NEW DELHI: India installed 10 GW of solar capacity in 2021, a 210% growth compared to 3.2 GW in the same period the previous year, according to a report by Mercom Communication India. The report also highlighted that the country has a robust pipeline of utility-scale solar projects with 47.5 GW capacity at the end of 2021, with auctions pending for another 24.5 GW of capacity. India’s rooftop Solar installation witnessed a growth of 138% to 1.7 GW in 2021.
“In CY 2021, India saw a record 10 GW of new solar capacity installed, a big jump of 210% compared to 3.2 GW the year before. The newly installed solar capacity in 2021 reached a record high, making up 62% of the total power capacity additions in 2021,” reads the report.
The open access solar installations saw growth of 222% compared to the previous year, making it the second-best year on record. Fourth Partner Energy was the top open access installer during the year. The total rooftop solar installation in 2021 witnessed a growth of 138% to 1.7 GW compared to the previous year. In 2021, the top ten rooftop solar installers accounted for 43% of the rooftop solar market share. Tata Power Solar led the list of rooftop solar installers, accounting for 20% of the total installations.
According to the report, utility-scale projects accounted for 83% of the total installations and the top ten developers of such projects accounted for 68% of the total installed projects in the calendar year 2021. Renewable power was the top utility-scale solar developer, which commissioned the maximum projects during the year, followed by Adani Green. In terms of module suppliers, solar imports in 2021 saw a 641% increase compared to the last year. LONGi Solar was the leading module supplier to India for the second consecutive year.