EQ Int'l April'14 Edition

Volume # 4 | Issue # 4 | April-2014 |

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April- 2014 Solarizing India - Maximizing the Performance of India’s PV Installations Quality Assurance Along The Whole Value-Chain : IBC Solar Interview : Nasir Mulani Managing Director, Citec India Interview : Nalin Agarwal PR Fonroche Private Limited Interview : B. Venkat Rao Country Manager— Large & Medium UPS Systems, Emerson Network Power (India)

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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India’ Leading

Solar mounting solutions & turnkey services Bihar 3MW Rajasthan 29MW

Gujarat 153MW

Madhya Pradesh 139MW Orissa 8MW

Maharashtra 9MW

Andhra Pradesh 7MW

375MWp

Tamil Nadu 17MW

Kerala 3MW

customers till date

2013/14

375MW Karnataka 7MW

GIPL provides solar panel mounting solutions that are engineered for the structural design and installation ease and meets the complete demand of customers.

Ganges Internationale Pvt. Ltd B - 36, Lawrence Road, Industrial Area, New Delhi - 110035, INDIA, Ph.: +91 11 47090225, 47090228, 47090229, 9311811923 email : info@gangesintl.com, www.gangesintl.com

EDITORIAL IPCC Report: A changing climate creates pervasive risks but opportunities exist for effective responses The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report recently that says the effects of climate change are already occurring on all continents and across the oceans.The world , in many cases, is ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate. The report also concludes that there are opportunities to respond to such risks, though the risks will be difficult to manage with high levels of warming. The report, titled Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, from Working Group II of the IPCC, details the impacts of climate change to date, the future risks from a changing climate, and the opportunities for effective action to reduce risks.

A total of 309 coordinating lead authors, lead authors, and review editors,drawn from 70 countries, were selected to produce the report. They enlisted the help of 436 contributing authors, and a total of 1,729 expert and government reviewers.The report concludes that responding to climate change involves making choices about risks in achanging world.The nature of the risks of climate change is increasingly clear, though climate change will also continue to produce surprises. The report identifies vulnerable people, industries, and ecosystems around the world. It finds that risk from a changing climate comes from vulnerability (lack of preparedness) and exposure (people or assets in harm’s way) overlapping with hazards (triggering climate events or trends). Each of these three components can be a target for smart actions to decrease risk.

“We live in an era of man-made climate change,” said Vicente Barros, Co- Chair of Working Group II.“In many cases, we are not prepared for the climate -related risks that we already face.Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future.” Adaptation to reduce the risks from a changing climate is now starting to occur, but with a stronger focus on reacting to past events than on preparing for a changing future,according to Chris Field, Co -Chair of Working Group II.“Climate- change adaptation is not an exotic agenda that has never been tried. Governments, firms,and communities around the world are building experience with adaptation,” Field said.“Thisexperience forms a starting point for bolder, more ambitious a daptations that will be important as climate and society continue to change.”

Future risks from a changing climate depend strongly on the amount of future climate change.Increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe and pervasive impacts that may be surprising or irreversible.“With high levels of warming that result from continued growth in greenhouse gas emissions , risks will be challenging to manage, and even serious, sustained investments in adaptation will face limits,”said Field. Observed impacts of climate change have already affected agriculture, human health, ecosystems on land and in the oceans, water supplies, and some people’s livelihoods. The striking feature of observed impacts is that they are occurring from the tropics to the poles, from small islands to large continents, and from the wealthiest countries to the poorest. “The report concludes that people, societies, and ecosystems are vulnerable around the world, but with different vulnerability in different places. Climate change often interacts with other stresses to increase risk,” Field said. Adaptation can play a key role in decreasing these risks , Barros noted. “Part of the reason adaptation is so important is that the world faces a host of risks from climate change already baked into the climate system, due to past emissions and existing infrastructure,”said Barros. Field added:“Understanding that climate change is a challenge in managing risk opens a wide range of opportunities for integrating adaptation with economic and social development and with initiatives to limit future warming.

We definitely face challenges, but understanding those challenges and tackling them creatively can make climate-change adaptation an important way to help build a more vibrant world in the near-term and beyond.” Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the IPCC, said: “The Working Group II report is another important step forward in our understanding of how to reduce and manage the risks of climate change. Along with the reports from Working Group I and Working Group III, it provides a conceptual map of not only the essential features of the climate challenge but the options for solutions.” The Working Group I report was released in September 2013, and the Working Group III report will be released in April 2014. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report cycle concludes with the publication of its Synthesis Report in October 2014.“None of this would be possible without the dedication of the Co -Chairs of Working Group II and the hundreds of scientists and experts who volunteered their time to produce this report, as well as the more than 1,700 expert reviewers worldwide who contributed their invaluable oversight,” Pachaurisaid.“The IPCC’s reports are some of the most ambitious scientific undertakings in human history,and I am humbled by and grateful for the contributions of everyone who make them possible.”

Anand Gupta Editor & CEO

Owner :

FirstSource Energy INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED

SOLAR ENERGY

CONTENTS SOLAR ENERGY

VOLUME 4 Issue # 4

Place of Publication :

17, Shradhanand Marg (Chhawani) Distt-Indore 452 001, Madhya Pradesh, INDIA Tel. + 91 731 255 3881 Fax. +91 731 2553882

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Nikhilesh Singh 16

Editor & CEO:

Solarizing India - Maximizing the Performance of India’s PV Installations

Reinhard Ling 20

Quality Assurance Along The Whole Value-Chain

ANAND GUPTA

PRINTER:

ANAND GUPTA

TRENDS & ANALYSIS

SAUMYA BANSAL GUPTA saumya.gupta@EQmag.net ARPITA GUPTA arpita.gupta@EQmag.net

SOLAR ENERGY

PUBLISHER:

SOLAR PV INVERTERS

ANAND GUPTA anand.gupta@EQmag.net

PUBLISHING COMPANY DIRECTORS: ANIL GUPTA

ANITA GUPTA

Varun Sharda 30

Consulting Editor: SURENDRA BAJPAI

Is Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar MISSION (IM) POSSIBLE?

Shashidhara BV 34

Delta launched RPI Series of Grid tied Solar Inverters in Indian Market in 2014

Editorial Contributions:

Nikhilesh Singh, Gwendalyn Bender, Francesca Davidson, Vaisala Shashidhara BV, Reinhard Ling , Falko Krause, Franz Xaver Boessl , Tanmay Bishnoi, Harshavardhan Reddy Nagatham, Varun Sharda, Anurag Garg, Kush Shah , Dibyendu Mazumder’s , Prof. S. B. Kedare, Rajaram Pai , Saumya Bansal Gupta

GOURAV GARG gourav.garg@EQmag.net

Subscriptions:

PIYUSH MISHRA piyush.mishra@EQmag.net

Layout and Design: MD SUHAIL KHAN

Printing Press:

PRINT PACK PVT. LTD. 60/61, Babu Lalbhchnad Chajlani Marg, Distt-Indore, (Madhya Pradesh) Disclaimer,Limitations of Liability While every efforts has been made to ensure the high quality and accuracy of EQ international and all our authors research articles with the greatest of care and attention ,we make no warranty concerning its content,and the magazine is provided on an>> as is <<basis.EQ international contains advertising and third –party contents.EQ International is not liable for any third- party content or error,omission or inaccuracy in any advertising material ,nor is it responsible for the availability of external web sites or their contents The data and information presented in this magazine is provided for informational purpose only.neither EQ INTERNATINAL ,Its affiliates,Information providers nor content providers shall have any liability for investment decisions based up on or the results obtained from the information provided. Nothing contained in this magazine should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sale any securities. The facts and opinions stated in this magazine do not constitute an offer on the part of EQ International for the sale or purchase of any securities, nor any such offer intended or implied

Cover Ganges Internationale Pvt. Ltd. Is one of the Leading manufacturers of the fabricated and galvanized structures. Over 375MWs in 10 states. GIPL provides economic , customized and convenient solar panel mounting solutions that allow for the installation of extensive MW size plants in almost any landscape situation. The company offers significant competitive and cost advantages since they own high-tech production facilities and galvanizing plants (capacity over 36000 MT per annum) and have the ability to design, fabricate and erect all these structures

India’ Leading

Solar mounting solutions & turnkey services Bihar 3MW Rajasthan 29MW

Gujarat 153MW

Madhya Pradesh 139MW Orissa 8MW

Maharashtra 9MW

Andhra Pradesh 7MW

375MW Karnataka 7MW

375MWp

Tamil Nadu 17MW

Kerala 3MW

customers till date

2013/14

Sales & Marketing:

GIPL provides solar panel mounting solutions that are engineered for the structural design and installation ease and meets the complete demand of customers.

Ganges Internationale Pvt. Ltd B - 36, Lawrence Road, Industrial Area, New Delhi - 110035, INDIA, Ph.: +91 11 47090225, 47090228, 47090229, 9311811923 email : info@gangesintl.com, www.gangesintl.com

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You may not modify,copy,reproduce,republish,post,transmit,or distribute any part of the magazine in any way.you may only use material for your personall,Non-Commercial use, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices.If you want to use material for any non-personel,non commercial purpose,you need written permission from EQ International.

4

EQ April 2014

www.EQMagLive.com

Managing Director,

24

Anurag Garg

Nalin Agarwal 42

PR Fonroche

6-15

SOLAR ENERGY 19

28

Country Manager— Large & Medium UPS Systems, Emerson Network Power (India)

Trina Solar Announces New High-Efficiency Honey Ultra Module Solar Power Plant Monitoring Systems

One Of the Oldest Rooftop Solar Projects in Calcutta Generating Power for 3 years

32

2.5MW Single Axis Solar Plant at Andhra Pradesh by Solon

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SOLAR PV MANUF. 33

Solar Dentists: Redesign & Optimisation of existing non-performing Solar Power Plants

Kush Shah 40

Dibyendu Mazumder’s 44

Private Limited

EQ NEWS

27

B. Venkat Rao 38

SOLAR OFF GRID

Comprehensive And Bankable Solar Solutions From schneider Electric

INTERVIEW

36

Thefts In Solar Parks, Avoid Them With CCTV & IDS Integration A Successful History

INTERVIEW

SOLAR PV INVERTERS

Citec India

Tanmay Bishnoi

Solar Power: Greenergizing your Growth and Energizing your daily needs !!

SOLAR OFF GRID

22

Franz Xaver Boessl

SOLAR OFF GRID

Nasir Mulani

SOLAR ENERGY

SOLAR ENERGY

INTERVIEW

CONTENTS

Thin Film CIGS Solar Cells Gaining In Popularity

Rajaram Pai 50

DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions has collaborated closely with Moser Baer Solar to install solar ....

SOLAR OFF GRID 46

Installation of 10,000 nos. of solar photovoltaic....

QUA. RESULTS 51-56 PRODUCTS 58-59

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April 2014

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& EQBusiness Financial PV Spot Price May Increase in Q2 Due to Solar PV Industry Targets 100 GW Annual Process Delay on US-China Anti-dumping Deployment in 2018, According to NPD Solarbuzz and Countervailing Investigation The US Dep ar tment of Commerce announced on March, 11th that the anti-subsidy initial judgment for certain Chinese crystalline silicon PV products will be extended from March, 28th to June, 2nd.

EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce, indicates that the delay will stimulate PV market demand and in turn boost the price. “Current market supply and demand is in good shape.

Demand from March to May is rather stable. Also, June demand forecast has started to show after the US announced the delay. Manufacturers, such as Trina, Yingli, Renesola, and CSI have aggressively placed orders and sold the products to the US market,” said Arthur Hsu, research manager of EnergyTrend.

On the other hand, according to EnergyTrend’s investigation, price trend in 2Q14 will remain steady. Poly price will be around US$23/kg (ASP); high-effi ciency wafer price is between US$1.05-1.07/piece (ASP) while normal-grade is about US$1.0/piece (ASP); for cell, Taiwanese manufacturers’ high-effi ciency cell price will remain at US$0.41-0.42/watt (ASP), which shows that Q2 price may be flat. Market price is likely to increase further due

to the delay on the anti-subsidy initial judgment. In addition, more demand may come from North America in Q2, and the demand in Japan and Europe will be recoverd too. Hence, manufacturers’ utilization rate will increase and in turn raise the price. EnergyTrend predicts that poly price will be US$25/kg in Q2 and high-efficiency wafer price will be US$1.1/piece. As for Taiwan’s high-efficiency solar cell, price could exceed US$0.42/watt.

In terms of spot market, recent demand is still high, with March price being steady. However, due to the less demand in Japan in March, first-tier module manufacturers’ utilization rate will be stable, but second/thirdtier ones’will decrease.Poly price in Taiwan started to increase, with last week’s average price reaching US$20.175/kg, a 0.83% rise. For multi-si wafer, Taiwanese manufacturers have raised the price while Chinese manufacturers revised the price downward slightly. Last week’s average price came to US$1.058/piece, a 0.86% rise.

For mono-si wafer, demand still increased in a slow-pace. Last week’s price was US$1.212/ piece, a 0.5% rise. Lastly, cell and module price remained flat.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) industry is set for rapid growth over the next five years, with up to 100 gigawatts (GW) annual deployment being targeted in 2018, according to the latest edition of NPD Solarbuzz Marketbuzz. This end-market growth is projected to increase annual PV module revenues, which are forecast to reach $50 billion in 2018.

Despite being severely hampered by overcapacity and declining operating margins during 2012 and 2013, the PV industry still grew 34% over this two-year period. Having grown to more than 37 GW of end-market demand in 2013, the global solar PV industry is now set to hit a new milestone in 2018, reaching a cumulative installed capacity level of 500 GW. This strong demand will also further stimulate revenues for the industry’s manufacturers, with PV module revenues of more than $200 billion available over the five-year period from 2014 to 2018.

“Solar PV module prices declined faster than the end-market grew in 2012, leading to a dramatic decline in revenues,” said Michael Barker, senior analyst at NPD Solarbuzz. “This imbalance was corrected during 2013. Over

the next five years, end-market growth will exceed forecasted price declines, resulting in a strong rebound in module revenues.”From a technology standpoint, crystalline silicon (c-Si) based modules are forecast to increase market share over the competing thinfilm variants. Between 2014 and 2018, 91% of solar PV modules produced are forecast to be c-Si types.

PV module average selling prices (ASPs) are expected to decline moderately over the next few years and are forecast to reach $0.51 per watt (W) in 2018.

In addition, system prices will decline each year, driven mainly by cost reductions in balance-of-systems components and economies- of-sc ale improvements enabled by project developers and installers.

“Solar PV suppliers are benefiting from a less volatile pricing environment, compared to previous years,” said Finlay Colville, vice-president of NPD Solarbuzz. “The industry will soon transition to a phase of profi table growth, with solar PV competing directly with traditional forms of energy.”

SunFunder Expands to India With Our First Microgrid Solar Project In India alone, 400 million people live without access to electricity. That’s half of Asia’s total off-grid population, and almost comparable to Africa’s off-grid population of 587 million people. It is critical that India gets addressed when solving the problems of global energy poverty. This is why SunFunder 6

EQ April 2014

has partnered with Mera Gao Power to finance our very first solar project in India. It is also our fi rst microgrid solar project.

Light and Information Access for Sitapur District We kick off our new partnership with a $30,000 project that will

impact 6,250 people in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh.

Families will benefit from Mera Gao Power’s solar microgrid, which supplies every house with 2 LED lights and a phone charger at a price that’s affordable for all: just 40 cents a week.

The project’s impact is a

small slice of India’s off-grid population, but it is a sure step toward a modern energy lifestyle. And for many of Mera Gao Power’s customers, this will be the first time they are experiencing light and phone charging at home. We invite you to join us in our effort to increase energy access in India.

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& EQBusiness Financial Next-Generation Photovoltaic Technologies to Take Center Stage as Solar Expenditures Rebound Advanced photovoltaic (PV) technologies such as diamond wire and n-type substrates will increasingly find their way into mainstream solar manufacturing, especially with capital expenditures set to bounce back this year, according to IHS Technology.

In a move that will coincide with the launch of a new spending cycle within solar circles, manufacturers along the PV supply chain will transition from standardized technologies at present to next-generation mechanisms for solar-related mass production in the near future. Capital spending will reach an expected $3.4 billion by year-end, IHS believes, after bottoming out in 2013.

“Innovative technologies will be atop the agendas of major solar manufacturers globally now that supply and demand has come to closer alignment,” said Jon Campos, analyst for solar demand at IHS. “While most experts thought that overcapacity issue would remain significantly longer, the fundamental assumptions made

by IHS were that the industry would move toward market equilibrium behind increasing demand in the emerging markets, and that PV manufacturers would turn to advanced technologies to compete with traditional forms of energy production—assumptions that are now coming to fruition,” Campos added.

These findings can be found in the report, “PV Manufacturing Technology Report – World 2014,” from the Power & Energy service of IHS. The report delivers an in-depth look into the competitive landscape of the world’s leading solar manufacturing technologies, materials, and cost trends through 2020.

Wafer manufacturers to shift from steel wire to diamond wire With the scale of the solar industry growing, new pressures on driving down costs-per-watt have become more significant.

And as the solar shakeout intensified in the last 18 months, manufacturers have also been seeking alternative slicing tools.

The diamond wire market, in particular, is promising, with the shift from steel wire expected to begin this year as the economic landscape of the industry improves and capital expenditures return to the market.

While diamond wire accounted for 5.5 gigawatts (GW) of the marketplace last year, usage will grow to 27.2 GW by 2017 and to 43.1 GW of solar installed capacities by 2020, as shown in the attached figure.

N-type cells to spark growth in monocrystalline market share Solar technology changes will also extend to p-type substrates, which have generally been the solar industry norm. However, signific ant research and development is being conducted on n-type silicon, shown to have a higher tolerance to common impurities and resulting in high minority carrier diffusion lengths compared to p-type.

Furthermore, n-type crystalline does not suffer from the boronoxygen-related light-induced degradation (LID) that is

common on p-type Czochralski silicon.

IHS forecasts that n-type applications will mature and find their way into mainstream manufacturing. N-type will be mostly a monocrystalline technology, growing from 5 percent of tot al cell production capacity last year to approximately 32 percent by 2020.

CdTe to continue dominating thin-film market With a new capex cycle due in 2014, a slight increase in spending will take place as existing suppliers add capacity.

Such a development will benefi t thin-film technologies after investments in new thinfilm module manufacturing equipment declined in 2013 to their lowest level in five years.

The top two thin-film suppliers, First Solar (CdTe) and Solar Frontier (CIGS), represent currently dominant technologies.

Both companies increased their production slightly in 2013, but have not announced any expansions in the near term.

Solar Capital Spending Enters 2014 with Strong Momentum; Latin America Leads Manufacturing Capacity Growth With capital expenditures for the photovoltaic (PV) industry set to bounce back in 2014, a new round of solar spending will commence that will reach $3.8 billion by year-end, according to IHS Technology (NYSE: IHS).

PV capital spending has been rising notably over the past two quarters, en route to a third straight increase with the trend clearly continuing into the first quarter this year. Global PV capital spending is expected to

rise by 45 percent in 2014 from $2.7 billion in 2013.

now are fully utilizing, expanding

percent, slightly down from 42

and planning to increase

percent in 2013, when it was also

“Since August of last year, IHS has observed strong signs that a new capital spending cycle would start in 2014,” said Jon Campos, solar analyst at IHS. “Key factors such as market sentiment, PV demand and equipment-supplier bookings have continued to progress as a result of a healthy level of optimism.”

manufacturing capacity, Campos

the global leader. Latin America

said, with an extra emphasis

is ahead of the Middle East-

on expanding their presence

Africa market with 33 percent,

in emerging markets. Capital

as well as third-placed North

expenditures are expected to

America with 13 percent, as

climb considerably in 2014

shown in the attached figure.

Most Tier 1 PV manufacturers

www.EQMagLive.com

and 2015, with Latin America leading the way.

Next year, solar manufacturing capacity in Latin America will

Latin America this year will lead

boast even higher growth at an

all regions in manufacturing

outsized 147 percent, with the

capacity growth for solar panels

region continuing to lead in 2016

with an expansion rate of 35

and 2017.

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& EQBusiness Financial Mercom Capital Group Updates Global Solar Installations Forecast to Approximately 46 GW in 2014 Demand outlook for the solar industry remains strong and global solar installations are forecasted to be around 46 GW in 2014, according to the latest quarterly update from Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm. Global installations in 2013 are estimated to come in at about 37 GW, in line with Mercom’s forecast. Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-Founder of Mercom Capital Group, commented that the revised forecast reflects the ever-shifting market conditions and the new Chinese installation goal. “China recently announced an aggressive 14 GW installation goal, a 2 GW increase since our previous update in December 2013.”

Within the new 14 GW goal, China has set an aggressive target of 8 GW for distributed generation and another 6 GW for utility-scale projects with specific quotas in individual provinces. Mercom expects

Chinese installations to be in the 13 GW range in 2014. The Chinese government decision to let Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co. default on its bond issue shows that they are serious about not bailing out companies that don’t fi t strict manufacturing norms. Though the effect of this case on the larger solar market may be minimal, Mercom will be watching the Chinese financial markets closely as major economic indicators are currently weak.

Japan is expected to install solar in a similar range (7-7.5 GW) to last year. Japan faces some challenges, however, as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) weeds out projects that, although approved, are unlikely to be built. In addition, the country’s generous feed-in-tariff (FiT) is likely to be reduced in the next month and a three percent sales tax increase could further dampen

demand.The U.S. solar market is forecasted to install 6.4 GW in 2014, spurred by utilityscale projects and an energetic residential sector. Solar lease has been the big driver of residential installations, with third party finance companies raising $3.3 billion in residential and commercial tax equity funds in 2013. System costs in the United States are still high compared to Germany, but innovative financial instruments, including asset-backed securities, third party finance and YieldCos, are helping bring the cost of capital down. Trade disputes, however, continue to be an issue with the United States.

2,500 MW a year. There is a proposal to replace the FiT with a tender system in 2017 in addition to a requirement that new solar projects greater than 500 kW market and sell electricity directly to consumers.

The current crisis in Crimea illustrates the importance of energy independence and the vital role solar energy and other renewables can play if added prudently to the energy generation mix, Prabhu noted.

“Energy security is a key reason for governments around the world to review their energy generation mix and invest in domestic solar and other renewables,” he said.

PV installations in Germany are forecasted to be around 2.75 GW in 2014. Germany’s role in the solar market continues to decline as policy support retreats. In a bid to reduce price hikes in electricity, the latest policy proposals include bringing the installation levels closer to

Other markets highlighted in the update include the United Kingdom and India both of which installed approximately 1 GW in 2013 and are expected to install similar numbers in 2014.

Mercom revises its forecast quarterly to reflect on-theground conditions.

Refex Energy Ltd. Commissions two MW-scale projects in UP and AP Refex Energy Limited has commissioned 10 MWp Solar PV Power plant at Feroz Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station of NTPC Ltd., on 31st March 2014. The project is located in Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh.Refex Energy Limited has executed the project after securing the order from BHEL for complete engineering, procurement and construction work except the BHEL make solar modules and the plant fencing. The project deploys indigenous Central Inverters from Schneider. “We are very proud to be associated with industry stalwarts like NTPC and BHEL. The project reflects 8

EQ April 2014

the efforts and commitments of NTPC, BHEL and Refex Energy Ltd. towards a greener future.” quoted Mr. Arun Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Refex Energy Ltd.

step towards entering Renewable

up time and higher generation.

Energy and we wish to grow in

The plant will generate about

this sector exponentially for

16.5 lac units per year, resulting

our own captive and third party

in cost savings of close to INR 10

power sale. We appreciate

million annually in the electricity

the work done by Refex at out

Refex Energy Ltd. Has also installed 1 MW solar plant for Chennai based Trimex Sands Private Limited, on 29th March 2014. The plant is located at group’s manufacturing plant in Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh and was set up under REC mechanism for the captive consumption of Trimex’s mineral suppression plant in Srikakulam.

Mr. Pradeep Koneru, Managing Director of Trimex Sands Private Limited, said, “This is our first

bills” observed Mr. Anil Jain,

Srikakulam plant, their approach

Managing Director, Refex

has been very professional and

Energy Ltd. Refex has also

have complied to every need of

commissioned a 100 KW off-

our site engineers. Their timely

grid plant for Trimex for their

completion of the project with a quick turnaround has helped us get Accelerated Depreciation benefit. We look forward to working with them in our future solar endeavors.

plant’s lighting in Srikakulam.

Refex Energy Limited is also developing another 10 MW solar plant for the Trimex Group in Rajasthan. The total installed capacity of Refex Energy Ltd.

“Tier I modules from Renesola

now tallies to 60 MW, with

and SMA String inverters have

another 50 MW under different

been chosen to ensure maximum

stages of completion.

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& EQBusiness Financial First Solar Sets Thin-Film Module Efficiency World Record of 17.0 Percent First Solar, Inc.recently announced it has set a world record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) module conversion effi ciency, achieving a record 17.0 percent total area module efficiency in tests performed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The new record is an increase over the prior record of 16.1 percent efficiency, which the company set in April 2013.

This announcement comes weeks after First Solar announced it achieved a world record in CdTe research cell efficiency of 20.4 percent.

The record-setting module was created at First Solar’s Research and Development

Center in Perrysburg, Ohio, using production-scale processes and materials, and included several recent technology enhancements that are incrementally being implemented on the company’s commercial production lines.

Notably, the First Solar research module also has a confi rmed “aperture area” conversion efficiency of 17.5 percent. Many manufacturers often quote this aperture area efficiency when claiming record performance, particularly for small minimodules custom-built in R&D labs. First Solar’s record is all the more significant because it is full production size.

CdTe innovation from the lab

“This achievement demonstrates our ability to rapidly and reliably transfer research results to full-size modules. We can take

First Solar’s CdTe modules are

www.EQMagLive.com

to production faster and more reliably than other technologies due to our robust, adaptable manufacturing processes and the accommodating nature of CdTe material technology,” said Raffi Garabedian, First Solar’s Chief Technology Officer. “Our R&D efforts are delivering technology that will quickly be scaled to realworld application as part of our integrated power plant systems, which are engineered to deliver the best performance, reliability and value for our customers.”

Garabedian said the efficiency milestone is also a signal that becoming a more attractive option for application in constrained

industrial installations. “With the highest demonstrated thinfilm module performance, we are positioned to pursue new deployment opportunities around the world,” he said.Based on the company’s sustained high velocity in technology development, Garabedian said First Solar has accelerated its production module conversion efficiency roadmap, raising its lead-line production nameplate effi ciency target for YE2015 to 15.6 to 15.8 percent. First Solar also extended its module conversion efficiency roadmap to 2017, with targets for year-end lead-line production nameplate efficiency of 17.7 to 18.4 percent in 2016 and 18.1 to 18.9 percent in 2017.

space projects and commercial/

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April 2014

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& EQBusiness Financial Global Microgrid Market Set for Rapid CSUN is Now Tier 1 Supplier on Bloomberg Growth Beyond 2015, Finds Frost & BNEF Module Maker Tiering System Sullivan The global microgrid market is rapidly gaining prominence as supportive government policies in various countries encourage the setting up of renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar farms. The market in the US has established a clear lead, primarily engaging microgrids for remote and military applications. In Europe, microgrids are viewed as a suitable option for renewable energy integration. Emerging economies in Asia-Pacific, though, present the largest market potential as they look to counter power shortages and low grid connectivity.

Frost & Sullivan’s analysis of the emerging global microgrid space estimates that there will be a sharp rise in installations from 2015 to 2020. Among the different application sites for microgrids, remote community site deployments are expected to experience the strongest and most consistent growth in the next five years. The prospect of microgrids being employed by utilities is also high, as research activities gain pace through utility networks.”Increasing focus on renewable energy in the energy

mix and its integration is lending momentum to the adoption of microgrids on a global scale,” said Frost & Sullivan Energy and Environment Industry Manager Suba Arunkumar. “Uptake has been steady in various fi elds, including military, industrial, institutional and off- grid applications.”

However, integrating microgrids into existing systems is an expensive task and remains a challenge. The proliferation of custom interfaces adds to the cost of the system. To overcome these barriers, institutions and universities across Europe are building microgrid networks for field tests and analysis. The large value chain of participants actively contributing to microgrid development will further fuel a market boom beyond 2015.”By the same token, since a microgrid deployment involves many different participants, the scope for expansion for players across the whole value chain is immense,” noted Arunkumar.

“First-mover advantage will be prominent for participants venturing into the market within the short term.”

CSUN, a specialized manufacturer of solar cells and modules is delighted to announce that it has achieved “Tier 1” status on the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (“BNEF”) PV Module Maker Tiering System. BNEF has developed a tiering system for PV module makers based on bankability, helping developers, EPCs and investors to get an easy and transparent overview of the complex module manufacturing market. BNEF defines Tier 1 manufacturers as those, which have provided products to three different projects financed nonrecourse by three different (nondevelopment) banks, in the past two years. This selection criterion was defined as modules used in non-recourse financed projects have already been evaluated by commercial banks, and therefore proved to meet their strict quality standards.

Jenny Chase, Manager, Solar Insight at Bloomberg New Energy Finance acknowledges: “BNEF confirms that CSUN will be included as a Tier 1 supplier in its Q2 2014 PV Market Outlook, available to suppliers. “This is an important milestone on our strategy path to continuously expand CSUN’s global reach by supplying high quality products and being a safe choice for our partners and customers in a quickly changing industry”, comments CSUN’s CEO Stephen Cai. “Having achieved the tier 1 module supplier status allows developers and EPC customers easier access to financing instruments, which is an important pre-requisite to realize utility scale solar installations.

The BNEF ranking system is a trusted evaluation tool, which carries a lot of weight with many of our customers.“

Commercial Declaration of 10 MW Solar Plant in NTPC, Talcher (Kaniha) The 10 MW solar plant at NTPC,Talcher (Kaniha) located in Odisha was synchronized and commercially declared through remote from Project Monitoring Centre (PMC) by Dr. Arup Roy Choudhury, CMD, NTPC in New Delhi today 28th March, 2014.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Roy Choudhury congratulated NTPC- Kaniha employees and lauded their efforts, hard work and team spirit . The 10 MW Solar PV plant spread across 10

EQ April 2014

45.2 acres of land is another step in its commitment towards a broad base generation mix by evaluating conventional and alternate sources of energy.

Director (Technical), Shri U

Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has been already been signed with DVC for the 10 MW solar plant out of which 8 MW is located near Stage II area of Permanent Township of the plant and remaining 2 MW near to village Pathermunda(adjacent to NTPC plant).Shri A.K.Jha,

RED(ER-II),Shri V.B Fadnavis,

P Pani, Director (HR), Shri S.C.Pandey, Director (Projects) were also present on the occasion. Shri Arvind Kumar, ED(Talcher, Kaniha) and senior officials of NTPC,Kaniha present at the site briefed about the

Andaman Solar (5 MW), Dadri Solar (5 MW), Ramagundam Solar(10 MW) and the presently commissioned Talcher Kaniha(10 MW).With this the installed capacity of NTPC has risen to 42,974 MW which includes 17 coal based,7 gas based,7 JVs and 4 renewable plants .

successful implementation of the project.

At present NTPC has four solar commissioned projects,

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& EQBusiness Financial Vikram Solar Commissions 100kw Solar EUR 200 million loan for climate change Mini Grid System At Bahal, Haryana mitigation projects in India Vikram Solar, internationally acclaimed Tier 1 enterprise which specializes in manufacturing of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules and EPC contracts for solar power plants has commissioned a 100 KW Solar Mini Grid system at Bahal, Haryana. The mini-grid will help power six residential blocks consisting of 35 households in the village.

These households have been connected at load end with auto changeover.

The Intelligent Mini Grid System has used state of the art equipments including crystalline solar PV modules manufactured

by Vikram Solar and inverters

by SMA (Sunny Boy). One set of off-grid inverters charges a set of batteries during the daytime when sun is available.

These batteries create a “DC Bus” inside the Control Room.

Another set of string inverters which are installed in the PV yard sense this dummy grid and synchronise. The total power is now made available through the dedicated grid to the consumers.

Again, during night time the consumer load is fed by the offgrid inverters with batteries acting as a back-up. Intelligent sensing options both at the power generating source end as well as

the at the consumer end manages the load variation and helps in keeping the system balanced all the time.

The advanced system commissioned by Vikram Solar has been load tested for connecting to the entire 35 households in six residential blocks. Presently all the loads of the solar control room and the six blocks are running on solar power with auto grid changeover facility for ensuring redundancy.

Also keeping in mind to meet the scalable consumer load in the near future, the entire system can be easily expandable as the design is modular in nature.

Mr. Gyanesh Chaudhar y, Managing Director, Vikram Solar stated, “Vikram Solar is pleased to present this solar-powered intelligent mini grid systems in the rural areas. Decentralised renewable energy solutions like this can be powerful game changers in the remote and rural areas of India where large number of villages are still not reached by the electricity grid.

This will not only support the Rural Energy Mission but also do away with the 20% T&D losses which is generally experienced by huge transmission & distribution network.”

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a long-term loan of EUR 200 million to India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) to help finance projects that will contribute to the mitigation of climate change in India.

The main objective of this Framework Loan is to make long-term finance available for investments in the renewable energy, energy effi ciency and any other relevant sectors that reduce CO2 in India. The loan will be provided to IIFCL for onlending to private companies for small, medium-sized and some large projects.

The operation will contribute to climate change mitigation by using renewable energy sources and energy effi ciency enhancements, which are priorities for EIB lending, to prevent or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

encourage economic growth and development in India.

The project schemes will be identified and presented by IIFCL. The EIB will ensure that all projects are economically and fi nancially viable, technically adequate and in compliance with the Bank’s social and environmental standards and Guide to Procurement. The long-term loan will be repaid in instalments over the next 20 years. The EIB finance will cover up to 50% of the total project cost.

This is the sixth operation of its kind in India and the Bank’s first lending operation with IIFCL, a government entity that promotes infrastructure investments. This loan is being provided under the EUR 4.5 billion Energy Sustainability and Security of Supply Facility.

The Framework Loan will support the EU-India Strategic Partnership in the area of climate change, fostering the development of renewable energy and the efficient use of energy. It will also contribute to meeting energy demand and thus

China Sunergy Builds Strategic Partnership with Larsen & Toubro China Sunergy Co.Ltd. a specialized solar cell and module manufacturer,recently announced that the Company had completed totaled 29.5MW solar modules shipment under two separate supply agreements to Larsen & Toubro Limited (“Larsen & Toubro”), an Indian conglomerate and solar developer headquartered in Chennai, India. China Sunergy

has officially advanced into Larsen & Toubro’s strategic suppliers list in solar business.

Larsen & Toubro is one of India’s leading industry conglomerates in technology, engineering, construction, and manufacturing.

In solar sector, Larsen & Toubro has solidified its leading position with over 300 MW solar projects executed / under-execution so far in Indian market.China Sunergy’s

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high efficient multi-crystalline modules will be deployed in two large-scale projects, including a large scale roof-top project with installation capacity of 7.5MW and 22MW ground-mounted solar projects.

Mr. Stephen Cai, CEO of China Sunergy, remarked, “With natural geographic advantages and government support, India is destined to become one of the

world’s largest and most dynamic markets. We are delighted to be a strategic supplier to Larsen & Toubro and we believe that Larsen & Toubro’s outstanding market presence in India and China Sunergy’s reliable & advanced products should benefit both of us mutually and place in an excellent position to capture a greater market share in India.”

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& EQBusiness Financial Buyers Rate Reliability and Quality as More Important Than Price in PV Modules, IHS Survey Indicates The most critical factors for buyers when selecting a photovoltaic (PV) module are reliability and quality, which were found to be more important than low prices, according to a recent survey of solar module purchases conducted by IHS Technology (NYSE: IHS).

In the survey, respondents were asked to rank various PV module aspects by importance, ranging from effi ciency to weight and size. The chief factor by a significant margin was module reliability, with 99 percent of respondents deeming the characteristic as either “very important” or “important.”

In comparison, “high quality” was named the second most important aspect and “low price” was revealed as the third.

While quality was seen as the top aspect across three major regions analyzed in the research, other attributes were regarded as weightier in some regions than others. In particular, low pricing was more signifi cant to respondents in the United States than in Germany and the United Kingdom, where “high effi ciency” was placed at a higher premium.

is a refl ection of the growing awareness and focus on the total cost of ownership of a PV plant in Europe. As incentive levels and internal rates of return (IRR) for all types of PV systems become lower and lower, the cost of every kilowatt-hour becomes increasingly important.

In other markets, such as the U.S., incentives more commonly take the form of grants and tax breaks—meaning that there is a slightly stronger focus on upfront cost.”

These findings can be found in the “PV Module Customer Insight Survey,” from the Power & Energy service of IHS. The report, which allows PV module suppliers to better understand the needs and opinions of their customers, also investigates the buying preferences and preferred brands of customers.

Three of the top five brands, it concludes, are Chinese.

Installers and EPCs keen to spread their bets In determining the preferred

brands and buying preferences of customers, the survey also uncovered that less than 10 percent of companies use a single module supplier for their entire business, with EPCs and integrators less likely to use one brand compared to smaller installers.

a single company for their total module supply, reflecting clear concerns about the survival of module suppliers and suppliers’ capability to provide sufficient and flexible stockpiles.”

As few as 20 percent of respondents would consider using just one brand in the future, doing so in order to obtain better pricing as well as easier system design and logistics. The majority of customers, however, reported they would never consider using a single brand for an entire business.

Despite the professed preference of solar module buyers for using more than one brand, over half of customers reported having a favorite. Survey respondents were asked to list their overall preferred brands, as well their chosen names in terms of quality and price attractiveness. Three Chinese suppliers appeared among the top five overall brands, and the five top brands in terms of competitive prices were also all Chinese.

“PV mo dule purcha s er s demonstrate a clear preference for maint aining business relationships with more than one module supplier, as this allows them to ensure they are receiving competitive pricing and provides them with access to as wide a range of products as possible,” de Haan noted.

“Impor t antly, many also express a reluctance to rely on

Chinese brands dominate rankings

The survey was conducted among photovoltaic system installers; integrators; engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) entities; and distributors of PV components, who all buy modules from the makers.

“While price is still a highly important factor when selecting PV modules, purchasers believe that performance-related factors are of greater value, particularly in European markets,” said Stefan de Haan, principal solar analyst at IHS. “This

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& EQBusiness Financial Wafer Price Decreases Due to Season United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Pre-Load and Weaker Demand, says Climate Change report published TrendForce Recent changes in spot market trends have led to substantial decline in PV pro duc t s trading prices. Price quotes for polysilicon to modules dropped around 1%-3%, noted EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce. Whether demand fluctuations at the end of March implies weaker 2Q14 demands still remains to be seen.

Wafer prices fluctuated the most, with quotes decreasing significantly, according to EnergyTrend’s supply chain survey. Relevant data showed that the quotes of high-efficiency multi-si wafer declined from US$1.05-1.07/piece at the beginning of March to US$1.031.04/piece recently, a 1.87%2.86% drop. For normal-grade products, the quotation also declined from US$1.0-1.02/ piece to US$0.99-1.01/piece, a 1%-2.94% drop. Manufacturers stated that there are still some uncertainties in the market, and manufacturers face quote pressures.

“The decreased wafer price might be due to the preload at the end of 1Q14 and decreased demand,” said Arthur Hsu, Research Manager of EnergyTrend. “Based on EnergyTrend’s investigation, China’s demand has reflected a downtrend towards the end of March. With the exception of first-tier manufacturers, other manufacturers’ utilization rates have declined substantially. This

is one of the main reasons as to why China’s spot price was the first to reflect upon it. In addition, declined demands in China caused wafer manufacturers to continue to increase shipments to Taiwan, which has put pressure on Taiwanese manufacturers and led to falling market prices.”

In terms of the spot market, easing Chinese market demands towards the end of March is adding stress on second-tier and under manufacturers.

Therefore, these manufacturers have lowered quotations in exchange for more shipment o p p o r t u ni tie s . However, manufacturers indicated China’s EPC manufacturers have begun to place orders for April, and projected demands would increase next month, which in turn might drive up price quotes.

This Week’s Price Quotes Impacted by decreased demands, this week’s polysilicon price dropped 0.17% to US$20.454/ kg. For multi-si wafer, the price for Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers has both declined, with this week’s price declining 0.57% to US$1.046/piece. For mono-si wafer, price came to US$1.205/piece, a 0.58% dip.

First-tier cell manufacturers’ quotations remained stable, but downed for second-tier manufacturers. This week’s price dropped 0.76% to US$0.392/ watt.

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The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the second part of its latest report on climate change.

The “Working Group 2, Fifth Assessment Report” covers the likely impacts of climate change and our capacity to adapt to future climate risks.

From the last major review of almost six years ago, it provides a strengthened body of evidence on observed impacts and future risks of climate change.

The report is the work of over 310 scientifi c experts drawn from universities and research institutes in 73 different countries around the world.

Although the IPCC didn’t focus on individual countries, the ‘impacts, vulnerability and adaptation’ report did identify three key risks from climate change for Europe: Increased economic losses and more people affected by flooding in river basins and coasts, as urbanisation continues, sea levels rise and peak river flows increase; Increased water restrictions.

Significant reduction in water availability from river abstraction and from groundwater resources combined with increased water demand (eg for irrigation, energy and industry and domestic use);

Increased economic losses and people affected by extreme heat events: impacts on health and well-being, labour productivity, crop production and air quality The UK will also be impacted by global issues such as rising food prices. High levels of adaptation can significantly reduce but not remove these risks.

These findings align well with the UK’s own Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCR A) published in 2012.

In response to the report, UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey said: “The science has spoken. Left unchecked, climate change will have far reaching consequences for our society.

“The UK is leading from the front and working with our European partners. We’ve adopted some of the most ambitious climate change targets and are investing in low carbon and energy efficiency technologies.

“This evidence builds the case for early action in the UK and around the world to lessen the risks posed by climate change.

We cannot afford to wait.”

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& EQBusiness Financial String Inverters Increasingly Used in Megawatt-Scale PV Projects; Chinese Products and Microinverters Gaining Acceptance In a sign of their growing acceptance, string inverters are increasingly being considered in megawatt (MW)-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems, with over 40 percent of inverter buyers regarding them as suitable for use in systems larger than 1 MW, according to a new report from IHS Technology.In an IHS survey, more than 300 solar installers, distributors and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies were a sked about their preferences and opinions on PV inverters, in order to help suppliers better understand the needs and requirements of their customers.

Of the more than 200 purchasers of PV string inverters that completed the survey, 80 percent indicated they might use string inverters in systems larger than 100 kilowatts (kW). All told, nearly half reported they would consider using the inverters in systems larger than 1 MW, as shown in the attached fi gure.

This marks a huge increase from the previous year’s survey when only 17 percent considered using string inverters in systems larger than 1 MW.“The survey confirmed that the acceptance of string inverters in large systems

has accelerated over the last year, mirroring the IHS forecast that these products will gain share in several key PV markets,” said Cormac Gilligan, senior PV market analyst at IHS. “The most common reasons given for solar purchasers preferring string inverters increasingly over central inverters in large systems were better system design flexibility, minimizing losses in the case of failure and lower lifetime system costs.”

IHS predicts that low power three-phase inverter shipments will increase by 14 percent a year on average for the next four years, with annual shipments of nearly 20 gigawatts (GW) in 2017.PV inverters convert the direct current (DC) electricity produced by solar panels into alternating current (AC). In the past, the use of string inverters has been limited to small-scale PV installations.

Chinese inverters continue to gain acceptance The report also found that Chinese-made inverters are gaining increased acceptance in places such as the United States, Germany and the United K in g d om.Chines e

inverter suppliers appear to be overcoming the perception that their products are not of adequate quality. When buyers were asked the question, “Do you think Chinese inverters offer sufficient levels of quality?” half answered yes. This shows that the global level of acceptance for Chinese inverter suppliers has increased for a second consecutive year, Gilligan remarked.

The biggest increase was recorded in United Kingdom, where nearly 60 percent of inverter buyers consider Chinese inverters to be acceptable quality, compared to 40 percent in the U.S.“The last two years have seen the United Kingdom transform quickly from a booming new market with a highly attractive feed-in tariff (FiT), to a steady-growth, lowcost region with lean subsidies,” Gilligan noted. “As a result of high price pressure in the U.K., the country has become a strong focus for Chinese suppliers, which have been able to gain a foothold in Britain. The price declines in the U.K. have been driven by regular reductions to the FiT and the many systems being designed to meet minimum renewables requirements in new

buildings at the lowest possible upfront cost.”

Microinverters continue to advance

More entities are also using or buying microinverters in 2013, according to the survey, with 42 percent now utilizing such products.Microinverters perform the same general functions as traditional string inverters except that they work on a permodule basis rather than for a string of modules.The United States continued to show the highest levels of microinverter usage with a small increase over the previous year, while larger gains came from the European markets. In the United Kingdom, for instance, over half of purchasers now use or buy microinverters.

“Following several years of intense marketing and training for installers, microinverters have now progressed from being a ‘niche’ product, to gaining wide acceptance in the PV market,” said Gilligan. “Major suppliers, such as SMA and Power-One, have also released microinverters—helping them to gain acceptance and traction in key markets.”

JinkoSolar Signs RMB241.4 Million Loan Agreement with China Development Bank for Two PV Solar Projects JinkoSolar Holding Co.Ltd. a global leader in the solar PV industry, recently announced that it has entered into RMB214.4 million (approximately US$ 39 million) loan agreement with China Development Bank (“CDB”) to finance two PV solar projects in Xinjiang and Gansu Provinces.

Branch will provide a 18-year

“We are very pleased to see

loan totaling RMB141.4 million

CDB recognize the value of its

to finance JinkoSolar’s 20MW

relationship with JinkoSolar by

project located in Alaer, Xinjiang

funding these two projects,”

Province while the Gansu

commented Mr. Xiande Li,

Branch will provide a 15-year

Chairman of JinkoSolar.

loan totaling RMB100 million

“These projects are another

to finance JinkoSolar’s 15MW

demonstration of JinkoSolar’s

project located in Jinchang,

success in the development and

Gansu Province. The two

construction of utility-scale

According to the terms of the agreements, CDB’s Xinjiang

projects were connected to the

solar power plants as well as

grid at the end of 2013.

our financing capabilities. With

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the support of CDB and the expertise of our experienced project development teams, we focused on achieving our full year plan of connecting more than 400 MW of downstream projects.”

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& EQBusiness Financial First Solar and GE Shape Next-Generation PV Power Plant First Solar, Inc.and GE’s Power Conversion business are utilizing their recently established technology and commercial partnership to develop a more cost effective and productive utility-scale PV power plant design that combines First Solar’s thin-film CdTe modules with GE’s new ProSolar 1500 Volt inverter/ transformer system.

First Solar has integrated new technology into its modules and optimized them for 1500VDC applications. Combined with GE’s 4MW ProSolar 1500V inverter/transformer stations, this development enables power plant engineering design that significantly increases the size of the solar array served by each inverter and reduces the

number of inverter/transformer stations required for each plant to convert the power from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) and feed electricity to a commercial electrical grid.

The resulting plant design maintains high power delivery while lowering installation and maintenance costs.

“This is a signifi cant step in establishing the next generation of utility-scale PV power plants,” said Mahesh Morjaria, First Solar’s Vice President of Product Management. “Partnering with an industry giant such as GE, we are able to take our power plant design to the next level, and bring additional value to our customers.” Morjaria also noted that future generations of First Solar modules will increase

optimization, benefi ting from advances gained in part from the acquisition last fall of GE thin-film PV technology.

“GE is known throughout the industry as an established leader in power generation technology.

With our ProSolar inverters, we were able to draw from our experience developing and manufacturing technology for traditional power plants to create a highly efficient solution with industry-leading capabilities,” said Joe Mastrangelo, CEO of GE Power Conversion. “The inverters’ design enable our customers to apply engineering design that significantly increases efficiency of energy production.

Together with First Solar, we can help customers get the most out of their solar power

Solar Frontier Sets Thin-Film PV World Record with 20.9% CIS Cell Solar Frontier, in joint research with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), has achieved 20.9% conversion efficiency on a 0.5cm2 CIS cell. This is a world record conversion efficiency for thinfilm photovoltaic technologies, beating Solar Frontier’s previous world record of 19.7% conversion efficiency for CIS thin-film cells that do not contain cadmium, on top of the previous-best 20.8% cell efficiency record set for all thin-film PV technologies. The result has been independently verified by the Fraunhofer Institute, Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization.

“Solar Frontier’s new 20.9% efficiency record resulted from a CIS cell cut from a 30cm by 30cm substrate produced using a sputtering-selenization formation method - the same method we use

in our factories. The significance is twofold: it ensures we can transfer our latest achievement into mass production faster, and it proves the long-term conversion efficiency potential of Solar Frontier’s proprietary CIS technology,” said Satoru Kuriyagawa, Chief Technology Officer of Solar Frontier. “Solar Frontier has entered into the next phase in the development of CIS technology, and we look forward to building on this achievement and driving our efficiency even higher.”

Conversion efficiency is a popular measurement used to compare the performance of solar modules. Actual performance after installation, however, depends on how differing PV technologies react to their surrounding environment and climate. Solar Frontier’s CIS modules are proven to generate more electricity (kWh/kWp) in

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real operating conditions than crystalline silicon modules.

Together with high automation and precision manufacturing in Japan, CIS modules provide long-term competitive and reliable returns on investments for customers.

Solar Frontier’s latest efficiency record was achieved at the Atsugi Research Center (ARC) in Kanagawa, Japan. As part of the ARC’s customer-centric approach, it focuses on boosting the conversion efficiency of its CIS modules, developing its proprietary mass production machinery, and reducing overall system costs for end users. The ARC has been at the forefront of advancing CIS technology, setting numerous world records since it was established in 2009.

systems.”

Morjaria said First Solar has already identified projects under construction for initial deployment of the new 1500v system. The 4MW ProSolar 1500V station is the largest inverter in the industry capable of accommodating 1,500 volt DC solar arrays, which is a major factor in utilizing economies of scale by significantly increasing the array size and reducing the number of inverters required by a solar power plant.

China exports 16GWp of PV modules in 2013 China-based makers exported 16GWp of PV modules worth US$10 billion in 2013, with Europe being the largest market accounting for 30% of the volume, Japan 22% and the US 10%, according to China-based media reports.

Viewing that the EU has set floor import prices and an annual import quota and the US has launched second-round unfair trade investigations, Chinabased PV module makers are expected to shift their focus to the Japan market in 2014, industry sources noted.

Major China-based PV module makers, including CSI, Yingli Green Energy Holding and Trina Solar, have been talking with Japan-based vendors about ODM orders, the sources indicated. They have been vying for rooftop and ground-mounted PV power-generating projects in Japn through special purpose companies (SPCs), the sources adde.

In Japan, ground-mounted PV power-generating projects accounted for 60% of the total PV installation capacity in 2013 and had 20-30% of PV modules imported from China, the sources indicated.

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SO L A R ENERGY Nikhilesh Singh, Gwendalyn Bender, and Francesca Davidson at 3TIER by Vaisala

Solarizing India - Maximizing the Performance of India’s PV Installations

T

he number of installed PV systems has climbed dramatically and Indiahas played a large role in this global trend. Total installed solar capacity in India is just over 2000MW with a major jump in installations in 2012 of 986MW up from 172MW in 2011. Last year’s growth was relatively flat in terms of installation due to high inflation of the rupee. In response to market uncertainty, stalled CSP projects, and anticipated policy changes, tentative 2014 forecasts show a similar trend with 1000MW of new solar installations.

However, demand and need for solar energy remains high in India as energy shortages affect both consumers and industry and the cost of diesel to power back-up generation continues to increase.

solar as a way of reducing dependency on conventional power, diversifying generation, and producing energy from local, cost-free resources in close proximity to where power ismost needed. Favorable state and central government policies have paved the way for solar companies to develop different business models for implementation and operation of rooftop PV systems across residential,

commercial, and industrial user applications and much of the equipment is covered under performance guarantees and/or revenue sharing models.

All solar growth is very encouraging, but it is also forcing the energy system and the solar industry itself to adapt very quickly to manage the influx of a variable power source.

To maximize the value of large fleets of solar

Much of India’s solar power has come in the form of large remote solar facilities transmitting energy to the power grid. Both off-grid and grid interactive distributed generation from residential and commercial roof tops has also contributed.However,much more is expected to come online with most state governments using incentives to encourage rooftop solar as the market experiences a focus towards decentralized solar in tandem with large-scale solar projects.

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has hoped to expand rooftop 16

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PV systems and ensure their performance, companies around the globe use a range of monitoring software and devices. These technologies track huge amounts of real time information at the panel and inverter level, particularly with respect to power production. However, there is a key piece of information missing from the data stream – information about local irradiance conditions, or the actual source of the power, which is a critical parameter for the success of the PV system, sector, and the business models adopted.

Solar Variability in India Recently 3TIER, global leader in renewable energy assessment and forecasting, conducted a solar performance study of India for the typical peak summer months of May and June 2013. The resulting maps illustrate how much solar irradiance varied during these months from its long-term average and underline that solar power is not immune to climatic variability. It can be affected by a range of factors, from unpredictable events like wild fires and sudden increases in air pollution to annual variability in cyclical events like cyclone seasons and monsoons.

These maps show how irradiance conditions varied from their long-term average in May and June 2013, with deviations ranging from +/-20%. The analysis is based on 15 years of continuous, hourly irradiance records from 3TIER’s global solar dataset, which was used to determine long-term average irradiance and calculate conditions for 2013.

In India, the monsoon obviously has major impacts on the country’s solar resources and can cause reductions of as much as 30-40%in some parts of the country from preonset solar production. Even sunny Rajasthan, where much of the large-scale development is concentrated, sees a reduction of 15% on average. Rajasthan also experiences more significant year-to-year variability than other regions further south. Some years the monsoon’s impact on solar resources in Rajasthan is barely noticeable and other years it reduces the resource by as much as 25%.

The period immediately prior to the monsoon is normally very clear and sunny and as seen in the map of May this was more noted in 2013 across much of India.

In June of 2013,the monsoon arrived unusually early and was also much stronger and longer in duration than normal. This yielded a large negative anomaly in the map of June where much of the country is depicted in blue to showareas where irradiance was 5-20% below normal. In general, the strength of the monsoon varies a great deal annually and its arrival can shift forward or backwardby a few weeks in any given year. With the monsoon due to arrive in the next few months, understanding this variability is particularly important. As is evident from just this short time period, year-over-year variability can be significant. This directly results in deviation from initial estimates and guaranteed generation numbers, impacting an installation’s overall profitability.

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Resolving Underperformance – Filling the Gap with Reliable Resource Data Separating performance issues due to resource fluctuations from those caused by equipment and maintenance problems has become increasingly important for the profitability of renewable energy projects.

Due to the rapid growth of distributed PV over the past few years, owner-operators around the globe now face the issue of performance reconciliation on a daily basis.

information helps evaluate what happened yesterday, last week, and last month to reconcile recent power performance. Frequent access to recent conditions allows analysts to do timely maintenance review by running hourly irradiance through a power curve to compare “theoretical power,” or the amount of power the project should have produced, with actual output. By plugging irradiance data into existing monitoring systems, remote operators can make informed decisions about power management, system improvements, repairs, and maintenance.

Since these rooftop sites are spread over large geographic areas, remote operators have limited context on local weather conditions.

When power suddenly dips, they cannot simply step outside, as a homeowner might, to see if the weather changed or if there is a system problem. Utility-scale projects require a full staff managing operations and highquality ground measurements to reconcile recent performance. The scale of rooftop installations makes deploying a ground crew or measurement equipment at every location prohibitively expensive. However, companies managing large portfolios of rooftop generation still need to maximize the value of their generation portfolio while minimizing maintenance costs the same way a utility-scale project does. When the power goes down at a specific location they need to understand why. Was it just a cloudy day or is there a system problem?

Accuracy of Satellite Technologies for Solar Power Estimates

To bridge the information gap, satellite derived irradiance datasets are a costeffective solution that easily integrate with existing monitoring systems through application programing interfaces (APIs).

Available globally from 3TIER and in certain regions from a few other providers, this

3TIER pioneered the use of this approach for calculating pre-constructiones timates and has been a leader in developing solar resource assessment best practices for project planning and financing. Today satellite derived solar resource data are widely used around the world at both commercial and

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Due to the expense and scarcity of high-quality ground station data and local onsite observational data, satellite based methodologies developed by the global scientific community have become a broadly accepted alternative for estimating surface irradiance. In fact, they have proven to be the most accurate estimate of solar resources beyond 25 km of a well-maintained ground station. This technology uses visible satellite imagery to determine cloudiness, which is then combined with a number of other considerations such as elevation, snow cover, and atmospheric turbidity from water vapor and aerosols. The final result is a long-term (15-16 year) modeled record of surface irradiance at any location worldwide.

utility-scale projects. The error range is 5-10% for raw solar data from 3TIER’s global dataset with mean bias errors of less than 4% within India, but errors may be larger for lower quality datasets. Depending on the size of the project and funding source, higher accuracy may be required and is achievable when ground observations are available. Site measurements further enhance the accuracy of this technique by correcting long-term solar data in a process called MOS (model output statistics), which removes model bias and captures micro-scale effects at the site.

This is a bankable, well-reputed technology used at hundreds of projects worldwide andit has helped secure over $5 billion in global solar financing by 3TIER alone.

While raw satellite data sets are not perfectly accurate, even costly and difficult to maintain ground measurements can experience substantial errors. A combination of the two is best for large-scale projects, but raw satellite data is the most practical option in the distributed generation scenario.

Additionally, satellite derived irradiance datasets provide the benefit of a long, historical record, which gives operators monthly context on how the recent month compared to the long-term. These datasets are better suited for reconciliation than TMY (Typical Meteorological Year) data, since TMY datasets only represent average conditions, not actual conditions over a specific period of time.

Since pre-construction energy estimates for rooftop installations are often calculated using TMY, owner-operators often enter the power production phase without a realistic sense of the variability in output they are likely to see. To maximize the profitability of distributed generation, reconciling performance at rooftop sites and understanding power variability is becoming increasingly critical for any operator or integrator guaranteeing system performance. As seen in the performance study conducted by 3TIER, solar irradiance can vary considerably – even in sunny, desert regions during peak generation months. Understanding site-specific resource availability and variability on a long-term basis will pave the way for the success of India’s solar sector.

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Trina Solar

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rina Solar Limited a global leader in photovoltaic (PV) modules, solutions and services, today announced that its State Key Laboratory of PV Science and Technology has developed a new highefficiency Honey Ultra solar module.

Tr i n a S o l a r ’s H o n e y U l t r a monocrystalline silicon module reached a new record of 326.3W, which has been independently certified by TUV Rheinland, a leading authoritative certification institution. This result sets a new world record for p-type monocrystalline silicon modules. The monocrystalline silicon module is composed of 60 high-efficiency Honey Ultra monocrystalline silicon cells of 156mm x 156mm, fabricated with a technology developed by Trina Solar and currently in pilot production.

Honey Ultra marks the second generation

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of Trina Solar’s Honey module technology and this new high-efficiency record significantly extends the previous milestone of 284.7W attained by Trina Solar’s first generation of Honey modules.

The module integrates core technologies including back surface passivation technology and low-resistance connection technology, each of which have been researched and developed by Trina Solar.

“As an advanced research and development facility, our State Key Lab of PV Science and Technology enables us to execute on our commitment to the commercialization of new high-efficiency solar cells and highly reliable modules,” said Dr. Zhiqiang Feng, Vice President of Trina Solar and Director of the State Key Lab of PV Science and Technology. “In recent years the Company has successfully researched and developed new

intellectual properties in the form of a series of innovative technologies and high quality products, and has successfully maintained its leading position in patent applications and grants. As a result, Trina Solar remains at the forefront of technological innovations in the solar industry.”

This new Honey Ultra module marks a key milestone for Trina Solar’s State Key Laboratory of PV Science and Technology since its accreditation in November 2013 and follows the Company’s development of a new Interdigitated Back Contact (“IBC”) cell capable of delivering an industry-leading efficiency of 24.4%.

This demonstrates Trina Solar’s worldclass monocrystalline silicon module and that the technology behind these high-efficiency modules is suitable for rapid roll-out to largescale production.

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Trina Solar Announces New High-Efficiency Honey Ultra Module

SO L A R ENERGY

Quality Assurance Along The Whole Value-Chain Reinhard Ling IBC Solar

Falko Krause IBC Solar

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s an EPC contractor in international solar markets IBC SOLAR pursues a multifaceted approach to deliver optimal cost efficiency and highest German engineering standards.

Bringing out the best in large scale PV projects not only requires high quality components, but also constant supervision and control through every step of project execution. Investors therefore rely on EPC contractors (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) who are responsible for the overall project management and coordinate all services of subcontractors for an appropriate completion in accordance to international standards. IBC SOLAR, as one of the leading photovoltaic system integrators, pursues a four-step strategy, which includes extensive testing of components, tailor-made solutions to meet local challenges, optimal project execution with effective knowledge transfer, and a final certification through independent experts.

Step 1: Testing the Modules Ensuring correct testing and mounting of photovoltaic modules is the first step of quality management, as even overlooking seemingly minor points during installation can have a massive effect on the output of the modules.

In order to ensure a high yield during the complete lifecycle of the photovoltaic plant, IBC SOLAR takes great efforts to ensure impeccable quality in all its installations.

The company has the capability to conduct its own tests to measure the endurance and 20

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performance of the modules to meet growing market needs. In order to ensure that the tests are carried out to industry standards, IBC SOLAR works together with accredited institutes such as the German Fraunhofer ISE. To test the actual power output of the modules from the various manufacturers, they are put through a “Flasher”. After tempering the modules at 25°C in a acclimatized room with 30 percent humidity for two days, a ray of light simulating sunlight is “flashed” at the module. The energy produced by the flash in the solar module is quantified from the access line by highly precise measuring systems. Software then creates a currentvoltage characteristic from these points of measurement, which is shown graphically as a curve. This enables the tester to easily detect problems within the module if the curve and/or the electrical values differ from the norm.

Further important steps in the testing process are the two climate chambers. The first climate chamber simulates long term tests to withstand certain environmental conditions. It examines the quality of the laminate when exposed to extreme temperatures and varying humidity. In the second climate chamber the modules pass a temperature cycling test: The temperature changes from -40°C to +85°C according to a defined profile. It is generally recommended that in the certifications process the module under goes 200 cycles. However, IBC SOLAR’s Department of Quality Assurance puts the tested modules through 500 cycles in order to fully examine their durability. The aim of the test is to check the PV modules on problems such as thermal malad justment or fatigue of material. The Damp-Heat-Test involves heating the module at 85°C for 1000 hours in an atmosphere with 85 percent humidity.

This procedure allows drawing conclusions about the suitability of the modules with

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regards to its ability to withstand the longterm penetration of air humidity.

Step 2: Custom-made engineering solutions IBC SOLAR is currently constructing a large scale PV plant in the federal state of Rhajasthan, where local conditions are very demanding as for the special topography, the logistics and the grid connection. As a second step of quality strategy, special solutions were developed and applied.

The soil consist of a 3m top layer of loose sand, which easily leads to wind corrosion, and thus, the foundation of the PV arrays is crucial to a sound engineering. To ensure a secure and stable installation, IBC SOLAR is to use special developed foundations to fit the needs of the local sandy soil conditions.

Several on-site have tests been executed in order to assure that the engineering meets the demanding soil requirements. The dessert had to be leveled and compacted in order to prepare the site for the construction phases.

Decentral string inverters were used for a quick and easy replacement in case of damages as well as to make use of the shadow provided by the installation and to protect the components from sand and heat.

Whereas this helps to avoid power-losses due to de-rating caused by high temperature the inverter’s IP65 rating allows for outdoor installation.The same concept was employed for the cabling, which – in addition – has to be extremely resilient to minimize loss of power.

Due to the remote location of the plant several safety measures have been installed: The site is completely enclosed by a wall, day and night under surveillance, not only in the construction but also in the operation phase.

Furthermore, the government of Rajasthan has built an extra grid substation (GSS) for

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the whole area for a proper connection to the power-grid, while IBC SOLAR as the EPC contractor ensures the connection to the medium voltage grid of the utility.

Step 3: Overall project management The third step of quality assurance refers to business experiences, resources and optimal coordination skills. Executing companies need to have the long-term financial strength to provide sustainable guarantees and the necessary manpower to offer highest quality standards and a profitable return on investment. Implementing largescale projects on an international level not only requires a deep understanding of the specific market and business but also solid partnerships with regional experts. IBC SOLAR inspects local factories and works with certificated subcontractors along the whole value-chain of the project – from the foundation or the assembling of modules to the electrical installation. As an EPC contractor the company ensures constant supervision during the construction phase, efficient transfer of knowledge and therefore a fast grid connection. IBC SOLAR’s Project and Site Managers are Authorised Experts for Photovoltaic Equipment (TUV Rheinland) and thus it is insured that IBC SOLAR’s largescale PV projects follow the current state of technology and are in line with international standards for PV systems (e.g. IEC 62446).

The client receives a turnkey solution from one source and benefits from optimal cost efficiency and quality control.

Step 4: Certification through independent experts However, as a last seal of quality in project execution and for the best possible

outcome and maximum security, independent consultants from the German organization TUV Rheinland will be assigned to examine the plant with a view to issue a quality certificate confirming the observance of IEC 62446. With all these measures IBC SOLAR ensures that a plant has been constructed according to highest quality standards upon its completion. Investors can therefore rely on a quick turn on investment and high energy yields.

Authors: Reinhard Ling, Business Manager at IBC SOLAR Projects Private Ltd. and Falko Krause, Strategic Project Manager at IBC SOLAR AG

Company overview: IBC SOLAR is one of the leading photovoltaic system integrators. With a global experience of over 30 years in all climatic regions and soils the company has implemented more than 150.000 PV systems with an overall capacity of more than 2.5 GWp. IBC SOLAR entered the Indian market in 2008. Since then, the company has successfully executed five projects with a total capacity of 18 Megawatt-Peak. Considering India as one of the most important markets in the future, the system integrator is represented locally by its independent subsidiary in Mumbai. With this strategy, IBC SOLAR can meet the high demand for PV system solutions and build a sustainable network in the Indian market. A subsidiary not only enables the company to be closer to the market with a strong local team but also to have a greater flexibility and control in project handling. Thus, customers in India can benefit from a reliable investment based on high-quality products, a broad service portfolio and longstanding international experience.

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Nasir Mulani

Managing Director, Citec India

EQ : Citec India completes 10 years this April, how do you see the journey so far?

NM : We started with 11 employees in 2004 and are 418 today, one third of Citecâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s global strength. We have offices in 3 locations in India at Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. From Detail engineering to Project management services, Citec India provides a gamut of services which include Engineering management, Conceptual studies, Feasibility studies, Pre-bid engineering, Basic engineering, Detail engineering, Procurement assistance, Bid analysis, Construction management etc.

Focusing on local sales in addition to supporting the group work load, we have been able to achieve multiple key customers from various business segments. In terms of competence we have developed expertise in several new areas.

EQ : Citec has international presence, how important is the Asian market for Citec?

NM : The Asian market reveals a lot of potential for growth in areas such as Energy, Infrastructure etc. Comparatively, Europe is experiencing a steady or rather slightly downward trend. Citec India has been active with sales in the Middle East and Far East, specifically Indonesia which is doing exceptionally good. Nevertheless, a domestic market has the basic advantage of local presence. As of now the domestic market contributes w i t h

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40% to our order book, we target to increase this ratio gradually. India remains to be one of our focus areas along with the markets of Middle East and Far East. Talking about the power sector, India has immense market potential but one that looks good only in the long term scenario. Currently it has been drooling under problems such as fuel shortages, mainly of coal and gas and irregular payments from power distributors, causing the producers to delay their projects or even subdue new announcements.

EQ : From the consultancy point of view, cost efficiency without compromising quality has become a pre-requisite, so how does your organization meet such demands?

NM : Very true that the market is more matured and we see positive demand of quality and value added services being cost efficient at the same time. But this hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been a challenge with our well placed quality

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systems. Recommendations & suggestions to minimize the cost & time of overall project and providing multi disciplinary solutions under one umbrella stand to be our value added offerings to our customers.

Some of our general strategies include careful studying of inputs, planning the best resources, research, close interaction with customer, implementation of all standards thus aiming for optimized projects and customer satisfaction. We secure the total project costs by Citec standardized processes and tailor made services. We try to add value to our services through exploring ways to reduce the project built up time for example, prefabrication. Ease and economy of transportation, equipment handling studies, noise reduction in case of plants close to residential setups are some example of factors we consider during design.

EQ : What gives you a competitive edge in the market?

NM : Our unique combination of engineering and information management services leaves us with very few competitors.

Specially, within the power plant industry, where we see great opportunities, there are not many other companies that can offer similar complete solutions. It’s obviously simpler with a one-stop shop. Seeing documentation as an integrated part of the whole process is a general trend in today’s business. Planning the documentation already when the engineering work starts makes it smoother for all parties involved, resulting in better quality and delivery accuracy. At the end of the day, it saves our customers a lot of hassle and money. Our strategy of offering local presence with global resourcing, state of the art communication tools and project management tools also count. In order for us to be one step ahead, we continuously develop competence within the newest design tools on the market.

EQ : Environmental damage is a concern that haunts the power sector; we would like to know more about your practices that go green while being resourceful.

NM : As part of the Global Citec Group, we are a part of Energy Vaasa that promotes renewable and efficient energy solutions. Last year we hosted the Energy Ambassador’s India visit at our Mumbai office. On his mission, he created awareness about the importance of more waste to energy plants in India. We try to continuously improve our customers’ global EHS performance by utilizing practices that protect the environment, including reducing the quantity of emissions and material usage, developing engineering opportunities for recycling, energy minimization and pollution prevention and other resources more efficiently. We have extended our services

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to a number of waste to energy plants, water management plants etc thus contributing to the cause of a better environment.

EQ : Tell us more about Citec’s competence and contributions to the renewable energy sector.

NM : We have developed the competence to cater to wind and solar power plants.

In wind we have undertaken activities like equipment design, steel frame design and electrical design of turbines, fibre cover modeling and plant design.

We have also worked on calculations and design for some hydroelectric plants.

Apart from Renewables, we have been active in the Bio power segment with a number of projects ranging from 5 to 10 MW.

EQ : What are the expansion plans of your company in the upcoming years, especially in India?

NM : Citec’s strategic goal is to increase the number of employees in India to a count of 1000 by 2017. 2/3rds of Citec’s global resources are expected to come from India.

We definitely have a bigger role to play in the group and we look at it rather as an opportunity than a challenge.

Citec India will focus more on own sales in addition to the group load. Spotting the right partners and exploring potential business prospects along with them would always be a primary focus. Besides being active in our core sector of Energy and Power, our strategy includes expanding our services further to the Oil and Gas sector taking in more projects from Middle East and Far East.

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Thefts In Solar Parks, Avoid Them With CCTV & IDS Integration A Successful History Franz Xaver Boessl - R&D Manger & Perimetral system specialist at I.D.S. Security

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his article about the protection of PV Parks will present a case study of an integration between PIDS (perimetral intrusion detection system) and CCTV. This integration was realized

Those sites were earlier protected with digital Microwaves links, 100 meters per link circa. Video-surveillance was based on no.6 analog speed dome (PTZ) cameras with digital video recording, continuously

were setting up in order to drive the camera on the alarmed link for the video transmission of the images to the control station.

Night scene illumination was achieved through 500W halogen projector, one

Image 1&2: example of theft of copper and panels in a PV park.

and replicated on many PV Parks in Italy, repeatedly assaulted due to the high quality of the PV panels used and for the copper wire backhauls.

connected to the security services control station via IP dedicated link.

PTZ pre-programmed positions (presets)

per camera, turned on by intrusion alarm activation.

This solution showed immediately a

Image 2: PTZ positioning is obtained through Micropoint II pinpoint capabilities. The process is fully automated and images were transmitted to security services control station.

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high level of nuisance alarms (due to grass, water puddles, wild fauna, etc.) that lowered the level of attention by security service and the owners; scene enlightenment was underestimated, so there was not enough light to permit a clear understanding of the events.

What’s more, the angle of view of the camera, very wide due to the 100 meters length of the microwave link, produces panoramic images, this causes a lack of resolution that don’t permit the remote validation of the alarm, causing worthless patrols.

As results this sites were deeply plundered, a lot of times causing the insurance company to impose improvements on security systems and the banks threaten the withdrawal of investments.

The improvement introduced concern the realization of a fence protection through a well known PIDS protection system, able to pinpoint perimeters attack to within 3 meters (SMI Intrepid™ Micropint™ II).

The information regarding the point of intrusion along the fence are available on an open protocol that was used to drive PTZ cameras directly to the point of intrusion; the integration was realized on the digital recorder and the events transmitted to security services in real time.

Let’s take a look on the work done for this integration, the strategy chosen for this integration and the algorithm implementation.

The aim of this work has been the construction of a single product that permits all the usual features of advanced videosurveillance (hard disk recording, remote images transmission, motion detection, etc.) and the communication with Intrepid Intrepid™ Micropint™ II cable in order to declare intrusion alarm and position speed dome cameras to the location under attack.

information retrieved from the recording (high quality and detailed images of the intrusion event) and the possibility to make a remote validation of an alarm thanks to the automatic positioning of the cameras on the area under attack (Security officers do not need to ‘search’ something or someone in the protected site because detailed images of the intrusion are immediately and automatically available).

The system is composed by many specialised subsystems (Fig.3): • MicroPoint™II cable, assigned to fence protection against cutting/climbing; • Alarm control panel, assigned for intrusion detection of internal areas (inverter room, transformer room, etc), alarm transmission (Contact ID, GSM with voice and SMS) and remote operation (GSM bidirectional • IP PTZ Cameras with smart IR onboard.

• Milestone Xprotect VMS which manages video functions, i.e. video recording, motion detection, remote internet transmission to authorised client and mobile devices.

The Raptor plugin, running on the same server, blends all the information together.

As shown in the image 3, Milestone Xprotect with Raptor Plugin acts like a gateway for the interconnection of the subsystems; MicroPoint™II cable is connected via RS-422 serial port, speed dome cameras communicate via IP and the alarm control panel via RS-232 serial line.

Microwave technology that permits perimeter protection with precise location of alarm. The configuration realized is a loop with two PM (processor module which realizes the DSP analysis of the cable signal) and one LU (link unit) for the interconnection of the sensor cables. Important feature of this product is the transmission of alarm and power along the same cable used for the detection. This feature permits quick and clean installation over wide perimeters too.

The protection of the doors and the technical rooms is managed by a classic alarm control panel; in this case Satel Integra was used, because of its high reliability and its advanced bidirectional GSM alarm module (that permits to operate the whole system via SMS short messages); This control panel is EN50131 compliant and this permits the certification of the whole intruder system as required by the insurance companies.

Milestone Xprotect is PC based video management system. The version used in this work is the “Professional” which manages IP cameras, maps, external alarms through IP port.

Milestone Xprotect VMS provides: •

Visualization of the cameras with many pre-defined layouts;

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Recording and storage of the images on internal/external hard disks;

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Dual stream support, in order to differentiate compression of recorded vs. transmitted images;

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Multilevel activity detection with zones;

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Extraction of video data in various formats;

MicroPoint™II is a patented Southwest

• Images watermarking functions; • Backup with scheduling on intern al/extern al media; • Smart search on recorded dat a with select able parameters;

For this reason a specialized plug-in for the Milestone Xprotect VMS was realized with the ability of communicate with the subsystems in order to send and receive information, elaborate them and, following internal algorithms, generate commands for camera positioning, alarm triggering, multiple concurrent target following etc.

The most important benefits obtained by this integration regard the amount of useful

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Image 3: Integrated security system architecture

A web server provides the connection to the last generation of mobile devices (OSx and Android based) in order to view live images and recordings on mobility.

The client software acts as CMS (central monitoring station) and provides the

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To achieve this results a specialized algorithm was written, image 4 presents a simplified version.

Once the plug-in starts, the data are loaded in memory as an array of structures; this allows to point quickly to the zones for a high speed comparison.

Image 4: Simplified Raptor software plug-in behaviour. For clarity arm/disarm conditions are ignored and not drawn. In case of alarm the software checks the availability of the main speed dome (i.e. the best placed camera for that zone); if the speed dome is not free (i.e. performing other main activity) the event can free the camera if the ‘interrupt’ modifier is checked, otherwise the event calls the secondary speed dome to perform the action. The secondary dome is always available unless it is performing a main action for another event. Every alarm can drive three speed dome cameras at the same time, one main (the best geographically placed relative to the zone in alarm) and two secondary.

connection of the multiple system on the same interface.

Once a match between zone in alarm and zone in memory has been detected, a busy flag is raised to prevent the speed dome to be called from another zone (busy flag can be overridden by ‘interrupt’ modifier and is not conservative for secondary speed dome in the same tour), and the tour starts calling sequentially the preset written in memory.

Priority fo r particular zone (e.g. gates, know risk zone, etc.) is assigned by enabling the interrupt modifier; two contemporary events, both with interrupt modifier enabled, will fall in the previous situation.

Image 5: example of long distance positioning performer by Raptor plug-in. PTZ in rest and in preset position. The thief in white dress is smoking (!).

Raptor plug-in was developed in order to solve a typical “economical” problem: there are only 4 PTZ cameras on 800 m perimeter, so few resources to inspect a long perimeter, the plug-in need to allocate resources when and exactly where needed; even with multiple targets.

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is directly available to the user. Data from alarm panel are showed in the GUI too, data available are the zone status and the arm/ disarm situation.

Tests of the system were really surprising, at every strike of the fence we got an alarm with siren, SMS message on the phone and the images of the striker.

Image 6: Raptor plug-in can drive up to three cameras simultaneously, this is the opposed PTZ camera on the same event.

Due to the pinpoint capability, the system outclasses the recommended target size for the “Detect” task as indicated in the EN50132-7 application guidelines and complies with the H.O.S.D.B. 28-09 CCTV OR manual “Observe” task.

After months of continuous protection, and several new unsuccessful theft attack (all documented and interesting in order to understand new attack strategies), the system showed high reliability, almost nil nuisance alarm rate and, till now, 100% detection ability; sabotage attempt were immediately recognized and fixed thanks the fast repairing kits available.

Image 7: Intruder detected by Micropoint II and Raptor integration; alarm is declared when the intruder is still outside the area, and the camera positioned as well.

Once the event is fired, it needs to be completed or interrupted; an interrupted event becomes instantly completed (killed).

In order to observe the behaviour of the speed dome cameras, a “status panel” show the operations. Data from MicroPoint™II are showed in the GUI, so every information

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SO L A R ENERGY

Solar Dentists: Redesign & Optimisation of existing non-performing Solar Power Plants Tanmay Bishnoi, CEO, ADS Projects & Systems

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DS Projects & Systems is a Consultancy & Training organization and have completed the Design & Engineering of more than 21MW Utility Scale Solar Power Plant and more than 1MW Rooftop Solar Power Plants. After having said that, they have created a niche in Redesigning & Optimisation Consultancy of non-performing solar power plants and call themselves “Solar Dentists”. Just like Dentists mend the teeth and fix any problems in the existing dental structure, similarly ADS rectifies all problems in the existing Solar Power Plants and redesigns for improved performance and life. We have recently upgraded and started the operation of 100KW Solar Power Plant. The plant was in a very bad situation – 1.

The plant was performing at a PR of around 60-65%.

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Short Circuit had caused the inverter to blast twice.

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There was no string nomenclature and identification was a chaos

4.

The structure had rusted in less than 3 years time

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5.

Some of the Solar Panels were blown away by the wind

specific training programs and workshops for the same under the banner of ADS Global Knowledge Academy.

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The junction boxes had melted

7.

There was no UV protection for the cables or the cable pipes/tray.

As “Solar Dentists”, we did the dentistry and redesigning of the plant including the electrical layout of the plant, the plant is operational again and performing very well.

Thereafter, the client hired us and our team went for site survey and did the plant audit using highly sophisticated equipments like Solar Analyser. We even used advanced softwares like PVsyst and PVSOL, to create a real time simulation of the plant and then optimized the design using the same configuration of panels while replacing the inverter.

After checking all the panels, we found out that only 40% of the panels have degradation less than 20%. Therefore, out of 100KW capacity, only 40KW has been commissioned and started operating. The balance has been kept for phase 2 of the upgradation. There are a number of reasons for this kind of degradation and bad performance of the plant, which cannot be given in detail in this article but can be analyzed from the design and optimization perspective. We organize

•

The Performance ratio of the plant is more than 70% using the same panels, which we did not change because of client non-approval for the same. If the panels had been replaced as well, then the PR would have been nearly 80%, according to our design calculations; which we are getting on another plant commissioned by us in January.

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We have used SMA inverters on both the plants and by far they are one of the best inverters in our experience, which are performing very well and have excellent after sales service and technical support.

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The strings have been marked for identification and the junction boxes have all the relevant protection devices and ratings as per NEC norms

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The electrical wiring has been replaced and all the cables have been designed for overload current protection. The complete electrical wiring has been tested for any leakage.

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We had to remove the panels from the bottom row for air movement in the exiting structure.

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Solar Power Plant Monitoring Systems Harshavardhan Reddy Nagatham, GlobalDataâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Analyst

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he increasing complexity of technology continues to change the way solar power plants are operated and maintained. Monitoring systems are bespoke custom built combinations of hardware and software, which are set up to measure, record and analyze the parameters of different components of a solar power plant. The most advanced systems can transmit and record information from each panel, junction box, and inverter, and can also control certain simple actions such as flipping a switch on or off.

A solar power plant without any of these complex systems integrated will generate electricity effectively as long as all components are connected and functioning correctly according to their rated parameters.

However, should one or more components cease to work in their optimal manner, or if even a small amount of physical damage is done to one of the components, the overall productivity of the plant will decrease and it will take a great deal of time and effort to determine which component is causing the system to underperform.

store data. These loggers would periodically be connected to a computer for data to be transferred and analyzed at a later point.

This practice was developed into the use of integrated and interconnected data-loggers across a software platform.

With the overall capital expenditure associated with solar power plants in decline, it has become easier for developers to integrate increasing levels of monitoring into their solar power plants. These monitoring systems are being connected to the internet via WiFi or fiber optics, and the data is hosted on a local or remote server. This way, a developer with multiple plants can conveniently monitor all plants from a single location. Data can also be hosted online with privacy protocols in order to enable the developer to monitor plant performance from anywhere in the world using a device as small as a smartphone or laptop.

Wide Spectrum Solar monitoring systems do not use a specific set of components or perform a predetermined set of operations, but can be designed with great flexibility in relation to the available budget, and also to reflect the needs of the developer and the parameters that the developer considers most vital for the maintenance of a particular plant. At the basic level, for a rooftop home solar power system for example, a monitoring system can be built using solar component data loggers connected to a microprocessor capable of transmitting data to a Liquid-Crystal Display (LCD) display in the premises and also to a hosting server via the internet for later analysis.

At the other end of the spectrum are systems designed for large utility-scale solar power plants. These are more complicated systems with a higher frequency of data acquisition, and are closer to real time

Evolution The level of sophistication that can currently be observed in monitoring and control systems did not suddenly emerge, but evolved over time in relation to such factors as the availability of technology and the decline in solar panel prices, which meant that more capital expenditure could be spent on auxiliary equipment. In the early years of solar energy development, during the early and mid-2000s, simple data loggers were used in each component to gather and

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monitoring than the simpler systems used in households. These systems allow the user not only to monitor performance but also to control certain inputs within the plant. In order to maintain such high frequency data transfer over a large number of modules, inverters, substations, and other components, and to implement the control functions on several switches and module trackers, a Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system is installed, within which the monitoring and control equipment is embedded.

to control the function of the tracker by programming the system to follow certain daily and seasonal directional patterns.

The increasing use of trackers in PV and Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) systems has contributed to the growth of the monitoring and control equipment market. The following figure illustrates the amount of solar power capacity that is installed with trackers each year between 2009 and 2013 and also the forecast capacity for the period from 2014 to 2020.

While these accounts are only indicative of what a home system and a large utility scale system may use, these examples illustrate the subjective nature of the level of monitoring and/or control a developer may wish to install in a power generation unit. A home system may be installed without even the basic monitoring functions, and a utility scale system may be installed with minimal monitoring and no control, depending on the perceived requirements and budget constraints. The following figure illustrates the split of global annual solar Photovoltaic (PV) installations into three segments based on the type of installation concerned â&#x20AC;&#x201C; home installation, commercial installation, and utility-scale installation.

Growth of Global Solar PV Market driving the Market for Monitoring and Control Systems

Control Systems for Solar Trackers Utility-scale solar power plants which use trackers to track the sun usually have a monitoring and control system in place

The global solar power market, including solar PV, CPV, and CSP installations, has been burgeoning over the past decade and has therefore been driving the market for integral and auxiliary solar power plant components.

Annual PV capacity increased from 1.4 GW in 2006 to 37.8 GW in 2013. Of these annual installations, utility-scale installations have always accounted for a significant share, and with new countries like Japan and Australia starting to focus on utility-scale installations, this trend is expected to continue. Since most utility-scale solar PV installations now have integrated monitoring and control systems, this can be seen as a positive sign for the market for these devices over the next ten years.

The number of residential solar PV installations opting for monitoring systems has

also been on the rise. While in some regions this integration is aimed at achieving higher efficiency and quick repair or replacement in case of a malfunction, in other regions the use of net-metering and monitoring systems has been made mandatory by the relevant governing authority.

Market Incumbents and New Entrants The market for solar monitoring and control systems is occupied by a large number of semiconductor manufacturers, instrumentation companies, control system providers, and software developers. Some of these companies provide products and services for other industries which can also be used for solar PV systems, while some have emerged to cater exclusively to the solar PV industry. A number of integrate the products and services of other companies in order to provide customized solutions to solar power plants based on the developerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s requirements.

Entry into some sections of this market is very tough, due to the strong position held by incumbent original equipment manufacturers. For example, the manufacture of semiconductor devices and circuits such as sensors and data loggers is dominated by a small number of powerful companies, and a substantial amount of capital is required to enter this area of the market.

The same is the case with the manufacturers of control systems and other original equipment. However, system integration, software development, installation, web hosting, mobile application development, and analysis and maintenance of PV systems are areas that are easily accessible to new entrants from other similar fields or even new businesses.

Solar Datensystem (SDS) and Meteocontrol are companies that manufacture monitoring systems almost exclusively for the solar power industry. Both companies are based in Germany and have a global presence.

SDS products are marketed as Solar-Log and are designed for residential solar systems and small utility-scale systems with a capacity of upto 2 MW. Larger companies capable of providing similar products and service packages are ABB, GE Energy, and Siemens.

The great potential of the market has also attracted solar module and component manufacturers such as AE Solar, Juwi Solar, Sun Power, Sun Edison, and SMA to expand into the provision of monitoring and control systems.

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Is Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar MISSION (IM) POSSIBLE? Varun Sharda, Marketing Executive, Refex Energy Ltd.

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t has been more than three years since the Jawaharlal National Solar Mission (JNNSM) was launched in India, chalking out aggressive yet achievable targets for Solar Plant installation. A 20 GW target seems a little steep prima facie, but is it as impressive today as it sounded in 2010? Worldwide approximately 36 GW were added in 2013 alone wherein China and Japan contributed more than half of the capacity added. While countries are gearing up for single plants with capacities upwards of 300-500 MW each, India adding just about a GW a year doesn’t look too promising, given the edge it has in terms of the incident radiation. Approximately 2.5 GW was auctioned primarily in the first half of 2013 in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Karnataka.

Out of these close to 1 GW was issued LOAs and PPAs were signed for even less than that. And the number of projects that have commenced operation on ground is a minute fraction of it. The phase 2 of the NSM was released towards the fag end of the year.

Out of the total capacity that got installed in India in 2013, almost half of it came from the Phase 1 of the NSM that was auctioned and allotted in mid 2012. Remaining half comprised of primarily REC projects and some projects under state policies which again were allotted in the previous year.

What is really disturbing is that most of the projects which were allotted in the first quarter of 2013 still do not have the PPA signed. Some of them received the clearances but that too towards the end of the year, which means that these projects would come live not before mid or end 2014.

India did double its installed solar capacity in 2013, but in reality it was the REC mechanism which primarily pulled the solar market in 2013. These were projects that were both initiated and installed in the same year. The irony is even REC mechanism 30

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is under serious threat. REC mechanism which was introduced to make Renewable Energy attractive for developers is in itself not adequate to guarantee its success. It needs to be supplemented by enforceability of Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO). Poor financial state of DISCOMs and the obligated utilities are delaying enforceability which in turn is affecting the sale of REC’s. REC pricing also remains an issue. Should the Solar Power Obligation (SPO) enforceability be brought in, the obligated entities do not see any financial sense in buying solar RECs since per unit production cost of solar energy today stands at anywhere between INR 6 and 7. In spite of low REC sale the only driving force that pulled REC projects in the second half of 2013 was Accelerated Depreciation (AD) benefit. Withdrawal of this benefit would see solar capacity addition decline the way it has been for wind. We need pro-activeness from the policy makers in this early phase that will enable adoption of solar energy to grow to the level of achieving grid parity and maybe even lower, so that it can be treated at par with other energy sources, not requiring any

special incentives.

The solar dream seems a little blurred.

Solar Mission does enjoy the flagship status in the country but its mechanism has some shortfalls. The phase 2 of NSM saw Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) spring into action. SECI will be assisted by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) in managing the phase 2 of the NSM. There are two points to be noted in this phase. One is it works on the principal of subsidies/aids – Viability Gap Funding (VGF). With VGF being provided, the tariff has gone down to as low as INR 5.45/ unit. VGF is being released in five tranches with the final tranche being released in the fifth year after project commissioning.

Interest accrued on the balance VGF after every year will have to be borne by the developer. Any delay in disbursement of the VGF tranche means additional financial burden. Aggressive bidding on VGF will lead to additional pressure in terms of project cost, ultimately leading to quality compromises.

Generation Based Incentive (GBI) when compared to VGF comes across as a better option for ensuring plant quality. Second

11.35 MWp Solar PV plant in Kishnayat, Kolayat, Rajasthan

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11.6 MWp Solar PV plant in Gurha, Kolayat, Rajasthan

is the coordinating agency – SECI. Now SECI in itself doesn’t have any experience in power trading. It will be assisted by NVVN in signing PPAs with developers and back to back PSAs with utilities, keeping a 5 paisa margin. In case SECI is unable to secure PSAs with state utilities, NVVN will step in to sign short term PSAs with SECI. But then it’s short term and it won’t serve the purpose. Besides the credit worthiness of SECI cannot match with that of NVVN – the off taker in the phase 1 of NSM. But it certainly does reduce the uncertainty when compared with REC based projects. The most important factor for the success of JNNSM Phase 2 would again be enforcement of RPOs. Without enforceability there would be no reason for state utilities and DISCOMs to buy power from SECI @ INR 5.5/unit.

Interestingly the phase 2 was oversubscribed by almost three times with participation from a wide spectrum of players comprising of IPPs, developers seeking AD benefit, component manufacturers and govt./semi-govt. organizations, which was indeed quite overwhelming. But was it due to the scheme itself or due to dearth of any credible scheme in the country at the time the phase 2 was open for auctioning? 2013 saw many state polic ies getting deferred, upsetting renewable energy based plans for many companies. We can see similar delays in JNNSM phase 2 as well, with many

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winning bidders backing out of the project and forgoing the security deposits, on account of Indian cells and module manufacturers increasing the prices, thereby making the project at the given tariff unviable. Supply of cells and modules within the given timelines is also an issue. To add to this the US approached the World Trade Organization (WTO) on account of the restriction in the NSM policy to use imported panels in half of the 750 MW auctioned under the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) category.

Inspite of the above, is 750 MW sufficient to meet the targets that we have set aside under this program? What about on ground installations for 2014? We have some state policies which would be commissioned in 2014, but would that lead to a figure higher than the previous year’s? Replicating 1 GW installation year on year won’t bring us anywhere near the 20 GW mark within the set timelines.

Large scale solar plants upwards of 500 MW capacities is what is required to come closer to the target. Contributions from private as well as public sector are required to increase the installed capacity.

It’s quite intriguing to see that participation from PSUs as solar power producers came so late, that too primarily from NTPC which as on date has a total solar installed capacity of 75 MW, a figure belittled by the solar capacity already installed by companies like

Welspun, Azzure, ACME, etc. A figure further belittled by its own total thermal installed capacity of 43000 MW. SECI’s initiative in setting up large plants in several earmarked states need to be implemented fast. Not to be pessimistic, but the time gap between initiation and implementation in our country is something no one can predict. An immediate comparison of our country can be made with the United Kingdom, which has set aside a similar 20 GW target by 2020. Its current installation stands at somewhat 5.5 GW and prediction of another 2.5 GW is made for 2014, taking the total to approximately 8 GW. There after an average of 2 GW per year is all what it needs to reach home, a figure that seems quite doable looking at the year on year growth in installations in the last 3 years.

The idea here wasn’t to paint a dismal picture. The idea here was to take stock of what is happening and how much is the gap till the checkered flag, lest it’s too late. The idea here was also to understand that sooner or later we will need to shift our dependencies on renewable power irrespective of the FiTs, incentives, policies or govt. support. And finally the idea here was to understand that Solar comes across as one of the most dependable RE source and it’s only up to us to make the most of it.

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2.5MW Single Axis Solar Plant at Andhra Pradesh by SOLON

SOLON International LL FZE

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OLON’s successfully operating branch in South Asia with vast knowledge and experience in the solar fi eld as a German pioneer, has successfully commissioned a 2.5 MW Single-Axis tracking, Solar PV power plant – Visaka Power Plant, in Nalgonda District of Andhra Pradesh, India.

SOLON, has executed the project under full EPC/ turnkey mode, covering all aspects of the power plant right from site specific subject such as, site leveling plan crafted to suitably install the single axis tracker, DC and AC design, production of solar modules, engineering, procurement of balance of system materials suitable to and complementing the SOLON module performance, to final commissioning. The power plant is estimated to produce 18.22 lakh units per MW/Annum.

Installed for the first time in India, SOLON’s hydraulics based Single Axis tracker – SOLON Tauri, is a unique German engineering solution with the ability to move 250KW of panels at a single time.

SOLON Tauri is designed to enable minimum maintenance costs wherein each mega watt of installed capacity can be accommodated by four trackers, thereby making it far more cost effective in comparison to, conventional single axis tracker systems.

SOLON Tauri trackers’ movements are controlled and monitored by SOLON Vega - SOLON’s proprietary SCADA monitoring system. SOLON Vega allows continuous remote monitoring the power plant’s performance therefore, offering a decisive advantage to the client.

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With self-supplied products that have long standing guarantees in performance and quality, combined with almost two decades of experience within the PV industry, SOLON justifiably stands strongly by the energy generation guarantee of the single axis tracking power plant. Introduction of this single axis tracker has enabled a 20% increase in the estimated energy.

SOLON becomes a one stop store and single point of inquiring with the EPC contractor in case of any difference between promised performance and achieved performance of the plant.

For those projects done in India, SOLON’s management has envisaged and intends to bring its global experience in building solar photovoltaic power plants, at various climatic / weather zones. Up until this point, the SOLON Global Design Centre has executed all projects within India, utilizing its experience and expertise accumulated over years, from executing solar plants for various customer bases across the globe.

The selection of components and vendors for the Visaka Power Plant project is also an outcome of consolidating such experience and expertise gained by SOLON. Establishing the quality of components and quality of vendors is a task that requires much attention and responsibility, for which the SOLON Global Design Center has supported the Indian operation base in order to ensure compliance with International Standards.

SOLON’s European colleagues who worked with the selected vendor in order to ensure required quality standards were met as per the design standards after which the required output was successfully produced.

While certain hardships were faced during project execution, wherein the gigantic heavy weight support structures of the single axis tracker were not properly handled by the structure installation team, which run largely on man power and very minimal machine interface, the European monitoring team, educated the vendor, raising their service quality up to the expectations envisaged during the design roll out.

However, with the support of the SOLON’s Global Design Center, which firstly monitored the execution of the project and audited the execution for quality and standards, both the activities were completed by deputing their respective European members who have thorough experience in solar power plant development. These factors undoubtedly influenced the project execution schedule, and did vary the equilibrium of the project’s cash flows.

The commitment of SOLON management, their understanding of the solar power plant and its’ performance to the fullest extent for the guaranteed 25 years, their understanding of the customers’ commitment to develop a solar photovoltaic power project, enabled them to successfully execute and complete the Visaka power plant project on a good note.

Ensuring quality of vendors collaborated with, was achieved with the support of

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Sven Lindström-CEO, Midsummer Thin film solar cells are rapidly increasing in popularity thanks to its light weight, flexibility and durability, whick makes them ideal for floating modules, vehicles, landfills, portable power generation and membrane roofs on factories, offices and other structures that are not strong enough for traditional glass modules.Midsummer is one of the leading suppliers of equipment for cost effective manufacturing of CIGS thin film flexible solar cells. Midsummer’s turnkey manufacturing lines have a small footprint, are perfectly scalable and allow for small-scale production of solar cells and modules.

CIGS stands for copper-indium-galliumselenium, a metal alloy that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect (PV). The CIGS absorber is deposited on a stainless steel substrate, along with electrodes on the front to collect current. The cells are then connected in series and covered by a protective layer of plastic to form a flexible solar module.

Since a stainless steel substrate is used, the modules can be made without glass. The CIGS solar modules are therefore much lighter, flexible and can be made frameless, to suit applications where traditional silicon solar cells cannot be used, e.g. on structures that are uneven, moving or weak.

Midsummer has developed a highefficient process for cadmium-free CIGS on stainless steel with sputtering. By using sputtering in all processing steps, the process cycles in the manufacturing of solar cells can be drastically shortened, the solar cells can be made cadmium-free and also made on stainless steel substrates suitable for light weight flexible modules – all contributing to a highly competitive method to manufacture thin film CIGS cells with high efficiencies.

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The process is a completely dry process and also an all-vacuum process, with less stringent requirements for clean-rooms etc.

CIGS solar cells are manufactured by sputtering the material onto 156x156 mm stainless steel substrates. The solar cells from Midsummer are free of cadmium, a toxic material usually used in CIGS and other thin film solar cells.

Thin film CIGS solar panels are thinner and lighter than traditional silicon solar cells made of glass. They are also non-toxic (no cadmium) and can be made frameless, thus ideal for buildings and moving vehicles in cities. They are flexible and can be bent.

Flexible CIGS solar modules are gaining market share thanks to its high efficiency, low weight, flexibility and durability. There have been significant improvements in CIGS cell efficiency, with Midsummer achieving aperture area efficiency in excess of 15.8 per cent in an all-vacuum process.

“Using Midsummer’s revolutionary solar cell manufacturing process by sputtering, solar cells can be made on stainless steel – suitable for flexible modules – and without any cadmium in the buffer layer. Cadmium and its compounds are highly toxic and exposure to this metal is known to cause cancer and other illnesses. Avoiding cadmium in the manufacturing process is desirable for the sake of the production staff and it makes it generally easier to commence manufacturing of thin film CIGS solar cells”, said Sven Lindström, CEO, Midsummer.

In close co-operation with Swedish Chalmers University of Technology, Midsummer has recently developed a unique process to recycle the CIGS-material that does not end up on the solar cell. The process recovers the material that is left from the sputtering targets (30 to 40 per cent) and

what ends up on the masks in the machine.

“Normally when recycling these kinds of materials you usually melt down the materials unrefined. But this new and unique method is far subtler as the process makes it possible to remove all the selenium before dissolving the material in its components with various acids,” said Sven Lindström, CEO, Midsummer. “Gallium and Indium are expensive rare earth materials and this unique process makes it possible for us to drastically reduce the material costs while at the same time conserve the earth’s limited resources”.

The unique feature of this process is that it removes selenium by oxygen and thus makes it easier to process the remaining oxidized metals. This is very good as selenium may in some reactions create toxic gases. The CIGS material is grinded to a powder and oxygen is allowed to flow over the material.

The method allows SeO2 to be formed and all the selenium is separated from the metals. The separated selenium can then be reformed at very high purity (over 5N purity, 99.999%) so it can easily be reused in the solar cell production process without further purification.

Midsummer’s customers are thin film solar cell manufacturers all over the world.

CIGS flexible solar modules are growing in popularity thanks to their low weight, flexibility and durability. Applications are e.g. floating modules, vehicles, landfills, portable power generation and membrane roofs on factories, offices and other structures that are not strong enough for traditional glass modules.

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Thin Film CIGS Solar Cells Gaining In Popularity

SO L A R P V I NV ERT ERS

Delta launched RPI Series of Grid tied Solar Inverters in Indian Market in 2014 Shashidhara BV, Technical Head-Solar Inverters - Delta India

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n today’s highly competitive PV business where uptime is critical and productivity is of prime importance Solar Inverters or Power Conditioning Units, being the heart of PV system, play a critical role.

The inverter market is extremely fluid with ongoing innovations in technology, design and functionality raising effi ciency and lowering costs.

inverter models and 500KW in grid tied transformerless central inverter model. RPI inverters are aimed at catering customers with home, commercial and utility scale inverter requirements. These inverters are multifaceted and can be used in every system size as well as are compatible with all commercially available solar modules and system components.

Being a world leader in Power conversion technology, Delta offers a complete product range of solar inverters, accessories and services to our partners and installers and the best photovoltaic systems to maximize profit. With over 30MW of string and central grid-tied solar inverters already installed in India, the new Renewable Power Inverters (RPI Series) will provide wide range of frequency and voltage tolerances, single and dual Maximum Power Point Tracking topologies with higher efficiencies coupled with competitive pricing.

Delta is a leading provider of inverter models to consumers that are customized to Indian grid conditions. In addition to their Industry’s high efficiency (up to 98.3%), Delta inverters are characterized by a long service life and are easy to install, maintain and monitor. With our well-established local presence and highly motivated and trained Photovoltaic solutions’ team, we will be offering Delta customers fast and reliable local service support in terms of Application Engineering and after sales service support.

Delta’s state-of-the-art Renewable Power Inverters’ portfolio includes grid tied transformerless range of 3KW, 5KW, 12KW, 15KW, 20KW and 30KW in string

Solar inverters are not only the heart of the PV system, but also the intelligent control equipment of power generation in conjunction with the monitoring systems. A

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PV system is a major investment, but one that will eventually pay for itself over a period of time. The pay back period can be further reduced by having monitoring solutions for PV systems. Monitoring ensures that we are getting the most out of our system.

Monitoring helps in fast identification of problems or breakdowns can prevent a loss of output, while the various read out possibilities provide an optimal insight into your system.

Delta has the expertise in providing end to end solar PV monitoring solutions. Delta brings a unique level of SCADA competence and expertise to Solar PV projects, as our capabilities have been proven in some of the most demanding projects in India.

Delta is devoted to innovation and systematically developing new products and technologies, particularly those that are high-efficiency and energy-saving. Aiming to reduce global warming and ensure mankind’s sustainable future with better value and performance, Delta is continuously enhancing our engineering capabilities and is committed to developing innovative technologies and solutions for a better tomorrow.

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Comprehensive And Bankable Solar Solutions From Schneider Electric Mr. Anurag Garg, Vice President, Solar Business, Schneider Electric India

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chneider Electric has taken a dominant and leadership position in Solar Industry in India within a very short period of time. This growth has been supported by performance and efficiency of our products and solutions which have been well recognised by our customers. Our local manufacturing of latest range of Central Inverters in state-of -art factories has also helped us achieve growth and leadership position. Our installed base is generating very good CUF despite the harsh environment in which they operate. Our installed base is a combination of Inverters, SISS and few projects executed by Schneider Electric. We also have installation of our String Inverters and Charge Controllers in Rooftops,Telecom towers, Off Grid installations in various parts of country for various applications like Hospitals, Hotels, Schools, Offices and Homes etc.

unique Plug N Play solution of Solar Inverter Sub-stations (SISS)/ PV BOX ( Ranging from 1080KVA to 1360KVA, 11KV and 33KV versions) which helps Developers and EPC complete solar projects within a short cycle time with many other benefits of reduced site activity, eliminates need for coordination with various supplies

Conext Core XC grid-tie inverters: Conext Core XC Inverter is the core of the PV power conversion system, a 3-phase inverter with best-in-class peak efficiency and fully configurable grid-interactive features.

We have offers of Large Central Inverters starting from 540 KVA to upto 680KVA. It is designed to allow for DC inputs upto 1000 Vdc for longer string lengths.

Array Boxes: Robust string combiner box that enables the connection of multiple PV module strings while protecting and monitoring the installation.

Our offers: Schneider Electric offers products and services in Solar broadly under 2 Categories i.e •

Utility Scale and Large commercial (USLC)

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Rooftop & Small Commercial (RSC) and Off –Grid.

Solutions for Utility Scale and Large Commercial applications: Balance-of-system solutions In USLC which typically is Solar Plant > 500kW we offer Balance of System solutions.

A balance-of-system solution integrates everything needed to efficiently distribute and manage locally generated solar energy, from panel DC output to the grid connection.

A Schneider Electric™ balance-of-system solution typically includes the following:

Solar Inverter Substation: For USLC Segment we offer a very 36

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& components pre-connected and tested at our plant. Optimized versions of PV Box offer overall BOS cost reduction, enhanced reliability and faster deployment.

, as SISS has almost all of the critical products for a solar plant inside a special containerized plug and play solution suitable for harsh environmental conditions in which solar plants operate. SISS/PV Box is a fully integrated factory tested solution which has Inverters, Transformers, RMU , UPS, Ventilation System, LV Aux Control Panel and Scada Control with all these products

Conext Control monitoring and control solution: Conext Control is a single, standardized solution that integrates process, supervision, and monitoring functions. It provides real-time production data and trend analysis for harvest optimization, along with remote diagnostics and control for reduced intervention costs.

Besides all above Schneider Electric has capability and products for evacuation switchyard of all Voltage Class from 11kV to 220 kV to evacuate solar power to Grid complemented with design & engineering capability for a complete Solar Plant.

Rooftop & Small Commercial (RSC) and Off –Grid Segment For RSC & Off Grid Segment, we have

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parts of India where solar projects are ongoing.

Applications: Targeted applications for Schneider Electric in Solar are Large Utility Scale Solar farms, Small and Large Commercial, Roof Top applications for Residential & Small Commercial, Off Grid, Micro Grids and Rural Solar applications including Solar Pumps.

offers which cover various solar needs of On Grid & Off Grid and Inverters with MPPT Charge Controllers of Various Ratings, suitable for Storage and Non-Storage system for single and three phase system. Our offer of Charge Controllers is widely used in Telecom Towers which have started using Solar Power to off-set diesel and thus reducing its OPEX and also reduce CO2 emissions in environment. We also have unique solution for Solar Agricultural / Commercial Pumps which can be used for AC Pumps. We have design and engineering capabilities and also have capability to help our customers with Concept and Financial Analysis to help them decide on most optimum solution.

Our distribution model for Off Grid and Rooftop products is a 3 tier approach which comprises of our well established Distributor Network, System Integrators and Direct Customers/ EPC. This helps us reach most

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Services: Schneider Electric has a service network aligned with our installed base as we are present in India since decades and have service network almost across India. However, we also train our Partners and System Integrators to do first level intervention without our support for Rooftop and Off Grid Products. For USLC, we have a dedicated service set up of highly trained engineers and spares close to our installed base to provide response time as desired for such applications.

Conclusion: As Schneider Electric, we would always like to provide innovative products & solutions to our customers which help them make the most of their energy and provide services which are best in class to

reduce downtime of our customer plants.

We believe it is important to have state of art products and services to establish long term relationship with our customers. True to our innovative spirit we would like to bring new products and solutions to support industry growth and make it more efficient and competitive through our R&D, where we invest a huge amount of resource to be future ready. Schneider Electric wants to assure customers in terms of its bankability which is very critical for solar developers and investors considering the longevity of the projects.

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B. Venkat Rao

Country Manager— Large & Medium UPS Systems, Emerson Network Power (India)

EQ ; How many MW’s of Solar Inverters have been supplied by your co in India and how does the future look like?

BVR : Considering the power requirements of the country, the future of Solar power sector looks very bright in India. More than 20 MW (OFF Grid and Grid Connect put together) has been supplied

by Emerson Network Power so far.

EQ : Please enlighten our readers on the unique technology aspect of these inverters installed in India and its performance?

BVR : Emerson Inverter has an inbuilt Isolation Transformer which is necessary for the Indian conditions. We also offer various configurations so that the customer can deploy the invertor as per his requirement.

EQ : Please englihten our readers on the debate of “Central vs.

String Inverters Design” Which concept is best suited for India and why?

BVR : String inverters are a well-accepted concept in the market due to their low footprint, higher efficiency and low installation cost. Having said that, it is important to understand the requirement too, for example: if you need multiple string inverters then it is advisable to deploy Central Inverter because using multiple 38

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string inverters can affect the efficiency level. In addition, there are ways by which installation cost with central inverter can be reduced.

EQ : What are the other products and solutions for solar pv plant provided by your co and what are its technological features.

BVR : We offer series of intelligent products that integrate multiple energy sources such as solar, wind, fuel cells, battery, generator and utility power configured for your application. It is designed to maximize energy savings, support environmental sustainability and provide advanced management within your network infrastructure.

Liebert range of Solar Inverters: Liebert EEU - Liebert EEU is single / three phase output inverter, with Grid interactive feature. Solar Photovoltaic panels convert solar energy into electrical energy as DC power. This DC power becomes input for the EEU inverter. The inverter converts it into conventional AC power, and with its state of the art Grid synchronization design, this AC power is fed to the supply grid.

Liebert ESU - Liebert ESU is single / three phase output, bi-directional inverter system. ESU operates in parallel with the grid utility. Solar Photovoltaic panels convert solar energy into electrical energy as DC power. This DC power is used to charge the batteries through a charge controller and also used for the load through inverter. Additional energy is exported to the grid.

EQ : Please tell us about the unique technological features of your products which are also distinguishing factors.

BVR : As more technology permeates our lives, power backup solutions are common in today’s households. Users typically look for the longest possible back-up duration within their budget. But increasingly, customers are now being aware of the right-sized solutions to their power needs that will be economical in the long run and will be durable with easy serviceability for the longest periods. Also now the UPS system comes integrated with software that makes the UPS more dynamic in usage depending on loads.

For instance, our Liebert GXT-MT+ and Liebert GXT-RT + online UPS systems offer intelligent monitoring and network

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management functions, with the integration of LCDs making monitoring and periodic service schedules easy to maintain.

EQ : What is your Top 5 Advice to a Project Developer in India while choosing your products for its Solar PV Plant

EQ : Kindly enlighten us on the ongoing R&D within the company and the way forward for its technology, products and services.Whats your annual R&D budget

BVR : Project Developers in India are talented, experienced and connected to the best practices globally. Their focus should be on: - Speedy project execution, adoption of leading technology, scalability and future management needs, flexibility of design and accordingly Emerson Network Power complements them by offering best kind of products.

BVR : We have two types of Engineering; New Product development, which stands for innovative products and Special Feature Addition Projects which means customized requirements or value addition to exiting products.

Annual R&D budget of our organization varies every year and is based on the requirement and the dynamics of the market.

EQ : Have your product won any award recently….Kindly enlighten us in detail about this product BVR : Emerson Network Power recently won the honor of being recognized as the ‘Most Preferred UPS Brand’ certified by Frost and Sullivan in 2013. This recognition reflects our excellence in meeting enduser technology requirements and offering superior customer service. Emerson Network Power has the capability to uniquely deliver customized solutions that best fit the needs of various industry and buyer segments. We are on the pulse of the market and have responded to the dynamic needs of customers to help them achieve short and long term profitability goals

EQ : Whats your view on the Indian Policy Framework and one piece of advise you would like to give to the government BVR : Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission’s 20,000 MW target should be increased to 30,000 MW till 2020, the mission is very promising as it is aimed at reducing the cost of solar power generation in the country through (i) long term policy; (ii) large scale deployment goals; (iii) aggressive R&D; and (iv) domestic production of critical raw materials, components and products, as a result to achieve grid tariff parity by 2022. Mission will create an enabling policy framework to achieve this objective and make India a global leader in solar energy but there has to be a policy till 2030.

EQ : Kindly enlighten us on the competition scenario and increasing competetion from manufacturers worldwide BVR : Efficiency (> 94%) would be the standard norm. Increase in power-density of loads clubbed with the increasing power tariff would compel the users to look at efficiency of the UPS as a pre-requisite in the RFP. Efficiency can’t be improved at the expense of availability.

The sector needs to provide solutions that can deliver ‘efficiency without compromise’.

UPS systems harnessing renewable sources of energy such as solar or wind are finding applications in key sectors, and I expect renewable energy to soon be the order of the day.

Most competing brands do not have all the products under one umbrella, so they have to involve a third party to procure products.

This is where we differentiate, because we bundle UPS products with TVSS, PDUs. One of our main focuses will be to understand and capitalize on partner strengths and helping them improve their approach to end-customers with an understanding of their business-challenges rather than simple box selling. We are regularly training our partners on the technology and providing technical knowledge over the products.

Helping partners to upsell and reward them on meeting targets because they can provide customers a comprehensive power solution depending on their requirements.

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Solar Power: Greenergizing your Growth and Energizing your daily needs !!

Kush Shah - C.E.O , Mangal Accad Synnove Energy

The Project A 5kw project in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu is a proof of Complete Reliability on solar power . This project is based on Net Zero Concept Which makes it one of the finest solar project prevailing in Tamil Nadu. This 5 Kw project has the capacity to generate 20 units per day, which is remarkable considering it as a Net Zero Project, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site. Traditional buildings consume

40% of the total fossil fuel energy in the US and European Union and are significant contributors of greenhouse gases. The zero net energy consumption principle is viewed as a means to reduce carbon emissions

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and reduce dependence on fossil fuels and although zero energy buildings remain uncommon even in developed countries, they are gaining importance and popularity.

Material Selection Another key aspect of this project is usage of green batteries for the storage of energy which makes it as a perfect blend of renewable sources to create power. A solar inverter or PV inverter is a critical component in a photovoltaic system. It converts the variable DC output of the solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current that can be fed into the commercial electrical grid or used by a local, off-grid electrical network. SMA is the world’s biggest supplier and manufacturer of solar inverters with 30% market share of the world market of solar inverters. SMA Becomes the First Manufacturer Worldwide to Receive UL Certification for Its Transformer less Inverters,SMA Solar has transform-less solar inverters with 99% efficiency which is the highest efficiency solar inverter in the market It has. SMA’s Opti-Protect provide the system with optimized yield through automatic error processing. Along with it Sunny Island was installed for battery charging and load handling. Sunny island has a speciality for sophisticated battery charging and has high surge handling capabilities. It comes with a battery temperature senser and also a self timer on basis of battery’s charge level. While the batteries have the lowest rate of self discharge. The battery’s state of charge remains over 80% even after a year which is an achievement in its self for

a product like green batteries. The batteries also have a design life of 20 years and has a capabilities for working over 3500 cyles fat 80% depth of discharge. Along with it, Vikram solar, one of the reputed Indian solar manufacturer’s modules were used.

Polycrystalline technology was selected as it is a tested and a proven technology over last 35 years.

Unique solution

Mr. Subramaniam, Owner of Laxmi Group in Thanjavur wished to run his A/Cs , Refridgerators, water pumps , lights and fans on the system. “Where Thanjavur faces load shedding of over 10 hours, The battery and inverter selection were a critical aspect. Thus the best of the combination in the market was shortlisted for the client” says Kush Shah CEO, MASCE. The site was designed in such a way that Mr.Subramaniam and his family can also enjoy their morning breakfast under solar roof as well enjoy monsoons too.

Thus a fully galvanised structure of over 15

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feet high with strong pedestal work was put to installed to serve the purpose. 5% compromise was made on the generation as the modules were north inclined at -5 degree. But considering the aesthetics and the utilisation of the terrace area still possible, makes the compromise worth it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With this system, I can even switch on 4 A/cs on solar mode along with the refrigerator yet the solar plant wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t trip and that is impressiveâ&#x20AC;?

Says Mr. Subramaniam. Along with this, to reduce the cost of the system,entire 3 phase system was routed as a single phase system through the off grid power plant. To prove all of this, a Bluetooth communicating table top device called as Sunny Beam was provided.

This device would show Mr. Subramaniam live generation with fault alarms along with 90 day data recordings ,Also complete system is fully warranted for 5 years and has a design life of over 20 years!

The pupose

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mangal Accad Synnove Clean Energy With the help of their highly qualified and experienced engineering team, offer innovative as well as most practical EPC solutions to their customers, which ensure increased profitability for Customersâ&#x20AC;? says Mr. Manit Parikh, partner, MASCE.

This 5 Kw project of MASCE is a step ahead towards greener world and utilization renewable resources to generate power efficiently.

Organiser

Government of India

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE & EXPO ON RENEWABLE ENERGY Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Number 1 Renewable Energy Event

Exhibiting Sectors

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Â&#x2021; 6SHFLDO (PSKDVLV RQ 6RODU 39 DQG 6RODU 7KHUPDO as TN has the most Ambitious Solar Policy in India

! Wind Energy ! Biomass Energy

Â&#x2021; )RFXV RQ &RPSDQLHV 3URYLGLQJ 8QLTXH DQG Innovative Solutions in all Sectors

! (QHUJ\ (IĂ&#x20AC;FLHQF\ ! Green Mobility

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Marketing and Knowledge Partner

12 - 14 June 2014

Chennai Trade Centre Nandambakkam, Chennai Tamil Nadu, India

www.renergyteda.com www.EQMagLive.com Renergy2014_Advert_210x148mm_4SQ-option-1.indd 2

BOOK NOW

CONTACT DETAILS Rajneesh Khattar M: +91 9871726762 E: rajneesh.khattar@ubm.com Gaurav Singh M: +91 9008018873 E: gaurav.singh@ubm.com

Julian Thomas M: +91 9940459444 E: julian.thomas@ubm.com Iyer Narayanan M: +91 9967353437

41 April 2014 EQE: iyer.narayanan@ubm.com 09-04-2014 16:43:42

I NT ERV I EW

Nalin Agarwal PR Fonroche Private Limited

EQ : What’s the history of your group and what made your group foray into solar?

NA : PR Group was co-founded by two brothers, Pratap Raju and Pramod Raju in 2009. With several years of experience in Power and Investment Banking with marquee firms like Warburg, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan etc. they found the nascent renewable energy sector in India to be an exciting opportunity to explore further and build a business around the same. Nalin Agarwal joined in 2010 and has recently become a Junior Partner.

The first project we completed was in wind in 2010, where we provided turnkey advisory services for 21MW in Tamil Nadu (we are still active in wind, and aim to develop another 100MW of existing licenses this year onwards). Subsequently, we got in a joint-venture with Fonroche, and fortuitously were awarded our first 5+15MW PV projects in 2011.

EQ : Please tell us the policy under which your project is built and tariff got for your project NA : PR Group developed the 20MW project (divided into two projects of 15MW and 5MW capacity) in Bikaner, Rajasthan for their partners Fonroche Energie S.a.s. This project was built under Phase 1 Batch 2 of

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NSM (administered by NVVN). Both the projects have a 25 year PPA with NVVN at a fixed tariff of 9.1 Rs./kWh.

EQ : What were the challenges in securing the finance for your project and who are the bankers & investors behind it NA : In 2012 when we were looking to raise debt financing for the project, the solar sector was still new in India and Indian commercial banks typically took a long time to complete their due diligence on the project. Therefore, in order to meet the NVVN timelines we went for a Construction Financing facility that was raised from a consortium led by KKR and included Tata Capital and Aditya Birla Financial Services.

Once the projects were commissioned the construction financing facility was swapped out with a term loan from IREDA.

EQ : What were the challenges in choosing & securing land, permits, grid interconnection etc NA : There were several challenges that we faced during the development and execution of the projects – •

Lack of quality insolation data and outdated govt. land records were hurdles in finalizing the land parcel

•

We faced a number of challenges in acquiring the desired land parcel for our project. For instance, the plot-records map (a government document), did not correspond correctly with the ownership documents possessed by the current owners.

•

We had to scout 30 land parcels before selecting a flat land parcel that was in the vicinity of the evacuation

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Parameters

Planned

Actual

Performance Ratio

81.9%

82.9%

Specifi c Generation 1702 (kWh/kWp/year)

1868

infrastructure (sub-station) •

Our project in Rajasthan required 11 different kinds of permits, consent or approvals, and 7 types of registrations.

Quite a lot of time and resources were spent to mitigate the risk of delay in seeking the necessary approvals.

However, NVVN and RREC were very helpful in providing assistance to help speed processes up when required.

EQ : Briefly describe the challenges of working with available met data from NASA and others regarding irradiation, GHI etc…

NA : Access to authentic and reliable insolation data was a challenge for us as the ground data available in this region of our country was deemed unreliable. Because of limited time frame, setting up our own ground – based devices to collect data was not an option. Hence, we had to adopt and rely solely on satellite data (Meteonorm, NASA) – however, we had to ensure that adequate probabilistic analysis was incorporated in order to account for inherent unreliability.

Further, Fonroche also contracted GarradHasan to undertake a radiation and energy yield assessment for the site which helped in closing the financing.

EQ : Please enlighten us on the selection procedure of equipment & technology (c-si vs. Thin Film, Fixed structures vs. Tracking, String vs.Central Inverter ec..etc…) Whats the ideal solution for India and why?

NA : Better generation under hot climatic conditions along with product & performance guarantees backed by First Solar made us opt for Thin Film for this particular project.

We went with fixed tilt as our internal costbenefit analysis indicated that it would be favorable from project return point of view.

Since it was a large-scale project, we chose central inverters. Certainly, there were other parameters as well to consider for selection of the major components.

EQ : Who was your EPC Contractor and rationale behind selecting

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them NA : We had contracted Mahindra EPC for the project. They are a quality EPC service provider and we were comfortable working with them. We are pleased to note that the end result has been a plant of the highest quality & performance standards.

EQ : Briefly describe the components used and the rationale behind NA : Modules, Inverters, Monitoring System & Scada, Mounting Structures, BOS, Cables, Transformer etc…

probabilistic analysis was employed to reduce uncertainty 2.

We knew that securing good land on time would be key, and along with geo-technical considerations, the legal considerations (historical title search) were given high importance

3.

Selection of a newly constructed GSS was a factor in choosing the site and served us well, as injection capacity was not an issue

4.

Quality technical design is critical to ensure high quality of operations over the lifetime of the plant. This at the very least meant selecting high quality components with a long warranted life that could be expected to perform over 25 years. Concurrently, it meant optimized system integration & design.

5.

Research & preparation were critical in ensuring the various permits, approvals and licenses were able to be obtained in good time, and enabled us to be the first to commission the plant in the Batch

Modules: First Solar 82.5Wp (CdTe) Inverter: Schneider Electric 680kW (Central Inverters) Transformers: Raychem

EQ : What’s your view on the Indian Policy Framework and one piece of advise you would like to give to the government and regulators NA : In our assessment and experience, the policy and regulatory framework for solar PV in India has in most instances also been supportive and clear. However, there are instances where certain state-level tenders have not materialized – we hope that these issues are resolved so that investment can flow into these states, and investment in the renewable sector is sustained.

Further, the REC mechanism (If supported by enforcement of the RPO at the state level) can be a great driver for Indian solar. Rationalization of certain charges is also needed so that Open Access can really take off for solar.

EQ : What’s an ideal financial model for the Solar PV Project in India to optimize the IRR NA : We are exploring a tax-led investment model for large-scale solar PV, with a buyback after year 5 - we believe this can be the winning solution for the Indian market. Another interesting model for rooftop which we want to deploy is of leasing.

EQ : Kindly describe your Top 5 (worthwhile discussing) experiences with building your Solar PV plant in India 1.

High-quality insolation data was not available, therefore suitable

EQ : What are the future plans in India and other countries?

NA : In India, we want to focus on two segments primarily •

tax investor-led solar parks, which we will develop first in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

•

rooftop PV (for which we have entered into a partnership with Blue Star Limited for jointly providing turnkey EPC services). We look at the rooftop market as one with a lot of growth, and we also look forward to the market transitioning to more of a RESCO-based one

For the first projects, we will execute two 250kWp projects which we were awarded under the SECI Phase-3 rooftop tender, one each in Pune and Kolkata.

We are also setting up our first overseas office in Singapore this month, where we will focus on building a rooftop business based on a RESCO model. We are also planning offices in Philippines.

Finally, we are focused on providing solar power to island communities, especially in the South Pacific and the Caribbean, where the electricity prices are high on account of diesel-led generation & high transport costs.

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One Of the Oldest Rooftop Solar Projects in Calcutta Generating Power for 3 years Dibyendu Mazumder’s - Project Coordinator, Vikram Solar Pvt. Ltd.

H

eritage Institute of Technology (HIT) is one of the leading & oldest privately held engineering college in the eastern parts of India. The foundation behind HIT is Kalyan Bharti Trust and the prime mission of the trust is to promote education and nourish the students with the rich cultural heritage of India. HIT possesses sound technical and entrepreneurial wisdom.

Students are equipped with the strength & knowledge to bear the process of global challenges.

With the vision to prepare dynamic and caring citizens to meet the challenges of a global society while retaining their traditional values, HIT started its journey with the primary mission to create a “Center of Excellence” in education, keeping up with the rich heritage of the country. The mission was also extended to promote Green Energy and cultivate the use of solar energy in today life.

In the same line of action, HIT engaged with Vikram Solar, the Indian conglomerate who positioned itself as a specialized Solar PV Module manufacturer as well as a globally established EPC contractor, took the step forward to bring solar energy in its home state of West Bengal. It installed a 100 KW rooftop PV solar power facility at its campus, located at Anandapur, Kolkata, India, under MNRE Subsidy Scheme in the month of October, 2010. The 100 KW solar power plant, first of its kind in the eastern parts of India, received the coveted recognition to be the first & largest solar power plant in an educational institute in West Bengal. The plant was inspected by Dr. 44

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G. Prasad of MNRE and was inaugurated by Minister of Environment and Energy of the German Federal State of Hesse, Ms. Lucia Puttrich accompanied by Consulate General of Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Rainer Schemiedchen and Mr. S. P. Gonchaudhuri, Advisor to the State Government of West Bengal on Renewable Energy.

The modules are inst alled & commissioned on three (3) campus rooftops and approximately on a 1350 square meter of area, with an installed capacity of 100kW of solar power. The project is a grid connected hybrid solar power plant with battery back up using polycrystalline solar technology installed on a seasonal tilt hot dip galvanized structure and is connected to 440V of AC power, existing local distribution box of HIT.

The project uses a state of the art design with 504 numbers of highest efficiency polysilicon PV modules manufactured in India, and best of the class standalone type of 50 KVA invertors in two (2) numbers, which were designed & manufactured in India too.

There are 18 modules which are arranged in a series that is generating 660V of DC power and 28 numbers of stings which are arranged in a parallel manner.

The project was executed within a duration of 4 months from the time of receiving of order to commissioning of the project. Vikram Solar Pvt. Ltd. was entrusted with full responsibility for supplying the solar photovoltaic modules and other associated equipments including designing of the plant, procurement of BOS, installation and commissioning of the facility followed

by O&M.

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Installation of 10,000 nos. of solar photovoltaic water pumping systems for irrigation purpose implemented through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) throughout the country. a. Aim: Financing and installation of 10,000 nos. of solar photovoltaic water pumping systems for irrigation purpose to individual farmers to be implemented through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) throughout the country . SPV pumping systems can easily meet the irrigation requirements for land holdings for small and marginal farmers.

Due to lack of grid power electricity, a large number of diesel pump sets are being deployed every year in the country. This project involves subsidy with mandatory loan to individuals by regional rural banks and other commercial banks at nominal interest rate. It will obviate farmers from long distance travels to procure and transport diesel. It will increase the cropping intensity of the states through this intervention provided b. Technical Details: Technical details of SPV Pumping system are as follows: A solar photovoltaic (SPV) water pumping system consists of PV array, a DC/AC surface mounted/submersible/floating motor pump set, electronics if any, interconnect cables and an “On-Off” switch .PV Array is mounted on a suitable structure with a provision of tracking. Electronics could include Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT), Inverter and Controls/Protections. Technical specifications for solar water pumping systems are given in Appendix. The complete SPV pumping system will have to qualify laid down specifications, specified by MNRE from time to time ,which are notify on MNRE website: mnre.gov.in c. Budget: Estimated budget for the project is 228 crores.

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d. Ministry will provide up to 2% of Central Financial Assistance (CFA) as service charges to NABARD for towards implementation and monitoring of SPV pumping systems. e. Ministry will provide 40% of the system cost as subsidy limited to Rs. 76 per watt peak (Wp) capacity of Solar water pumping system having solar module capacity up to 5kWp, routed through NABARD to RRB’s and Commercial banks. 20%of the cost of the pumping systems will be beneficiary contribution and remaining amount will be extended as loan by the banks at nominal rate of interest to the beneficiary. f. Duration: Total duration of the project is 2 Years. g. Implementation: Ministry will provide 40% of the system cost as subsidy limited to Rs. 76 per watt peak (Wp) capacity of Solar water pumping system having solar module capacity up to 5kWp, routed through NABARD to RRB’s and Commercial banks.

20% of the cost of the pumping systems will be beneficiary contribution and remaining amount will be extended as loan by the banks at nominal rate of interest to the beneficiary.

Banks will allow only those manufacturers/ suppliers for pumping system who are empanelled by MNRE. NABARD will submit quarterly progress report for the number of installations and amount disbursed. h. Selection of beneficiaries: RRB’s/ Commercial banks will promote the scheme through their own channel and also manufacturers/suppliers will do marketing for their products.

i. Procurement: Only empanelled manufacturer/suppliers can participate in the scheme. Ministry will empanel manufacturers from time to time with the details of dealer available district wise. The rate of system will be inclusive of transportation, installation and maintenance for 5 years from the date of commissioning. j. Training: The beneficiary will be given training on technical aspects and maintenance by manufacturer/supplier. k. Monitoring: NABARD will be responsible to monitor the project and maintain the beneficiaries information through web enabled system. Ministry will get these systems inspected by third party.

This information about installed pumps must be updated at NABARD website.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC WATER PUMPING SYSTEMS INTRODUCTION A solar photovoltaic (SPV) water pumping system consists of : PV array : Capacity in the range of 200 Watt to 5 KWp .

Should be mounted on a suitable structure with a provision of tracking the sun Motor Pump Set (Surface or

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submersible) :

50 metres and the shut off head being at least 70 metres.

D.C. Motor Pump Set (with Brushes or Brush less D.C.) OR

(v) 13 liters of water per watt peak of PV array, from a Total Dynamic Head of 70 metres and the shut off head being at least 100 metres.

A.C. Induction Motor Pump Set with a suitable Inverter Electronics :

The actual duration of pumping of water on a particular day and the quantity of water pumped could vary depending on the solar intensity, location, season, etc.

Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) Controls / Protections.

Interconnect Cables and “On - Off” switch.

II. PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS (DUTY CYCLE) Solar PV Water Pumps with PV array capacity in the range of 200 Watt to 5 KWp could be installed on a suitable bore - well, open well, Water Reservoir, Water stream, etc.

Under the “Average Daily Solar Radiat ion” condition of 7.15 KWh/ sq.m. on the surface of PV array (i.e. coplanar with the PV Modules) , the minimum water output from a Solar PV Water Pumping System at different “Total Dynamic Heads” should be as specified below :

For D.C. Motor Pump Set with Brushes or Brush Less D.C.(B.L.D.C. ) : (i) 100 liters of water per watt peak of PV array, from a Total Dynamic Head of 10 metres (Suction head, if applicable, minimum of 7 metres) and with the shut off head being at least 12 metres. (ii) 55 liters of water per watt peak of PV array, from a Total Dynamic Head of 20 metres (Suction head, if applicable, up to a maximum of 7 metres) and with the shut off head being at least 25 metres. (iii) 35 liters of water per watt peak of PV array, from a Total Dynamic Head of 30 metres and the shut off head being at least 45 metres. (iv) 21 liters of water per watt peak of PV

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array, from a Total Dynamic Head of 50 metres and the shut off head being at least 70 metres. (v) 14 liters of water per watt peak of PV array, from a Total Dynamic Head of 70 metres and the shut off head being at least 100 metres.

The actual duration of pumping of water on a particular day and the quantity of water pumped could vary depending on the solar intensity, location, season, etc.

Indicative performance specifications for the Shallow and Deep well SPV Water Pumping Systems are given in the Annexure I .

For A.C. Induction Motor Pump Set with a suitable Inverter : (i) 90 liters of water per watt peak of PV array, from a Total Dynamic Head of 10 metres (Suction head, if applicable, minimum of 7 metres) and with the shut off head being at least 12 metres. (ii) 50 liters of water per watt peak of PV array, from a Total Dynamic Head of 20 metres (Suction head, if applicable, up to a maximum of 7 metres) and with the shut off head being at least 25 metres. (iii) 32 liters of water per watt peak of PV array, from a Total Dynamic Head of 30 metres and the shut off head being at least 45 metres. (iv) 19 liters of water per watt peak of PV array, from a Total Dynamic Head of

Indicative performance specifications for the Shallow and Deep well SPV Water Pumping Systems are given in the Annexure II.

III. PV ARRAY The SPV water pumping system should be operated with a PV array capacity in the range of 200 Watts peak to 5000 Watts peak, measured under Standard Test Conditions (STC). Sufficient number of modules in series and para llel could be used to obtain the required PV array power output. The power output of individual PV modules used in the PV array, under STC, should be a minimum of 74 Watts peak, with adequate provision for measurement tolerances. Use of PV modules with hig her power output is preferred.

Indigenously produced PV module (s) containing mono/ multi crystalline silicon solar cells should be used in the PV array for the SPV Water Pumping systems. 

Modules supplied with the SPV water pumping systems should have certificate as per IEC 61215 specifications or equivalent National or International/ Standards.



Modules must qualify to IEC 61730 Part I and II for safety qualification testing.



The efficiency of the PV modules should be minimum 14% and fill factor should be more than 70%.



The terminal box on the module should have a provision for “Opening” for replacing the cable, if required.



There should be a Name Plate fixed

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inside the module which will give: a. Name o f the Manufactur e r or Distinctive L o g o. b. Mod e l Number c. Se r ial Number d. Year of manuf a cture

IV MOTOR PUMP - SET The SPV water pumping systems may use any of the following types of motor pump sets: 1.

Surface mounted motor pump - set

2.

Submersible motor pump set

3.

Floating motor pump set

4.

Any other type of motor pump set after approval from Test Centers of the Ministry.

used in the pumping system should be hot dip galvanized iron with minimum 80 micron thickness.

To enhance the performance of SPV water pumping systems, manual or passive or auto tracking system must be used. For manual tracking, arrangement for seasonal tilt angle adjustment and three times manual tracking in a day should be provided.

VI. ELECTRONICS AND PROTECTIONS Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) should be included to optimally use the Solar panel and maximize the water discharge.

Inverter could be used, if required, to operate an A.C. Pump.

The “Motor Pump Set” should have a capacity in the range of 0.2 HP to 5 HP and should have the following features: 

The mono block DC/ AC centrifugal motor pump set has its driving unit and impeller mounted on a common shaft, thereby giving it a perfect alignment.

The pump should be provided with specially developed mechanical seals which ensure zero leakage. 





Adequate protections should be incorporated against dry operation of motor pump set, lightning, hails and storms. Full protection against open circuit, accidental short circuit and reverse polarity should be provided.

The motor is of 1-5 HP having spring loaded carbon brushes in case of D.C. Motor Pump Sets. The suction and delivery head will depend on the site specific condition of the field.

Submersible pumps could also be used according to the technical need of the particular case.

The suction/ delivery pipe (GI/HDPE), electric cables, floating a ssembly, civil work and other fittings required to install the system.



The following details should be marked indelibly on the motor pump set

a)

Name of the Manufacturer or Distinctive Logo.

b)

Model Number.

c)

Serial Number.

VII. ON/OFF SWITCH A good reliable switch suitable for DC / AC use is to be provided with the motor pump set. Sufficient length of cable should be provided for inter -

connection between the PV array and the motor pump set.

VIII. PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS AND WARRA NTY Solar PV Water Pumps with PV module capacity in the range of 200 Watt to 5 KWp may be installed on a suitable bore - well / open well / Water Reservoir /

Water stream etc. Indicative Performance Specifications for the Shallow and Deep well SPV Water Pumping Systems are given in the Annexure.

The PV Modules must be warranted for output wattage, which should not be less than 90% at the end of 10 years and 80% at the end of 25 years. The whole system including submersible/ surface pumps shall be warranted for 5 years. Required Spares for trouble free operation during the Warrantee period should be provided along with the system.

IX. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE MANUAL An Operation and Maintenance Manual, in English and the local language, should be provided with the solar PV pumping system.

The Manual should have information about solar energy, photovoltaic, modules, DC/AC motor pump set, tracking system, mounting structures, electronics and switches. It should also have clear instructions about mounting of PV module, DO’s and DONT’s and on regular maintenance and Trouble Shooting of the pumping system.

Name and address of the person or Centre to be contacted in case of failure or complaint should also be provided. A warranty card for the modules and the motor pump set should also be provided to the beneficiary.

X. NOTES i.

Wherever the “Water table” or the level of water in the reservoir or the water source (e.g. Diggie) from which the water is to be pumped, is within 10 metres depth, „Surface Motor Pump sets” should be preferred.

V. MOUNTING STRUCTURES and TRACKING SYSTEM. The PV modules should be mounted on metallic structures of adequate strength and appropriate design, which can withstand load of modules and high wind velocities up to 150 km per hour. The support structure 48

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ii.

The type of pump set used must match the total dynamic head requirement of the site (i.e. the location at which it is installed). Moreover, it should be appropriately tested and certified by the authorized test centres of the Ministry to meet the performance and water discharge norms specified in section II above.

iii. The beneficiary may select an appropriate Model (i. e. Capacity of PV Array and Type of Motor Pump Set) as per site requirement.

Indicative Technical Specifications of Shallow Well (Surface) Solar Pumping Systems With D.C. Motor Pump Set with Brushes or Brush Less D.C. (B.L.D.C.) * Water output figures are on a clear sunny day with three times tracking of SPV panel , under the “Average Daily Solar Radiation” condition of 7.15 KWh/ sq.m. on the surface of PV array (i.e. coplanar with

the PV Modules) .

Notes: 1. For higher or lower head / PV capacity, or in between various models; water output could be decided as per the clause II. (i.e. performance specifications and requirements) specified earlier.

2. If surface pumps are used in lieu of submersible pumps, the water output must match that of the submersible pumps as specified in this table.

Indicative Technical Specifications of Shallow Well (Surface) Solar Pumping Systems With A.C. Induction Motor Pump Set and a suitable Inverter:

* Water output figures are on a clear sunny day with three times tracking of SPV panel, under the “Average Daily Solar Radiation” condition of 7.15 KWh/ sq.m. on the surface of PV array (i.e. coplanar with the PV Modules).

Notes: 1. Suction head, if applicable, minimum 7 metres.

2. For higher or lower head / PV capacity, or in between various models; water output could be decided as per the clause II. (i.e. performance specifications and requirements) specified earlier.

3. If submersible pumps are used in lieu of surface pumps, the water output must match that of the surface pumps as specified in this table.

Indicative Technical Specifications of Solar Deep well (submersible) Pumping Systems: With A.C. Induction Motor Pump Set and a suitable Inverter: * Water output figures are on a clear sunny day with three times tracking of SPV panel, under the “Average Daily Solar Radiation” condition of 7.15 KWh/ sq.m. on the surface of PV array (i.e. coplanar with the PV Modules).

Notes: 1. For higher or lower head / PV capacity, or in between various models; water output could be decided as per the clause II. (i.e. performance specifications and requirements) specified earlier.

2. If surface pumps are used in lieu of submersible pumps, the water output must match that of the submersible pumps as specified in this table.

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DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions has collaborated closely with Moser Baer Solar to install solar farms in the remote locations of Ladakh.

Rajaram Pai - Business Leader South Asia, E & C and Photovoltaic Solutions E.I.DuPont India Private Limited

M

ore than 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy have been installed in India to date, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, with an additional 1.5 GW anticipated by the end of 2014, according to industry estimates.

Energy Industry experts suggest that India should be able to reach grid parity within the next couple of years,.

The recent short documentary production, “Power of Shunya™: Relying on Solar for a Brighter Future,” highlights the latest advanced materials enabling sustainable growth in solar energy. The activities are connected with a new growth initiative by DuPont in India to address the country’s most critical challenges by using science for problem solving. The initiative aims at helping achieve goals such as zero hunger, zero darkness and zero lives lost. This includes eliminating the country’s energy deficit by accelerating the adoption of solar power.

“Solar energy has tremendous potential to help meet the growing need for energy in India, but only if it is managed in the right way. Ensuring solar energy systems deliver power reliably for their 25 year lifespan is key, not only to provide a clean and sustainable source of power, but also to ensure solar remains a good investment,” said Rajaram Pai, business leader, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions, South Asia.

regions in line with our vision.”

Ladakh is one of the most isolated areas in India, at a high altitude and in an extremely cold climate. Decentralized power is a solution for this geography, but it is difficult and costly to transport diesel for generators, and the emissions from such generators can be ecologically harmful. Other clean energy sources are either not available or difficult to harness.

DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions is the leading supplier of specialty materials to the solar industry. It has collaborated closely with Moser Baer Solar , India’s #1 Solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider and a key player in manufacturing world-class solar panels, to install solar farms in the remote locations of Ladakh. Moser Baer Solar manufactured and installed 500 kilowatts of solar panels using DuPont materials at several villages in Ladakh. Now, these panels have electrified more than 350 houses with sustainable power

supplied at a cost lower than diesel-fired generators. This solution is easily scalable, and can be used to provide a reliable off-grid energy solution across India.

Critical materials such as DuPont™ Solamet® photovoltaic metallizations and DuPont™ Tedlar® polyvinyl fluoride films help increase the power output and reliable lifetime of solar panels, which helps enable more affordable remote electrification by bringing down the per unit cost of solar energy generated.

The achievement in Ladakh is an excellent example of how DuPont science is helping solve key challenges. By providing some of the world’s most advanced and innovative materials, more powerful and reliable solar panels are transforming the sun’s potential into the kind of clean, renewable energy that Ladakh and the world needs to thrive.

Vivek Chaturvedi, chief marketing officer, Moser Baer Solar said, “Moser Baer Solar is proud to be of assistance to people and make a meaningful difference in the 50

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Saumya Bansal Gupta - EQ International

S

pire Corporation, a global solar company providing capital equipment and turn-key manufacturing lines to produce photovoltaic (“PV”) modules and optoelectronics thin film services, announced revenues from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2013 of $14.6 million, a 34% decrease from $22.1 million in 2012. Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2013 was $8.5 million, or $0.92 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1.9 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, for the same period of 2012.

These results include the completion of a transaction previously reported in which substantially all of the assets and assumption of certain liabilities related to Spire’s biomedical business were acquired by N2 Biomedical, LLC. As this transaction is being identified as giving rise to a variable interest entity and Spire is determined to be the primary beneficiary, the assets, liabilities and results of operations of N2 Biomedical, LLC are consolidated into the Company’s financial statements. In addition, the transaction gave rise to a deemed dividend in the amount of $9.5 million which is not reported as a gain for financial reporting purposes and is eliminated in consolidation. Fiscal 2012, net

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operating results reflect a gain on the sale of its semiconductor business unit of $3.5 million, net of a tax provision of $1.9 million or $0.34 per diluted share.

Spire’s revenues from continuing operations for the fourth-quarter ended December 31, 2013 were $3.6 million, a decrease of 5% from $3.8 million in the fourth-quarter of 2012. The decrease was primarily due to sales mix within the solar manufacturing business segment. Net loss for the quarter was $1.9 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, compared to net loss of $1.1 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, for the fourth-quarter of 2012. Spire recorded a net loss from continuing operations of $1.9 million in the fourth-quarter of 2013, compared to a net loss from continuing operations of $1.3 million in the fourthquarter of 2012.

Gross margin from continuing operations for fiscal year 2013 was $2.5 million, or 17% of revenue, compared to $5.3 million, or 24% of revenue for fiscal year 2012, primarily due to the decline in sales, lower indirect costs offset by the amount of overhead absorbed due to the reduction in sales volume.

continuing operations was $5.2 million for the year ended 2013, as compared to net cash used in operating activities of continuing operations of $6.1 million for the same period last year. At year-end 2013, Spire had unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $4.0 million, as compared to $3.0 million at December 31, 2012.

Rodger W. LaFavre, President and CEO, stated, “While we are seeing improved PV market conditions, they were too late to translate into improved PV equipment sales for the fourth quarter of 2013.”

Mr. LaFavre, continued, “Current industry forecasts would indicate that strong demand will stimulate revenues for the industry’s manufacturers. We are already seeing increased equipment and turn-key line activities. Our focus on a sustained cost reduction program has resulted in measurable savings in operating expenses and is expected to continue through 2014. We are optimistic that the improving module manufacturing equipment business, combined with our cost reduction efforts will allow Spire to improve its operating performance in 2014.”

Net cash used in operating activities of

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QUA RT ER RESUL T S

Spire Corporation Q4 2013 Results

QUA RT ER RESUL T S

Yingli Green Energy Q4 2013 Results Saumya Bansal Gupta - EQ International

Fourth Quarter 2013 Consolidated Financial and Operating Summary

(including shipments for PV systems) increased by 40.8% year over year to 3,234.3 MW.

•

Total net revenues were RMB 3,711.1 million (US$613.0 million).

•

Total PV module shipments (including shipments for PV systems) increased by 11.4% from the third quarter of 2013.

•

Overall gross profit was RMB 451.7 million (US$74.6 million), representing a gross margin of 12.2%. Excluding the year-end tax adjustment, gross margin for sale of PV modules would be 14.2%.

• Overall gross profit was RMB 1,458.9 million (US$241.0 million), representing an overall gross margin of 10.9%. Excluding the year-end tax adjustment, gross margin for sale of PV modules was 11.8% on an adjusted nonGAAP basis.

•

•

Operating loss was RMB 594.2 million (US$98.1 million), representing an operating margin of negative 16.0%, including a provision of RMB 480.2 million (US$79.3 million) on the Company’s inventory purchase commitment under long-term polysilicon supply contracts. Excluding such noncash charge, operating loss would be RMB 114.0 million (US$18.8 million) and operating margin would be negative 3.1%.

Net loss was RMB 776.2 million (US$128.2 million) and loss per ordinary share and per American depositary share (“ADS”) was RMB 4.95 (US$0.82). On an adjusted nonGAAP basis, net loss was RMB 289.9 million (US$47.9 million) and loss per ordinary share and per ADS was RMB 1.85 (US$0.31).

• Operating loss was RMB 1,118.4 million (US$184.7 million), representing an operating margin of negative 8.3%, including a provision of RMB 480.2 million (US$79.3 million) on the Company’s inventory purchase commitment under long-term polysilicon supply contracts. Excluding such non-cash charge, operating loss would be RMB 638.2 million (US$105.4 million) and operating margin would be negative 4.8% on an adjusted non-GAAP basis.

• Net loss was RMB 1,944.4 million (US$321.2 million) and loss per ordinary share and per ADS was RMB 12.41 (US$2.05).

• On an adjusted non-GAAP basis, net loss was RMB 1,440.1 million (US$237.9 million) and loss per ordinary share and per ADS was RMB 9.19 (US$1.52).

“In light of robust demand from China, the United States, Japan and other markets, our shipments in the fourth quarter

increased by approximately 11% quarter over quarter, which drives our shipments for full year 2013 to exceed 3.2GW. We are delighted to be the world’s largest PV module supplier for the second consecutive year with a diversified market composition,” commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. “In the fourth quarter, demand from China continued to grow dramatically due to the explosive growth of downstream business driven by favourable government policies put in place since the beginning of 2013, which helps China rank as the world’s largest PV application market. As the demand surged in the U.S. and Japan markets, we continued to solidify our leading position in these markets.”

“In addition, we have achieved significant results in emerging markets. For example, we won 258 MW projects in Algeria. It not only demonstrated our high brand recognition and ability to explore emerging markets, but also helped us accumulate experiences in overseas downstream business.”

“Along with the diversification of markets, we have achieved significant results in domestic downstream business. By the end of 2013, we had completed the construction of 128 MW of PV projects in China and had successfully connected two thirds of these projects to the grid. The remaining portion is expected to get grid-connected by the end of April this year. We also worked on a

Full Year 2013 Consolidated Financial and Operating Summary • Total net revenues were RMB 13,418.1 million (US$2,216.5 million).

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Total PV module shipments

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new business model to develop downstream banks.”

“With the evolution of global PV markets and our strong footprints in China, the U.S., Japan, and other emerging markets, such as Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia, we expect to achieve 4.0~4.2 GW of module shipment in 2014,” Mr. Miao concluded.

Business Outlook for Full Year 2014

business in China through the cooperation with large enterprises, such as Datong Coal Mine Group, and China National Nuclear Corporation. We believe that the installation target of 14 GW for 2014 announced by China’s National Energy Administration for 2014, as well as other favourable policies, will enable China’s downstream segment to grow rapidly. Currently we have approximately 1GW of PV projects pipeline under different approval stages covering over ten provinces in China. We plan to complete the construction of approximately 400~600 MW of those projects by the end of 2014 and are expecting to construct up to 25MW PV projects in the first quarter of 2014, of which we’ve obtained all project loan approvals from domestic

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Based on current market and operating conditions, estimated production capacity and forecasted customer demand, the Company expects its PV module shipment target to be in the estimated range of 4.0 GW to 4.2 GW (including 400-600 MW shipment for PV systems) for fiscal year 2014, which represents an increase of 29.4% to 32.6% compared to fiscal year 2013.

Downstream Business Outlook for Full Year 2014

including selling self-developed PV projects to third parties upon completion, retaining and operating self-developed PV projects, forming joint ventures to develop and operate PV projects, and providing EPC services.

Currently the Compan y have approximately 1GW of PV projects pipeline under different approval stages across ten provinces in China such as Hebei, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Guangxi and Shandong province and continue to develop actively new pipeline for PV projects in other provinces including Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia province. Yingli Green Energy plans to complete the construction of approximately 400~600 MW of those projects by the end of 2014 and up to 25MW is expected to shipped in the first quarter of 2014. Partnering with several large enterprises, the Company is evaluating various approaches to hold or sell these projects.

Project Development Overseas In addition to project opportunities in Europe, Yingli Green Energy is expanding into emerging markets in the sun-belt regions of Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, through various models include co-development and joint ventures with existing or new partners. Currently, the Company has a pipeline of 200 MW utilityscale downstream projects outside China and aims to complete the construction of 30-50 MW in 2014.

Project Development in China Yingli Green Energy would consider various strategies in downstream businesses

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QUA RT ER RESUL T S

SMA Solar Technology : European market was more than compensated for by the extraordinarily strong demand in China and Japan Saumya Bansal Gupta - EQ International Overview 2013: •

5.4 gigawatts of inverter output sold (2012: 7.2 GW)

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Sales in line with guidance at €932.5 million (2012: €1.5 billion)

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International share increased to 71.0% (2012: 56.3%)

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Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of €-89.1 million (2012: €102 million) impacted by one-time items

•

Financial independence—net liquidity of €308.1 million (December 31, 2012: €446.3 million)

•

Managing Board confirms sales and earnings guidance for fiscal year 2014

SMA Solar Technology AG sold PV inverters with an output of 5.4 GW in the fiscal year 2013 (2012: 7.2 GW) and thus defended its position as a global market leader in a highly competitive environment.

The demand for solar power systems worldwide increased by approximately 25% to over 40 gigawatts (GW) in 2013. A 50% drop in the European market was more than compensated for by the extraordinarily strong demand in China and Japan. Roughly half of the newly installed photovoltaic power worldwide is accounted for by these two markets alone. In 2012, Japan and China accounted for approximately 20% of the global market. As a specialist for PV system technology, SMA is particularly affected by the strong shift in regional demand.

The major decline in demand in Europe and high price pressure reduced SMA sales in the reporting period by 36.3% to €932.5 million (2012: €1.5 billion). Sales are within 54

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position as a technological market leader in a highly competitive market. We have also raised our global presence through new companies abroad and with the acquisition of the Chinese inverter manufacturer Zeversolar. To be able to further improve our competitiveness in the medium term, SMA intends to build a strategic partnership with Danfoss. Overall, we are of course not pleased with these financial results. Nevertheless, we are convinced that we have laid the strategic foundation for sustainable financial improvements,” explained Chief Executive Officer Pierre-Pascal Urbon.

2014 Outlook

the sales guidance of €0.9 billion to €1.0 billion given by the Managing Board. The international share increased to 71.0% (2012: 56.3%). In such a short period of time, SMA was unable to compensate for the decline in European demand through the internationalization it has been pursuing for many years. In the key growth markets China and Japan, countries with high market entry barriers, SMA is still in the early stages of the market development process.

The earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to €-89.1 million. The EBIT margin was –9.6% (2012: 7.0%).

EBIT includes one-time items of €41 million for inventory and accounts receivables writedowns, €25.1 million for severance payments as well as start-up losses of €15 million

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for the Chinese subsidiary Zeversolar. The consolidated earnings amounted to €-66.9 million in the reporting period (2012: €75.1 million).

Total assets fell by 5% to €1.26 billion (2012: €1.33 billion). Despite high losses, SMA remains financially sound with net liquidity of more than €308 million and an equity ratio of almost 58%.

“For the first time in the company’s history, we had to post a high annual net loss due to the dramatic decline in the European market. Despite this difficult situation, the SMA Managing Board has not reduced investments in technology development. Expenditure on development of future products was again at more than €100 million. By this, we defend our

For the first quarter of 2014, the SMA Managing Board expects sales of €170 million to €200 million in a continuing difficult market environment (Q1 2013: €212 million). This decline compared to the previous year is largely due to project business. For the first quarter of 2014, SMA expects a negative EBIT of €-20 million to €-25 million (2013: €-8 million). The SMA Managing Board confirms the sales and earnings guidance for the entire 2014 fiscal year, first published in November 2013. As a best case scenario, it predicts an operating result of up to 20 million with sales of €1.0 billion to €1.3 billion. The guidance depends on a stable regulatory environment, particularly in Europe.

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Analyst Comm e nt s “Executing cost reductions and international expansion are critical to SMA Solar Technology’s future as global market share slumps” – says Cormac Gilligan, senior solar analyst at IHS “SMA’s full year financial results recently enforced IHS’ previous predictions of a major decline in the European PV inverter market. IHS estimates that PV installations in Europe declined by 37% in 2013. This slump in demand ignited a severely competitive price war which led to European PV inverter market revenues declining by a huge 46% to $2.1 billion. Europe accounted for 33% of the global inverter revenues in 2013, compared to nearly 60% in 2012.

Although SMA weathered this storm better than many of its smaller European competitors, some of which have exited the market during the last 12-18 months, its share of the global PV inverter market fell to approximately 17% in 2013. SMA’s market share had previously stood close to 40% in 2009, but has now declined for five consecutive years. Its lead over the second largest supplier (Power-One/ABB) has narrowed by 4 percentage points compared to 2012.

In order to remain the number-one supplier, it is critical for SMA that it delivers on its promises of cost reduction and expansion into China, Japan and other emerging markets that will offer growth opportunities in the future. Many of its plans in this area are tied to its recent M&A activity. However, Zeversolar remains a loss-making asset, and although its newly formed relationship with Danfoss will enable savings through greater component purchasing power, further cost reductions through technological improvements are unlikely to be significantly improved by the merge. IHS expects China and Japan to account for 44% of PV installations in 2014 and 35% of inverter revenues. SMA currently has a very minor position in both of these markets.

2014 will be a critical year for SMA and all other European PV inverter suppliers. Global PV inverter revenues are forecast to grow by 5%. However, to be able to grow in line with this, suppliers will need to overcome many challenges in entering new markets and cope with continued price pressure.”

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EU PVSEC 2014 29th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition

RAI Convention & Exhibition Centre Amsterdam, The Netherlands Conference 22 - 26 September 2014 Exhibition 23 - 25 September 2014

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PRODUCTS MECO “SOLAR MODULE ANALYZER (Photovoltaic I-V Curve Tester) Model 9009” MECO offer Solar Module Analyzer, Model – 9009 The MECO Solar Module Analyzer is a portable analyzer used for testing, maintaince and finding efficiency of various parameters of solar panel and cell. Analyzer can be used to design Solar System to generate specific power. It can identify Solar Power System requirement, best angle of Solar Panel installation and Broken / Worn-Out cells. The portability of this device means that it is also useful

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in quality assurance at various stages on the production line and can be taken from one location to another. When used in the installation of solar panels, solar panel analyzer assists in determining the proper inverter size as well as optimum power output position of panels and helps to identify defective cells or panels that have worn out over time. The solar panel analyzer also provides the user with current and voltage (I-V) test curves, maximum solar power

(Pmax) as well as current (Ishort, Imax) and voltage (Vnow, Vopen, Vmax). Solar cell efficiencies are also easily determined using the unit. Solar Module Analyzer is supplied with user friendly software for Data Storing and Analysis. Users can store data (.CSV/.

TAB) that can be read in MS Excel and print Waveform / Graph via printer.

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PRODUCTS Fronius takes further steps towards 24 hours of sun

At Intersolar 2014 in Munich Fronius International GmbH will present products and solutions that bring them closer to achieving 24 hours of sun. From June 4th to 6th, Fronius will be exhibiting its new SnapINverter generation of inverters in the form of the Fronius Galvo, Fronius Symo, Fronius Symo Hybrid and another product innovation on the 512 m² Fronius stand. New products in the field of project inverters, together with MicroGrid and energy management solutions, all highlight the Fronius flair for innovation

“As in previous years, we will be presenting a large number of product innovations and solutions at Intersolar 2014. They have enabled us to take another significant step towards our vision for the future of energy supply – 24 hours of sun,” explains Martin Hackl, head of the Solar Energy division.

SnapINverter – innovation meets a standardised installation experience With its new generation of inverters, the SnapINverters, Fronius covers a power range from 1.5 to 20 kW. This comprehensive inverter portfolio provides maximum flexibility and versatility at all levels, from single-family homes to large installations.

All SnapINverters offer a standardised user experience during fitting and installation.

Any necessary work can be carried out safely and easily, right through to servicing.

System planning and system monitoring are future-proof and user-friendly as standard.

For residential applications, Fronius will present a new, single-phase SnapINverter at Intersolar 2014.

Fronius Symo Hybrid, the individual storage solution “24 hours of sun”, the Fronius vision

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for the energy revolution, sets out the future of energy supply over the coming decades from the Fronius perspective. The new Symo Hybrid inverter from Fronius is an optimum storage solution forming an integral part of this vision.

The unused energy produced by a photovoltaic system is stored in a battery, enabling a large amount of the PV power generated during the daytime to be used during the evening and at night. Even in the event of a power failure, the power supply is maintained. With its modular structure, the inverter allows flexible upgrading and expansion of the storage unit. The Fronius Symo Hybrid will be available in 2014.

Product innovations in the project inverter range Fronius will unveil the new Fronius Agilo TL in the 360 kVA and 460 kVA power categories. This central inverter is ideal for use in large installations. Its impressive features include ease of installation, ease of maintenance and very high yields. Transport and operating costs are minimised thanks to the smart system design and compact dimensions. Fronius will also unveil a new

with photovoltaics MicroGrids are regional, self-contained, intelligent power distribution networks. In remote areas they are usually powered by diesel generators. But the fuel required is becoming increasingly expensive, while the cost of photovoltaic systems is falling all the time. At Intersolar, Fronius will present a solution that saves fuel and cuts costs.

Fronius displays energy management solution and optimised system monitoring

project inverter for commercial systems and large installations featuring an extremely high yield and a light and compact design that facilitates servicing.

MicroGrids – save fuel

Fronius offers a comprehensive energy management solution in collaboration with Loxone. This Miniserver-based home automation system, combined with a Fronius inverter, increases self-consumption and reduces costs. New DATCOM functions, such as direct meter connection for feed-in management and visualisation of consumption, deliver further optimisation of PV system monitoring.

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SOLAREXPO 2014 Sub-Saharan Africa Solar Energy Conference 2014 Date: 23-24April2014 Place: Accra, Ghana Organiser: Magenta-Global Tel.: +65 6391 2530 Email: r.raj@magenta-global.com.sg Web.: www.magenta-global.com

Novogradac Financing Renewable Energy Conference Date: 24-25April2014 Place: San Francisco, California, USA Organiser: Novoco Tel.: +1 415 356 7970 Email: events@novoco.com Web.: www.novoco.com

Semicon Singapore 2014

POWER-GEN India & Central Asia 2014

Date: 05-07May2014 Place: New Delhi, India Organiser: Pennwel Tel.: +44 1992 656610 Email: kelvinm@pennwell.com Web.: www.power-genindia.com

Renewable Energy World India 2014 Date: 05-07May2014 Place: New Delhi, India Organiser: Pennwel Tel.: + 44 1992 656645 Email: amandak@pennwell.com Web.: www.renewableenergyworldindia.com

Date: 07-09May2014 Place: Milan, Italy Organiser: Solarexpo Tel.: +39 0439 849855 Email: marketing@solarexpo.com Web.: http://www.solarexpo.com

Energy Storage China 2014

Date: 07-09May2014 Place: Beijing, China Organiser: HNZmedia Tel.: +86 21 31276308 Email: david.guo@hnzmedia.com Web.: es-china.cleanenergyexpo.cn

Clean Power Africa 2014

Date: 23-25April2014 Place: Singapore City, Singapore Organiser: SEMI Tel.: +65 6391 6361 Email: ltan@semi.org Web.: www.semiconsingapore.org

6th Middle East & North Africa Conference and Expo

The Solar Show Asia 2014

Solar Ontario 2014 Conference and Tradeshow

Intersolar Summit Mexico 2014

4th Annual China Concentrating Solar Power Summit 2014

Greenpower 2014

Date: 22-25April2014 Place: Singapore City, Singapore Organiser : Terrapinn Tel.: +65 6222 8550 Email: enquiry.sg@terrapinn.com Web.: www.terrapinn.com

3rd Power & Energy Africa 2014 Date: 27-29April2014 Place: Nairobi, Kenya Organiser: Expogr Tel.: +971 50 6285684 Email: sheryl@expogr.com Web.: expogr.com/kenyaenergy

Date: 06-07May2014 Place: Dubai, UAE Organiser: PV Insider Tel.: +44 207 3757187 Email: lthomas@pv-insider.com Web.: www.pv-insider.com

Date: 07-08May2014 Place: Ottawa, Canada Organiser: Cansia Tel.: +1 613 7369077 Email: info@cansia.ca Web.: www.solarontarioconference.ca

Date: 08-09May2014 Place: Haikou, China Organiser: Tel.: +86 21 51551646 Email: tinazhang@cbichina.com Web.: csp.cbichina.com

Date: 13-14May2014 Place: Capetown, South Africa Organiser: spintelligent Tel.: +27 21 7003500 Email: neil.borth@spintelligent.com Web.: www.clean-power-africa.com

Date: 15-May-14 Place: Mexico City, Mexico Organiser: Intersolar Tel.: +49 228 9714345 Email: Web.: www.intersolarglobal.com

Date: 13-15May2014 Place: PoznaĹ&#x201E;, Poland Organiser: Tel.: +48 61 8692295 Email: greenpower@mtp.pl Web.: greenpower.mtp.pl

For Listing of your Event : Conference and events are listed free-of-charge, so please feel free to get in touch to tell us about your event. We would also be happy to provide you with free copies of magazine for distribution at your events.(while stock last). Please send your conference information to : Mr. Gourav Garg at gourav.garg@EQmag.net

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Energy world in ur inbox Subscribe EQ International Weekly eNewsletter Energy Business, Technology & Financial Updates email to Piyush.Mishra@EQmag.net INDIA Tel. + 91 731 255 3881 | Fax. +91 731 255 3882 gourav.garg@EQmag.net | anand.gupta@EQmag.net

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EQ International Magazine Editorial Advisory Board

Shivanand Nimbargi MD & CEO Green Infra Limited

Rajesh Bhat - Managing Director juwi India Renewable Energies Pvt Ltd

Oliver. Behrendt Managing Director - REFU Solar Electronics Pvt Ltd

Ravi Khanna - CEO Solar Power Business Aditya Birla Group

Gyanesh Chaudhary Managing Director Vikram Solar Private Limited

Gaurav Sood Managing Director Solairedirect Energy India Pvt Ltd

Inderpreet Wadhwa CEO Azure Power

Sunil Jaini Chief Exe. Off. & Exe. Director Hero Future Energies Pvt Ltd.

Pashupathy Gopalan Managing Director MEMC-SunEdison

Paulo Soares CFO & Director Inspira Martifer Solar Ltd

K Subramanyam Former CEO Tata BP Solar

Shaji John Chief Solar Initiatives, L&T

Complies M with JNNS s regulation