Cleanmax Solar to invest Rs 500 cr in roof top solar projects this year

The company is expected to close a fund raising programme in four to six weeks

Mumbai-based solar energy firm Cleanmax Solar, which reported to have a 23 per cent market share in rooftop solar space, is planning to double its rooftop installation to 100 MW with an investment of around Rs 500 crore. The company is in talks with various investors including private equity firms to raise funds.

"Last year in rooftop solar, we did around 45 MW projects. In the current fiscal year we are looking at something upwards of 100 MW in rooftop. The utility projects to corporate customers saw an installation of around 65 MW last year and we are planning to have 150 MW during this year," said Andrew Hines, co-founder, CleanMax Solar.

The investment would be approximately Rs 5 crore per megawatt as project cost and it would require roughly Rs 500 crore for the rooftop projects this year. Around 70 per cent would be debt and the rest would be equity. The company is in discussion to raise private equity fund, which is not concluded yet.

"We are looking at equity funding for a longer term. It will be finalised around four to six weeks," he added. With its zero investment OPEX model, the clients pay only per unit of solar power they consume without any upfront payment.

The company has bagged a contract from the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd to install rooftop and ground mounted solar PV plants at 12 metro stations and the Koyambedu maintenance depot in Chennai, providing low-cost and renewable solar energy for CMRL's operations. Once fully operational, the total capacity of rooftops and ground mounted power systems CMRL's facilities will be 6 MW, which will make it once of the largest onsite solar projects in India, it said.

This is expected to help Chennai Metro reduce carbon dioxide emission by 7,438 tonne per annum and help save Rs 150 lakh per annum.

Cleanmax Solar has installed more than 200 projects, with a combined on-site capacity of more than 80 MW, with a market share of 23 per cent, as per Bridge to India 2016 report. CleanMax Solar was also the first to supply open access solar power to corporate clients in states like Karnataka. Currently have 30MW Solar Farms in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu respectively.