Mercom India Report: Rooftop Solar Installations Rise 34.7% to 431 MW in July-Sep 2023

Current Context: According to the Q3 2023 Mercom India Rooftop Solar Report, the rooftop solar installations in India registered a 34.7% year-on-year jump to 431 MW during July-September 2023.

• This increase was aided by a fall in module prices.
• The rooftop solar installations were at 320 MW during the same three-month period in 2022.
• The rooftop solar capacity addition was also higher at 1.3 gigawatts (GW) in the first nine months of 2023, compared to 1.2 GW in January-September 2022.
• The country’s cumulative rooftop solar capacity reached 10.1 gigawatts (GW) at the end of September 30, 2023.
• Gujarat continued to lead in rooftop solar installations, contributing to 26.7% of the cumulative installations, followed by Maharashtra (13.5%) and Rajasthan (8.3%).
• The top 10 states accounted for around 77% of the cumulative rooftop solar installations as of September 2023.
• Between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023, Kerala recorded the highest compounded growth of 15%, followed by Gujarat (7.3%) and Maharashtra (5.1%).
• During the quarter, average rooftop solar system cost fell 13.4% year-on-year (YoY) and around 5% on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
• In Q3 2023, 119 MW of rooftop solar tenders were announced, down 61.6% compared to 310.6 MW in Q3 2022.
• Around 62% of the total tendered capacity during the quarter was for government buildings in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, and other states.

Question:

Q.1 What was the year-on-year increase in rooftop solar installations in India during July-September 2023?
a. 24.7%
b. 34.7%
c. 44.7%
d. 54.7%