According to a new report by GTM Research and Bridge to India, the nation is facing a perfect storm of factors that will drive solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption at a furious pace over the next five years and beyond. The falling prices of PV panels, mostly from China but also from the U.S., has coincided with the growing cost of grid power. Government support and ample solar resources have also helped push the adoption along, but perhaps the biggest factor has been need. India, as a growing economy with a surging middle class, is now facing a severe electricity deficit that often runs between 10 and 13 percent of daily need.

Now the nation is increasingly seeing solar as a way to invest in its infrastructure quickly. Surprising to some extent has been how fast solar has becoming cost-effective. In December, a National Solar Mission auction awarded 27 PV projects totaling 350 MW to developers large and small. Bids came in as low as $0.18/kWh and the average price awarded was $0.21/kWh, down 9 cents from a similar auction 13 months ago. The low prices have stoked hopes that a major installation boom is inevitable.

In 2010, the country had big hopes for solar, but only 54 megawatts (MW) in installed capacity. Now, a year later, it is expected to install six times as much capacity by year's end, and there is well over 1,600 MW of projects with signed power purchase agreements in the pipeline. By 2016, the report projects that India could be installing more than 3,000 MW annually in PV projects. The biggest winner in this transformation could be large-scale developments that are built instead of traditional diesel plants.