India’s solar installations came in second worldwide during the first nine months of 2018 in terms of solar capacity addition. China added a whopping 34.5 GW of solar PV capacity in first nine months of 2018 according to data released by National Energy Administration. India installed the second most with 6.6 MW during the same period. The United States has added about 6.5 MW of solar PV capacity in the first nine months according to SEIA/Wood Mackenzie.

These top 3 global solar market leaders  – China, India, and the United States –  installed a combined 48 GW of solar PV in the first nine months of 2018. China’s installation of over 34 GW in the first nine months of 2018 dwarfs the installed capacity of solar in India and the U.S. so far this year.

For the second quarter in a row, the U.S. installed more solar than India. The U.S. installed 1.8 GW compared to India’s 1.6 GW in the third quarter of 2018. In the second quarter of 2018, the United States installed 2.3 MW in comparison to India’s 1.6 MW. China installed over 10 GW of solar PV in Q3 2018.

Although the U.S. installed more capacity than India in Q2 and Q3 2018, India is slightly ahead in the first three quarters of 2018 due to the rapid pace of installations recorded in the first quarter of 2018, in which India installed over 3 GW.

According to a recent report from Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), in Q3 2018, the U.S. solar market installed 1.7 GW of solar PV, a 15 percent decrease from Q3 2017 and a 20 percent decrease from Q2 2018. The report forecasts 11.1 GW of new PV installations for Q4 2018 in the United States.

For India, Mercom has forecast 8 GW of solar PV installations in 2018 due to lack of a strong pipeline of projects. The fourth quarter solar installations are expected to be weak as the Indian market grapples with the safeguard duty and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), among other issues.

At the end of 2018, India is projected to be the third largest solar market in the world behind China and the U.S. based on current forecasts.

Image credit: Azure Power