Solar subsidy in India is paid through Central Financial Assistance (CFA) which is provided by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for rooftop solar systems (RTS), facilitated through DISCOMs and state agencies. The CFA is directly transferred to consumers’ bank accounts.

Now, with the new PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, subsidy will continue to be transferred directly to beneficiary accounts.

The major advancement in technology is the progression on more efficient solar modules. Earlier India saw polycrystalline modules which had lesser efficiencies. Later major solar module makers started making mono-PERC technology based solar modules which could offer effiiencies of around 21%. Now the country is slowly moving to TOPCon technology which offers efficiencies higher than mono-PERC. Another advancement had been was in bringing more Wp panels. Now India has panels having a maximum Wp power of upto 680Wp. Higher Wp power means that to generate the same amount of solar power we would need lesser number of panels as a single higher power panel can produce enough power.

It all depends on your demand. In urban areas on-grid solar systems are more popular. Even the subsidies under PM Surya Ghar are also applicable to only on-grid systems. The benefits of on-grid system could be maximised only in areas where there is least power cuts like in urban areas. Off-grid systems work well in rural areas or in areas where there are massive power cuts.