Decentralized solar rooftop photovoltaic in India: On the path of sustainable energy security

Abstract

In India, utility-scale power plants face problems like, availability of larger land, Transmission & Distribution losses (T&D), Aggregate Technical & Commercial losses (AT&C) and availability of the grid because of which around 240 million of people do not have access to electricity. Increasing installed capacity of fossil-based power plants to meet the power requirement will increase the greenhouse gas emissions, our dependency on fossil fuels, adverse environmental and social impacts. Decentralized solar rooftop PV system, because of its proven technology and environmental benefits, will overcome these factors in a sustainable way. The growth and development of solar rooftop PV, as per the current status, are of substandard level despite the fact that the Government of India has set a target of installing 40 GW of decentralized solar rooftop PV up-to 2022. Therefore, this paper highlights the solar power policies adopted for the decentralized solar rooftop PV segment along with various business models adopted and current status in India. The author has also analyzed various factors which motivate the end consumer to invest in solar rooftop PV. At the end, the author has summarized some key barriers to the growth and development of the solar rooftop PV segment in India.