India, Sept. 1 -- With large tracts of land competing with agriculture, forests and other uses, reservoirs and inland waterbodies are emerging as potential sites for utility-scale solar projects. India's next phase of solar expansion may move from land to water.

The National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurugram, has estimated India's floating solar potential at about 102.18-gigawatt peak (GWp) across reservoirs and other suitable inland waterbodies. The assessment considered water availability and depth, solar irradiance and proximity to roads and substations. India has several floating solar projects at different stages of development, including National Thermal Power Corporation's 100 MW project at Ramagundam in Telangana, a 92 MW proje...