Why isn’t India Tapping into the Solar Power Potential of Rooftops?


Most developed countries launched their solar programmes by targeting household rooftops; owing to which they now have a sizable share of installations in this segment.

India and China are two exceptions to this. They have used large-scale solar installations to be able to rapidly achieve sales targets and push down costs. The focus on large-scale utility solar systems has been high in India making it an accidental obstruction to the development of the rooftop segment.

While we have ambitious plans to reach a target of 40 gigawatts for solar panel rooftops by 2022, we are far from achieving this goal. According to the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), only 2,158 megawatt (MW) of SRT systems were installed till December 2018. 

The shortfall in capacity is aggravated by the fact that a large proportion—70 per cent—of the installed rooftop systems are used by commercial and industrial customers. Residential consumers make for less than 20 per cent of the total installed capacity.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi are some the states with sizable SRT systems. The industrial segment has the largest share in all states excluding Delhi. Public sector undertakings (PSUs) are the largest rooftop driver in Delhi.

Power harnessed from solar rooftops is much cheaper than grid-supplied electricity. The economic considerations behind industrial and commercial consumers' preferences for rooftop systems are clear.  However only consumers who have the financial resources to make the necessary investments, which are sizable, are able to install SRT systems.

The prevalence of ‘large-scale’ rooftop installations by commercial industrial, institutional, and government segments is indicative of the residential solar rooftop segment lagging behind. Distributed solar rooftop systems, installed on individual residences, have many benefits. They are also useful to minimise transmission and distribution losses since the generated power is consumed locally.

In large cities, solar rooftop systems can serve as a back-up, replacing polluting diesel generator sets. They can be harnessed for demand-side management. With reductions in solar prices and steadily rising tariffs of distribution companies, SRT systems are gaining popularity for being financially attractive.

However, achieving significant capacity addition to rooftop solar power demands close engagement with various small consumers, which is a challenge. Major effort would be required to build consumer awareness about the benefits of SRT systems and PV technology as well as information about their installation.

The benefits of an SRT system particularly for households and the power grid are indisputable. Promoting them is and must be a priority policy goal for India. Get in touch with the top-rated solar power plant manufacturer in India at https://www.thermaxglobal.com/ to know how you can switch to this environmentally-friendly, inexpensive source of power supply.

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