India: Results of Greentech’s Market Assessment Study

Looking at the future development of the Indian solar thermal sector: The figures above show the most realistic scenario by New Delhi based consultancy Greentech Knowledge Solutions. The residential market will also dominate in the years to come, still retaining a market share of around 80%.
Source: Greentech

New Delhi based consultancy Greentech Knowledge Solutions has recently completed its study on the solar thermal market in India and has drawn some outstanding conclusions from it. 1,000 users and non-users of residential, as well as commercial solar water heaters (SWHs), participated in the study and Greentech also held interviews with 200 stakeholders from the solar thermal industry, banks, utilities, builders and municipalities. The study consists of three parts: analyses of the current solar thermal market, scenarios for a future development of the sector (see figure above) and recommendations to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (see attached 12-page final report).

The study reveals that since the year 2000, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the SWH market was 21% on average over the last decade and mainly focused on the residential sector (80%), followed by hotels (6%), industries (6%), hospitals (3%) and other applications (5%). The market volume for 2009 has been estimated at 550,000 m².

The authors of the study assume that 0.7 million households in India use SWH for hot showers. 65 % of these families live in the states of Karnataka and Maharasthra. According to the final report, there is “overall satisfaction with product-experience; some concern being voiced over after-sale support”. A stark difference can be found in actual hot water demand, ranging from 4 to 9 months per year. Since solar thermal energy has been used primarily in urban areas until now, the development of a rural market demands, according to Greentech, a fresh start in policy and the promotion of a supply chain.

SWHs are the preferred choice in the hotel sector because of the high cost of electricity and fossil fuels and because availability of roof space is not a significant hurdle for hotel with 15 rooms and below. The awareness level in hospitals and hostels is low compared to the hotel sector. In the industrial sector, the major application area is the pre-heating of boilers, which is presently concentrated in geographical clusters with manufacturing capacities for SWHs.

To date, manufacturing halls are primarily located in southern and western states and the largest player’s market share amounts to 15%. A majority of the 113 collector manufacturers approved do not have nation-wide SWH brand equity and only restricted dealer networks.

More information:
Greentech Knowledge Solutions (P) Ltd: http://www.greentechsolution.co.in