More than 250 million households acrossIndia have the technical potential to deploy 637 GW of solar energy capacity on rooftops, according to a new independent report by CEEW.

The researchers said that rural areas have a higher technical rooftop potential of 363 GW than urban areas (274 GW) considering the residential rooftop area. Residential willingness to install rooftop solar systems is the highest in Gujarat at 13%, while the national average is 5%.

The report stated that deploying just one-third of the 637 GW solar potential could meet the residential sector’s entire electricity demand of 310 TWh.

The overall technical potential reduces to one-fifth (118 GW) after factoring in the current electricity consumption of households.

“Most residential consumers fall into low-consumption slabs and solar may not be economically feasible for them without financial support even though it is technically possible,” said CEEW.

The potential reduces further to 11 GW when no capital subsidy is considered.

“The payback period for rooftop solar is restricted to five years and we factor in consumers’ willingness to buy rooftop solar,” explained the researchers.

However, with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s capital subsidy, the researchers noted the potential to increase to 32 GW as the subsidy makes the solar systems feasible for more consumers.