India is the fourth largest solar power country in the world

India’s appetite for renewables is growing year on year, the country is now ranked 4th globally in solar power generation. A remarkable achievement given the efforts made by advanced economies like the UK, Germany and France in the field.

Indian solar market is witnessing active investment from private firms and is being incentivized by the Government of India to make it even more lucrative. A 2016 report released by renewable energy consulting firm BTI, cites the massive gains made made by Indian solar market and mentions the sharp reduction in solar tariffs, which have fallen by more than 33% in recent years.

While 2017 was one of the off years for solar power in India, 2018 has seen a bright start with projects of over 4,000 megawatts in the pipeline. Rooftop solar is also catching up with more people now going for on-grid solutions in urban areas. On the other hand, excepting some areas, off-grid solar power still remains the go-to solution for most rural buyers.

India expects to generate 40GW of solar power from rooftop solar solutions by 2022. While some may term the target as too ambitious, the government and private companies in India are actively trying to transform the Indian energy market. Major rooftop solar panel providers in India like Luminous are offering reliable solar solutions with up to 25 years of warranty to boost the confidence of first time buyers.

Even the Indian government is targeting rooftop solar as a major driver for energy generation by exploring possibilities for introducing solar power in railways, airports, hospitals, educational institutes, government buildings and PSUs. Off-grid solar applications are also being promotes as a part of the programme. In 2016, the government installed 31,472 solar pumps all over the county, a number which is higher than the number of solar pumps installed in the last 24 years i.e. since the beginning of the programme in 1991.

Concluding thoughts

While initially the developed world markets like US, Europe, Japan and Australia drove the solar power market to success, their growth has slowed down in recent years. The ball is now in China and India’s park, and the booming economies, an aspiring population inclined towards clean energy and state sponsored solar promotion may just have swung the tide to their advantage.

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