Thiruvananthapuram: The state has crossed 2 lakh rooftop solar installations under PM Surya Ghar scheme as on March this year, contributing around 1000MW to the grid, said a reply by the Union ministry in Parliament.This is a substantial jump after the procedures were simplified. In comparison, there were only 75,000 installations as of March 2025.Keralam also has more rooftop connections when compared to Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has 70,000 households, Karnataka 26,393 and Andhra 1,17,442.The increase in the state has been attributed to govt’s efforts to simplify the regulatory approval process by waiving the technical feasibility requirement and introducing automatic load enhancement of up to 10kW.The entire process — from application to disbursal of central financial assistance (CFA) — is conducted online through the national portal. When all the required credentials are entered correctly, CFA is generally released within about 15 days of the consumer submitting the redemption request.Kerala’s rapid adoption of rooftop solar has added more than 1,158MW of capacity under the PM Surya Ghar scheme. KSEB data indicate that rooftop solar has become a significant source of daytime power. Keralam’s rooftop solar fleet was already meeting around 22% of daytime electricity demand in Oct 2024, sources said.At a time when power shortage is leading to power cuts, sources said that a further boost in solar power at the household level might help. Nevertheless, the actual amount of electricity supplied to the grid would be lower than the total generation, as households consume part of the power produced by their rooftop systems. The surplus is exported through net metering.Besides the PM Surya Ghar scheme, KSEB has also been promoting rooftop solar projects. According to Kerala Development Report 2026, published by Kerala State Planning Board, rooftop solar capacity in Keralam was 1.5GW as of Aug 2025, accounting for 81% of the state’s total installed solar capacity. The report identifies the Soura programme, launched in 2019-20, as a key factor in the growth of rooftop solar in the state.Household rooftop solar generation is not currently being tracked comprehensively. However, this is expected to change soon, as Centre has recently begun requiring inverter manufacturers to provide daily generation data.
