Need easy solutions to achieve solar rooftop capacity target: CARE ratings

MUMBAI, June 23: Easy credit availability and increased consumer awareness would help the government in achieving the target to add 40 GW solar rooftop capacity by 2022, Care Ratings has said. The government has announced a target of 100 GW of solar energy generation capacity by 2022, of which 40 GW is expected to be achieved through decentralised and rooftop scale solar projects. Read more: Govt raises solar power target five-times to 1,00,000 MW by 2022 "Implementation of SPV rooftop systems can be accelerated in India if solar solutions are easily available and accessible as a complete package, easy financial assistance is available and there is increasing awareness amongst consumers about its economic and environmental benefits," the rating agency said. Currently, the SPV rooftop market is relatively at a nascent stage with just under 300 MW of installed capacity till the end of 2014, it added. The government, in its phase-II (2013-17) of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), has put emphasis on off-grid and decentralised solar applications with an objective to promote grid connected SPV rooftop and small SPV power generating plants among residential, community, institutional, industrial and commercial establishments. The Ministry of Finance has also asked public sector banks to encourage home loan/home improvement loan seekers to install SPV rooftop systems and include the cost of such equipment in their home loan proposals. "Since the SPV rooftop market is at a nascent stage, capital subsidy alone may not be the solution to achieve targeted installations but comprehensive solar solutions is the need of the hour. "Promoting SPV rooftop for self-consumption could be the most important step towards popularising SPV rooftop," it said. Care Ratings further observed that large participation across the consumer segment may be achieved through creating awareness about benefits supported by synchronisation between stakeholders like government nodal agencies, consumers and system integrators. "Government policies should also put emphasis on encouraging power generation through decentralised SPV rooftop systems at the point of consumption rather than only providing capital subsidy. "One of the ways could be through providing generation based incentives for end-users including the household segment which can drive growth of SPV rooftop systems without putting any additional burden on distribution and transmission infrastructure while at the same time achieving targets for renewable energy installations," it added.