Currently larger solar systems (commercial buildings) in sunny parts of the States are producing power at just over $0.15/kWh. I’d bet that the price in India could drop lower than 8 rupees per kWh by 2015.

What it would take is getting their purchasing organized so that they could move a large amount of product into an area, rather than just a few panels at a time. Installation labor will be cheaper than in the US.

Some village purchasing co-ops might be the solution. Get pallet sized purchases lined up and there will be significant savings. And since at the most elementary level the system can be DC there will be no need for inverters. Just a much cheaper charge controller to keep from cooking the battery. Lights, cell phones, laptops – all sorts of things can be run without an inverter.

India could even start making small, very efficient DC refrigerators for off-grid use.

Or villages could form their own utility company, centralizing the panels/batteries and sharing a large inverter.

The great advantage is that solar can be installed where the grid doesn’t go and that cuts down on overall costs. No transmission lines needed.