Prosumers in Bengaluru: Lessons for Scaling Rooftop Solar PV

The document examines the adoption of rooftop solar PV by 'prosumers' in Bengaluru, managed by the utility BESCOM. While a net-metering program introduced in November 2014 has achieved over 5.6 MW of grid-connected capacity as of March 2016, the paper argues that adoption must accelerate to meet Karnataka's 400 MW state target for 2018. It identifies six primary barriers to scaling, including poor understanding of costs and payback, confusion over net-metering specifications, and limited institutional capacity of the program administrator.

• The state of Karnataka has a target of 400 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar PV by 2018, but current progress is insufficient to meet this goal.
• BESCOM's net-metering program, launched in November 2014, enabled the installation of more than 5.6 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar PV systems by March 2016.
• Six specific barriers are hindering the wider scale-up of rooftop solar PV among prosumers in Bengaluru: poor understanding of performance, cost, and payback; confusion regarding net-metering specifications; uncertainty in selecting and interacting with project developers; limited reach and appeal of the program; limited effect of the promotional net-metering rate; and limited institutional capacity of the program administrator.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Prosumers in Bengaluru: Lessons for Scaling Rooftop Solar PV. https://www.wri.org/research/prosumers-bengaluru

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Prosumers in Bengaluru: Lessons for Scaling Rooftop Solar PV. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/prosumers-bengaluru.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Prosumers in Bengaluru: Lessons for Scaling Rooftop Solar PV |url=https://www.wri.org/research/prosumers-bengaluru |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendprosumers, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Prosumers in Bengaluru: Lessons for Scaling Rooftop Solar PV}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/prosumers-bengaluru}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }