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An RMI analysis evaluates the viability of residential clean technologies—electric vehicles (EVs), air-source heat pumps (ASHPs), and rooftop solar—in the US following the expiration of federal tax credits under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. The report finds that these technologies still provide significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions and household cost savings, though the most effective technology varies by region and household archetype.

This case study examines Convite Solar, a community-led rooftop solar initiative in the Dominican Republic designed to expand clean energy access to low- and middle-income (LMI) households. The model utilizes standardized systems, collective labor, and cooperative financing to overcome the financial and technical barriers that have previously limited solar adoption to the wealthiest 4.5% of the population. A pilot in Nizao demonstrates the potential to reduce electricity bills and government subsidy burdens while enhancing energy security.

This case study examines the 'Varanasi model' for scaling rooftop solar (RTS) in India under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. By coordinating state, district, and city administrations with utilities and banks, Varanasi significantly increased RTS installations between February and December 2024, providing a blueprint for other Indian districts to achieve renewable energy targets.

Zero Carbon Analytics reports on the economic benefits of rooftop solar for households, specifically simulating potential savings for Japanese homes in FY 2020. The report argues that while Japan has the lowest clean energy share among G7 nations, it has significant untapped potential for residential solar to reduce electricity costs and carbon emissions.

This briefing by RMI explores how distributed solar, particularly rooftop solar (RTS) and decentralized renewable energy (DRE), can alleviate the financial distress of India's electricity distribution companies (Discoms) while helping the country meet its 2030 renewable energy targets and modernize its grid.

This report by Ember analyzes the technical potential for rooftop solar expansion in Türkiye, estimating that the country could install at least 120 GW of capacity, which would meet 45% of its 2022 electricity consumption. The study identifies significant opportunities in residential and industrial sectors to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and lower the fiscal burden of electricity subsidies.

This case study describes RMI's efforts to make rooftop solar more accessible to low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities through inclusive Solarize campaigns. Between 2021 and 2022, RMI organized cohorts of 27 cities to implement bulk-purchasing programs combined with grants and community partnerships to reduce financial and administrative barriers to solar adoption.

This briefing proposes the creation of Solar Investment Trusts (SEITs) as a mechanism to overcome financing barriers for small-scale industrial and commercial rooftop solar developers in India. By structuring SEITs as Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) under SEBI guidelines, the model aims to lower the cost of equity, increase capital mobilization, and enable capital recycling to help India reach its rooftop solar capacity targets.

This case study by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) proposes a 'Transitional Foreign Exchange (FX) Debt Platform' to enable foreign currency debt for the rooftop solar sector in India. It addresses the barriers that prevent small-scale project developers from accessing foreign capital, primarily the risks associated with currency fluctuations and the inability of these developers to access commercial hedging instruments due to poor credit profiles.

This research paper proposes a 'solar municipal bond model' (SMB) to help India reach its 40 GW rooftop solar target by 2022. The model suggests using municipal entities as finance aggregators to provide project developers with access to debt capital markets, potentially reducing rooftop solar costs by up to 12%.

This briefing by the India Innovation Lab for Green Finance analyzes the Solar Investment Trust (SEIT), a proposed dividend-yielding instrument designed to lower the cost of capital for industrial and commercial rooftop solar developers in India. The SEIT would be structured as an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) under SEBI guidelines, allowing developers to monetize existing assets and attract institutional investors. While the instrument could potentially mobilize USD 1 billion for the rooftop solar sector within five years, current SEBI requirements regarding asset scale and leverage ratios present significant barriers to immediate implementation for most developers.

The Sustainable Energy Bonds (SEBs) instrument analysis by the India Innovation Lab for Green Finance proposes a debt instrument designed to mobilize impact investment for sustainable energy in India. SEBs address barriers such as high transaction costs for small-scale projects and a lack of standardized impact reporting by aggregating projects through a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) and implementing a rigorous monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework. The report focuses on rooftop solar projects in the commercial and industrial sectors as a primary use case, suggesting that a pilot issuance of USD 5 million could catalyze significant private finance with limited public support.

This report analyzes the potential of the third party financing model to help India reach its target of 40 GW of rooftop solar power by 2022. It identifies high upfront costs, limited debt finance, and perceived performance risks as primary barriers, and proposes specific policy changes and financial instruments to scale the industry, particularly for commercial and industrial consumers.

This working paper by WRI India and TIDE examines the potential for demand aggregation to implement clean energy measures in ten apartment complexes in Bengaluru. The study identifies significant opportunities for energy efficiency (EE) and rooftop solar (RTS) in common areas, while highlighting institutional and policy barriers that hinder adoption.

This working paper describes the CollabSolar project, a 2014 pilot initiative by WRI India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to aggregate rooftop solar demand among six corporate buyers in Bengaluru. The project aimed to reduce transaction costs and achieve economies of scale to make rooftop solar more attractive to developers and financiers.