As the Indian solar industry navigates through rapid policy changes to meet the ambitious 30 GW of annual capacity addition target, new companies are emerging to take the top ten slot in various segments of the sector. Mercom India’s ‘India Solar Market Leaderboard 2023‘ report documents the trend.

The report covers the market share and rankings across the Indian solar supply chain for the calendar year (CY) 2022. Compared to the previous year, the report emphasizes notable shifts in market share rankings.

The top ten list now includes several new companies that signify a dynamic solar market and substantial market prospects. Eight of the ten categories saw new market share leaders this year.

The production-linked incentive (PLI) program has given a robust impetus to domestic manufacturing, and as a result, we anticipate the emergence of new industry leaders in 2023.

With a 58 GW utility-scale project development pipeline and around 51 MW of tendered projects pending auction, India’s massive solar market has become an attractive destination for new investors.

While the utility segment had some new names in the top ten list, Avaada Energy was the leading solar developer in the utility-scale segment, commissioning most projects during the year.

The company jumped seven positions compared to 2021 and emerged as the top utility-scale developer.

NTPC Renewable Energy and Adani Green Energy followed Avaada Energy. Five new players who were not on the list in 2021 made their way into the top ten list.

In 2022, utility-scale projects accounted for 87% of the overall solar installations, with over 11 GW installed.

The rooftop segment was more or less the same, with some companies changing positions. Tata Power Solar led the way again, accounting for nearly 27% of the total installations.

During the year, the top ten installers accounted for almost 50% of the rooftop solar installations.

Besides Tata Power Solar, the rooftop market is fragmented among a large number of smaller installers.

The next company (Amplus Solar) on the list accounted for only 6% of the total rooftop installations in 2022. Module manufacturers have been diversifying into the rooftop solar segment and participating in government tenders, particularly in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Five new names made it to the top ten list in the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) segment. Tata Power Solar also topped the list of EPC service providers in this segment, followed by Vikram Solar and Bharat Heavy Electricals.

Several medium and large scale domestic module manufacturers expanded their operations into the EPC business to improve their revenues and margins.

Jinko Solar emerged as the leading module supplier in 2022, and Adani Solar Made its way to number three on the list.

Despite the imposition of the basic customs duty (BCD) and implementation of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM), six Chinese companies made the top ten list as developers placed bulk orders in Q1 2022 to hoard before BCD was imposed, with Jinko Solar emerging India’s leading module supplier.

Adani Solar was the only domestic manufacturer to crack the top-five list.

Vikram Solar and Saatvik Green Energy were the other Indian names in the top ten list. LONGi Solar, which held the top position in 2021, dropped to fourth position.

In the inverters segment, the list remained fairly consistent compared to last year, with the Chinese players dominating the list.

Sungrow emerged as the top solar inverter supplier in 2022 and also the top string inverter supplier. FIMER India was the leading central inverter supplier.

This was the second year in a row that string inverters surpassed central inverters, accounting for approximately 53% of the total shipments in CY 2022.

The inverter shipments came down in 2022 compared to last year. Fox ESS and NingBo Deye Inverter Technology were the new names on the list.

These two companies had a major share of inverter shipments in the rooftop segment, catering to the demand in the country’s northwestern region.

The inverter market consolidated with the top four solar inverter suppliers, accounting for 74% of the domestic shipment in 2022.

Scorpius Trackers was the top supplier of solar trackers during the year.

Four new companies entered the top ten list of module mounting structure suppliers. Purshotam Profiles secured the first position among solar module mounting structure suppliers, capturing nearly 38% of the overall market share. The second and third positions were held by Goodluck India and Strolar Mounting Systems, respectively, as other significant module mounting structure suppliers. The top four mounting structure suppliers accounted for over 80% of the market share in 2022.

In terms of solar open access installations, ReNew was the top installer during the year, when 2.5 GW of solar open access capacity was added, up 92% compared to 2021.

Solar Open Access Installations reached an all-time high in 2022 as various organizations and developers rushed to finish projects before BCD and ALMM regulations took effect.

Solabot Technologies was the top supplier of solar robotic cleaning systems to the Indian market in 2022.

The report covers the market landscape across the entire supply chain. For the detailed and comprehensive report, click here.