Every solar panel on a Bengal roof starts as quartz sand. Between the sand and your terrace there are five kinds of factory, and until very recently India ran only the last of them at scale. That is changing fast, and it is starting to change what you can buy.
Step 1: polysilicon
Quartz is melted with carbon in an arc furnace to make metallurgical silicon, which is then purified, usually by turning it into a gas and depositing it back out as solid rods, until it is about 99.9999999% pure. It is the most energy-hungry, capital-heavy step in the chain.
China dominates it. The International Energy Agency’s 2022 supply-chain report put China’s share of every manufacturing stage above 80%, and its share of wafers near 97%. Nearly all the polysilicon inside panels made in India today is imported.
Step 2: the ingot
Polysilicon chunks are melted in a quartz crucible at a little over 1,400 °C. A small seed crystal is dipped into the melt and drawn slowly upwards while it turns, and the silicon freezes onto it as a single perfect crystal: a cylinder that can be taller than a person. For the N-type TOPCon panels most homes now get, the silicon is doped with phosphorus at this stage. The cylinder is then squared off into a long block.
Step 3: the wafer
Diamond-coated wire saws slice the block into wafers about 0.13 mm thick, thinner than a visiting card. The wafer size sets the panel size: the 2.28 m, 590 Wp panels most homes get use 182 mm (M10) wafers, while the larger 615 and 700 Wp panels used on factories and big roofs are built on 210 mm-class wafers. You can see the difference on your own roof in our roof planner.
This is India’s biggest gap. In March 2026 one of the country’s large cell makers said that 100% of its wafers were imported. New plants are being built, including Waaree’s 10 GW ingot-and-wafer facility at Butibori, Nagpur, but for now the wafer inside an Indian cell almost always comes from abroad.
Step 4: the cell
The cell is where the engineering lives. The wafer is etched with a microscopic pyramid texture to trap light, given a junction, coated with ultra-thin passivation layers (in a TOPCon cell, a tunnel oxide and a doped polysilicon layer), given the anti-reflective coating that makes it look dark blue or black, and printed with fine silver lines that carry the current out. Every finished cell is tested and sorted by power.
India’s cell capacity reached 36.6 GW by June 2026, and the government’s approved list of cell makers, ALMM List-II, passed 36.9 GW in September. TOPCon now makes up about 80% of the module capacity on the approved list. But cells are still the tight spot: in the first half of 2026 cells made up 81% of India’s solar imports.
Step 5: the module
Cells are cut in half, soldered into strings, laid between glass and encapsulant sheets, laminated under heat and vacuum, framed, fitted with a junction box and flash-tested. Every module should carry a serial number that ties it to its test result. This is the step India mastered first: module capacity reached 261.7 GW by June 2026, with 225.5 GW on ALMM List-I, the approved list of module makers.
Where India stands, in one table
| Stage | What it is | India, mid-2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Polysilicon | Ultra-pure silicon | Almost all imported |
| Ingot and wafer | A single crystal, sawn into slices | Mostly imported; 10 GW-scale plants being built |
| Cell | The part that makes electricity | 36.6 GW installed; about 36.9 GW on ALMM List-II |
| Module | The panel on your roof | 261.7 GW installed; 225.5 GW on ALMM List-I |
Capacity figures: Mercom India, State of Solar PV Manufacturing in India 1H 2026, and Mercom’s ALMM List-II tracker. Nameplate capacity is what factories can make, not what they made.
What is changing
Cells came under the rules in June 2026. ALMM List-I has listed approved module makers for years. From 1 June 2026, ALMM List-II added cells: projects that ALMM covers must use modules built with cells from approved makers. According to the government, ALMM covers projects bid under Section 63 of the Electricity Act and net-metering and open-access projects. MNRE has said there is no blanket extension, only a limited window to 31 December 2026 for projects caught mid-way.
Wafers follow in June 2028. In March 2026 MNRE announced ALMM List-III for ingots and wafers, taking effect on 1 June 2028. The first list will only be issued once at least three independent makers with 15 GW of capacity between them are running, and a wafer maker must also have matching ingot capacity. Projects already in the pipeline are protected, and the order does not change the existing DCR rules.
Cell supply is the squeeze. Module capacity grew far faster than cell capacity. Mercom reports that the shortage of domestic cells pushed up prices for compliant modules and slowed projects in 2026, and warns that installed cell capacity overstates what is actually available while new lines ramp up.
The technology moved on. TOPCon replaced PERC as the mainstream cell, glass-glass bifacial panels became common, and wafers got bigger. A 700 Wp panel would have sounded unlikely a few years ago; it is now a catalogue item.
What this means for your roof
- “Made in India” is not one thing. A panel can be assembled in India with imported cells. DCR panels use Indian cells, and only DCR panels qualify for the PM Surya Ghar subsidy. See DCR or Non-DCR panels.
- Check both lists on the day of ordering. The module model should be on ALMM List-I and its cells on List-II. Both lists are revised almost monthly. We check them when we order, not only when we quote.
- Expect some price movement. While cell and then wafer capacity catches up, prices of compliant panels can move. A good quotation names the exact module and says how long its price holds.
- Depth matters. The further up the chain your panel maker goes, the less it depends on someone else’s factory. Waaree makes its own modules and cells and is building ingot and wafer capacity. Here is the full case.
Sources
- Press Information Bureau, 18 March 2026: Government extends ALMM framework to solar ingots and wafers
- pv magazine India, 25 September 2026: Mercom on module and cell capacity in 1H 2026
- Mercom India: solar cell capacity under ALMM rises to 36.9 GW
- pv magazine, 19 March 2026: India extends solar manufacturing mandate to wafers and ingots
- Waaree Energies: 10 GW integrated ingot and wafer facility in Nagpur
- International Energy Agency, 2022: Solar PV Global Supply Chains
Quick answers
What is the difference between a solar cell and a solar module?
A cell is a single wafer, about 18 to 21 cm across, that turns light into electricity. A module, the panel on your roof, is 132 to 144 half-cells wired together behind glass, with a frame and a junction box.
What is ALMM List-II?
The government’s approved list of solar cell makers. From 1 June 2026, projects covered by ALMM must use modules built with cells from this list.
When do the wafer rules start?
ALMM List-III for ingots and wafers takes effect on 1 June 2028. The first list is issued only once at least three independent makers with 15 GW of capacity between them are running.
Are DCR panels made entirely in India?
Their cells and modules are made in India. The wafer and the polysilicon inside are, for now, almost always imported. That starts to change when the wafer rules take effect in 2028.