National
ETV Bharat / bharat
By ETV Bharat English Team
Published : January 5, 2026 at 6:10 PM IST
By Surabhi Gupta
New Delhi: In a significant boost to India’s clean energy ambitions and environmental governance, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh on Tuesday inaugurated two nationally critical facilities at the CSIR–National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL): the National Primary Standard Facility for Solar Cell Calibration and the National Environmental Standard Laboratory. Together, the facilities aim to strengthen India’s scientific self-reliance, reduce dependence on foreign certification systems, and enhance trust in data that underpins multi-billion-dollar investments in renewable energy and pollution monitoring.
The inauguration comes at a time when India is rapidly expanding its solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity and tightening regulations around environmental monitoring. Experts say both sectors critically depend on accurate, standardised measurements, something India has historically sourced from overseas laboratories.
A Backbone for India’s Solar Measurement Ecosystem
At the heart of the announcement is the National Primary Standard Facility for Solar Cell Calibration, a state-of-the-art laboratory established at CSIR-NPL using a Laser-based Differential Spectral Responsivity (L-DSR) Measurement System. The facility now offers primary reference solar cell calibration services within India, a milestone that places the country among an elite group of nations globally.
Until recently, India depended on one of only four international laboratories recognised under the World Photovoltaic Scale (WPV), located in the US, Germany, Japan and China, for high-precision solar cell calibration. These include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Germany, AIST in Japan and the Tianjin Institute of Power Sources (TIPS) in China.
With the new facility, CSIR-NPL has now become the fifth WPVS-recognised laboratory globally, and notably, one with the lowest measurement uncertainty.
“This facility underpins the entire solar measurement chain,” CSIR-NPL said, noting that accurate calibration is essential for determining the real efficiency and value of PV cells used in large-scale solar deployments.
Why Measurement Accuracy Matters
As India accelerates its solar rollout, precision in efficiency measurement has significant financial implications. Even marginal uncertainty can translate into massive cost variations across large installations.
According to CSIR-NPL estimates, an uncertainty of just 0.1 per cent in solar cell efficiency measurement can lead to an ambiguity of nearly Rs 200 crore in project valuation, assuming a cost of Rs 2 crore per megawatt for a 100-gigawatt deployment.
Explaining this, Prof. Venu Gopal Achanta, Director of CSIR–NPL, told ETV Bharat that precision is no longer optional in India’s energy transition.
“The government has set a target of installing 100 gigawatts of solar capacity annually. Even a one per cent change in solar cell efficiency at that scale can translate into nearly $1 billion difference in investment costs,” he said.
He added that developers planning large projects, say 10 gigawatts, can now calibrate and estimate real output far more accurately, reducing both financial risk and over- or under-installation.
World-Class Technology With Best-in-Class Accuracy
The L-DSR system at CSIR-NPL uses a tunable laser-based monochromatic beam across a wide wavelength range (210 nm to 4000 nm), offering significantly higher optical power and improved field uniformity compared to conventional lamp-based systems. This allows highly precise determination of short-circuit current under standard test conditions (STC), in line with IEC standards.
As a result, the facility can measure WPVS reference solar cells with an uncertainty of just 0.35 per cent (k=2), the lowest among all global WPVS laboratories. For industrial-sized solar cells (156×156 mm²), the uncertainty stands at 0.6 per cent, comparable to the best international standards.
A comparison of global WPVS laboratories highlights India’s new position:
“This lowest uncertainty helps avoid financial ambiguity across the solar PV value chain and builds investor confidence,” the laboratory noted.
Strengthening India’s Environmental Monitoring Framework
Alongside solar calibration, CSIR-NPL also inaugurated the National Environmental Standard Laboratory, designed to certify air, water, soil and noise monitoring equipment under Indian climatic and environmental conditions.
Prof. Achanta described the facility as Asia’s first and the world’s third comprehensive environmental monitoring equipment certification laboratory.
“Most monitoring equipment used in India today is imported and certified under European or American conditions, which are very different from Indian temperature, humidity and dust levels,” he said. “This facility allows us to certify all kinds of environmental monitoring equipment under Indian conditions.”
According to him, this will dramatically reduce both the cost and time required for certification, while ensuring that pollution data collected across the country is reliable and comparable.
In the past four months alone, CSIR-NPL has issued 51 provisional certificates. Of these, 41 were imported systems already certified abroad, while 11 were Indian-made, reflecting growing domestic manufacturing capability.
Towards Reliable Pollution Data And Better Policy
Prof. Achanta emphasised that accurate calibration is foundational for effective environmental policymaking. “For real-time monitoring, we need to ensure that all equipment is calibrated and provides reliable data. Once that is done, digitisation and automation can feed continuous data to central portals,” he said.
He added that ministries such as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) are working on policies to regularise data collection and integration.
“By testing equipment under Indian conditions, we will get dependable pollution data. This will help identify sources of pollutants and implement targeted mitigation strategies,” he said.
Notably, for particulate matter (PM) testing, only Germany has a comparable facility globally, apart from India.
Prof. Venu Gopal Achanta said CSIR–NPL now hosts the world’s second pollution monitoring equipment certification facility after the UK, and is among only two countries globally, along with Germany, to have a dedicated particulate matter (PM) testing facility.
Science As A Pillar Of National Development
Addressing the gathering, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said India’s scientific institutions represent the country’s intellectual and innovative strength.
“These institutions are not just centres of research but living monuments of modern India,” he said, recalling his association with CSIR and senior scientists such as Dr N Kalaiselvi.
Singh stressed the need to make scientific achievements more visible to the public, especially students. He suggested public exhibitions, designated spaces and even “selfie points” across CSIR’s 37 institutes to showcase success stories and inspire young minds.
The minister also underscored that India does not need to rely excessively on external resources. “Even if we do not always have abundant financial resources, we have enough intellectual and human capital to generate knowledge and innovation,” he said.
Calling for deeper integration between science, industry and governance, Singh said technology-driven sectors would be central to India’s future economic growth. “Scientists should not remain isolated within laboratories. Their work must visibly shape India’s future,” he said, expressing confidence that CSIR institutions would emerge as global pioneers in the coming years.
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