World Environment Day: Can India reach a day when it sustains purely on solar or green energy? Experts say the problem lies in the Duck curve, which needs to be fixed by changing how and when we use solar energy. WION Decodes
India has witnessed a major expansion in solar energy in the past few years, and it is one of the fastest and most massive infrastructure transitions in global history. In the last 10 years, the country’s solar capacity has scaled over 50 times. India is the world’s 3rd largest solar power producer and the 2nd largest contributor to annual new solar capacity. Its cumulative installed solar capacity has surged past 150 Gigawatts. India added 44.61 GW of solar capacity in a single fiscal year, way more than the targeted 34 GW. The growth means that non-fossil fuel sources now account for over 50 per cent of India’s total installed power capacity. But the country is facing major hurdles in achieving its goal of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030. Experts say that merely increasing installed gigawatts won’t solve the problem.
“The future of solar in India is promising – but it will be determined less by how many gigawatts we install and more by how intelligently we manage the demand that those gigawatts have to serve. India has made remarkable progress in installed solar power generation, yet installing more solar panels alone won’t solve the demand problem, not when the grid can’t absorb the power cleanly,” Prof Teevrat Garg, Associate Professor of Economics at UC San Diego, told WION News.
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Pointing to the problem, Garg adds, “The culprit is the duck curve: solar drops to zero every evening just as demand hits its second daily peak.” The sun is dialled fully up, and solar panels produce a massive surplus of clean energy, during which time the grid’s reliance on traditional power plants plummets. But as evening sets in, solar production falls to zero, but at the same time, when people reach their homes, they switch on their air conditioners, and run appliances, and the demand spikes.
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However, Garg says that we have energy sponges in our homes that fix this problem without having to build massive utility batteries or run dirty backup plants. “Think of every air conditioner and water heater in our homes as an untapped buffer — one that can shift when it runs, easing pressure on the grid precisely when renewable energy is scarce,” he says. Water heaters and air conditioners can hold onto temperature. A smart grid can signal your AC to run at 3 pm when solar energy is abundant and cheap, cooling your house down a few extra degrees. It can safely shut off or dial back for an hour at 6 pm. If millions of homes can do the same, the evening energy demand would flatten.
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“Early evidence from research with Tata Power found automated appliance switch-offs cut household peak demand by up to 15%, with a net CO₂ mitigation cost that was negative for 75% of participants,” Garg stated, adding that the SARWA initiative at J-PAL South Asia is trying to ascertain whether this method can be scaled up.
“To maximise green energy use on India’s grid, we need to stop thinking about the problem as purely a supply challenge,” Garg said. India is already generating more clean power than ever. But there is a demand-supply mismatch, since the times we need it most are precisely the moments it isn’t available. “To use more of the clean energy we’re already generating, we need the demand side to flex: shifting consumption away from those peak hours through smart devices, financial incentives, and better-designed tariffs,” Garg said. So what India needs is a change in when and how the energy is used.
India is maintaining a balance at the moment, with a dual approach to ensure energy security. So it invests three dollars into renewable energy for every dollar spent on fossil fuel power generation.
Anamica Singh is a Senior News Editor at WION, bringing over 17 years of deep media and journalism experience to the platform. Specialising in high-impact global journalism, she le…Read More

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