Solar transition: Reforms needed to improve long-term performance

India is making progress on clean energy. More than 50 per cent of the country’s installed electricity capacity is now based on non-fossil sources — a milestone achieved five years ahead of target. Solar power has been the dominant driver of this shift, aided by an expansion in domestic module manufacturing, owing to strong policy support. Yet, as a new parliamentary standing committee report on energy makes clear, merely scaling up solar capacity is not enough. If efficiency and system readiness fall behind, it could jeopardise the country’s renewable-energy goals in the long term. The most striking gap lies in performance monitoring. Despite an installed solar capacity of 129 gigawatts (Gw), India still lacks a national framework to rate photovoltaic plant performance. There is no standardised method to measure the degradation of modules, assess the quality of operations and maintenance, or compute irradiance-adjusted output. In the absence of such benchmarks, tariff bids are divorced from long-term performance risk. Underperforming assets remain invisible, and developers face little pressure to optimise quality. For a sector increasingly reliant on competitive bidding and thin margins, this information vacuum can only lead to inefficiencies and financial stress.

 

Grid-level constraints compound the problem. Solar generation is geographically concentrated, while transmission capacity and energy storage remain severely inadequate. Only about 5 Gw of storage is currently available, against a projected requirement of 60 Gw by 2030. The committee’s recommendations regarding improving the green-energy corridor and strengthening intra-state transmission remain urgent. The Central Electricity Authority has also done well to issue an advisory stating that at least 10 per cent of future renewable-energy bids include storage components. Without these measures, solar addition will continue to outpace the grid’s ability to absorb variable generation, causing curtailment and financial losses. The rooftop solar segment, too, demands course correction. Adoption remains far below potential, even under the PM Surya Ghar scheme. Kerala’s recent experience is a cautionary tale in this context. A daytime surplus and night-time deficit created stress on distribution companies (discoms), prompting the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission to revisit net-metering rules and even consider battery requirements. Ways need to be devised to address such issues.

 

Further, land acquisition is another silent but significant drag. Four to seven acres per megawatt, that is, 1.4 million to 2 million hectares of land is needed to harness the full potential. Overlaps with agriculturally productive or ecologically sensitive areas, delays in securing land, and obtaining connectivity approval continue to slow project development. A single-window clearance mechanism can streamline approvals and remove friction. Closer coordination with states and project developers is essential to identify bottlenecks early and prevent slippage. Additionally, India’s manufacturing strategy must evolve beyond modules. The committee has urged the government to provide support for polysilicon, ingots and wafers, and solar glass — upstream components that are imported and are crucial for long-term supply-chain resilience. Clearly, the next phase of the solar transition should be defined not by how much capacity is added but by how efficiently it performs.