as the first solar section in India that has all of its stations in one stretch powered by solar panels.

Norwegian analyst Rystad Energy has predicted the stop on PV tenders in Karnataka will see Rajasthan become India’s leading solar state this year. The market research firm expects India to add only 10 GW new solar in 2020, however, and the same figure in 2021.

The annual global outlook report for solar published by IHS Markit notes there was no real uptick in the amount of new capacity added last year, compared with the returns seen in 2018. That is likely to kill any hope India has of overtaking the U.S. as the world’s second biggest solar market in 2020.

Ceiling tariff is revised to Rs 3.30 per unit for distributed solar projects that shall come up across 30 districts for giving day time power to agricultural consumers in the state. Individual project size is limited to 2-10 MW. Bidding closes on January 29.

Developers have until December 30 to bid for the grid-connected plants that shall come up on the land within or around the premises of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited’s substations. The plants are to be developed on turnkey basis.

An Indian Institute of Technology research team analyzed around 300 studies about PV panel waste containing carcinogenic metals. The researchers said solar module recycling is not economically profitable and policy support is necessary to avoid panels being dumped in landfill.

Dhaka has heeded complaints about Indian manufacturers allegedly dumping sub-standard PV products over the border and issued a requirement for modules, inverters, charge controllers and batteries to attain IEC electrical standards.

Developers will be spared interstate transmission system charges if their projects are secured through public capacity auctions held to enable electricity distribution companies to achieve their renewable purchase obligations, and provided the facilities are commissioned before 2023.

The state this week raised its clean energy ambition to 30 GW of generation capacity within three years as figures showed ground-mounted solar is expanding at a faster rate than rooftop installations.