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					</table>India’s renewable energy industry is expanding rapidly, but the availability of job-ready talent has not kept pace with the sector’s growth, panelists said at the <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/event/mercom-india-renewables-summit-2026/agenda" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mercom India Renewables Summit 2026</a>.
Speaking at the session “<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/event/mercom-india-renewables-summit-2026/agenda" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bridging the Renewable Energy Talent Gap: Aligning Academia with Industry Needs</a>,” panelists said companies across solar manufacturing, project development, rooftop, and renewable energy services continue to face long training cycles, high attrition, and a shortage of practical skills among fresh graduates.
The session featured Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-founder of Mercom Capital Group; Shishir Garemella, Head of International Business Development at <a href="https://scorecard.pvel.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kiwa PVEL</a>; Professor Juzer M. Vasi, Professor Emeritus, Department of Electrical Engineering and <a href="http://ncpre.iitb.ac.in/ncpre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCPRE</a>, <a href="https://www.iitb.ac.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IIT Bombay</a>; and Avinash Hiranandani, Vice President and Managing Director, <a href="https://www.renewsysworld.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RenewSys India</a>.
Garemella said the discussion should focus on solutions that can be implemented and assessed. “Hopefully next year when we come back, some of the takeaways, let’s see how many of those we have really implemented as an industry,” he noted.
Prabhu mentioned that Mercom’s survey of 102 companies found close to 50% of new hires entering the renewable energy industry are poorly prepared for their roles. Most companies take three to 12 months to train employees before they become productive.
“This is a huge drag on the provider of services because you are paying someone a salary without them actually being ready,” Hiranandani said. “By the time they get ready, they probably leave the job and move somewhere else. So, these are the realities that we are dealing with.”
Panelists said the skill gap varies across segments. Developers need professionals with commercial, grid, and project execution capabilities. Manufacturing companies require workers who understand equipment, process discipline, and production environments. Rooftop EPC companies need practical skills in feasibility assessment, design, installation, and customer service.
Professor Vasi said academic institutions must expose students to practical learning much earlier. He said IIT Bombay has introduced initiatives such as tinkering labs, where students build and experiment before fully developing theoretical depth.
“Students should be much more exposed to the real world, being in the lab for longer durations, seeing things happening, doing things themselves,” Vasi said.
He said IIT Bombay’s first-year undergraduate program now includes a tinkering lab where students make things before they have complete theoretical grounding.
“The students go in, they start making things without the kind of theoretical background,” Vasi said. “This is a good pedagogical point. You learn better if you go theory first and then go to the lab, or the other way around. We are trying this out.”
Vasi said communication and soft skills should also be part of engineering education.
“We do have a communications course where it is not communication in the typical sense of electrical communication, but talking to each other, empathy and all the soft skills,” he said.
Prabhu said it typically takes three months for employees to build a basic understanding, and nearly 12 months for them to truly understand the sector, their roles, and how to service clients effectively.
“Soft skills are very important for us. Basic email writing and communication skills are not something many graduates come prepared with from educational institutions, but they are critical in our work,” Prabhu added.
Hiranandani said manufacturing companies face a particularly acute challenge because workers often lack exposure to photovoltaic production. RenewSys trains new workers through a combination of classroom instruction and shop-floor learning for 30 to 45 days.
“We have a college professor sitting with us and working for us in our company,” Hiranandani said. “Every new worker that comes in or junior engineer that comes in does theoretical classes in the morning, and then they go on to the machine and learn the practical part. We do that for about 30 to 45 days depending on the person.”
“We are putting our syllabus on our website, and we will be offering certification courses for JS1 and JS2,” Hiranandani said. “It will be entirely free for people to learn from different industries around the world. There are videos and testing videos.”
Hiranandani said the lack of trained personnel has operational consequences. “When we commissioned the cell line, there was nobody who could spell cell,” he said.
Photovoltaics is absolutely a new technology. Our people are learning,” he said.
Speaking about startups, Prabhu said, “There is a perception among many startups that having an idea and raising money is enough. But often, the basic research has not been done. They may not know their competitors, the market, or the actual pain points they are trying to solve.”
“There is a lot of enthusiasm among young people to start companies, but experience, research, and a basic understanding of what is needed before getting started are often missing.”
“Startups need to step back, think more deeply, and be better prepared. They must know their competition, understand the market, and identify where the real pain points are,” Prabhu noted.
Hiranandani said RenewSys regularly hosts student visits from IIT Bombay and other institutions. However, he said many students are increasingly interested in startups.
“Many times, the students ask me how much funds can be made available to us where we can start a new startup,” he said. “They are more interested in startups than taking up a job, especially at IITs.”
Garemella said service providers face a different kind of readiness gap. While deep technical expertise may not always be required, employees need time to understand the sector, client expectations, and professional communication.
Panelists agreed that online learning can help, but only when it is integrated into formal coursework and evaluated. Vasi said videos and online content can complement theory, but project-based courses and hands-on learning remain essential.
“Some informational material can be gained online, but it should still be part of the course and therefore evaluated as part of that,” Vasi said.
“When I mentioned self-learning, what I really meant was project-based courses,” he said. “It could be a part of the course, or separate courses which are purely projects.”
The discussion also highlighted the need for stronger industry-academia collaboration in research. Vasi proposed industry-led R&amp;D consortiums to align academic work with near-term industry challenges and India-specific operating conditions, adding that institutions and faculty members are open to such collaboration.
Raj Prabhu said the consortium was a good idea. He said we can work toward a consortium-based approach to help academia better understand industry requirements and align its curriculum and R&amp;D priorities accordingly.
Vasi said institutions and faculty members are willing to collaborate.
Panelists said India also needs standards that reflect local realities such as heat, humidity, pollution, and bird droppings, rather than relying only on benchmarks developed for temperate climates.
The panel also discussed workplace culture and retention. Garemella said India must look beyond salary and recognize how working conditions influence the ability to retain talent.
“Longer working hours, lesser salaries, transportation difficulties, especially in Bombay, reaching office and getting home is a big challenge,” Hiranandani said. “People travel two hours one way to reach office and go back.”
Garemella said many of the applicants that we get are very strictly educated. They have a degree, but knowledge beyond that is very limited.
“Students need to expand beyond what they are learning in college. Many applicants we see have a degree, but their knowledge beyond that is very limited,” Prabhu said.
“Young people today have access to AI and a lot of technology, but the content they consume is not always relevant to their career path. They have access, but they are often looking at the wrong topics. They somehow have to realign and show some curiosity,&#8221; he said.
Speaking on the need for mentors, Hiranandani said, “My advice to students and young professionals is to find a mentor-someone they trust, someone successful in what they do and seek that person’s advice whenever possible.”
Vasi said renewable energy offers students not just a career opportunity but a chance to contribute to society.
“Solar and renewables are not only very exciting areas for you to choose a career, but also transformative not only for you but actually for the whole of society, and perhaps for humanity,” he said.
Garemella said purpose is becoming increasingly important for younger professionals.
“A lot of people are motivated by the purpose of the organization rather than just compensation. Within this country, we&#8217;ve seen organizations that have really inspired trust. People are willing to take a bullet in a hotel because they belong; they feel for the brand,&#8221; he added.
Panelists identified three immediate actions: creating more tinkering labs in industrial environments, exploring an industry-academia consortium, and encouraging mentorship for young professionals entering the renewable energy workforce.

Industry, Academia Must Collaborate to Bridge Renewable Energy Talent Gap

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					</table>India’s push to expand solar manufacturing is exposing a persistent gap between academic training and industry requirements, contributing to a <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/trained-workforce-shortage-imperils-indias-renewable-energy-sector" target="_blank" rel="noopener">growing</a> shortage of skilled workforce, according to industry leaders.
The widening skills gap has increasingly affected project costs, execution timelines, and overall productivity across the sector.
The challenge extends beyond curriculum design to include infrastructure limitations, insufficient faculty exposure, and limited industry integration. As India scales its solar manufacturing ecosystem, academic institutions are reassessing how engineers are trained for manufacturing-focused roles.
Theory-Heavy Learning
One of the most widely acknowledged challenges in solar education is the imbalance between theoretical knowledge and practical skill development.
Most academic programs continue to fall short in preparing students for real-world industry roles.
“Courses are largely technical in nature and cover technologies and some aspects of manufacturing,” said Nikhil Tambe, Chief Executive Officer, The Energy Consortium at the Indian Institute of Technology (<a href="https://www.iitm.ac.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IIT</a>) Madras. “But they stop there. They do not necessarily cover what somebody on the ground needs, like installation skills or practical deployment.”
This lack of hands-on exposure is particularly critical in solar manufacturing, where operational efficiency and precision on the factory floor play a decisive role.
Training in installation, equipment handling, and system troubleshooting, essential for workforce readiness, is still not systematically embedded in most academic programs.
Acknowledging the gap, institutions have begun offering new courses specifically focused on skills development for working professionals and students entering the solar installation and manufacturing segment.
Curriculum Revamp
According to Balachander Krishnan, Chief Operating Officer at <a href="https://indosolsolar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indosol Solar</a>, addressing the skills gap must begin with a fundamental overhaul of how solar manufacturing is taught.
“Curriculum revamp is not optional. It has to be co-designed with industry,” he said. “We need to move beyond legacy content and introduce specializations in next-generation technologies like TOPCon, HJT, and even emerging areas like perovskites.”
Beyond theoretical updates, he highlighted the role of digital tools in accelerating learning. Technologies such as virtual and augmented reality can simulate real manufacturing environments, enabling students to train on complex processes safely and efficiently before entering the factory floor.
Industry Collaborations
To bridge the disconnect between academia and industry, many institutions are increasingly relying on industry partnerships to make learning more relevant and application-oriented. Industry-funded research projects, consultancy assignments, and collaborative programs are exposing students to real-world challenges early in their academic journey.
At IIT Madras, for instance, industry-funded projects now constitute a significant portion of academic work. Students involved in these projects gain valuable insights into industry operations, including project timelines, deliverables, and problem-solving in live environments.
“When students work on industry projects, they understand how to plan for 12 to 24 months, unlike pure research, they get tuned to industry needs,” Tambe explained.
Short-term technical consultancy has also seen a rise, with industries approaching academic institutions to address specific operational challenges. Although shorter in duration, these assignments provide highly focused and practical learning opportunities.
A standout initiative is the Industrial Energy Assessment Cell at IIT Madras. Under the program, student teams visit industrial units, especially MSMEs, to measure energy consumption, identify inefficiencies, and recommend improvements.
Over time, the initiative has evolved into a hub-and-spoke model involving around 10 IITs, supported by approximately 50 full-time members and several student participants.
At the doctoral level, industry integration has become even more prominent. Industry-funded PhD programs and research consortia allow students to work on long-term, forward-looking challenges defined by companies.
Infrastructure a Key Differentiator
While industry collaborations remain important, access to real-world infrastructure is emerging as a decisive factor in addressing the skills gap. While many institutions continue to rely on partnerships, Pandit Deendayal Energy University (<a href="https://pdeu.ac.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PDEU</a>) has adopted a more infrastructure-driven approach to solving the skills gap.
The Department of Solar Energy at PDEU offers a comprehensive curriculum covering the entire solar value chain, from semiconductor physics and cell design to module manufacturing, power electronics, and policy frameworks. This curriculum is continuously updated through active research and industry feedback.
The university operates a 1 MW multi-technology, grid-connected solar park that has been active since 2011, providing students with exposure to real-time solar performance. It also commissioned a 45 MW solar module manufacturing line in 2024 that replicates an industrial production environment and offers hands-on training on equipment such as stringer machines, lamination presses, and electroluminescence testers.
Pankaj Yadav, Associate Professor at the Department of Solar Energy, explains, “Students here don’t just learn about solar manufacturing, they work directly on production-grade systems.”
Echoing this view, Abhijit Ray, Professor in the Department of Solar Energy, said such infrastructure ensures students are exposed simultaneously to both systems-level and manufacturing-level challenges, a combination rarely available in academic settings.
Krishnan also emphasized the need for embedded infrastructure. “We need ‘labs-on-campus’ where industry brings in actual manufacturing equipment. Training cannot happen in abstraction. It has to mirror real production environments,” he added.
Faculty Gaps
Another challenge is the shortage of faculty with direct industry experience. Even leading institutions continue to face significant staffing gaps. “There is a large shortage of faculty, even at IIT Madras. We would like to have significantly more,” Tambe said.
To address this, new roles such as “Professor of Practice” have been introduced, enabling industry professionals to teach for short durations and bring practical insights into academic programs. The relatively short tenures are designed to ensure a continuous influx of industry expertise into classrooms.
At PDEU, faculty recruitment places strong emphasis on international research exposure and applied industry expertise.
Joint R&amp;D and Innovation Ecosystems
Looking ahead, deeper collaboration in research and innovation could play a transformative role in strengthening India’s solar manufacturing ecosystem.
“Joint research and development (R&amp;D) projects between academia and industry are critical,” said Krishnan. “Students should work on real manufacturing challenges, including improving yield, reducing material consumption, and minimizing defects in crystal growth.”
Such collaborations not only enhance practical learning but also contribute directly to industry competitiveness and manufacturing efficiency.
Standardization and Certification
Another gap is the absence of standardized skill benchmarks across the solar sector.
“India needs national-level certification frameworks for solar technicians. This ensures consistency in quality across the sector,” Krishnan noted.
He also recommended aligning academic programs with national skill frameworks and working closely with the Skills Council for Green Jobs to ensure that training programs meet industry-defined qualification standards.
No Feedback Mechanism 
Evaluating whether graduates are truly industry-ready remains a complex challenge. Most institutions rely on placement statistics as the primary indicator of success. “There is no systemic feedback mechanism from industry after students graduate,” Tambe admitted.
However, PDEU adopts a broader and more outcome-oriented approach. Beyond placements, the university evaluates success through entrepreneurship, innovation, and research output.
The department notes that more than 15 companies have been founded by alumni, while over 200 startups have been incubated through the university ecosystem. Placement rates exceed 85%, with graduates joining companies such as Adani Solar, Waaree Energies, and Tata Power Solar.
“The most credible proof is not placement, it is company formation,” according to the university.
During a panel discussion at the Mercom Renewables Summit 2025, Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-Founder of <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mercom Capital Group</a>, highlighted the growing talent gap as one of the biggest challenges facing India’s clean energy sector.
“India’s solar industry is scaling rapidly, but the talent pipeline has not kept pace with the market’s evolution. We regularly interview candidates across the industry, and many are still being taught technologies and business models that became irrelevant years ago. Companies are spending significant time and resources retraining graduates because the education system has not evolved alongside industry. Many students have told me they learned more about the market from reading Mercom India publications than from their college curriculum,” Prabhu said.
Sudeep Jain, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (<a href="https://mnre.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MNRE</a>), also <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/india-sets-target-of-1-8-tw-of-renewable-energy-capacity-by-2047" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledged</a> the need to modernize training programs. “Traditional approaches aren’t enough. We need to introduce renewable energy modules in engineering colleges, industrial training institutes, and vocational schools. Industry involvement is key to building effective curricula,” he said.
As India works towards its ambitious target of 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, demand for a skilled workforce in solar manufacturing is expected to surge. Engineering colleges must quickly align their curricula with the evolving requirements of the solar manufacturing ecosystem, particularly as the government increases its focus on domestic manufacturing across the value chain, from ingots and wafers to cells and modules.

Bridging the Solar Skills Gap as Academia Races to Catch Up

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