GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Transforming theSolar RooftopMarket in India

Solar PV rooftop installations offer multiple economic benets compared to centralized fossil fuel-based generation projects and even large, grid-connected solar PV plants. Keeping these benets in mind, the Government of India (GOI) has decided to provide a signicant policy push to the solar PV rooftop sector by establishing a target of 40 GW of capacity deployment by 2022.

The solar PV rooftop market started developing in an organized manner post 2012 in India and has witnessed rapid development since then. The key challenge for the sector at this juncture remain the gaps in the market eco-system, which include appropriate regulations, utility-based interconnection frameworks and procedures, capacity building and training, nancing guidelines, standardized contracts and lease agreements, and new and customized business models. All these issues need to be addressed in parallel to enable the market to scale-up and meet the GOI’s ambitious target of 40 GW.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Partnership to Advance Clean Energy – Deployment Technical Assistance (PACE-D TA) Program, is working in collaboration with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and other national and sub-national stakeholders to develop a number of key building blocks of the solar PV rooftop market eco-system in India. The Program has aligned its core renewable energy activities with the GOI’s objectives to ensure that the Program’s technical assistance accelerates India's solar PV rooftop deployment to meet its targets.

The Program’s focus is to expedite the rate of deployment of solar PV roo�op systems from a “kilowa� scale” to a “megawa� scale” by suppor�ng the design and implementa�on of: enabling policy and regulatory frameworks, programma�c approaches, innova�ve financing instruments, and guidelines as well as business models; thereby crea�ng an enabling ecosystem for the uptake of solar PV roo�op in India.

Interventions

Assisting two of India’s largest public sector undertakings—Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) and Indian Railways—in developing programs for solar PV rooftop deployment. This includes preparing model documents such as request for proposal and power purchase agreements.

Assistance to PublicSector Undertakings

Building the capacity of professionals to design, implement and operate solar PV rooftop projects. These include training programs in partnership with the National Institute of Solar Energy; and development of a best practices guide covering policy, regulation, business models, and permitting and administration of solar PV rooftop systems in India. The Program organized two regional training programs for engineers of state utilities on solar PV rooftop deployment in the Q1 2016 and aims to organize ve more training programs by end of the year.

Capacity BuildingInitiatives

Developed a solar PV rooftop evaluation tool that will support banks and nancial institutions to effectively evaluate solar PV rooftop projects. The Program also assisted the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) and its rating agencies to develop a rating framework for solar PV rooftop proposals received by IREDA.

FinancialAppraisal Tool

Provided support to the Government of Madhya Pradesh on the design and development of its Rooftop Policy 2016 and to the Government of Karnataka for the development of its Solar Policy 2014, including specic inputs on the technical and programmatic procedures for solar PV rooftop deployment.

Policy

Assisted the Energy Department, Government of Rajasthan and state distribution utilities in developing a petition for a Net Metering Regulation; and subsequently provided inputs to the state’s electricity regulator in nalizing the regulation.

Regulations

Provided technical assistance to utilities in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan to develop and deploy a framework (i.e. set of technical rules and guidelines) for solar PV rooftop projects to interconnect with the utility grid. The framework has been deployed by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) in Karnataka and Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (JVVNL) in Rajasthan. The Program also assisted BESCOM develop a tripartite agreement for third party solar PV rooftop deployment in the state of Karnataka.

InterconnectionFramework

One of the key barriers to renewable energy deployment in India is lack of awareness of technologies and a market-based framework for their deployment. To address this challenge, the PACE-D TA Program is engaged with a number of public and private sector stakeholders to sensitize them about different applications of solar and their implementation models. The Program is also focusing on the policy, regulatory and procedural challenges and solutions for large-scale solar PV rooftop deployment, and is building the internal capacity of the stakeholders to deploy such systems.

The Program has successfully engaged with stakeholders such as the Indian Railways, BESCOM, JVVNL, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL), and IOCL to leverage “idle” rooftops and spaces, and unlock the potential of solar PV rooftop.

The rst rooftop PV installations, facilitated by the Program, were established in the state of Karnataka, where it is providing technical assistance to BESCOM on solar PV rooftop deployment. As of March 2016, BESCOM has installed nearly 4.6 MW in its licensee area, and with more than a 200 MW of applications in its pipeline. BESCOM has set a target of nearly 100 MW of solar PV rooftop annually over the next three years. The Indian Railways has also issued request for proposals for the rst 50 MW of its solar PV rooftop program and is in the process of identifying relevant project developers. It intends to install 150 MW of solar PV rooftop on various railway installations by the end of 2017. Similarly, IOCL is in the process of procuring EPC services for 5.75 MW of solar PV rooftop installations across two of its reneries. The state of Rajasthan has also launched its rst solar PV rooftop program that aims to have a cumulative capacity of31 MW by March 2017.

Impact

Solar Rooftop Projects Pipeline through PACE-D Technical Assistance

Indian Oil BESCOM

Reneries,

and commercial

installations

6MW

Residences

and commercial

installations

300MW

Indian Railways

Railway

stations and

warehouses

150MW

RRECL

Residences

and commercial

installations

31MW

Anurag MishraSenior Clean Energy Specialist

USAID/India

Email: amishra@usaid.gov

Nithyanandam Yuvaraj Dinesh BabuChief of Party

PACE-D TA Program

Email: ydbabu@pace-d.com

This brochure is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this brochure are the sole responsibility of Nexant, Inc. and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. This brochure was prepared under Contract Number AID-386-C-12-00001.

April 2016

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