The solar insolation levels of top 5 states (solar PV installed capacity wise) of India

India is rich in solar energy resource and is densely populated, which provides the right opportunity for solar energy sector to proliferate. The support from the government has facilitated the growth of solar PV market in India (Please read The solar PV growth in India).

We have learnt that solar insolation values are very important in designing and sizing the solar panels (Please read "What is the average cost of solar roof in India?"). The high level of insolation saves you money and can make the system financially feasible while on other hand low level of insolation can increase the overall cost of your solar PV system. India comes in the Northern hemisphere with around 300 clear sunny days and solar insolation level ranges from 4 to 7 \(KWhr/m^2/day\).
Let us see the solar insolation levels of the top 5 solar states, in terms of solar PV installed capacity, of country:

Solar radiation in India

(1) Gujarat \((6.18 KWhr/m^2/day)\)

• Capital: Gandhi Nagar
  
• Area: 1,96,024 Km2
• Location: 23.21º N, 72.68º E
  
• Installed Capacity: 929 MW (year ending 2014)

It is located in the western part of the country. It shares border with Rajasthan to the North, Madhya Pradesh to the East, Maharashtra to the South, Arabian Sea and Sindh of Pakistan to the West. Gujarat is the leader in the solar PV installation in India. The Gujarat solar park is the largest park of solar plants in Asia, spreading across in approximately 4900 acres of land in district Patan.

(2) Rajasthan \((6.09 KWhr/m^2/day)\)

• Capital: Jaipur
• Area: 3,42,239 km2
• Location: 26.57º N, 73.84º E
• Installed Capacity: 839.5 MW (year ending 2014)

It is located in the Northern part of the country and it is the largest state by area. It is also called “Land of Kingdoms”. It shares its border with Madhya Pradesh to the Southeast, Gujarat to the Southwest, Punjab in its North, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the Northeast. Its Northwest part is running along Pakistan and the Sutlej- Indus river valley. The Thar desert comes in this state is called as “The Great Indian Desert”. The district of Jodhpur leads the in the state with highest installed capacity. The solar insolation levels of this state are as follows:

(3) Madhya Pradesh \((5.94 KWhr/m^2/day)\)

• Capital: Bhopal
  
• Area: 3,08,252 km2
• Location: 23.25º N, 77.42º E
• Installed Capacity: 354 MW (year ending 2014)

The second largest state of the country by area and is located in the Central India. It shares its borders with Uttar Pradesh to the Northeast, Rajasthan to the Northwest, Chhattisgarh to the South-east, Gujarat to the West and Maharashtra to the South.

(4) Maharashtra \((5.91 KWhr/m^2/day)\)

• Capital: Mumbai
  
• Area: 3,07,713 Km2
• Location: 18.96º N, 72.82º E
• Installed Capacity: 287 MW (year ending 2014)

It is one of the most developed states of India located in the western part of it. It is the third largest state of the country. The film industry of Bollywood and the television industry are located in this state. The Arabian Sea runs along its border to the West and remaining sides are covered by Goa, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Dadar and Nagar Haveli.

(5) Andhra Pradesh \((5.87 KWhr/m^2/day)\)

• Capital: Hyderabad
  
• Area: 1,60,205 Km2
• Location: 16.50º N, 80.64º E
• Installed Capacity: 234.9 MW (year ending 2014)

It is located in the Southeast part of the country and has the second longest coastline of 972 kms. It shares its border Chhattisgarh in the North, Odisha in the Northeast, Telangana in the Northwest, Karnataka to the West, Tamil Nadu to the South and Bay of Bengal in the East.

So, here we can see that the high solar insolation levels are one of the important growth accelerators of the Solar PV industry in these states.

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