According to a recently released report by Mercom India Research, Q1 India Solar Market Update, this is the first time India has ever installed over 3 GW in one quarter. this makes it Indian solar markets best quarter so far, in which it surpassed the U.S. during the first quarter (Q1) of calendar year 2018.
The top three solar markets in the world – China, India, and US together installed a combined 15.4 GW of solar PV capacity in the first three months of 2018 (January to March).
According to data published by NEA, China installed 9.7 GW in Q1 of 2018, followed by India with 3.3 GW. According to a recent report released by GTM Research and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), US installed 2.5 GW in Q1 2018.
However, this trend is unlikely to continue as the project development pipeline in India is relatively weak in 2018. The record first quarter was partly a result of commissioning of projects that were originally slated for Q4 2017 but could not be completed due to grid connection issues.
Mercom India Research is forecasting solar installations of approximately 8-9 GW in 2018 compared to 9.6 GW installed in 2017. The lower forecast is a result of a smaller pipeline of projects caused by uncertainty surrounding the safeguard duty and a slowdown in procurement by DISCOMs as higher module prices drove up auction bids.
Reference- EETimes, Mercom