Webinar on Unleashing India’s rooftop solar potential

India Business and Trade, the thought leadership platform of the Trade Promotion Council of India, hosted a webinar titled “Unleashing the potential of Rooftop solar in India” on July 18th 2023. Eminent experts and esteemed members from India’s renewable energy sector came together to form a panel and participated in an extensive dialogue highlighting the crucial elements that have the potential to foster the growth of India’s rooftop solar market.

India Business and Trade, the thought leadership platform of Trade Promotion Council of India, organized a webinar on “Unleashing the potential of Rooftop solar in India” on July 18th, 2023. The webinar served as a platform for participants to delve into various aspects of India’s current rooftop solar installation landscape. They engaged in discussions surrounding the challenges encountered by local manufacturers in producing components and explored the future prospects and opportunities within this segment.

The panel comprised of sector experts from manufacturing to Industry veterans:

• Dr. Vinod Tiwari, Founder and CEO, Gulf India Consultants, India/UAE

• Debajit Palit, Professor, NTPC School of Business

• Akshaya Gupta, Co-founder and COO of SolarClue

• Dharmendra Jain, CEO, HFM Solar

Recognizing the importance of transitioning to sustainable energy sources, India has set an ambitious target at the COP26 (United Nations Climate Change Conference) to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based energy by the year 2030.

As of May 2023, the installed solar energy capacity has grown significantly, increasing by 24.4% over the past nine years, reaching an impressive 66.7 GW. In the first quarter of calendar year 2023, India generated approximately 29 billion units of solar power, recording a 31% YoY growth. Solar accounted for 59% of the total renewable generation and 7% of the total power generation during the quarter.

According to the data provided by Renewable energy ministry, India has added more than 1,000 megawatt (MW) rooftop solar capacity in the past six months. As on March 2023, 8,877 MW rooftop solar capacity was added, majorly because of increased awareness among residential consumers and government subsidies for the residential segment.

The panellists discussed numerous factors that have impeded the shift from traditional electricity generation to solar power, some of which included:

• Shortage of skilled manpower in solar manufacturing

• Lack of knowledge w.r.t benefits of using solar energy

• Cost and ROI related issues faced on both commercial and residential front

• Lack of domestic solar equipment manufacturing and reliance on China

The panel’s main emphasis revolved around the collaborative efforts needed within India’s rooftop solar industry to reach the target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based energy by 2030. Additionally, they delved into the potential investments and business opportunities that the industry is poised to generate in the coming years.