Here is a recap of some of the most important headlines from May 2022:

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy issued draft guidelines for the second phase (Tranche II) of the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) program under the ‘National Program on High-Efficiency Solar Modules’ to achieve gigawatt-scale manufacturing capacity. Under Tranche II, ₹120 billion (~$1.54 billion) has been reserved for companies setting up vertically-integrated capacities of polysilicon, wafers, cells, and modules. An allocation of ₹45 billion (~$580.84 million) has been made for wafers, cells, and modules capacity, and ₹30 billion (~$387.23 million) for cells and modules.

Rajasthan became the first state in India to surpass 10 GW of cumulative large-scale solar installations, as per Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker. The state has 32.5 GW of installed power capacity, with renewables contributing 55%, followed by thermal energy at 43%, and nuclear energy making up for the remaining 2%. Solar is the predominant source which now accounts for around 36% of the power capacity mix and 64% of renewables.

The Government of Karnataka announced the new ‘Karnataka Renewable Energy Policy’ for  2022-2027. The policy aims to project Karnataka as a preferred investment destination for renewables and create an ecosystem for sustainable and green energy development. The state aims to develop 10 GW of additional renewable projects and 1 GW of rooftop solar installations in the next five years.

India generated approximately 22 billion units (BU) of solar power in the first quarter (Q1) of the calendar year 2022, a 30% quarter-over-quarter increase compared to 17 BU generated in Q4 2021. The solar power generated was a 27% increase year-over-year compared to 17.5 BU in Q1 2021. In Q1 2022, overall renewable energy generation reached 42 BU, with solar power contributing 53%. During the quarter, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh were the top three states for solar power generation.

Faced with a severe coal shortage at coal-based thermal power plants leading to load shedding in many areas across India, the Ministry of Power directed all imported coal-based power plants to generate power at full capacity. It has directed all states and domestic coal-based power generation companies to import at least 10% of the coal requirement for blending.

Tata Power Solar, Fourth Partner Energy, Sunsure Energy, Amplus Solar, and Jakson Solar emerged as the top solar rooftop companies in India in CY 2021. Sungrow, Sineng Electric, FIMER India (ABB), Ginlong (Solis) Technologies, and GoodWe were the top five inverter suppliers in the Indian solar market in CY 2021. In 2021, ReNew Power was the largest utility-scale developer in terms of installations. Adani Green had the second most installed capacity in 2021, per Mercom’s India Solar Market Leaderboard 2022. Mercom’s report provides insight into the industry leaders’ market share and shipment rankings across the Indian solar supply chain. The top five solar inverter suppliers accounted for almost 81% of the total inverter supplies to the country in 2021.

India has installed 45.6 GW of utility-scale solar capacity to date, 14.4 GW shy of meeting the government-set target of installing 60 GW by 2022, according to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker. In 2015, the government announced the ambitious target of adding 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022, including 100 GW of solar. A total of 60 GW was targeted for large-scale solar installations and 40 GW for the rooftop solar sector.

LONGi Solar, Jinko Solar, JA Solar, Adani Solar, and Trina Solar were the leading module suppliers to the Indian solar market in CY 2021. The three companies were responsible for half of the modules supplied to solar projects in India during the year. LONGi Solar was the leading module supplier to India for the second consecutive year. Three other Indian module manufacturers besides Adani Solar made it to the top 10 module suppliers list in 2021.

India imported solar cells and modules worth $1.23 billion (~₹92.62 billion) in Q1 CY 2022, an increase of 374% compared to the same period last year, according to the data published by the Department of Commerce. Exports decreased by 74% to $7 million (~₹535.01 million) in Q1 2022 compared to $29 million (~₹2.08 billion) in the same period last year. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, the exports fell 68% from $23 million (~₹1.74 billion) in Q4 2021.

Investments in the large-scale solar segment in Q1 CY 2022 were up by 154% compared to the same period last year. However, the numbers were down by 15% quarter-over-quarter compared to Q4 2021. The growth in investments was mainly due to the increased funding activities in the manufacturing segment.

India added 456 MW of rooftop solar capacity in Q1 CY 2022, a 34% year-over-year growth compared to 341 MW registered in the same period last year. In a quarter-over-quarter comparison, installations were up by 13%, compared to the 402 MW installed in Q4 2021. The installation numbers were the second-highest in any quarter after Q2 2021.

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended extending the anti-dumping duty on imported textured tempered glass (solar glass) from China by two more years. DGTR found that solar glass continues to be exported to India at prices below normal value resulting in continued dumping. The dumping margin had increased during the period of the sunset review investigation as compared to the time of the original investigation.

Sterling and Wilson, Siemens Gamesa, and Tata Power Solar were the top utility-scale solar engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) service providing companies in CY 2021, according to Mercom’s recently released India Solar Market Leaderboard 2022. Voltas and Vikram Solar rounded off the top five. The top ten EPC players garnered 70% of the total market share in 2021.