Tamil Nadu has seen a significant acceleration in rooftop solar (RTS) deployment in recent years. Grid-connected RTS capacity has increased from around 386 MW in March 2023 to about 1.74 GW by July 2026, representing more than a four-fold increase in just over three years. This growth has been supported by increasing consumer interest, the rollout of PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGY) and the State’s recent additional subsidy for residential rooftop solar, which takes the combined financial assistance to up to ₹1 lakh for eligible households. Under the Energy Transition Preparedness Initiative (ETPI), we aim to study energy transition efforts across selected states and sectors, identify good practices and key challenges, and facilitate cross-learning. Tamil Nadu’s recent RTS growth presents an important opportunity to understand the factors that have enabled this progress, how the rooftop solar ecosystem has evolved over time, and what challenges continue to affect wider adoption. It is also important to understand the role of consumer awareness, access to finance, vendor capacity, installation quality, O&M and after-sales support, regulatory arrangements and implementation processes in shaping the State’s rooftop solar journey.

To understand these experiences better, we are convening a roundtable with rooftop solar developers and vendors, financial institutions, consumer and civil-society organisations, research institutions and sector experts.

Key Objectives of the Roundtable

  1. To understand the progress and future potential of RTS adoption in Tamil Nadu, while highlighting best practices and successful approaches that have supported its recent growth.
  2. To engage key stakeholders in identifying barriers and challenges affecting wider RTS adoption in Tamil Nadu and explore practical strategies to address them.
  3. To facilitate knowledge sharing on policies, financing mechanisms, vendor ecosystems and other approaches that support rooftop solar adoption, while capturing lessons that can contribute to wider learning across states.