Rooftop Solar Capacity Increases 6.35% to 485 MW in January-March: Mercom India

According to Mercom India, India’s rooftop solar capacity increased by 6.35 per cent to 485 megawatts (MW) in the January-March quarter of this year. The research company reported on Friday that the nation’s capacity for rooftop solar installation in the months of January through March of 2022 was 456 MW.

At the end of Q1 2023, India’s cumulative rooftop solar capacity was about 9.3 GW. According to Mercom India, rooftop solar capacity addition increased marginally by 0.4% from 483 MW in Q4 2022 to 485 MW on a quarter-over-quarter basis.

Residential consumers added nearly 58% of the capacity in Q1 2023, while industrial and commercial consumers accounted for 28% and 14%, respectively, according to the Q1 2023 Mercom India Rooftop Solar Market Report. Rooftop solar installations made up 26% of all solar installations in Q1 2023.

After a volatile growth in 2022, rooftop solar is beginning to see steady growth owing to solid fundamentals. Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group said that the rising, consumer interest in solar economics is increasing, and this should cause an acceleration of growth in the upcoming quarters.

According to him, the commissioning of postponed projects that had requested approvals prior to October 2022 was the main driver behind the installations. The most rooftop solar capacity was added in Gujarat, Kerala, and Karnataka in Q1 2023, accounting for nearly 70% of rooftop capacity additions.

As of March 2023, Gujarat continued to be the state with the most rooftop solar installations, making up 24% of all installations. Gujarat was followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan. As of March 2023, 75% of all rooftop solar installations were in the top 10 states.