The cost of installing solar panels on rooftops may see an increase from today, June 1, as Indian government plans to cut down the dependence on China for solar power. The people looking to install rooftop solar systems may have to pay marginally more following the implementation of a significant policy change in India’s solar sector.
From now on, solar projects connected through net-metering and open-access arrangements can use only domestically manufactured solar cells. This move will strengthen India’s solar manufacturing ecosystem and reduce dependence on imports from China, which is the major supplier of these solar cells till now.
Notably, Indian solar module manufacturing base is nearly 200 gigawatts annually, but the manufacturing capacity of cells is just 30 gigawatts. These solar cells are the primary constituents of these solar modules. Therefore, most of the Indian module manufacturing capacity has been built upon imported cells, particularly from China.
The Indian government wants to change that and wants to make India ‘Aatmanirbhar’ in this field as well so they have tweaked Indian solar policy. Now these solar projects can use only indigenously manufactured solar cells.
Notably, India already required developers to use domestically manufactured solar modules, and now the cells inside those panels must also come from government-approved Indian manufacturers under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) List-II framework.
