Did rooftop solar slow in September? What the daily counter shows
On 7 October a report said new rooftop solar fell for a second month. Counted per day, September ran level with August; it simply had one day fewer. Here is what the 10 days after it looked like, and why that is still too short to call.
What happenedPM Surya Ghar installations in September 2026
On 7 October 2026, Angel One reported that rooftop additions under PM Surya Ghar, India's national rooftop solar scheme, had fallen for a second month, even as the scheme passed 60 lakh households. The article gave no monthly numbers and named no research firm.
The monthly figures that match that claim are in JMK Research's monthly renewable energy updates. Its August update puts new capacity under the scheme at 1,592 MW in July and 1,407 MW in August, with 16,185 MW in total at the end of August. Its September update puts the total at 17,561 MW, across 59,47,035 households, at the end of September.
JMK's September page does not print a monthly figure, so we worked it out: 17,561 MW minus 16,185 MW is about 1,376 MW. That is a little below August and clearly below July, which is what “fell for a second month” means here. September also had one day fewer than August. Per day it added about 45.9 MW, against about 45.4 MW in August and about 51.4 MW in July. So September was slower than July, but level with August.
What our tracker showsDaily rooftop solar installations, week by week
Our counter reads the national portal every day. JMK's end-September figures are the same as our 30 September reading: 59,47,035 households and 17,560.6 MW. So we are looking at the same source, just more often.
We count rooftops rather than megawatts. From the 31 August reading to the 30 September reading, the counter added 4,39,355 rooftops in 30 days, about 14,600 a day. In the 10 days from the 30 September reading to the 10 October reading it added 1,64,872, about 16,500 a day. The portal's own figure for the month is lower: 3,41,690 rooftops in September on the 30 September reading. Ours is the rise in the running total, which may also include systems entered after the month they were installed in. We use the running total because it is what changes with each reading.
Week by week, the pace moved inside a narrow band: about 15,600, 14,900, 13,000, 14,200, 15,100 and then about 16,200 a day in the week to 10 October. Every week holds one reading that covers a Sunday, when the counter adds only about 4,000 to 6,000 rooftops, so the weeks compare fairly. The week to 3 October also includes the 2 October holiday.
Weekdays tell the same story. In September, a reading that covered an ordinary weekday added about 16,200 rooftops on average. The seven such readings since 1 October averaged about 18,600, and every one fell between 17,859 and 20,423.
Applications, the start of the pipeline, moved more. They ran at about 20,300 a day in the week to 5 September and about 38,200 a day in the week to 10 October. Across the life of the scheme, about 57 of every 100 applications have become rooftops so far.
National portal, daily readings, 29 Aug to 10 Oct 2026. Each bar is the rise in installations between two readings seven days apart, divided by seven. September averaged about 14,600 a day; the 10 days to 10 Oct about 16,500.
See the numbers
| Week | rooftops a day |
|---|---|
| 29 Aug to 5 Sep | 15,615 |
| 5 to 12 Sep | 14,948 |
| 12 to 19 Sep | 12,979 |
| 19 to 26 Sep | 14,182 |
| 26 Sep to 3 Oct | 15,138 |
| 3 to 10 Oct | 16,200 |
What it could mean for IndiaJMK Research figures vs the national portal
A month is a blunt way to read a daily business. Part of the dip is simply the calendar: September has 30 days and August 31. Rain, festivals and holidays may also move installation days around. The counter shows counts, not causes.
Megawatts and rooftops can also tell slightly different stories. JMK's figures are in megawatts and ours are in rooftops. If the average system size shifts, one may dip while the other holds. Across the scheme so far, the average rooftop is about 3.5 kW.
For India's power sector, the more useful signal may be the pipeline. Applications in the week to 10 October ran at nearly twice the pace of the week to 5 September. If even part of that turns into installations at the usual rate, vendors and distribution companies could face a heavier load of site inspections and net meter connections in the weeks ahead. Applications can be dropped, delayed or rejected.
Ten days is too short to call a trend either way. One monthly headline, up or down, may not be enough on its own to change plans.
What it means for youWhat a monthly headline means for your district
If you are a dealer or installer: watch the weekly count, not one monthly headline. A slower month for India says little about your district. Our tracker shows the daily change for every state and district, so you can check your own area before you change stock or staffing.
If applications in your area are rising, the work that follows is mostly paperwork and site visits: feasibility, inspection and the net meter. Being ready for that may matter more than chasing new leads.
If you are a homeowner: a national slowdown or speed-up does not change what your roof can do. What matters for you is the quality of the system, the installer's service record and how long your distribution company takes to connect it.
Sources
- Angel One, PM Surya Ghar Crosses 60 Lakh Households While Rooftop Additions Fall for Second Month, .
- JMK Research & Analytics, Monthly RE Update, August 2026, .
- JMK Research & Analytics, Monthly RE Update, September 2026, .
- MNRE, National Portal for Rooftop Solar, PM Surya Ghar national portal, read daily by Solentra since 29 Aug 2026, .
The Solar Brief puts public reports in our own words and reads them against Solentra's own daily record of the PM Surya Ghar national portal. Where we say what something could mean, that is our reading, not a forecast. Nothing here is financial, loan or legal advice.
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