What is the new policy for solar rooftop in India, 2024?

As per the current population, India has approx. 34 crore homes (total population ~ 139 crore). According to the latest information by our government, they have a plan to install solar rooftop in 1 crore homes through the subsidy scheme. They have officially announced that every solar consumer will get Rs. 50,000 subsidy amounts. It’s great news for residential consumers. But the main question is, how many homes are eligible for the subsidy scheme? According to solar professionals, 75% of homes have a 1kW sanctioned load and 25% of homes have a 3kW or above sanctioned load. That means, only 25% of homes (8.5 crore homes) are eligible for solar subsidy scheme.

Solar Rooftop Overview

According to the Bridge of India Solar Rooftop Map, the total installed capacity of solar rooftop is 12,762 MW (12.7 GW). Out of this installed capacity, Commercial is 3,132 MW (3.1 GW), Industrial is 6,895 MW (6.8 GW) and residential is 2,735 MW (2.7 GW). In this installed capacity, 9,889 MW (9.8 GW) is through the CAPEX model (self-investment) and 2,873 MW is through the OPEX model (third-party investment).

The industrial sector is growing as compared to the commercial and residential sectors. The industrial sector includes manufacturing plants, warehouses, and more. Now, the government has focused on increasing the commercial and residential sectors also.  

On the other side, the cost of solar rooftop installation is decreasing year-by-year as well as solar panel cost per watt has also declined. To support the rooftop solar segment, government and banking institutions have also taken initiatives such as:

1. Rooftop Solar Finance: If any interested consumers want to install solar panels for homes and businesses on Easy EMIs / Loan facility. They need to pay only 20% - 30% down payment, but they must have their income proof such as ITR files of 3 years, the latest electricity bill of the last 6 months, and KYC documents. The interest rate of solar loan is 8% to 12% with 48 to 72 months loan tenure.

2. Solar Subsidy for Home: Currently, consumers are not too aware of solar rooftop. They have doubts about solar energy like how many unit solar panels generate in a day, whether I can run our AC appliances on the solar system, how much area is required to install solar panel, does solar panel work in the rainy season or cloudy weather, and many more. To simplify consumer problems, our government has developed a single window – a national rooftop portal where consumers can apply, compare, and claim subsidy amounts. If any consumer installs a 3kW on-grid solar system for home, then he will get Rs. 50,000 as a central subsidy amount.

3. Tax Benefits for Business: For commercial and industrial consumers, the government provides 40% tax depreciation from 1^st year to 15 years. A solar panel installation for any business is an asset because the life of a solar power plant is more than 5 years.

Other benefits of solar energy is to reduce carbon footprint and it is good for the environment.

What is the business opportunity in the solar sector?

I have explained the solar sector opportunity in India, and many people will enter in this sector. India has more than 45 sectors such as real estate, automobile, education, healthcare, etc. Real estate has started to adopt green energy now. They are planning to install solar rooftop during the construction time. To grow your business, Loom Solar provides dealer and distributor opportunities in India with the lowest investment.