India installed more rooftop solar capacity in the first six months of 2026 than it had in the entire previous year — and nine out of every ten new systems went up on somebody's home, not a factory roof.

  • 6.6 GW of rooftop solar capacity added in H1 2026
  • 136% jump in Q2 installations compared to the same quarter in 2025
  • 4.5 million households now have systems installed
  • 84% of new additions in Q2 came from residential rooftops

A Government Subsidy Finds Its Stride

The surge is largely credited to the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, or PM Surya Ghar program, India's flagship rooftop solar subsidy scheme. According to pv magazine, rooftop installations under the program had reached nearly 4.5 million households by June — about 45% of the government's target of 10 million homes.

That pace represents a sharp acceleration. The 2.8 GW installed in the first half of 2025 looked respectable at the time; by comparison, this year's 6.6 GW more than doubles it. Rooftop solar now accounts for roughly a third of all of India's new solar installations.

Homes Lead, Industry Lags

Residential installations dominated the quarter, contributing 84% of total additions, according to Mercom India Research's newly released market report. Industrial installations accounted for just 10%, commercial projects 5%, and government buildings the remaining 1%.

That imbalance reflects where the subsidy money is flowing. Residential consumers under PM Surya Ghar get direct financial support that commercial and industrial users don't, making homeowner installations a faster, cheaper decision than a factory retrofit.

"India has a strong residential rooftop solar pipeline, but converting it into installations will depend on faster approvals, financing, and project delivery," said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.

The states leading the installation race tell their own story about where demand is strongest. Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra — two of India's most populous states — topped the rankings for new rooftop additions in the first half of the year, according to Mercom's figures, suggesting the subsidy is reaching well beyond India's traditionally solar-heavy southern and western states.

Most of the quarter's residential systems were installed under the capex model, meaning homeowners paid upfront for their panels rather than leasing them, a sign that households increasingly see rooftop solar as a direct investment rather than a service to subscribe to.

What Could Slow the Momentum

New domestic content rules took effect in June, tightening requirements around which solar modules qualify for subsidies and pushing up prices for compliant panels. A transition window now runs through the end of 2026 for certain net-metering and open-access projects, and homeowners willing to forgo the subsidy can still use non-domestic panels until March 2027.

Prabhu warned that the looming deadline could cut both ways — helping projects move forward in the near term, while also triggering a last-minute rush that drives up prices and creates volatility heading into 2027.

Even with that uncertainty, the underlying trend is hard to miss: millions of Indian families decided, in a single six-month stretch, that solar panels belonged on their own roofs. If the second half of the year keeps pace, 2026 could end up as the strongest year yet for Indian households generating their own power.