Blogs
UDAY success to bring huge benefits for solar sector in India
24 October 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The Ministry of Power’s Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), a financial and operational reform scheme for distribution companies (DISCOMs), announced in November 2015 (refer) is bearing surprisingly quick and positive results. The scheme aims to address debilitating...
OPEX model takes hold in India but faces a key challenge
17 October 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
India has added 513 MW of rooftop solar capacity over the past 12 months reaching total installed capacity of 1,020 MW. 22% of capacity addition in the last year has been built under OPEX model where a third party project developer finances and installs the system on rooftop owner/consumer’s premises and sells all power output to him under a long-term agreement. This model is extremely popular...
MP announces a progressive decentralised RE policy
12 October 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Madhya Pradesh government has come out with a new decentralised renewable energy policy focusing primarily on rooftop solar systems. The policy’s target to install 2.2 GW of rooftop solar capacity by 2022, is consistent with the Government of India’s national rooftop plan of 40 GW by 2022. MP is one of the first few states including Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra to revise its...
Public sector struggling to compete with private sector in solar power generation
10 October 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
News reports suggest that Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), a 90% Government of India owned company, has abandoned its plan to set up 2 x 65 MW solar projects in Rajasthan after failing to agree to sell power to local distribution companies at the required price (
Ratification of climate accord to bring more focus on India’s renewable sector
03 October 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
On 2nd October 2016, India ratified the Paris climate accord becoming the 62nd country to do so. India accounts for 4.1% of global carbon emissions. Countries with 52% of global emissions have now ratified the agreement. With European Union, accounting for 12.1% of total global emission, expected to join shortly, the 55% threshold for the agreement to come into effect would be met and the...
Understanding the solar inverter market in India
30 September 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Globally, top 10 inverter suppliers accounted for around 75% of shipments in 2015. In India, the market is even more concentrated as the top 10 suppliers accounted for over 85% of shipments. Despite this, there is intense price competition and churning in supplier landscape. Prices for central inverters have fallen by 17% in the last year to about US¢ 3/W for most suppliers. SMA and GE...
WTO ruling on DCR: a blessing in disguise
26 September 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has rejected India’s final appeal and upheld its previous ruling against Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) provision for solar projects in India (refer). But India has already built a pipeline of around 1,800 MW of DCR projects as against operational cell manufacturing capacity of only about 600 MW. Demand from these projects should provide breathing room to...
Solar industry in the midst of another huge supply glut
20 September 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Solar equipment prices are crashing in China. Polysilicon prices have dropped 30% in a month (refer), wafer prices by 20% (refer) and similar...
It’s boomtown for Indian solar industry as business volumes grow to 2-4x last year
12 September 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
BRIDGE TO INDIA published the 2016 edition of its India Solar Map last week. The report shows that India’s total installed solar capacity has grown by over 80% in the year ending June 2016 to reach 8.1 GW. Out of the 3.6 GW capacity added in this period, 75% has come from four southern states and Tamil Nadu now ranks number 1 for commissioned capacity. An additional 14,842 MW of projects are...
India’s rooftop solar market gathering speed
09 September 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Rooftop solar market in India is expected to add new capacity of 700 MW in 2016 – 15% of total solar capacity addition this year – crossing 1 GW cumulative capacity by September and growing at a sizzling 300% over last year. Significant capacity is expected to be added in the commercial and industrial segment as commissioning before the end of this month will allow investors to claim 80%...
It’s China vs China for solar modules market share in India
29 August 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Chinese module suppliers increased their share of the Indian solar PV market, which added a total capacity of 3.6 GW in the past 12 months (refer), to 75%, up from around 50% in the previous 12 months. In contrast, the share of Chinese suppliers in the US market is believed to be less than...
Tamil Nadu takes top slot for solar capacity in India
22 August 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
India’s total installed solar capacity has grown by over 80% in the last 12 months to reach 8.1 GW. Out of the 3.6 GW capacity added in this period, 2.7 GW has come from four southern states with Tamil Nadu alone adding over 1.2 GW on the back of a generous feed-in-tariff of INR 7.01/kWh (US¢ 10.4/kWh). Tamil Nadu now ranks number 1 for commissioned capacity in both wind and solar. Six...
