India installs show 10% quarter-on-quarter decline in Q1 2024 with 367MW of rooftop solar

May 31, 2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
asian development bank
India’s Q1 installations show a 10% decline in capacity installed versus Q4, 2023 and a 24% decline year-on-year. Image: Asian Development Bank

Clean energy market research firm Mercom India has published its latest research into rooftop solar in India. The findings show that India installed 367MW of new rooftop capacity in the first quarter of 2024.

This installation total represents a 10% decline from the capacity installed in the final quarter of 2023 and a 24% decline year-on-year. This is the third consecutive quarter that Mercom’s figures have shown declining additions in the Indian rooftop solar sector, which has grown to a cumulative operational capacity of 10.8GW. In the latest quarter, rooftop solar accounted for just 3.7% of India’s total solar installations.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The rooftop solar sector continues to be concentrated in a number of states, with Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala and Karnataka responsible for 67% of new rooftop additions in the most recent quarter. The ten largest states by rooftop solar capacity also accounted for 77% of the cumulative rooftop solar installations as of March.

Quarterly changes in Indian solar power additions. Credit: PV Tech

However, the relative struggles of the rooftop sector do not mean that Indian solar, in general, is performing poorly. As the graph above demonstrates, the first quarter was a record-breaking one for Indian solar, with the addition of 10GW of new capacity to the sector, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 400%.

Much of this growth stems from the temporary easing of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM), a piece of Indian legislation to prioritise the use of renewable energy technology built in India, that was suspended to encourage growth in the Indian renewable energy sector.

The ALMM came back into effect on 1 April, the day after the period covered by Mercom India’s figures, and the removal of overseas modules, notably from China, could lead to installation figures more in line with historical precedent in the coming quarters.

While government attention has been a boon for the solar sector in general, similar legislative support could be necessary to aid the rooftop sector. Last November, the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a policy research institute, noted that India’s rooftop installations could reach 32GW if the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy subsidises rooftop projects. Without these subsidies, CEEW expects almost negligible growth in the rooftop sector, expecting installed capacity to be no higher than 11GW.

Read Next

October 20, 2025
New federal policies in the US will 'cloud' the country’s renewable energy sector, according to a webinar hosted by Wood Mackenzie.
October 20, 2025
Bahrainian authorities are inviting initial proposals from developers to build a 100MW solar project in the country, due for commercial operation by September 2027.
October 16, 2025
Jakson Green and Blueleaf Energy have reached financial close for the 840MWp Bikaner solar projects in Rajasthan, western India. 
October 15, 2025
Wood Mackenzie has warned of a supply bottleneck as the renewable energy shift drives a spike in global copper demand over the next decade.
October 15, 2025
Ciel & Terre has launched a new floating PV structure designed to address the increasingly large scale of floating solar projects.
October 15, 2025
Indian module manufacturer Saatvik Green Energy, through its subsidiary Saatvik Solar Industries, has secured solar PV module orders worth INR6.89 billion (US$78 million).

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK