Solar installation to touch 10GW as module prices fall further: Mercom

KOLKATA: Solar installations in India is expected to reach approximately 10 GW as it becomes one of the most important solar markets in the world, after China and the United States, Mercom India has forecast.

Fuelled by a slowdown in Chines demand the industry is expecting module prices to decline slightly in the second quarter and a more pronounced fall in the second half of the year.

Nevertheless, current installed capacity of domestic cells and modules is estimated at 3 GW and 8.4 GW respectively while the operational capacity of solar cells and modules is 1.5 GW and 6.6 GW respectively.

The Indian solar sector is seeing strong activity with cumulative installations reaching approximately 12.8 GW at the end of Q1
2017.

In fact, utility-scale projects account for about 12 GW and rooftop installations account for almost 850 MW of the installed capacity.

Pipeline for utility-scale projects that are under development is currently at about 12.6 GW and there are approximately 6.1 GW of tenders pending auction.

In fact, large-scale projects under the National Solar Policy (NSM or JNNSM) lead in installations followed by states like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Telangana and Karnataka.

In terms of pipeline, most of the under development and tendered projects are coming up under the NSM program in various phases and batches, followed by projects under state policies led by Telangana, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.

On the policy front, so far, 2.6 GW of solar projects have been commissioned under various phases. These projects are spread across states including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

SECI targets 1,000 mw grid connected projects under JNNSM - Phase II Batch 5 for public sector undertakings and government organisations’ self-use or third-party sale or merchant sale.

Meanwhile, Chinese module prices in India have continued to slide with average selling prices coming to Rs 20.68 per watt in the first quarter of 2017, a drop of an 11 per cent from Rs 23.27 per watt in Q4 2016.

Chinese module prices have now fallen by about 33 percent in the last 12 months, enabling the recent low bids of Rs 3.30 per unit and Rs 3.15 per unit in Kadapa.