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हिन्दी — Read in HindiSolar energy
Solar energy: capacity, manufacturing from polysilicon to module, rooftop and farm solar schemes, and the alliances built on the sun. Prelims has asked about the largest floating solar project in India and about solar water pumps.
Foundation note: Solar: the cell, the chain and the schemes
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2025: PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana and rooftop solar
All 4 articles shown; the 2 that changed from 1 to 31 August 2026 are marked.Show only these
Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana
Copy link to Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar YojanaPrelims and Mains
The Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana (PM-SSY) is India's first national scheme dedicated to floating solar, solar panels set afloat on reservoirs and other water bodies.
Floating solar
- Takes no new land, sitting on reservoirs and other water bodies
- Water keeps the panels cool, and a cooler cell converts a little more of the light
- Shading the surface cuts evaporation from the water body
- Costs more to build, and must survive wind, waves and changing water levels
- May harm aquatic life and birds, and needs many agencies to agree
Land based solar
- Needs large tracts of land, which is scarce and costly
- Cheaper for each megawatt built, and simpler to install and maintain
- Panels sit in still hot air, and a hotter cell loses efficiency
Why float solar
- A reservoir carries no crop and costs nothing to acquire, which is the whole argument for floating a solar farm on it.
- Ground mounted solar needs three to four times more land per megawatt than the panels occupy, and land acquisition is a chokepoint.
- The National Institute of Solar Energy's first national assessment puts reservoir potential at about 102 GW.
- The figure comes after filtering water bodies for size, depth, irradiance and access, and capping use at 20 per cent of any reservoir.
- About 700 MW floats already, led by 278 MW at Omkareshwar on the Narmada, which has shown loosening float joints and uneven buoyancy.
The scheme
- It targets 5,000 MW by 2030 to 31 and is implemented by the Solar Energy Corporation of India.
- It pays up to ₹1 crore a megawatt on commissioning.
- Every project must carry at least two hours of co located storage, 10,000 MWh in all, to reduce curtailment.
What changed
1 Aug 2026
- The Cabinet approved the ₹5,070 crore scheme.
The Hindu, 1 Aug 2026: Cabinet approves scheme to promote floating solar plants (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 31 Jul 2026: Cabinet approves 'Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana (PM-SSY)' for Development of Floating Solar Photovoltaic Projects (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 2 Aug 2026 · The Indian Express, 24 Aug 2026: Floating solar: can it be India's next renewable energy success story? (opens in a new tab)
Show history (1 other update)
11 Jun 2026BriefThe first national assessment by the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) put reservoir potential at about 102 GW. The Hindu, 11 Jun 2026: India's reservoirs can host 102 GW of floating solar, says first national assessment (opens in a new tab)
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2022: the largest floating solar project in India
PM-KUSUM
Copy link to PM-KUSUMPrelims and Mains
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM), launched in 2019, supports decentralised solar plants, standalone solar pumps and the solarisation of grid connected agricultural pumps.
- It has worked on the pump rather than the field, solarising irrigation rather than generating from the land itself.
About 29 lakhAgricultural pumps solarised
7.6 GWDecentralised solar added under PM-KUSUM
What changed
13 Aug 2026newly added
- The scheme has three components: A, decentralised plants of 500 kW to 2 MW; B, standalone solar pumps; and C, solarisation of grid connected pumps, including whole feeders.
- Component A plants are set up by farmers, cooperatives, panchayats and farmer producer organisations.
- Component A has moved far more slowly than B, because a plant needs land, a grid connection, a tariff and a financial close where a pump needs only a tender.
- Because farmers cannot raise the equity, Component A has been moved under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund so that projects can draw subsidised loans.
Mains: once pumping costs almost nothing, a farmer has no reason to save groundwater, so solar pumps without groundwater rules raise extraction.
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2020: solar water pumps
Further reading: Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan (MNRE)
PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana
Copy link to PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli YojanaPrelims and Mains
PM Surya Ghar, launched in February 2024, subsidises rooftop solar for one crore households, with free electricity up to a set monthly use and the surplus sold to the distribution company.
- The World Bank committed $890 million to the programme in July 2026, a case of blended finance.
What changed
6 Jun 2026BriefParliament's Estimates Committee found free or near free State power a main reason for low uptake. Mains: one time top up incentives, as in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, make fiscal sense against recurring power subsidies. The Indian Express, 6 Jun 2026: Power subsidies are slowing household solar adoption. A solution: More subsidies (opens in a new tab)
Background reading: The Hindu, 11 Jul 2026: World Bank commits $890 mn for solar rooftops in India (opens in a new tab)
Solar cell and module manufacturing
Copy link to Solar cell and module manufacturingPrelims and Mains
LeadSolar manufacturing: modules without cellsJuly 2026
Why in news
A rule in force from 1 June 2026 requires solar projects under government schemes, net metering and open access to use cells made in India. India makes far fewer cells than modules, so by July many module factories stood idle for want of cells.
- about 200 GWIndia's capacity to make solar modules
- 27 GWits capacity to make solar cells, on paper
- about 95 per centof India's cell imports that come from China
Background
- A solar panel is made in a chain: polysilicon, then ingots and wafers, then cells, then modules.
- The cell is the part that turns light into electricity. A module is cells wired together and framed, which is the easiest step.
- India built the last step first. The earlier steps need more capital, more power and technology that China controls.
- The Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) names the equipment that government supported projects must buy: List I for modules and List II for cells.
What went wrong
- With List II in force, module makers must buy Indian cells, and they wait six to eight months for them.
- Nearly a third of small and medium module makers have halted output.
- Modules with Indian cells cost almost double those with Chinese cells.
- China has curbed exports of solar manufacturing equipment and technology, so new cell plants are slow to build.
What the government did
- It extended the exemption from List II to 31 December 2026, but only for net metering and open access projects.
- In August it began work on a subsidy scheme for polysilicon, the first link in the chain.
- The production linked incentive for solar manufacturing rewards integrated plants that make the earlier stages too.
The dilemma
- Self reliance: dependence on one country for an essential input is a risk, as the export curbs show.
- Deployment: costlier panels slow the addition of solar capacity, and the gap would be met by coal.
- A local content rule works only if local supply exists when the rule takes effect.
The way forward
- Phase in local content rules in step with capacity.
- Support the upstream stages, polysilicon and wafers, where dependence is deepest.
- Fund research on newer cell technologies, so that India is not always buying the last generation.
- Diversify import sources in the meantime.
Prelims facts
- ALMM List I covers modules; List II covers cells.
- The solar chain runs polysilicon, wafer, cell, module.
- India's cell capacity is a small fraction of its module capacity.
The Approved List of Models and Manufacturers requires government supported projects to buy listed equipment. List I covers modules and List II covers cells. Further up the chain, the Centre has begun work on a subsidy scheme for polysilicon, the first link in the solar value chain, aiming at 30 GW of capacity in India by 2030.
What changed
24 Jul 2026LeadSolar manufacturing: modules without cells