The Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant nationwide lockdown capped off a turbulent 2020 for the Indian solar sector. The pandemic affected the solar supply chain and brought the solar industry to a grinding halt, with the ongoing projects being pushed to 2021.

Mercom’s Q4 2020 and Annual India Solar Market Update showed that India installed only 3,239 MW of solar capacity in the calendar year (CY) 2020, a 56% decline compared to 7,346 MW in 2019.

While the prices of raw materials increased, the past year saw a steep shortage of labor needed to carry out the groundwork.

India’s cumulative installations have touched the 40 GW mark, according to Mercom India Research. However, it is still reasonably far from the target of 100 GW by 2022.

In 2020, Andhra Pradesh added the highest large-scale solar capacity with 547 MW, followed by Rajasthan with 410 MW and Gujarat with 336 MW, contributing to around 51% of the installations in 2020.

Mercom is hosting a virtual conference, “Mercom India Solar Summit,” on April 8 and 9. The virtual event will address the ground realities and market outlook amid the rapidly changing solar space.

Spread over ten sessions, the event will bring together industry leaders and stakeholders to share their views about the changing landscape of the Indian solar industry.

A keynote session hosted by Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, and Priya Sanjay, Managing Director of Mercom India, will kick off the summit.

The introductory session will provide an overview of the Indian solar market and throw light on the latest developments in the solar space.

In 2020, 32.5 GW of tenders were announced, and about 22 GW of projects were auctioned. Tender activity in 2020 declined by 7% compared to 2019 when 34.8 GW of tenders were issued. The session will discuss the issue of tenders and auctions.

The discussion will also focus on the latest trends shaping the market, policy implementation, and short- and long-term outlook and lay the foundation for the future discourse during the summit.

You can click here to register for the event.