The total installed costs of utility-scale solar PV in India is as low as $793 per kilowatt
India is now the lowest-cost producer of solar power globally, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The IRENA report titled ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018’, revealed that the total installed costs of utility-scale solar PV in India is as low as $793 per kilowatt (kW) in 2018 which is 27 per cent lower than for projects commissioned in 2017. Canada has the highest cost at $2,427 per kW, according to the list published by IRENA.
The report pointed out that renewable energy sources have witnessed cost decline globally. IRENA analysed eight major solar PV markets from 2010 to 2018. These countries include China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. From the analysis, IRENA concluded that costs have dropped by 80 per cent in India.
Typically, the cost of hardware including inverters account for more than half of the total cost of setting up a solar PV project in India.
According to experts, India’s status of lowest-cost producer of solar power has multiple reasons. India has high solar potential that leads to improved asset utilization and the country imports majority of hardware for installation from China which is cheaper and helps cut the cost by a huge margin.
As the cost of land and labor is cheaper than the rest of the world, it also contributes to low-cost production of solar power in India.
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