Agrivoltaics in India

The report examines the potential of agrivoltaics in India to resolve land-use competition between food security and renewable energy. While pilot projects show that agrivoltaics can maintain or increase yields for certain crops, the practice remains in a demonstration phase. The authors argue that scaling up requires the development of national standards, reforms in land-use and tax laws, and the testing of viable business models. Arid, semi-arid, and peri-urban regions are identified as high-potential areas. Key barriers include high capital costs for elevated structures, a lack of capacity building for farmers, and a rigid uniform ceiling tariff regime that fails to account for locational land rent variations.

• Pilot projects in India indicate that agrivoltaics do not negatively impact, and can sometimes increase, the yields of specific crops such as leafy vegetables, medicinal plants, and millet. However, these results are not yet generalizable due to a lack of rigorous data on crop microenvironments and a limited variety of trialled crops; mainstream crops like wheat and paddy have not yet been successfully integrated.
• The commercial viability of agrivoltaics depends on adopting appropriate business models. The report identifies three models: a partnership between farmers and developers (Model I), sole ownership by one entity (Model II), and a model where the developer is the primary promoter and the farmer is a partner (Model III). Model III is noted as particularly promising for arid and semi-arid regions where land productivity is low.
• Arid and semi-arid regions, which comprise approximately 53% of India's land area, are highly favorable for agrivoltaics because solar panels can reduce thermal stress and create a moist microclimate that supports crop growth. Peri-urban areas are also identified as ideal due to their proximity to high-value crop markets and better access to financial and technical resources.
• Current land-use and tax regulations in India hinder agrivoltaics because they strictly distinguish between agricultural and non-agricultural activities. The report recommends creating separate legal provisions for agrivoltaics to remove the requirement for land-use change (conversion from 'Agricultural' to 'Non-Agricultural') and clarifying whether revenue from agrivoltaics can be categorized as tax-exempt agricultural income.
• The existing uniform ceiling tariff regime for solar projects under the PM-KUSUM scheme is insufficient for agrivoltaics because it does not account for higher land rents in favorable locations. The report suggests alternative approaches, such as substation-specific tariffs or the open-access route, to make agrivoltaics more economically competitive.
• Agrivoltaics faces significant capital cost barriers, with systems costing 1.3 to 2 times more than conventional ground-mounted plants due to elevated mounting structures and lower panel density. Technological innovations such as bifacial panels and sun-tracking systems are suggested to improve efficiency and expand crop choices.
• Operational challenges include safety risks from high-voltage cabling, restricted mobility for agricultural machinery, and increased maintenance costs for cleaning panels at heights of 10–16 feet. Additionally, the moist microclimate created by crops can cause the base of mounting structures to corrode faster.

APA

Rahman, A., Sharma, A., Postel, F., Goel, S., Kumar, K., & Laan, T. (2023). Agrivoltaics in India. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/agrivoltaics-in-india.pdf

Chicago

Rahman, Anas, Akash Sharma, Florian Postel, Siddharth Goel, Kritika Kumar, and Tara Laan. Agrivoltaics in India. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/agrivoltaics-in-india.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rahman |first1=Anas |last2=Sharma |first2=Akash |last3=Postel |first3=Florian |last4=Goel |first4=Siddharth |last5=Kumar |first5=Kritika |last6=Laan |first6=Tara |title=Agrivoltaics in India |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=May 2023 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/agrivoltaics-in-india.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rahman2023agrivoltaics, author = {Rahman, Anas and Sharma, Akash and Postel, Florian and Goel, Siddharth and Kumar, Kritika and Laan, Tara}, title = {{Agrivoltaics in India}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-05/agrivoltaics-in-india.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }