India has added 4,765 MW of solar power generation capacity in the first-half of 2017 with 1,869 MW of this in the second quarter of 2017.

Cumulative solar rooftop installations crossed a significant milestone of 1 GW at the end of Q2 2017.

By installing 4,765 MW, it has surpassed 4,313 MW installed during 2016, according to Mercom India Research.

While large-scale solar installations aggregated to 1,639 MW in Q2 2017, rooftop installations accounted for 230 MW.

In the first half of 2017, large-scale solar installations made up 4,290 MW (90 per cent) and rooftop installations totalled 475 MW (10 per cent) of total.

“The Indian solar market had its best first-half and is on pace to have its best year,” Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-founder of Mercom Capital Group, said.

“However, uncertainty around GST rates, utilities renegotiating to get better rates, and the recently initiated anti-dumping case have stalled momentum in the sector and could have a negative effect on installations in 2018,” he said in a statement.

AP crosses 2 GW

While seven States have exceeded 1 GW of solar installations, Andhra Pradesh became the first in the country to install over 2 GW of solar. The pipeline of utility-scale projects under construction is 12.2 GW with about 6.3 GW of tenders pending to be auctioned.

Approximately, 3.4 GW of solar was tendered in Q2 2017 compared to 1.85 GW in Q1 this year.

The second quarter also saw the lowest ever tariff of ₹2.44 (~$0.037)/kWh in the recently conducted 500 MW Bhadla Phase-III Solar Park auction.

While distribution companies are looking for the lowest tariff, the anti-dumping petition filed by domestic manufacturers against solar imports from China, Taiwan, and Malaysia with the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping (DGAD) has been accepted.

An investigation has been initiated regarding this on this aspect and preliminary findings are likely to be made over the next two months.

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