Advancing solar power solutions across India

Context

The Government of India is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2070. To reach this goal, India must install an estimated 1,689 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by 2050, expanding further to 5,630 GW by 2070. However, achieving this ambitious target presents two major challenges.

• Firstly, most of India’s current solar power comes from ground-mounted or rooftop installations, which are heavily dependent on land utilisation. These conventional methods alone will not be sufficient to meet the projected solar power requirements.
• Secondly, there is increasing competition for land, as energy competes with other social and economic needs, which in turn affects natural habitats and ecosystems. Additionally, the scarcity of land available for solar projects is becoming more pronounced.

In light of these challenges, India urgently needs to explore and adopt new innovative technologies for photovoltaic (PV) solar energy projects to reach its carbon neutrality goals.

Objective

Conditions for the expansion of climate-friendly solar energy production, including regulatory frameworks and technology, for reduced land use have been improved.

Vorgehensweise

The project works in the following areas to meet India’s target of achieving 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030:

• It identifies and promotes seven new and innovative solar PV applications in close cooperation with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India. These applications have been assessed for their potential across the country, which is displayed in the developed geographic information system-based online atlas (Solar Technology Application Atlas of India).
• In addition to identifying these applications, the project invites proposals for pilot demonstrations. From 83 submissions, the project selected three for pilot implementation: the installation of vertical bifacial solar panels, the integration of solar systems into buildings, and the production of green hydrogen.
• The project supports ten cities in their transition to achieving a 100 per cent-share of renewable energy (RE). It also provides assistance to existing and future RE cities to promote new and innovative solar PV applications.

Last update: November 2024