The report finds that the top 10 large-scale developers accounted for 60 per cent of the market share in 2018, with all others making up the remaining 40 per cent.
Mercom Communications India, a subsidiary of the global clean energy communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital Group, has released its report, India Solar Market Leaderboard 2019. The report covers market share and shipment rankings across the Indian solar supply chain in 2018.
In the calendar year (CY) 2018, India was the third largest solar market in the world behind China and the United States. India’s solar installations reached 8.3 GW including large-scale and rooftop solar capacity in 2018. The country’s cumulative solar capacity is ~28 GW as of 2018.
“Much has changed in the Indian solar industry over the last year. There was some re-shuffling when it came to suppliers after the imposition of the safeguard duty while others have consolidated their positions,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.
The scorecard
The report finds that the top 10 large-scale developers accounted for 60 per cent of the market share in 2018, with all others making up the remaining 40 per cent.
In terms of cumulative installations, Adani maintained its position as the top project developer, while ACME Solar was the developer with the most large-scale solar installations in 2018. Adani was the second largest developer in 2018.
There are approximately 80 large-scale project developers with a pipeline of 5 MW or more in India. ACME Solar had the largest project pipeline at the end of 2018 closely followed by SB Energy (SoftBank) and Azure Power.
In 2018, the top 10 rooftop solar installers accounted for just 30 per cent of installed capacity in India, reflecting the fragmented nature of the sector. Other rooftop developers constituted 70 per cent of installations.
According to the Mercom India Solar Market Update, rooftop installations grew by a whopping 66 percent year-over-year (YoY) with cumulative installations totaling nearly 3.3 GW at the end of 2018. Rooftop solar installations for 2018 amounted to 1.7 GW.
Among rooftop installers, Tata Power led cumulative installations while CleanMax Solar was the top rooftop installer in 2018. Sterling and Wilson was the top EPC company cumulatively and in 2018.
ABB continues to lead solar inverter supply in the Indian market cumulatively and in 2018. Central inverters accounted for approximately 70% of total shipments, while string inverters accounted for 30 per cent in 2018. Huawei was the top string inverter company in India in 2018.
In 2018, the top five module suppliers accounted for over 30 per cent of the market. ZnShine was the top supplier of solar modules in 2018. The imposition of the safeguard duty in 2018 has helped domestic module manufacturers capture a larger share of the market compared to 2017.
There are over 60 suppliers of solar mounting structures active in the Indian market, with Pennar Industries leading the pack.
There are over 30 suppliers of solar trackers active in the Indian market. As of 2018, approximately 4 GW of trackers has been supplied in the market. Arctech Solar was the top supplier in 2018.
