India's rooftop solar capacity installations registered a 26% year-on-year decline to 367 megawatts (MW) during the January-March period, primarily due to increased input costs, according to Mercom Capital. The country had seen 485 MW of rooftop solar installations in the first quarter of 2023, as detailed in areportd.

During the March quarter, India added 367 MW of rooftop solar, marking a nearly 10% decline from the previous quarter?s 406 MW and over a 24% decrease from the same period last year. As of March 2024, India's cumulative rooftop solar capacity stood at 10.8 gigawatts (GW).

The report, titled 'Q1 India Rooftop Solar Market,' attributed the decline to application processing delays faced by residential customers due to oversubscription under the PM SURYA GHAR: MUFT BIJLI YOJANA programme and rising module prices complying with domestic content requirements (DCR), which affected the SURYA Gujarat program.

The industrial segment led quarterly capacity additions, almost 57% of installations. The commercial, residential, and government segments contributed around 28%, 14%, and 1.1% of capacity additions, respectively.

Mercom Capital Group CEO Raj Prabhu commented, "Although rooftop solar is off to a slow start, 2024 could be a breakout year if the government's residential rooftop programme with attractive incentives. The challenge is on the supply side, with a short supply of inverters and certain components, availability of skilled labor, and concerns over the ability of installers and government agencies to handle the rush."

Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Kerala, and Karnataka led in rooftop solar additions for the quarter, with these top five states accounting for more than 67% of the installations.