Rooftop Solar: Gujarat, Maha Added Highest Capacities In 7 Months

These states added the RTS capacities with the fastest pace.

Months after the launch of the PM Surya Ghar scheme, several states have seen increased installation of rooftop solar systems (RTS). However, the three Indian states seem to have taken the lead in the country with the highest installation share in the country. These include-Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kerala.

Government data compared by Saur Energy revealed that in the last seven months these three states added the highest capacity of rooftop solar. Infact, Kerala outperformed Rajasthan in terms of new capacity additions during this period (from Dec 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024). 

The data revealed that Gujarat added 644.78 MW of new rooftop solar capacity during this period. Gujarat is now the leader in RTS installations with a total capacity of 3818.78 MW. This is around 29.5% of the total RTS capacity of India, pegged at 12,923 MW. 

New rooftop solar capacities added in last 7 months.

During the same period, Maharashtra added the second highest of 418 MW of new rooftop solar capacity. It was followed by Kerala which added 226.25 MW of new capacity. Rajasthan meanwhile remained at number 4 with the addition of 159.49 MW of capacity. Haryana added 124.24 MW of new capacity.

Laggard states

Latest data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, however, claimed that notwithstanding the growth of RTS in these states, several states are far behind in their overall growth in the sector. Most of these states are island lands or northeastern states.

For example, the lowest rooftop solar capacities were reported by Lakshyadeep (0 MW), Meghalaya (0.21 MW) Nagaland ( 1 MW), Mizoram (1.96 MW) and Arunachal Pradesh (4.34 MW). 

How Gujarat took the lead?

Experts working from Gujarat said that besides the largest presence of solar module manufacturers and EPC players in the state, government’s pro-solar policies, their handholding support, proactive discoms and early adoption of digitized works made Gujarat the leaders in adoption of RTS. Meanwhile, the state also has more to offer for the consumers too. 

For example, unlike many other states which allow rooftop solar of capacities equivalent to the total capacity of their electricity meter, Gujarat allows rooftop solar of a minimum capacity of 5 MW irrespective of the capacity of the electricity meters.