India added 8.26GW of solar in 2018

Solar accounted for over half of India’s capacity additions for the first time.

India added 8,263MW or 8.26GW in new large-scale and rooftop solar capacity in 2018, Mercom Capital Group revealed in a report. For the first time, solar accounted for more than 50% of new power capacity added in India.

Installations declined by 15% YoY but total installations were still the second largest to date in a year. Large-scale installations in 2018 accounted for 6,608MW.

In 2018, rooftop installations totaled 1,655 MW a strong 66% YoY growth.

Meanwhile, the fourth quarter of 2018 saw 1.64GW of new additions, up 3% from the 1.58GW installed during Q3 2018. Approximately 2.9 GW of solar projects were auctioned.

Large-scale projects accounted for 75% of the total installation and rooftop made up the other 25%. Rooftop installations declined in Q4 2018 reaching approximately 400MW.

Andhra Pradesh was the top installer of large-scale solar in the fourth quarter closely followed by Madhya Pradesh, Mercom Capital added.