SUN Group announced a joint venture partnership for its distributed generation solar business with ORIX Corp., a Japanese financial services groups and leading solar developer. The partnership will focus on providing commercial and industrial (C&I) clients in India with power and energy efficiency solutions starting with distributed solar generation.

SUN Group has investments in India, and other emerging markets. The group established one of the country's first-generation solar projects in 2011.

ORIX is one of the largest Japanese integrated financial services groups. It also ranks among the largest Japanese solar developers with 1 GW of solar projects (570 MW commissioned) including 150 MW of rooftop solar portfolio. It also has a presence in wind and biomass power generation as well as energy storage and energy efficiency solutions for large private-sector customers.

In a statement, Hidetake Takahashi, senior managing director of ORIX, says that SUN Group and its renewable energy unit aims to be the market leader in India, "starting with solar power."

The distributed solar segment in India is expected to grow from a total installed capacity of 1 GW today to about 15 GW by 2022 with opportunities in rooftop as well as small ground-mount solar projects for private, government, and public sector power consumption. SUN Renewables' emphasis is on this segment of Indian solar with a focus on the private power purchase requirements of large C&I clients.