Solar Energy in India: Potential, PV Waste and UPSC Notes (UPSC Environment)

India receives solar energy equivalent to over 5,000 trillion kWh per year across its land area, an extraordinary natural endowment. The country has ridden this advantage to become the world's third-largest solar market, with installed solar capacity crossing 94 GW in 2024. Solar is central to India's target of 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030 under its updated NDCs. For UPSC aspirants, solar energy is a foundational theme of GS Paper III on energy, climate and science and technology.

Solar energy generation potential

India's solar potential is influenced by:

• Latitude: Most of India lies between 8 and 37 N, within the tropical and subtropical zones.
• Clear sky days: 300 sunny days per year on average.
• Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI): Ranges from 4 to 7 kWh per square metre per day, with Rajasthan, Gujarat and Ladakh among the highest.
• Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI): Crucial for concentrated solar power, highest in western deserts.
• Diffused Solar Irradiance (DSI): High in monsoon regions and at high altitudes.

Regional variation

• Western India (Rajasthan, Gujarat): Highest DNI, ideal for utility-scale solar parks.
• Himalayan region (Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand): High irradiance, low temperatures that improve PV efficiency, and low module degradation rates.
• North-East and Odisha: High diffused irradiance suitable for thin-film PV modules.

The Himalayan region is a particularly underexploited high-potential zone because PV modules degrade more slowly in cold and sunny climates, and large tracts of land are available.

Defects in solar PV modules

Defects reduce conversion efficiency and lifetime output.

• Due diligence failures in selecting and procuring modules.
• Hot climate degradation: Indian PV modules lose efficiency faster in hot climates than in cooler ones.
• Micro-cracks: Caused during transport, unloading and installation.
• Potential-induced degradation (PID): Voltage stress-related efficiency loss.
• Delamination from humidity.
• Soiling from dust accumulation, particularly in arid zones.

Implications for India

Solar power plants in hot, dusty regions suffer higher degradation. Cold and sunny areas of the Himalayas have very low degradation rates, high performance ratios, high irradiance and abundant land.

Way forward for solar

• Develop solar power plants in regions with high diffused solar irradiance such as Ladakh, North-East and Odisha, and expand grid evacuation infrastructure.
• Develop solar power plants on wasteland and degraded land to avoid competition with agriculture.
• Use higher-efficiency silicon and emerging PV technologies such as perovskite solar cells.
• Promote non-power uses: solar water heaters, solar cookers, solar water pumps.
• Promote solar plants over canals (Sardar Sarovar and Gujarat examples) to save water and land.
• Scale rooftop solar under PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.
• Expand floating solar on reservoirs such as Ramagundam (NTPC).

India's solar policy framework

• Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) launched 2010, initial target of 20 GW by 2022; later raised to 100 GW.
• Solar parks: More than 50 solar parks totalling about 40 GW sanctioned.
• PM-KUSUM (2019): Solarisation of agricultural pumps and decentralised solar.
• PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (February 2024): Rs 78,000 crore scheme to provide subsidy for rooftop solar up to 3 kW for 1 crore households.
• International Solar Alliance (ISA): Headquartered in Gurugram, India; treaty-based alliance of solar-rich countries.
• Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for solar PV modules: Two tranches totalling about Rs 24,000 crore for 48 GW domestic module manufacturing.
• Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM): Promotes indigenous modules.
• Basic Customs Duty on imported modules and cells to support domestic manufacturing.

Advantages and disadvantages of solar

Advantages

• New and renewable resource.
• No greenhouse gas emissions, no water pollution at point of use.
• Costs have fallen by over 80 percent in a decade, making solar the cheapest source of new power in most markets.
• Very easy to install at small scale (rooftop) and large scale (solar parks).
• Modular: scalable from 1 kW to several GW.

Disadvantages

• Intermittent: Output varies with cloud cover, dust and seasons.
• Land use competition with agriculture and housing in densely populated regions.
• Transmission infrastructure needed for remote solar parks.
• Performance degradation over time.
• End-of-life disposal and recycling challenges.

India's solar PV waste problem

What is PV waste

Electronic waste generated by discarded solar panels and photovoltaic devices. PV devices contain semiconducting materials that convert sunlight to electricity. While up to 90 percent of components are recyclable, many PV modules contain heavy metals such as cadmium, copper, lead, antimony or selenium. End-of-life panels can be classified as hazardous waste.

Present status in India

• India could generate over 34,600 tonnes of cumulative solar waste by 2030, per the National Solar Energy Federation of India.
• India currently considers solar waste as part of e-waste and does not account for it separately.
• No commercial raw-material recovery facility for solar e-waste is operational in India.
• A Ministry-level committee proposed an action plan for a "circular economy" in solar panels.

Challenges in India

• Informal handling: Only about 20 percent of PV waste is recovered formally; the rest is treated informally. Incinerating the encapsulant releases sulphur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen cyanide.
• No segregation: PV waste is clubbed with general e-waste.
• High cost of recycling: USD 20 to 30 per panel versus USD 1 to 2 for landfilling.
• Lack of incentives: Market for recycled PV materials is tiny due to absence of targeted schemes.

What can be done

• Promote recycling: Domestic development of PV waste recycling technology through funding and infrastructure.
• Environmental disposal clause in PPAs: SECI and discom power purchase agreements with developers can include end-of-life recycling obligations.
• Dedicated policy: Provisions specific to PV waste within e-waste guidelines, with EPR for manufacturers and developers.
• Ban on landfilling: Given toxic metals, landfilling should be prohibited.
• Central insurance or regulatory body: To cover financial losses in collection and treatment.
• R&D: Advances in design, low-silicon panels and bifacial technology.
• Awareness drives: Pan-India programmes on PV waste management.

Latest developments (2024-26)

• PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana: Launched in February 2024 with a target of 1 crore rooftop solar households; 10 lakh registrations by end of 2024.
• Installed solar capacity: Crossed 94 GW by 2024, with solar parks and rooftop both accelerating.
• PLI for PV modules: Rs 24,000 crore across two tranches for 48 GW domestic module manufacturing capacity.
• Floating solar: NTPC Ramagundam (100 MW) operational; multiple projects under construction.
• ALMM enforcement tightened in 2024, restricting use of imported modules in government-backed projects.
• Solar PV waste rules: Under the E-Waste (Management) Rules 2022, PV panels are classified with additional provisions expected in amendments.
• COP29 Baku (2024): India reaffirmed the 500 GW non-fossil target and highlighted solar's role. Global Solar Facility under ISA was operationalised.
• International Solar Alliance: Membership crossed 120 countries by 2024 with new financial instruments for Africa and small island states.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims focus

• Installed solar capacity (94+ GW as of 2024) and 500 GW non-fossil target by 2030.
• JNNSM, PM-KUSUM, PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.
• PLI for PV modules (Rs 24,000 crore).
• ALMM (Approved List of Models and Manufacturers).
• International Solar Alliance (ISA) headquartered in Gurugram.
• E-Waste Rules 2022 and PV waste classification.

Mains focus (GS III)

Typical question framings evaluate India's solar journey, the role of domestic manufacturing, PV waste management, and the ISA as a platform. Strong answers cite capacity data, specific schemes, ISA's role, and challenges of land, grid, and end-of-life disposal.

Linkages

Solar energy connects to SDG 7, SDG 13, India’s updated NDCs after COP29, the Paris Agreement, the International Solar Alliance, the Green Hydrogen Mission, the Indian Carbon Market, the E-Waste Rules 2022, and the Critical Minerals Mission.