UP rooftop solar capacity reaches 3,000 Mw with over 900,000 installations

Rapid installation of rooftop solar systems has taken Uttar Pradesh’s rooftop solar capacity to 3,000 megawatts (Mw), with more than 900,000 plants installed across the state so far.

Officials of the alternative energy department said that, according to available 2026 data, Australia added around 1.89 gigawatts (Gw) of rooftop solar capacity between January and June, translating into an average of about 10.4 Mw a day.

In the US, residential solar installations averaged around 13.1 Mw a day in the first quarter and about 10.9 Mw a day in the second quarter. Germany, meanwhile, added building-mounted solar capacity at an average rate of around 17.5 Mw a day during the first half of the year.

Against this international backdrop, Uttar Pradesh’s sustained addition of around 9-10 Mw of residential rooftop solar capacity a day reflects the scale of the state’s solar programme, officials said. The pace is close to the average daily addition in Australia’s broader rooftop solar market.

Officials said eligible beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana are being provided subsidies of up to ₹1.08 lakh by the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government, subject to prescribed guidelines. The financial support helps reduce the upfront cost of installing rooftop solar systems for households.

Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) director Ravinder Singh said a network of more than 9,500 vendors had helped create an estimated 100,000 direct employment opportunities in installation, equipment supply, transportation, maintenance and related services.

Singh said that, based on the state’s installed rooftop solar capacity of 3,000 Mw and assuming average generation of 4.5 units per kilowatt a day, the systems have the capacity to generate around 13.5 million units of clean electricity daily.

The expansion of rooftop solar is also supporting the supply and manufacturing of solar modules, inverters, batteries, cables, mounting structures and other equipment. Local enterprises involved in installation and maintenance are also gaining new business opportunities.