India's solar generation jumps 39% in Q2, CREA says

India's solar power generation climbed 39% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to figures from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

The jump marks one of the steepest quarterly increases the country's solar sector has posted. CREA attributes the rise to a wave of new capacity that came online over the past year, combined with strong output through the peak summer months.

India has been adding solar at a record pace. Utility-scale parks in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka have driven much of the build-out, alongside a growing share of rooftop installations. The second quarter covers April to June, when clear skies and high temperatures typically push solar plants toward their highest yields of the year.

Why the number matters

Solar now accounts for a rising slice of India's electricity mix. The country has set a target of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, and solar is expected to carry the bulk of that. A 39% quarterly gain suggests the pipeline is translating into actual electrons, not just signed agreements.

That distinction has dogged India's renewables story for years. Capacity auctions often outran construction. Transmission bottlenecks and land disputes slowed projects in several states. The latest CREA figure points to those constraints easing, at least for solar.

Coal still generates most of India's power. But the gap is narrowing. During sunny midday hours, solar's share of the grid has grown enough in some states to push coal plants into lower output.

What to watch

• Whether the 39% growth holds through the monsoon quarter, when generation typically dips.
• Grid upgrades in high-solar states, where curtailment remains a risk.
• Rooftop solar uptake, which has lagged utility-scale additions despite subsidy schemes.

CREA's findings come as global solar manufacturing capacity continues to shift toward India. Domestic module production has expanded under the production-linked incentive scheme, though cells and wafers are still largely imported.

The 39% figure is a generation number, not a capacity number. It reflects how much electricity solar plants actually fed into the grid, which depends on weather, curtailment and plant availability as much as on installed megawatts.

PV Tech reported the CREA findings on 14 October 2026.