What kind of leadership lessons from academia have shaped your approach at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE)?
See, this whole field of solar energy, especially in the light of global warming and climate change, is an evolving field. After every few years, you will see a huge shift.
Some new technology comes up, some new innovations happen. So, when you are an academic, and you are an active academic, you are aware of what is happening. You have that sense of how to follow the developments, how to reorient the institute’s vision or work towards those developments, as well as making it systematic so that the institute works in a way that it follows the developments and contributes in light of those developments.
So, how do you assess the impact of recent government schemes like PM-KUSUM and PM Surya Ghar Yojana?
If I talk about PM-KUSUM, in terms of impact, it has been a huge initiative. Farmers had their own challenges. One obvious challenge was the availability or lack of availability of supply.
For many years, farmers used to get power supply during night hours only—odd hours—because we had to share the same supply network for different consumers. Now, once you have solarised agriculture, one obvious convenience for the farmer is that you can irrigate the field during the day, during your normal working hours.
The second thing is, the agriculture sector has been a challenge for DISCOMs also. By solarisation of irrigation, you have shifted a large amount of load from DISCOMs to solar energy. So, in that way, it is working well for DISCOMs also.
PM-KUSUM is something that has an impact on DISCOMs and on the network, as well as a strong social side where the farmer’s convenience, suitability, and better irrigation have resulted. If I talk about PM Surya Ghar, I believe solar energy by its nature is the most suitable energy source for distributed energy resources.
It is an absolutely modular system. You can have a 1-kilowatt system or a gigawatt system using the same components. So, being a modular system, its best use is in distributed form.
The idea behind PM Surya Ghar is that every rooftop should have a solar plant. That is happening through PM Surya Ghar, and somehow we were lagging in the rooftop segment. We were doing very well in the utility area.
Since the day PM Surya Ghar was launched, it created the required buzz around rooftop solar. It also created some sort of trust among the general public that this is something that should be explored. That is why you see rapidly rising numbers.
Here again, consumers are getting financial benefits. DISCOMs are getting relief as a large load is being supplied at the local level through rooftops. So, both these schemes are very high-impact initiatives.
How is NISE supporting the development of the domestic solar PV manufacturing ecosystem?
The ministry has a scheme called the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM). There is another scheme on Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for high-efficiency module manufacturing in the country. For both these schemes, we are the technical implementing agency.
We are implementing the ALMM part and the PLI part also. The industry is actively involved with us. We work in tandem with them, and sometimes our association leads to important developments.
So, I would say NISE is playing a very active role in strengthening domestic manufacturing.
Are there any challenges?
I see challenges related to the supply chain only. As of now, we have done reasonably well.
We started with modules, and now more than 100GW of capacity are listed under ALMM. For the cell part, around 25 gigawatts are under development. From 2028 onwards, we expect to go into wafer manufacturing also.
So, in this way, the country is working towards full supply chain integration. There are challenges, but I would say the progress is reasonably good.
What global market trends—such as price movement, supply chain, or technology maturity—are most likely to influence India’s solar sector over the next 3-5 years?
As I said, this is a very rapidly evolving field. A few years back, it was all polysilicon. Then suddenly it became mono. Technology-wise also, PERC (Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell) was taken up very enthusiastically by the industry.
Then TOPCon came, and now there is a shift towards TOPCon. Now there is HJT (Heterojunction Technology) —one plant has come up in India. And then there is talk of back contact and other advancements.
There is also work on tandem cells. I see that innovation in cell efficiency and module efficiency will continue to happen, and these developments will drive our national progress as well.
What kind of role is NISE playing in advancing India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission?
NISE has a very important connection with green hydrogen. One connection is that hydrogen is being talked about mainly in the context of green hydrogen, and solar energy-based green hydrogen generation is an important area.
Not only from the hydrogen point of view but also from the grid management perspective. Apart from this, we have probably the first green hydrogen plant in the country, which is working on this campus itself and is powered by solar energy.
We are the implementing agency for two important schemes under the Green Hydrogen Mission. One is the development of testing infrastructure. We are the implementing agency for that. The second is the start-up call for green hydrogen, for which we are also the implementing agency.
Lastly, we have been declared the National Centre for Hydrogen Safety by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. That is another important role for us.
What is the progress so far in all these areas?
Regarding testing infrastructure, the first round of awards has already been done. Projects have been awarded. The second round of evaluation is in the final stage. The start-up call was released in September by the Hon’ble Minister. That is also progressing well. The safety centre is being strengthened too.
Are there any challenges there?
The main challenge with hydrogen is bringing the cost down—making it feasible and viable. Again, I would say it is an evolving area, but reasonable progress has been made.
Do you see any hazards related to green hydrogen?
Not exactly related to green hydrogen; hydrogen itself has its own safety challenges. Whether it is green, grey, or black, it has been used in industry for decades. The only difference is that it has been used in specific industries.
Now we are widening its scope and expanding its use. In that case, safety assessment and adherence to safety become much more important. Keeping that in mind, the ministry has established a separate safety centre for it. We have to work closely with other organisations to strengthen and establish relevant standards, procedures, and practices.
How can India strengthen collaboration between industry, academia, and R&D institutions to accelerate solar advancements?
This is something very important. As we move towards achieving our targets, the collaboration between industry, academia, and R&D institutes must be strong. Research work being carried out in academia or R&D institutes has to align with national priorities and industry requirements.
If our work is important and relevant to the industry, I see that the industry will be willing to collaborate. It has to move beyond research for the sake of publication only.
It has to be something of value to the industry. The industry also has to have its stake in the process. If they find projects relevant to them, they should have their financial share and active collaboration. They must also actively seek connections with academia and R&D institutes.
One thing you would like to highlight about the entire solar ecosystem?
I would say that if we want to address the global warming and CO₂ emission challenges, they cannot be addressed without addressing the electricity sector.
As of today, there is no better bet than solar energy. We should keep that in mind. I agree there may be challenges such as grid management when solar’s share goes beyond certain limits, or issues with recycling and disposal of solar panels.
We need to work on these areas. But as of now, I do not see any better option than solar energy for decarbonising the electricity sector. Additionally, it is an option for energy independence and an option for energy democratisation.
