India’s solar market shifts toward $4.54 billion trackers

India’s solar market is shifting from fixed-tilt structures to trackers, with the annual tracker-components market projected to reach USD 4.54 billion in FY2031E from USD 2.819 billion in FY2026. Tracker penetration is forecast to rise from 48% to 66% of annual installations, while fixed-tilt structural components are projected to contract.

Why is India’s solar market moving from fixed tilt to trackers?

India’s solar market is moving towards trackers because tracking systems can deliver about 16% more energy than fixed-tilt systems in India. A solar tracker moves photovoltaic, or PV, modules during the day to follow the sun’s path, whereas a fixed-tilt system holds modules at a single angle. The source estimates that single-axis trackers can typically increase energy output by 15% to 25% compared with fixed tilt.

The cost difference has narrowed as tracker technology has scaled. Global tracker costs fell by about 20% to 25% between 2022 and 2024 because of mass production, improved designs, self-powered trackers, fewer motors and supplier competition. The source states that the total project-cost difference between fixed and tracking systems is often below 3% to 4%, allowing higher energy production to affect the levelized cost of energy, or LCOE, which measures lifetime electricity-generation cost per unit.

Fixed tilt remains applicable where simpler installation, fewer moving parts and lower maintenance requirements carry greater weight. Fixed-angle systems can also provide predictable energy-output forecasts and suit some sites with constrained land. The projected transition nevertheless depends on developers continuing to value the additional generation from trackers, especially in high direct normal irradiance zones such as India’s western states.

How quickly will tracker use grow in India’s solar market?

Tracker penetration is projected to reach 66% of India’s annual solar installations in FY2031E, compared with 26% in FY2021 and 48% in FY2026. Annual tracker installations are forecast to increase from 22.4 gigawatts, or GW, in FY2026 to 44.0 GW in FY2031E. The annual tracker market recorded a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 72.1% between FY2021 and FY2026 and is projected to grow at 11.9% from FY2026 to FY2031E.

Fixed tilt is expected to remain part of annual deployment, but its relative role will decline. Annual fixed-tilt installations rose from 4.0 GW in FY2021 to 23.2 GW in FY2026, then are projected to reduce to 19.4 GW in FY2031E. On that projection, fixed tilt would account for the remaining 34% of annual installations in FY2031E.

India’s underlying solar-project installed capacity rose from 23.8 GW in FY2025 to 44.6 GW in FY2026. The source identifies domestic-content requirements, the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers, or ALMM, basic customs duties and production-linked incentive schemes among measures supporting solar-sector growth. The tracker forecast must therefore be considered alongside the expected pace of annual solar additions, rather than as demand from retrofitting existing fixed-tilt plants.

What does the transition mean for component suppliers?

The transition expands the projected addressable market for tracker-component suppliers while reducing the forecast for fixed-tilt structural components. India’s annual solar tracking and mounting-products market is projected to grow from USD 2,819 million in FY2026 to USD 4,544 million in FY2031E, a 10.0% CAGR. These products are projected to represent about 26% of the overall solar tracker market in FY2031E, compared with 25% in FY2026.

Tracker systems require structural and mechanical products beyond a mounting frame. These include module mounting assemblies, torque tubes, piles, piers, drive mechanisms and control-mount units. A torque tube connects panels and provides the rigidity needed for rotational movement, while piles and piers form foundations designed for differing soil conditions. A control-mount unit houses electrical controls for tracker operation.

India’s fixed-tilt structural-components market grew from USD 389 million in FY2021 to USD 2,017 million in FY2026, a 39.0% CAGR. It is projected to decline to USD 1,637 million in FY2031E, equivalent to a negative 4.1% CAGR from FY2026. The source attributes the expected contraction primarily to the increasing preference for tracker systems in utility-scale solar projects.

Which costs will determine whether tracker demand meets projections?

Steel prices and overall project economics will influence whether the tracker-components market reaches the FY2031E forecast. Steel typically represents 60% to 70% of the production cost of module mounting structures and solar trackers. Global hot-rolled steel prices are projected at USD 1,050 per tonne in CY2026, versus USD 700 per tonne in CY2025, before falling to USD 430 per tonne in CY2030E.

Mechanical structures represented 9.6% of the tracker-equipped solar-plant cost breakdown in CY2025, while control systems accounted for 3.7%, power supply for 3.3% and communication for 6.1%. The same cost breakdown assigned 24.5% to other costs and 15.5% to cables and wiring. Tracker adoption consequently depends on the cost and reliability of several electrical and mechanical inputs, as well as the energy yield at an individual project site.

For fixed-tilt plants, mechanical structures accounted for 19.1% of total costs in CY2025, compared with 41.3% for solar modules, 14.7% for inverters and 10.1% for cabling and electrical equipment. Fixed tilt avoids tracker drive systems and moving mechanisms, but it remains exposed to steel and module-price movements. The substitution forecast requires the generation advantage of tracking to continue offsetting its added mechanical complexity and operations-and-maintenance requirements.

How does India compare with the global tracker transition?

India’s solar market follows a global shift in which tracker penetration is projected to reach 65% of annual solar PV capacity additions by CY2030E, up from 32% in CY2020 and 52% in CY2025. Global annual tracker capacity additions are forecast to rise from 208.7 GW in CY2025 to 429.0 GW in CY2030E. Over the same period, global annual solar PV additions are projected to increase from 401.4 GW to 660.0 GW.

The global fixed-tilt comparison moves in the opposite direction. Fixed-tilt penetration fell from 68% in CY2020 to 48% in CY2025 and is projected at 35% in CY2030E. The global fixed-tilt structural-components market is forecast to edge down from USD 23,612 million in CY2025 to USD 23,447 million in CY2030E, while global tracker structural components are projected to grow from USD 38,177 million to USD 70,562 million.

India’s projected USD 4,544 million tracker-components market in FY2031E is therefore part of a wider technology transition rather than a stand-alone domestic development. The source identifies utility-scale project development, lower tracker prices, improved tracking precision and the need to maximise generation as the principal factors behind tracker adoption. India’s outcome will still depend on annual project deployment, component costs and the economics of particular sites.

Conclusion

India’s solar market is projected to direct a rising share of annual installations towards tracker systems, increasing demand for mounting assemblies, torque tubes and foundations while retaining a smaller role for fixed-tilt structures. The FY2031E forecasts quantify the change: USD 4,544 million for tracker components and USD 1,637 million for fixed-tilt structural components.

The disclosed forecast to watch is tracker penetration rising from 48% in FY2026 to 66% in FY2031E. Meeting that projection depends on continued utility-scale solar additions, tracker-system reliability, project financing, steel-price movements and the persistence of the stated energy-yield advantage over fixed tilt.