Residential PV

While commissioning is expected to slow down in FY 2018-19 due to the impact of the safeguard duty and GST issues, FY 2019-20 is weak due to delay in auction as several tenders got delayed/cancelled. However, FY2019-20 onwards, solar capacity additions are expected to pick up due to several factors including subsiding/removal of the safeguard duty (which would ease cost pressures).

Brussels-based SolarPower Europe and the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation on operation & maintenance (O&M), installation quality, digitalisation and storage.

A state hamstrung by low irradiance, tough terrain and regular flooding is trying to move forward its energy transition. Previously, the largest solar project in Assam had a generation capacity of only 5 MW.

The organization responsible for coordinating India’s push for 100 GW of new solar capacity by 2022 has had a busy week. But, as last year illustrated, tenders alone are not always a guarantee of new generation assets.

While India’s solar potential is unquestionable, progress has been uneasy and race-to-the-bottom pricing has held back the adoption of technologies such as MLPE. However, that is beginning to change, writes Prasidh Kumar, CEO of Soreva Energy, as grid modernization requires proactive monitoring and optimization technologies.

The level of new solar capacity – 8,263 MW – however, was 15.5% down from the 9,782 MW added in 2017 owing to safeguarding duty and GST taking a toll on large-scale PV. While utility-scale solar declined 23% year-on-year, rooftop PV remained a bright spot, and registered impressive growth of 66%.

The French power electronics specialist is pulling out of the utility-scale segment to strengthen its profile in the residential and C&I space.

There is widespread doubt about whether India can achieve its 100 GW solar target by 2022 but, having started from a base of only 9 MW of capacity 10 years ago, it would be foolish to write off the prospects of this solar superpower.

The government of India has approved central financial support of more than Rs46,000 crore by 2022 to promote solar among farmers and in the residential sector. The KUSUM scheme for farmers has been allocated Rs34,422 crore and the rooftop solar program Rs11,814 crore.

India’s utility-scale solar capacity addition during October-December 2018 went down 46 per cent over the corresponding period of 2017. In contrast, rooftop solar grew strongly at 47 per cent.