The Indian solar sector is at a crucial juncture. From the rapid pace of scaling up solar capacity, it is now all about sustainability in building a value proposition that offers quality, reliability and longevity. Despite having some of the most ambitious renewable energy targets in the world, the future growth of the Indian solar sector would be about manufacturing prowess, dependable execution and resilient supply chains rather than MWs added per year.
The figures speak for themselves. India has now become the third-largest solar market in the world, adding an unprecedented capacity of 44.6 GW in FY26, taking total installed solar capacity to nearly 150 GW as of March 2026. The government has set a target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel power by 2030 and of all forms of renewable energy, it is now only solar energy that is going to make the biggest contribution.
India has also emerged as a major solar manufacturing hub. The country has scaled up domestic solar module manufacturing capacity from just 3 GW a decade ago to over 200 GW today, while solar cell manufacturing stands at approximately 32 GW. According to the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM), module manufacturing capacity under certification has crossed around 217 GW, supported by PLI funding, basic customs duty, and localisation policy. As of 2025 alone, India has added significant new module and cell manufacturing capacity, with total solar cell capacity projected to rise to around 100 GW and module capacity expected to exceed 165 GW by December 2027.
Such success needs to be appreciated, yet manufacturing capacity alone does not translate into a healthy solar ecosystem. The most difficult part in the solar industry is making sure that all the solar assets installed in recent times will continue to perform optimally for the next 25 years. There is no doubt that price-led procurement has made a big contribution in accelerating the adoption of solar power, but there is too much emphasis on minimizing the upfront cost, thus resulting in poor lifecycle performance of the solar systems.
That is exactly why the next playbook for the industry needs to be focused on quality. Initiatives by the government are moving along these lines. ALMM being expanded to include ingots and wafers apart from modules and cells shows the conscious strategy to add more value domestically, increase traceability, and improve quality all along the manufacturing chain. The requirement of compulsory domestic manufacturing of solar cells from June 2026 is yet another landmark initiative in making the chain self-reliant and resilient.
Quality is not confined only within the factory premises. According to industry estimates, poor installations continue to be one of the major reasons behind sub-standard performance of solar assets. Design flaws, wrong cable size, mounting issues, improper commissioning, and lack of regular maintenance despite high-quality materials can lower plant efficiency. As rooftop solar plants rise in numbers under the PM Surya Ghar scheme, India’s demand for qualified installers, trained technicians, and standard EPC services will rise manifold.
It has become equally important from the perspective of the investor as well. In today’s world, financial companies have started looking at projects not on the basis of project cost but the long-term energy generation capacity, operational reliability, and guarantee-based bankability. There is a demand for increased transparency through digital monitoring technologies which can help track energy generation, identify performance deterioration, and provide predictive maintenance.
Thus, digitalisation emerges as the new frontier of competition in the solar industry. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in monitoring, remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and intelligent asset management can increase the plant availability and reduce operation costs. Those companies which will be able to leverage their high-quality hardware with life cycle management through data will build more trust and profits among the customers.
Another crucial aspect needing urgent attention is the upstream manufacturing process. Although module manufacturing has scaled up rapidly, yet India still depends on imports for vital inputs like polysilicon, wafers, and certain specialized parts. Recent policy decisions to encourage local manufacturing of these products are highly significant – both from economic as well as national energy security perspectives.
The importance of having a more resilient solar ecosystem cannot be understated, especially in the context of increasing electricity demand in India. India’s peak power demand is set to hit 300 GW, thanks to rapid industrialization, electric vehicles, increased air conditioning demand and growth of data centers. Satisfying this demand in a sustainable manner would need not just an increase in solar capacity, but also a reliable production mechanism backed up by good manufacturing, storage, grid infrastructure and operations.
India has already shown its capability of deploying solar in volumes at an unprecedented rate. What remains to be seen now is whether this development would be based on quality engineering apart from just low-cost advantage. Success in the coming decade will depend upon which companies focus on engineering excellence instead of volume advantage alone.
The nation’s ambition toward clean energy is too big to be gauged simply in terms of gigawatt-hours installed. It needs to be gauged also in terms of uptime, consumer confidence, efficiency, and asset life. While India has succeeded in creating scale in its solar industry, it needs to create trust next. This will change India from being a fast growing solar market into a highly dependable solar ecosystem.
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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