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Growth of solar in India has been remarkable, with the installed capacity crossing the 50 GW mark. However, most of the assets are in utility format, with negligible share of decentralized plants. Centralized projects are preferred due to their competitive generation cost, or LCOE. Our study compares a centralized solar project with a decentralized plant on economic, social and technical aspects. Economic assessment reflects competitive cost of energy near to the point of consumption (landed cost) for both these plant types after accounting for transmission losses and associated charges. On technical aspects, we discovered a shifting solar curve, as the plant locations move from east to west of the country, thus providing an enlarged window of solar power generation. Utility scale projects preclude participation of smaller entities and leads to asset concentration. In contrast, decentralized plants promote community participation, generate higher employment, while enabling energy access for the local community. A balanced policy approach needs to be followed, promoting both types of project configurations. We propose setting up spatially dispersed solar plants along the longitudinal stretch of India, co-located within the substations using standardized templates. This shall enable fulfilment of climate goals, while ushering in a just transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The government of India is promoting renewable energy sector with an ambitious target of 175 GW capacity, to be achieved by 2022. The reasons for this energy transition from fossils to renewable energy technologies include facilitating energy access, promoting cleaner forms of energy and enhancing energy security. The huge capacity shall require about 200,000 ha of land. However, land procurement has been identified as a key impediment in accelerating the growth of renewable energy sector in India. This presents an exciting business opportunity towards setting up community energy projects under community mode with the local people as shareholders. Community members can provide their land for setting up renewable energy projects as well as support in project development activities in lieu of getting upto 15% equity participation. This shall provide them with a constant source of income, estimated at over US $ 4000 per hectare per annum, besides facilitating energy access in villages. Quicker possession of land shall expedite project execution and the reduced capital expenditure shall decrease the cost of energy generation by upto 6%. Policy makers in emerging economies like India can pilot the proposed model in upcoming solar parks and wind farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]