According to Bridge to India’s latest quarterly market analysis, The India Solar Compass, 2GW of solar power could be installed in conjunction with telecom towers in India by 2016.
According to Bridge to India, “this segment is emerging as a front-runner among diesel-parity based market segments for solar PV solutions.”
While this segment hasn’t taken off already, due to the capital expenditures required by the telecom company as well as the cost of operating and maintaining the systems, solar’s tremendous cost reductions in the past year, combined with more supportive solar policies in India, have made this investment a very attractive one for telecom tower companies.
Bridge to India “believes there is now traction in the market, leading to the emergence of a new model of operations, the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model,” the solar market analysis and consulting firm writes. “The RESCO business model is described in greater detail in the latest edition of the India Solar Compass. In addition, the report details the commercial opportunity as well as market potential associated with the telecom tower solar opportunity. The analysis also highlights the key factors that impact the maximum cash demand, profitability and project life-cycle involvement and therefore the overall financial viability of the RESCO business model.”
All in all, Bridge to India sees this as an immediate business opportunity for companies in the solar and telecom sectors. We’ll see if they really tap it and increase solar power capacity at such towers 2 GW by 2016.
Image: cell tower & solar panels courtesy shutterstock
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