Adani on Top, India’s Solar Market Consolidating as Second Largest in the World

| Didhiti Ghosh, Bureau Chief, IOP, Kolkata - 16 Oct 2018

Adani on Top, India’s Solar Market Consolidating as Second Largest in the World

By Didhiti Ghosh

New Delhi, October 15, 2018: Adani remained the largest project developer in terms of total cumulative installations, as well as the top installer in terms of capacity installed through the end of 1H 2018.

During the first half (1H) of the calendar year (CY) 2018, India installed 4.9 GW of solar power across the country, consolidating its position as the second largest solar market in the world behind China during 1H 2018, and the fifth largest solar market in the world for total cumulative installations. This is according to the newly released India Solar Market Leaderboard 1H 2018 report.

The India Solar Market Leaderboard 1H 2018 report was released by Mercom Communications India, a subsidiary of global clean energy communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital Group. The report covers market shares and shipment rankings across the Indian solar supply chain in the first half of 2018.

According to the report, Adani remained the largest project developer in terms of total cumulative installations, as well as the top installer in terms of capacity installed through the end of 1H 2018.

The report says, “Top10 large-scale developers accounted for 55 percent market share in 1H 2018, with all others making up the remaining 45 percent of the market share. There were also approximately 300 utility-scale project developers in the country with projects of at least 5 MW or more in operation.

The report covers market share and shipment rankings across the Indian solar supply chain in 1H 2018.

The Indian solar market continues to be one of the most important in the world.

“New leaders are emerging in the highly competitive Indian solar market, while some of the more established companies maintained their leadership position in the first half of 2018,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.

There are around 70 large-scale project developers with a pipeline of 5 MW or more in India. ReNew Power had the largest project pipeline at the end of 1H 2018.

Sixteen per cent of solar installations in 1H 2018 were in the rooftop solar sector, standing at 805 MW. Rooftop installations rose by 55 per cent YoY with cumulative installations totalling nearly 2,410 MW as of June 2018.

In 1H 2018, the top 10 installers made up only 27 per cent of all rooftop projects installed in India, leaving all other rooftop developers with 73 per cent of the share, a reflection of the fragmented nature of the market.

Sterling and Wilson was the top EPC company cumulatively and in 1H 2018.

Tata Power Solar had the largest cumulative rooftop portfolio, and CleanMax emerged as the top rooftop installer in 1H 2018.

ABB leads the solar inverter market in India. As of 1H 2018, ABB remained at the top of the list in terms of solar inverter shipments to the country.

In 1H 2018, the top five module suppliers accounted for over 37 percent of the market. At the end of June 2018, Trina Solar was the leading module supplier to India in terms of cumulative shipments while ZnShine was the top supplier in 1H 2018.

There are over 50 suppliers of solar mounting structures active in the Indian market, the top supplier being Ganges Internationale.

There are over 30 suppliers of solar trackers active in the Indian market. As of 1H 2018, approximately 4 GW of trackers have been supplied for project development. NEXTracker and Artech Solar lead the pack with cumulative shipments. L&T was the top supplier in 1H 2018.

Photo Courtesy - ElectronicsB2B

(Didhiti Ghosh is the Senior Correspondent of Indian Observer Post based at Kolkata. She is also a script-writer, psychologist, professor and a certified translator-interpreter of the Spanish language. Contact - didhiti.24@gmail.com)