Last summer, when Rekha Devi’s electricity bill dropped to zero, she couldn’t believe it. Her small home in Jaipur had recently been equipped with rooftop solar panels under a new government scheme. “The fan kept running all afternoon, and we didn’t worry once about the meter,” she smiled.
Rekha’s story is not unique. Across India, homes, farms, offices, and even entire villages are quietly switching to renewable energy. But what’s new is not just solar on rooftops or windmills on plains. It is the way these clean energy sources are being combined – solar with wind, floating panels with hydropower, and rooftop systems with battery storage, to form hybrid renewable models that are much smarter, more reliable, and better suited to India’s increasing energy needs.
With a very bold national target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, India is reimagining its energy future through the integration of hybrid renewable energy models. From urban centres to rural areas, these hybrid systems are changing the way power is generated and who gets to reap the benefits.
Rooftop solar
In 2024, the government launched the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, a scheme that gives families up to 300 free electricity units per month if they install rooftop solar. It’s already made a dent, over 10,000 households in Delhi, saving a collective ₹160 crore a year.
But the impact is bigger than just savings. Families feel more in control. Power cuts do not hit as hard. And there is a a sense of contributing to something bigger, cleaner air, less pollution, a lighter carbon footprint.
States like Gujarat and Rajasthan are even taking it further. They have introduced “rent-a-roof” schemes, where private companies install panels on government or public buildings. This is on a larger scale, it is a win-win strategy, energy is generated, money is saved, and the land remains untouched.
Floating and canal-top solar
Canal-top solar projects, first introduced in Gujarat, use the long stretches of irrigation canals to host solar panels. They do two things at once: generate power and prevent water from evaporating under the hot sun.
Even better? Floating solar farms. Take the Omkareshwar Floating Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh, for example. Instead of clearing land for panels, they float on the reservoir. That saves space, keeps the panels cool (which improves performance), and doesn’t interfere with the local ecosystem.
It is a neat solution, particularly in places where land is precious or water is scarce.
Wind-solar hybrids
One of the smartest things about India’s energy shift is how it’s learning to work with nature’s rhythm instead of against it. Solar panels generate power during the day, wind turbines, on the other hand, usually perform best in the late evening or at night. By combining both the energy sources in the same space, wind-solar hybrid parks make the most of each resource and help ensure that energy supply doesn’t stop when the sun goes down.
A major example of this approach is the Khavda Renewable Energy Park in Gujarat, which is on track to become one of the largest hybrid parks in the world, with 30 GW of clean energy capacity. Projects like this can be our major key to solving one of renewable energy’s biggest challenges: intermittency, the fact that sun and wind don’t always show up on schedule.
What makes these hybrid parks even more effective is the growing use of energy storage systems. Several companies are investing in generation of batteries that store electricity generated during high-output hours and release it when the demand arises. The stored electricity not only keeps the power supply steady but also reduces the pressure on the national grid.
Why energy storage is no longer optional
Energy storage is not just a helpful add-on anymore; it is becoming essential.
Even the most efficient solar or wind system cannot deliver round-the-clock electricity unless there is a way to save excess energy and use it later. That is where batteries and pumped hydro systems come in. They allow surplus power to be stored during low-demand hours and release when demand rises or generation drops.
We are already seeing this play out on the ground. Modhera in Gujarat, for instance, has become India’s first solar-powered village with 24/7 energy access. The secret is not just the solar rooftops; it is the battery systems that quietly store the afternoon’s sunlight and power homes well into the night.
Challenges still remain
In some states, delays in subsidy distribution make it hard for households to adopt rooftop solar. Large-scale hybrid parks face land acquisition hurdles, and grid infrastructure in many regions still isn’t designed to handle multiple, variable energy sources feeding in from different directions.
And while battery prices are coming down, they are still too costly for many smaller consumers without government or private support.
That said, momentum is building. With stronger policies, falling technology costs, and private sector investment, hybrid renewable models are becoming more viable each year, not just in industrial zones or big cities, but across villages, towns, and peri-urban spaces as well.
What’s the big picture
This is not just a story about solar panels or wind farms. It’s about rethinking how we generate, share, and use power. It’s about solving today’s problems in a way that is sustainable even in the future
Hybrid renewable systems might sound complicated, but their impact is deeply human. They mean fewer power cuts during exams. They mean shops can stay open longer. They mean farmers can pump water even if the grid goes down. In other words, they’re changing lives quietly, from rooftops in the city to rivers in the countryside.
