India is the world’s third-largest producer of solar energy — but research by scientist Sagnik Dey points to a serious problem hiding in plain sight: the country loses, on average, a third of its solar energy potential every year.
Over the past two decades, that adds up to roughly USD 700 million in lost energy. “If we could redirect such funds toward improving air quality, it would be a win-win situation,” Dey says. “Not only would we experience cleaner air, but we would also be able to meet our climate goals sooner than anticipated.”
The culprit is smog. Thick air pollution blocks sunlight before it ever reaches a panel. And even when panels do get sun, layers of dust and grime accumulate on the surface, quietly dragging down their output.
Meenakshi Nath, a resident of Delhi, knows this firsthand. She describes watching her own system become less and less useful as air quality worsened. “They’ve become nearly useless because of the poor air quality. It’s particularly disheartening, as I invested in solar panels to do my part for the environment,” she says.
For a country that has staked a significant part of its clean energy future on solar, the pressure to tackle pollution is no longer just a public health issue — it’s an economic one too.
