The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), in collaboration with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), hosted a national webinar on Advanced Photovoltaic (PV) Technologies on September 17, 2025. The event brought together over 300 participants from government, PSUs (like NTPC and SECI), private industry (including Reliance and Adani), academia (IITs and NITs), and research institutions to address India’s path toward global leadership in solar technology.
The key conclusion was that while India has achieved significant module and cell manufacturing growth, it faces critical upstream dependencies and technological hurdles that threaten its self-reliance goals.
Critical Challenges Identified
The discussions, mandated under Section 73(k) of the Electricity Act, 2003, focused on barriers restricting India’s PV sovereignty:
Upstream Import Dependence
Despite module capacity exceeding 100 GW and cell capacity reaching approximately 25 GW by August 2025, India remains heavily dependent on imports for wafers and polysilicon, leaving the pricing of domestic modules vulnerable to the Chinese market.
Technological Transition Cost
The industry faces high capital costs and scalability barriers in transitioning from the current Mono PERC (Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact) technology to advanced architectures like TopCon and Heterojunction Technology (HJT), which promise efficiencies up to 27%.
Next-Generation Scaling
Advanced technologies like perovskite and hybrid tandem solar cells, which have demonstrated over 30% efficiency in labs, face challenges regarding industrial stability, durability, and large-area uniformity.
Gaps in Ecosystem
There is insufficient indigenous manufacturing of specialized equipment and a weak framework for module recycling and lifecycle management.
The Way Forward: Recommendations and Action Points
To move from self-reliance to global leadership, the webinar identified several actionable recommendations:
- Accelerate Upstream Localization: Immediately expand fiscal support, such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, to accelerate the localization of the entire PV value chain, starting with polysilicon, ingots, and wafers.
- Establish Deep-Tech R&D Clusters: Create multi-stakeholder research hubs that formally link academia (IITs, NITs) with start-ups and manufacturers to harmonize efforts and accelerate the transfer of lab-scale perovskite and tandem technologies to pilot demonstration projects.
- Strengthen Standardization and Recycling: Institutionalize mandatory, standardized testing and certification protocols for emerging technologies and enforce recycling frameworks and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mandates for solar modules.
- Workforce Development: Undertake large-scale initiatives for workforce development and specialized technical training tailored to next-generation solar cell manufacturing technologies.
The CEA reaffirmed the strategic importance of research, noting that a mere 1% gain in efficiency across a 100 GW solar capacity could generate approximately ₹2,190 crores in additional annual revenue, underscoring the vast economic implications of technological advancement for India’s clean energy trajectory.