As nations accelerate their transition away from fossil fuels, solar installations are scaling at a rapid pace. India added over 24 GW of solar capacity in FY 2025-26 alone, pushing total renewable generation to 1,845 BU, up by 0.93% year-on-year. Yet beneath this worldwide surge in demand lies a silent crisis that threatens the growth of the nascent solar manufacturing platform in India — a severe, shortage of the skilled workforce.
In India, this challenge is being addressed through large-scale, government-led skill development and capacity-building initiatives, with over 1.25 lakh candidates trained in FY 2025-26 across solar, wind and green hydrogen sectors. This reflects a growing recognition that workforce readiness is central to renewable energy expansion.
It also facilitates smoother transitions from training to employment, entrepreneurship and advanced technical roles within the renewable energy network.
Advanced solar manufacturing is no longer a matter of assembling panels on a production line. It demands engineers who understand photovoltaic cell chemistry, technicians fluent in automation and robotics, quality specialists who can interpret micron-level tolerances, and systems integrators who can bridge hardware with intelligent energy management software.
The skills required are deep, specialised, and evolving rapidly. Without a deliberate, structured strategy and a well-funded program to create a pipeline of relevantly trained engineers and technicians, this ambitious solar expansion plan will falter.
Modern high-efficiency solar modules are sophisticated products. The shift toward PERC, TOPCon, and Heterojunction cell structure requires manufacturing environments with exacting standards that can be performed by specialists, who have internalised both the science and the craft of solar production.
When skilled personnel are unavailable, manufacturers will have to accept delay in production, expect higher defect rates or invest in underprepared workers. Programmes such as fellowships, internships and industry-linked training help to bridge this gap by creating a pool of instructors and technicians equipped for next-generation manufacturing environments.
While there is no organized initiative at scale visible as yet, but some companies like Jupiter have been consistently investing in developing manufacturing competencies to fuel their expansion programs.
In our experience, companies that invest in structured workforce development tend to consistently deliver in terms of output and retention. The reasons are straightforward. Employees who receive deliberate training and clear pathways for advancement are more engaged and less likely to leave.
In a sector where losing a specialist can impact quality of production, retention is not a but an operational imperative. This also must be done, while being mindful of runaway wage inflation, which is inherent in a rapidly expanding Industry requiring specialized trained workforce.
Moreover, when workers understand the full context of their role and how it contributes to cell efficiency or system performance, the quality of their output tends to improve.
Cross-functional training that exposes manufacturing staff to engineering principles, and engineers to production realities, creates a culture of shared accountability that drives continuous improvement across the facility.
Effective skill-building does not happen by accident. It requires intention, investment and a plan that spans multiple levels, such as ITI engagement programmes that introduce renewable energy careers and vocational partnerships as well as advanced technical programs that develop engineers capable of leading innovation.
Universities produce engineers and scientists, but rarely with solar-manufacturing-specific knowledge. A structured pipeline combining coursework, apprenticeships, and on-floor training translates theoretical knowledge into practical, production-ready skills.
Advanced manufacturing increasingly faces rigorous environmental, safety, and quality audits. A trained workforce ensures compliance with standards like ISOs, and evolving ESG benchmarks critical for accessing global markets and attracting investment.
Industry and university partnerships are the way forward and early collaborations are beginning to happen. This needs to mature into significantly larger scales.
Government is cognizant of this and has been creating opportunities of collaboration between the Industry and Educational institutes. PM-SGMBY is one such initiative. Contributing to that. Outside of Solar manufacturing, Emerging initiatives such as Vayumitra (for wind energy) and Jaiv-Urja Mitra (for biomass and CBG sectors) demonstrate a shift toward sector-specific, role-based training frameworks that integrate rural employment, and manufacturing support.
A skill-building pipeline that remains static is one that falls behind the industry it is meant to serve. Among the deliberate steps we have taken to embed this thinking into our growth strategy, includes targeted recruitment of BTech graduates and intensive six-month in-house training programs at our Baddi facility.
This ensures that graduates entering solar manufacturing already understand the specific processes and technologies we deploy. As cell technologies advance and automation tools become more sophisticated, our training curricula are updated to match that evolution.
The workforce challenge in solar manufacturing is not one that any single company can solve in isolation. It demands collaboration between manufacturers, policymakers, educators and communities. A collective effort is required to build a resilient and future-ready workforce.
In fact, the companies that will lead the solar industry through its next decade of growth will not be those with the most advanced equipment alone.
They will be those that have built the human infrastructure effectively, recognising clearly that a robust skill-building pipeline is not a cost of doing business, but a fundamental source of competitive advantage.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those held by pv magazine.
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