New Delhi: India’s solar power journey has crossed many milestones—from the launch of the National Solar Mission in 2010 to surpassing 80 GW of installed capacity today. With falling panel prices, state-backed tenders, and bold targets of 280 GW solar by 2030, the story appears promising. But beneath this success lies a critical question we must now confront: Can solar energy on its own create a stable, reliable power system?

The answer is no—and this has less to do with the ambition and more to do with how electricity works.

Solar is abundant, but not always available

Unlike coal or gas, solar energy is intermittent—it’s only available during the day, and generation drops sharply after sunset. The more solar we add, the more we face the risk of overgeneration during daylight hours and shortages in the evening. This pattern is already visible in high-solar states like Gujarat and Rajasthan, where curtailment of solar power during non-peak demand hours is increasingly common.

Simply put, solar cannot be dispatched on demand, and without the right balancing tools, it can create more volatility in the grid rather than solving the reliability problem.

Storage must move from pilot to policy

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are widely seen as the antidote to solar’s variability. Globally, lithium-ion batteries are being deployed rapidly to smooth supply, support frequency regulation, and enable round-the-clock renewable projects.

India has taken early steps, including the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for 4,000 MWh of BESS and battery-linked solar tenders by SECI. Yet most deployments remain at the pilot or procurement stage.

If solar is to become the backbone of India’s power system, storage must become a mainstream asset, not an add-on. This means designing power market structures that value ancillary services, creating long-term revenue models for batteries, and building grid-scale storage into every future transmission plan.

Forecasting and demand flexibility matter just as much

Solar production follows the sun—not market demand. That makes accurate forecasting critical for grid stability. However, real-time solar forecasting in India remains patchy, especially at the distribution level. Without granular, location-specific forecasts, grid operators cannot plan dispatch or reserve capacity efficiently.

Equally, flexibility on the demand side is underutilised. Industrial and commercial users that run captive solar or wind often lack incentives to adjust consumption based on grid needs. Time-of-day tariffs are still in early stages, and demand response programs are rare.

India must now think beyond generation and invest in the full ecosystem—smart metering, load management, storage integration, and dynamic pricing—to make solar deliver its true potential.

What we risk by ignoring the bigger picture

If these complementary systems are not scaled in time, India risks facing a paradox: high renewable capacity but unreliable power, leading to continued dependence on coal or diesel backups.

We may also miss the opportunity to lead in advanced grid technologies—where global innovation and investment are now rapidly shifting. While the US and EU focus on digital grids, storage markets, and flexibility tools, India’s solar journey cannot remain panel-centric.

A broader energy transition lens

It is time for India’s solar mission to evolve into a grid transformation mission. The revised National Electricity Plan already recognises the need for energy storage, flexible generation, and robust transmission. But implementation must keep pace with ambition.

Solar power is the foundation. But the full structure—storage, forecasting, demand response, and regulatory innovation—must be built urgently, or the foundation risks standing incomplete.

India has the opportunity to lead not just in solar installations, but in building the world’s most adaptive, digital, and resilient green power system. But that means seeing solar not as the solution—but as the starting point.

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