Case Study Competition - Solar Rooftop Potential in East & Northeast India for

Commercial & Industrial (C&I) segment

About ONergy
ONergy Solar, one of the leading and multiple award-winning solar enterprises in India
operating since 2009, provides complete solar solutions, emphasizing on providing
comprehensive and tailor-made solutions related to the designing, commissioning,
installation and O&M solutions. For Commercial & Industrial (C & I) clients, we provide solar
solutions in CAPEX and OPEX mode.
● OPEX Model - A ZERO INVESTMENT model where solar plant can be installed at client
premises through a Power Purchase Agreement at predefined electricity rate leading
to reduced electricity costs. To be eligible for the opex model, a Corporate must have
an investable grade credit rating of at least BBB. Hence, this option is only offered to
mid to large size Corporates.
● CAPEX Model - The customer invests and owns the solar power plant at the premises,
benefits from Accelerated Depreciation and free electricity after the payback period
of approx 3-5 years until the next 25 years.

ONergy has been widely recognized and having won many national and international
accolades for its innovation in technology and business model, we have installed over 20
MWp of solar plants/ under pipeline of 50MW+, 1200 solar pumps and 250 solar microgrids.
Among C&I segment, ONergy has setup solar plants across various segments like Jindal India/
Utkarsh India (Steel), GE Alstom (MNC), Aditya Birla Group, Haryana Texprints (Textiles),
Haldirams (FMCG), TERI/ WWF (Foundations), State Bank of India etc. In addition, ONergy has
solarized 300+ health centres/hospitals and 200+ educational institutions.

Status of solar rooftop in India

● Increased focus on sustainability has propelled many C & I entities to go green and
switch over to 100% renewable energy with rooftop solar
● Solar panels are considered reliable for power generation as its failure rate stands as
a miniscule 0.05%
● Financial institutions have become increasingly open to lending for rooftop solar
projects
● With several states permitting banking of surplus power being generated by Solar
power projects, it has added to the segment’s attractiveness
 ● Installation of rooftop solar has helped many MSME’s cut their overall operational
costs by as much as 20 %

Special focus in C&I segment

Rooftop Solar has been the most viable choice for commercial and industrial (C&I) energy
consumers because of its affordability and the long term savings associated with it.
The commercial and Industrial segment accounts for three-fourths of the country’s rooftop
solar installations, driving India’s Renewable Energy Push.
Commercial and Industrial (C&I) users consume approximately 49% of the electricity
generated in India. This situation is quite different from other economies where the
residential segment leads rooftop solar. The reason is that, in India, residential and
agricultural users are subsidized while C&I consumers are levied an additional cross-subsidy
surcharge leading to higher than average mains electricity tariffs. As a result, rooftop solar is
an economically viable solution for C&I consumers. Electricity demand in the C&I segment
was rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5-6% (FY2017- FY2019) while grid
tariffs for C&I consumers are increasing at a year-on-year rate of 1-2%. Increasing electricity
demand and rising grid tariffs for C&I customers are driving commercial users to rooftop solar
which is not only cleaner and cheaper but also gives them tariff certainty for up to 25 years.

Focus on Eastern and Northeastern States

While majority of solar rooftop installations have happened in North, West and Southern
states such as Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka etc. The states in East
and NE are yet to catch up and thereby provide a huge untapped market. While challenges
exist with lesser industries, lack of awareness and lower solar irradiation levels - there are key
industrial and institutional segments in Eastern regions which can effectively be served such
as Metals, Mining, Jute, Tea, Agriculture/food processing, IT/data centers, FMCG, educational
institutions, hospitals etc. Certain states with higher grid electricity tariffs and conducive
government policies make it more attractive than the others.

Ask -

● Evaluate market size and potential of solar rooftop in East & North Eastern Region
● Suggest marketing strategies for corporate and institutional sales (essentially solar is
still a ‘push’ sale product as it is not critical for functioning of any business)
● Industry wise potential mapping ( eg. steel, jute, textiles, FMCG etc.) along with
potential in different states based on different customer segments in Eastern region.
● Research and identify sources for getting databases of corporates and institutions.
● Identifying top corporates and MNCs that have factories/setup in eastern Region or
have Head Office in Eastern region
● State wise policy evaluation - which states are more conducive for solar rooftops and
solar through open access.
● Evaluate other business models and its potential for corporates to adopt solar apart
from Capex and Opex model such as open access/group captive etc