With the onset of the new government in India on May, we brought you a news piece that India is now investing more on solar power than coal. It is a great step taken towards going green.
Well, now India has finally surpassed China and the US and bagged the position of the lowest cost producer of solar power globally. China generally finds different measures to conduct a given task at low prices. Surpassing China here, is a great deal for India. India also ranks above UK, Canada and France.
Production at $793/kW
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the country-wise average for the total installed costs of utility scale solar PV was $1210 for a kilowatt, while India brought it down to $793/kW, around Rs 5.5 crore per Megawatt in 2018. Canada is producing the same for as high as $2,427 per Kw.
On conducting an analysis on the decline of costs to install Solar PV projects from 2010 to 2018, IRENA chose 8 major solar markets, including China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, UK and the US. It was seen that this cost was reduced almost exponentially in India at the fastest pace, by 80% as compared to other countries.
The cost of hardware, particularly modules, inverters and all their installations escalate costs drastically, whereas their maintenance and system design account for the rest.
According to certain experts, one of the main reasons behind India being able to generate solar power at such low prices is the country’s high solar potential that leads to improved asset utilization and lower cost of modules. In addition, the cost of land and labor is cheaper than anywhere else.
Other Countries and their Take on Solar Power Generation
China was found to be quite competitive and managed to produce installation costs of $879/kW last year. Among European countries, Italy saw very competitive installation costs for 2018 at $870/kW.
- Canada: $2,427/kW
- Russia: $2,302/kW
- Japan: $2,101/kW
- South Africa: $1,617/kW
- Australia: $1,554/kW
- France: $1,074/kW
- Germany: $1,113/kW
Solar and wind energies were previously considered to be very expensive. Now, they have proved to be the need of the hour. The Indian government has been holding numerous campaigns and efforts to switch massively towards solar power, to reduce pressure on coal and other fossil fuels, leading to problems pertaining to pollution.