25 Years of Solar Power. Is Your Earthing Engineered for the Same Journey?

The article explains why the long-term reliability of earthing should be treated as a core design parameter for India’s next generation of solar power plants.

November 10, 2026. By News Bureau

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Central Electricity Authority

Solar PV Projects

Project Horizon

Lifecycle Reliability

India’s solar story has moved from policy ambition to large-scale infrastructure reality. The country’s installed solar capacity reached 168.04 GW as of August 31, 2026, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), including 123.99 GW of ground-mounted solar.

The next phase is even more ambitious. India has set an objective of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, including 280 GW of solar capacity. The Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) National Electricity Plan also envisages significant further growth in solar capacity through 2031–32.

This rapid expansion brings an important engineering question to the forefront: If a solar power plant is expected to operate for 25 years, should every critical electrical safety system supporting it be engineered for the same, or longer, life?

The 25-Year Solar Equation

The 25-year horizon is not arbitrary. Under the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Renewable Energy Tariff Regulations, 2024, the useful life of a solar PV project is specified as 25 years, with the tariff period linked to the useful life of the project.

Long-term power purchase agreements also commonly operate over extended periods. For example, SECI states that it enters into 25-year PPAs with successful renewable-energy project developers for projects under its procurement framework.

In other words, the economics, revenue model and operating assumptions of many solar assets are built around a long-term lifecycle.

Solar modules themselves are also increasingly supplied with long-term performance commitments. Yet while considerable attention is given to module degradation, inverters, trackers, transformers and evacuation systems, earthing is sometimes treated primarily as an installation item rather than as a long-term asset.

That deserves a rethink.

Earthing Is Not Just a Commissioning Requirement

A solar power plant operates outdoors for decades, exposed to heat, rain, moisture variation, dust, soil movement and lightning activity. Its earthing system is fundamental to electrical safety and to providing a controlled path for fault and surge currents.

An earthing system whose performance changes significantly over time can create an operational and maintenance challenge. For a 25-year solar asset, therefore, the relevant question should not simply be: What earth resistance can we achieve at commissioning?

It should also be: How consistently can the earthing system perform throughout the plant’s operating life? This is where lifecycle engineering becomes important.

Designing Beyond the Project Horizon

INTER-TECH’s approach with Marconite is based on this principle: the earthing system should be engineered as a long-life component of the solar plant, rather than as an installation requiring periodic replenishment.

According to INTER-TECH, Marconite-based earthing systems offer a 50+ year performance life, backed by a 25-year written guarantee, and are designed to operate without routine watering or chemical replenishment.

The significance is straightforward: when a solar plant has a 25-year useful life, designing its earthing system with a substantially longer performance horizon can provide an additional lifecycle margin.

It is the same philosophy applied to other critical infrastructure: Do not engineer only for the day of commissioning; engineer for the years of operation that follow.

From CAPEX to Lifecycle Reliability

Earthing is often evaluated primarily on its initial installation cost. However, over a 25-year solar asset life, a more meaningful evaluation should consider the complete lifecycle, including maintenance requirements, water or chemical replenishment, long-term performance stability, changing soil and environmental conditions, inspection and corrective-maintenance requirements, electrical safety, and the expected service life of the earthing system.

This shifts the conversation from “cost per earth pit” to “cost and reliability over the life of the solar plant”. For developers, EPC companies and asset owners, this lifecycle perspective becomes increasingly relevant as solar projects move toward larger capacities and longer operating horizons.

A solar plant is designed to generate clean energy for decades. Its electrical safety infrastructure should be engineered with the same long-term thinking.

At INTER-TECH, the objective is simple: provide Marconite-based earthing solutions designed for 25 years of warranted performance and 50+ years of performance life, aligning the life of the earthing system with, and extending beyond, the expected life of the solar asset. The company is the Indian distributor of Marconite and has completed more than 4,000 solar installations.

A 25-year solar investment deserves an earthing system engineered for the journey, not just the commissioning day.

- Charanjeet Singh, Founder, INTER-TECH