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Way Forward

To date, most agrivoltaics facilities in India are research pilots. Real farmer exposure to agriphotovoltaics remains limited, making it difficult to enhance wide-spread public acceptance towards this innovative approach. It is essential to understand and apply various social, economic and political policies in order to facilitate the process of implementation. Learnings from countries having already acchieved the implementation of large-scale projects could be adopted to make agrivoltaics a success in India. Below we provide a few such recommendations towards effectively addressing these challenges.

1. Define Agriphotovoltaics

  • Indian norm may be drafted by assessing and analyzing the German standardisation DIN SPEC 91434:2021-05

  • Define minimum standards and specifications for PV modules to ensure quality issues are addressed adequately

  • Min. of 80% of the total surface is available and used for agricultural purposes

  • Crop cultivation plan, cleaning concept and annual reports to be made mandatory

  • Foresee further adaptations based on continuous feedback from farmers and developers for design improvement

  • Explore practical experiences of large utility scale >10 MWp agrivoltaic farms

  • Consultation with Ministry for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare to ensure a clear ownership structure from onset

2. Define deployment targets for Agriphotovoltaics for the next 10 years

  • Start with annual targets in MW towards potential GW targets until 2030

  • Involve states with a request to submit state wise targets to ensure ownership

  • Involve the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare to improve collaborative efforts of the agricultural and energy sector

3. Initiate special “innovation tenders” for Agriphotovoltaic projects

  • Through SECI, NTPC, NHPC and other nodal agencies

  • Draft a federal tender guideline supporting states to easily adjust and adapt to regional conditions

  • Consider different cost structures of various agrivoltaic concepts by defining sub groups within agrivoltaics tender guideline (distinguish between tenders for vertical and horizontal agrivoltaics)

  • Allow projects to be developed on agricultural land

  • Consider offering around 25% viability gap funding for a certain amount of initial capacity

  • Create bank financing products specific to Agri PV projects through IREDA, NABARD and others

  • In consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare explore opportunities for synergies in the horticulture sector e.g. for grapes or other fruits or vegetables that require protection from sun scorching or other extreme weather events

4. Introduce the 10th category of “agriphotovoltaic land” to the current classification of land in India

  • Based on Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, see here

  • Provide legal certainty to farmers by certifying their land holdings especially regarding agricultural land productivity and clearly defined rights in a potential lease agreement

  • Category to assure developers to get all construction permits if in line with the definition of Agriphotovoltaics

  • Provide guidelines for supporting states to elaborate common approval procedures in their region

5. Establish a multi ministerial committee to coordinate action

  • With members from MNRE, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Science and Technology

  • With the involvement of interest groups from Industry and Agriculture and states

6. Build Large scale regional demonstration sites ​

  • Establish dedicated agrivoltaic demonstration corridors across different agro-climatic zones (e.g., Punjab & Haryana for wheat, Maharashtra for horticulture, Karnataka for millets). These will:

  • Generate region-specific crop performance data

  • Showcase benefits to farmers

  • Help standardise best-practice design templates

  • Increase public trust through real, visible installations

7. Create a National Agrivoltaics Knowledge & Extension Platform 

Set up a platform jointly run by MNRE, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Science and Technology to:

  • Publish annual APV performance reports

  • Provide crop-APV suitability matrix

  • Offer farmer training modules, videos, and FAQs

  • Maintain a national database of APV farms, designs, and yields
    This improves transparency and enables faster adoption.

8. Strengthen Research on crop shade Interaction & water-use​

  • Fund long-term R&D to study:

  • Shade-tolerant crop varieties

  • Crop rotations under APV

  • Impact on water consumption, soil moisture, and temperature

  • Micro-climate modelling under different APV designs
    Outputs should feed into improved design guidelines and financial products.

9. Promote local manufacturing of APV structures​

  • Encourage domestic manufacturing of elevated structures, vertical frames, trackers and lightweight modules designed for agrivoltaics by:

  • Offering manufacturing-linked incentives

  • Supporting R&D between engineering institutes and manufacturers

  • Standardising mechanical specifications

10. Integrate agrivoltaics into climate and water policies​

  • Recognise APV as a tool for climate-resilient agriculture:

  • Include APV in state climate action plans

  • Use APV to reduce evapotranspiration and water stress

  • Promote APV in drought-prone and heat-stress regions
    This aligns energy transition with agricultural resilience.

11. Support digital monitoring & smart farming under APV​

  • Encourage adoption of digital tools like:

  • IoT sensors for soil moisture and micro climate

  • Automated irrigation under APV

  • Remote monitoring of module performance

  • AI-based crop advisory for shaded environments
    This boosts agricultural productivity and reduces operational cost.

12. Build workforce capacity through specialized training​

  • Launch national APV training programs across ITIs, agriculture universities, and solar training centres to skill:

  • APV design engineers

  • Farm-O&M technicians

  • Agronomy + solar hybrid specialists
    In near future, this sector will require a large skilled workforce, and early planning is critical.

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