The Indian solar sector has hit its third century — after crossing 100 GW in installation and 100 GW in manufacturing — with solar power projects under construction increasing to 100.65 GW as at end- December 2025, from 93.7 GW at end-September 2025 (the Central Electricity Authority puts out these numbers every three months). The numbers pertain to large-scale solar plants alone, and not rooftop and off-grid solar.

Under-construction RE capacity stood at 148.36 GW, slightly up from September-end last year. Rajasthan (48.6 GW) and Gujarat (35.3 GW) house most of the upcoming projects, followed by Karnataka (17.37 GW), Madhya Pradesh (10.45 GW), Maharashtra (9.66 GW), and Andhra Pradesh (8 GW).

Adani Power wins case

Adani Power has successfully contested the withholding of energy charges brought by a bunch of Karnataka electricity distribution companies (discoms) that buy power from it. Adani demanded higher payment after its coal supplier Glencore raised prices, as per agreed terms.

The dispute centres around electricity supplied in June and July 2021. As the cost of fuel is borne by the dicoms, Adani asked for additional payment of ₹67.11 crore. The discoms argued that had Adani mentioned the higher charges on time, then Adani’s electricity would have dropped to a lower spot in the ‘merit order despatch’ (cheapest first), and they may not have scheduled Adani’s power. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, however, found no such delay, as no time limit had been agreed on. As such, the discoms are to pay Adani Power ₹67.11 crore plus a late payment surcharge of ₹31.63 crore.

Premier saves on silver

BSE-listed solar cell and module manufacturer Premier Energies has unveiled “India’s first zero busbar (0BB) TOPCon solar cell”. Busbars are the thicker silver strips that gather electricity from across the solar cell and pass it to the rest of the panel.

A media release from Premier says the 0BB represents a “structural shift” from the traditional 10BB and 16BB architectures — it replaces the thick silver busbars with a dense matrix of ultra-fine silver lines to collect the current. Chandra Mauli Kumar, Chief Production Officer, noted that making 0BB “demanded significant manufacturing precision and process innovation”.

In business terms, it means saving on silver. A typical solar cell uses about 120 mg of silver. A quick calculation shows that even a 20 per cent saving could result in a benefit of ₹7.5 lakh per MW of capacity.

Spanish renewable energy firm rebrands India ops

Spanish company Zelestra Energy has renamed its Indian arm Zelestra India as Resolven, which, it says, “reflects clarity, direction and the power to rise to our next altitude”.

Resolven, backed by the Sweden-based private equity firm EQT, has 2.7 GW of projects in the pipeline and targets 10 GW by 2030.

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Published on March 2, 2026