Solar energy installations drop 15%, tariff caps biggest concern

The market is adjusting to the safeguard duty regime, but much will depend on Chinese solar policy and installation goals in the future

Solar energy installations in the calendar year 2018 dropped 15.5 per cent to 8,263 megawatt (MW) due to a safeguard duty regime, GST and land and transmission issues, says Mercom India's new research.

In 2018, investments in the Indian solar sector totalled over $9.84 billion, 15 per cent lower compared to the previous year. Rooftop solar, however, had an impressive year growing by 66 per cent on year-over-year.

Total power capacity additions in India were 16.3 GW in 2018 from all generation sources. Of this, renewable energy sources accounted for nearly 70 per cent of installations, with solar representing 50.7 per cent