EQ Magazine Sept 2017 Part 3/4 by EQ Int'l Solar Media Group

We turn passion into power. Every journey begins with the first step. At the turn of the year 1998/1999, Ralf Hofmann and a dozen engineers took the huge step and started an enterprise that was solely dedicated to photovoltaics. They brought with them a lot of ingenuity and enthusiasm as well as decades of experience from the original KACO company, which was one of the first suppliers of inverters in the late 1930s. KACO new energy is today one of the largest manufacturers of solar PV inverters worldwide. Energy storage systems as well as accessories for system monitoring and grid management round off our portfolio. Now that our journey has taken us to India, we look forward to make the next steps towards India‘s renewable energy future together with you.

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C ONTEN T

VOLUME 9 Issue # 8

INDIA

India all set to access resources under the Green Climate Fund for Finance

INDIA

Arctech Solar hits 2GW installed capacity milestone in India

ROOFTOP How India can improve its rooftop solar journey

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 Restriction on use The material in this magazine is protected by international copyright and trademark laws. 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.

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ROOFTOP Rooftop solar power plants in Andhra Pradesh reach 22 MW

FEATURED There Could Be 3 Lakh Jobs in Solar, Wind Sectors by 2022

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INTERVIEW

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

INTERVIEW WITH MR.RITESH POTHAN

INTERVIEW

RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

INTERVIEW WITH Mr.Rahul Gupta

ENERGY STORAGE Lithium-ion batteries below $200/ kWh by 2019 will drive rapid storage uptake,Finds IHS Markit

22 TECHNOLOGY Hanergy Releases Hantile to Snatch Construction Material Market Share

NTPC plans to add 20 charging stations for electric vehicles

INTERVIEW WITH MR.STEVEN CHEN

26 TECHNOLOGY All JinkoSolar Standard PV Modules Guaranteed to Meet IEC Double AntiPID Standards

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

EESL to procure 10,000 electric cars for various

Uneasiness in Solar Sector to Ease

EQ NEWS Pg. 09-33 FEATURED Foreign rupee limit poses new threat to Indian high-yield bonds

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PV MANUFACTURING Actual and future requirements on laser processing for HighEffiCiency ystalline solar cells

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INDIA

India all set to access resources under the Green Climate Fund for Finance Climate Action Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that India is committed to the cause of Climate Change. Delivering the keynote address on the occasion of the signing of Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) between Green Climate Fund (GCF) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) here today, the Minister said that India has been leading from the front in tackling global climate change issues and it will continue to do so in the future as well.

‘India Committed to the cause of Climate Change'

“India, like other developing countries, can do more, if finance and technology development & transfer and capacity building support are ensured as per the convention and its Paris Agreement”, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.

he Minister emphasised that climate justice demands that we remain mindful of the needs and aspirations of the poor. He pointed out that despite being one of the fastest growing economies of the world, India has a significant percentage of population living below the poverty line. “We need to take cognizance of the population size and income inequality and cannot ignore the basic requirement of electricity, housing and food for the poor. We expect GCF to partner with us on these issues and prioritize their work to overcome these challenges,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said. He highlighted that India is creating a network of strong institutions that can act as enablers for scaling-up climate action through technologically sound and innovative projects. Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated that environmental consciousness is the bedrock of our growth aspirations. “We are fully conscious of the need to pursue an ecologically sustainable development pathway. Our Prime Minister Modiji wants to build a new India by 2022 - riding on the demographic dividend and opportunities to use off beat solutions like solar and wind power, smart cities, incentivizing forestry, creating investment openings and overall, involving all in the development process”, the Minister said. Several of the mitigation and adaptation targets, articulated in India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), to meet the international climate obligations are aligned with the Fund’s strategic impact areas - viz clean energy, energy efficiency, cities, transport, forestry, agriculture, water health and ecosystems. India’s NDC is among the few that make specific reference to the GCF specifically with regard to its role as a source for low-

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cost finance for its 40% non-fossil fuel based power target. India, with numerous climate change and developmental challenges, needs to engage more purposefully and actively with GCF. The accredited entities need to proactively engage with GCF to take advantage of the available opportunities. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is one of the operating entities under financial mechanism set up under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to provide support to developing countries in combating climate change, with resources to be generated from funding by developed country Parties and various other public and private sources. It supports both climate change adaptation and mitigation projects in developing countries. So far, one project from India on “Installation of Ground Water Recharge System” in Odisha has recently been approved by the GCF for $34 million. Another proposal on coastal areas has already been submitted to the GCF Secretariat and several more projects are in the pipeline. India has nominated a total of five direct access entities for accreditation by the GCF. Two of these from the public sector and three from the private sector for accreditation by the GCF. The public sector entities are NABARD and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). The private sector entities nominated are YES Bank, IDFC Bank and IL&FS Environmental Services. So far, NABARD and SIDBI have been accredited by the GCF. NABARD is the first entity from India to be accredited as Direct Access Entity (DAE). The signing of AMA between GCF and NABARD is an essential first step for accessing the GCF resources to help safeguard the lives, property and livelihoods of millions of people against climate change impact.

Speaking on the occasion, Executive Director of GCF, Amb. Howard Bamsey said that India has been acknowledged as a strong proponent of climate change action and GCF looks forward to greater engagement with India.

Board Member of GCF from India, Shri Dinesh Sharma, stressed upon submission of large size of proposals or multi state proposals from India to access the GCF resources and said that in coming years, GCF may play an important role in supporting climate change projects.

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INDIA

Delhi Metro first to become 100 percent ‘green’ Delhi Metro has become the only completely ‘green’ Metro system in the world for adhering to green building norms for its residential colonies,

Arctech Solar hits 2GW installed capacity milestone in India

Speaking on the need for energy optimisation, DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh emphasised the need for ‘green transport’. “Energy consumption has increased by 700 per cent in the last four decades in the country and this will increase further three times by 2030. One of the major users of energy is the transport sector, that also, urban transport. Therefore, it is very relevant to focus on Metro systems and talk of green Metro,” he said at the third conference on Green Metro Systems held at Metro Bhawan. DMRC also announced it is now generating 20 megawatts (MW) of solar power, after adding new solar power facilities that produce 2.6 MW across the Metro network.

Praising the Delhi Metro for its initiatives to reduce carbon-footprints at its premises, Prem C. Jain, Chairman, IGBC, said: “DMRC was the first one to become a green Metro. The platinum ratings they have got is very hard earned and a lot of toil has gone into the process.”

elhi Metro has secured the platinum rating for adherence to green building norms for its 10 residential colonies from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had earlier received the green certificates for its Phase-3 stations, depots, and sub-stations said a statement. The DMRC also mentioned ‘Swachh Chetna – An Eco Club’, a joint initiative of the DMRC and Shri Ram School, Gurugram, for its efforts to “encourage school children to participate in the more environment-friendly projects and activities”.

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Recently, Arctech Solar, one of the world’s leading manufacturers and solution providers of solar tracking and racking systems, officially announced that its Indian Subsidiary’s installed cumulative capacity has reached 2GW. This includes1.4GW fixed structures and 650MW solar trackers.

n 2013, Arctech Solar began to set foot on this land with an Indian dream, and rooted itself deeply in Indian market as its home market in global business development. Within just a few years, the team has established remarkably. Since 2015, Arctech Solar has consecutively dominated No. 1 in India’s PV market share.According to the Global PV Tracker Landscape 2017 report published by GTM Research, Arctech Solar has far exceeded other manufacturers with the absolute superiority of No.1 Asia-Pacific market share in 2016.

“Arctech Solar has recently supplied the biggest solar tracker project in India, a 172MWp solar project with Arctech’ssolar trackers. We also have installed the biggest fix structure project with 420MW capacity in Tamil Nadu, India.” Allen

Cao, Director of Arctech Solar India commented, “Arctech Solar Indian branch is

the largest overseas branch of Arctech Solar, and we willprovide more and more localized services and long-term commitments to this market.”

In the next three to five years, Arctech India is well prepared to install more PV tracker systems and fixed structure systemsin India. And the team is also willing to develop its business together with its responsibility to Indian society.

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

Premier Solar Systems to invest Rs 1,600 crore in Telangana Premier Solar Systems started its journey 22 years back in the solar sector when it was in nascent stage. It made Hyderabad as it headquarters beginning its operations in home lights integration and setting up a 3 MW solar modules making plant. The company is now planning to begin solar sell manufacturing and is on the verge of commercially launching a range of electric vehicles.

ncorporated in 1995, with just five employees and Rs 25 lakh seed capital, an engineering graduate Surender Pal Singh commenced small scale solar home lighting integration. The first solar panel rolled out in 1998 and went to NREDCAP.

Recalling the early days, Singh told Telangana, “Advantage with solar is the least raw material dependency unlike other forms of power generation methods. The only investment needed is in operation and maintenance. In the initial years, we struggled to convince that power can be generated through solar cells. We had teething problems. Banks took time to understand the potential. But finally, State Bank of Hyderabad and IREDA backed us and nothing stopped us thereafter.” The company promoted by technocrats with decades of technical expertise and business experience has set up 40,000 sq ft advanced manufacturing facility in Hyderabad and its R&D team. It is now looking at new avenues in the broader solar ambit. Premier Solar has focused its activities in Solar PV, using Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells for generation of electricity/rural electrification. Apart from Crystalline, the company also provides thin film framed solar panels in technical collaboration with a German Partner. Premier Soar that earned global quality certifications today exports to 15 countries across Europe, Africa and Asia.

The second generation member and md of the company Chiranjeev Singh Saluja said, “We have opened a 200 MW automated solar module manufacturing facility at Annaram Village in Sanga Reddy district of Telangana. This facility has created jobs for over 500 people, both direct and indirect. We earlier had 175 MW capacity. The total investment has been Rs 100 crore in the company’s operations so far. We plan to invest another Rs 400 crore adding 625 MW taking the total capacity to 1 GW in next 5 years.”

SOLAR EXPANSION

he company is expanding its manufacturing capacity in the solar modules space. The company wants to take the capacity to 1 GW in modules manufacturing. It currently has a capacity of 50 MW for Solar Cell and wants to create a capacity of 1 GW in next 5 years.

P P

remier has evinced interest to set up the solar cell making plant in Telangana near the existing facility and the State is keen to extend all the support. It plans to invest Rs 1,200 crore in this plant. remier has also installed over 10,000 water pumps for agriculture and drinking water across 9 states in India. It has electrified over 200 remote, inaccessible habitants, tandas in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES FORAY

he company has spread its wings to foray into eco-friendly solar powered Hybrid e-vehicles. These vehicles will be in the form of Solar e-Rickshaws, Solar Cycle Rickshaws, Solar e-Bikes and Solar Bicycles. The company will initially market its brand of e-vehicles in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and will expand its reach nationally in near future. The vehicles will be available from August onwards. The company spent about 18 months in testing the vehicle. It is currently holding talks with State Bank of India and Oriental bank of Commerce to

September Part C 2017

fund electric vehicles upto 80 per cent. The idea is to make these vehicles affordable for auto rickshaw drivers. The company has also sought the government to include electric rickshaws in the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric vehicles in India (FAME) scheme. The Hyderabad facility will make 200 electric vehicles every month. With metro rail project nearing completion, the company foresees demand in connecting townships and colonies with metro stations. It also plans to target colleges and resorts in the city. The vehicles will be emission free.

Singh says, “We are trying to contribute our part in the nation’s vision to become all electric by 2030. Electric vehicles will bring down the pollution levels and will do away any fuel dependency. Our vehicles will be government approved as well cover insurance, which is usually unseen in the segment. We will continue pursuing our solar dream even in future.”

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

NTPC’s JV Company Meja Urja Nigam Pvt. Limited signs loan Agreement with PFC

eja Urja Nigam Pvt Limited , a 50:50 joint venture of NTPC Ltd and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd. , signed a Loan Agreement for Rs 6608 crore to finance capital expenditure of power project consisting of 2 units of 660 MW being set up at Meja near Allahabad, UP. The Agreement was signed in the presence of Shri Gurdeep Singh, CMD NTPC, Shri K. Biswal , Chairman, MUPNL and Director (Finance), NTPC and Shri Rajeev Sharma, CMD, PFC and other senior officials of NTPC, MUNL and PFC.

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September Part C 2017

SOLAR INVERTER Rooms / Control Rooms

EPACK: LARGEST MANUFACTURER OF PREFAB INVERTER ROOMS AND CONTROL ROOMS

Mr. Sanjay Singhania, Director, EPACK

Mr. Nikhil Bothra Director, EPACK

Q : Any mes sa for the indus ge try? Ans : Us

age of rene wable energ is pertinent y is today’s e ra. Our aim just to deliv is not er a quality produ ers within s tipulated tim ct to custome period, bu to also con tribute to th t e environm simultaneo ent usly throug ho fallout, this will also cre ur work. As a ate employ opportunitie ment s, though o scale. We, a n s an organiz a small ation, feel humble d to be able thus to be taking u p suc initiative as h an this.

“At EPACK, we have the requisite infrastructure and proven track record of contributing to projects of over 3 GW spread across the country in over 100 projects by supplying Prefab Solar Inverter rooms/ Control rooms and Module Mounting Structure”

Q: What has been EPACK’s contribution to the solar market in India? Ans : EPACK is one of the leaders in manufacturing of various components for solar projects and installation of Roof top solar power plants across the length and breadth of the country. Our offerings include the following: 1/ Prefab Solar inverter rooms / Control Rooms 2/ Module Mounting Structures. 3/ Panel Mounting Accessories (Clamps and Clips)

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Q: What kind of manufacturing setup and manpower does EPACK have? Ans : Our manufacturing plant in Greater Noida is spread across 5 acres with state-of-the-art fully automatic equipments for manufacturing of MMS, Steel fabrication setup and Sandwich panel manufacturing. EPACK has a professional design and engineering team, whose competence lies in every segment of the manufacturing process. The team has been instrumental in execution of all our projects on time with staff strength of over 200 employees and over 550 workers. EPACK is also an MNRE, Govt. of India Empanelled Channel Partner for Roof Top Power Plants.

Q: Tell us about EPACK’s contribution to Solar power projects and your key clients. Ans : At EPACK, we have the requisite infrastructure and proven track record

Fig : Prefab Solar Inverter rooms

of contributing to projects of over 3 GW spread across the country in over 100 projects by supplying Prefab Solar Inverter rooms/ Control rooms and Module Mounting Sstructure. We have worked with the major developers & EPC companies like Mahindra Susten, Tata power, Vikram Solar, Adani power, Azure power, Sterling & Wilson, ABB, Schneider, Renew Power, NTPC, Harsha Abakus to name a few.

Q: How do you strike a chord between quality and cost? Ans : It is imminent for any player in the industry to go through issues like quality and cost. And so do we. However, we choose the right raw materials and ensure quality. We source raw materials from trusted vendors, thus ensuring the right quality. Our plant is equipped with automated machinery which requires minimal human labour. Thus, the cost factor is taken care of. Our products go through extensive tests prior to rollout.

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Roof top & Offgrid

Civic building to get 50KW solar power The civic administration will implement a solar power generation project at the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation building in Pimpri, in a bid to cut costs. Pravin Tupe, joint city engineer, said, “The main office building needs a load of 990 KW and its annual power bill is Rs. 1 crore. The civic body plans to implement a 50KW solar power generation project, and has invited bids from contractors. The total estimated project cost is Rs48 lakh.”

he installation of the solar panels and machinery is expected to start in a month or two. The contractor will implement the project and carry out maintenance free of cost for three years. Post that period, the contractor will charge Rs4 lakh annually for four years. The civic body will recover its investment in five years through savings,” Tupe added. “The solar panels will be installed on the roof of the building. This decision was taken after a technical feasibility survey was conducted. The roof has space for another project of a similar size,” Tupe said, hinting at another solar power project.“There will be a net metering system under which PCMC will provide its solar power to the grid, which will be measured and adjusted against the electricity we use from MSEDCL,” he added .“We had earlier implemented a solar power generation project at the E zonal office at Growthlab in Bhosari, wherein we are generating 9KW of power,” said Tupe.

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Rooftop solar power plants in Andhra Pradesh reach 22 MW capacity Rooftop solar power plants across Andhra Pradesh at present have reached 22 MW generation capacity and it is expected to increase by another 10 mw by end of the current fiscal.

tate government is promoting the roof top solar plants under the ‘Power For All’ programme. After bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh has been pursuing non-conventional energy generation avenues in an aggressive manner and started encouraging rooftop solar power generation units among domestic, commercial and industrial users.

Since the programme started in 2014-15, the power generation capacity has been increased to 22 mw. “It will continue to increase in coming years. We have set ourselves a target of 10 mw increase per financial year,” K Srinivas, general manager (energy conservation, wind and solar) of NREDCAP (New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd) told Express.

According to him, though the progress looks satisfactory, there is a long way to go before being able to harness the full potential in the State. He said at the national level, the target for harnessing solar power by 2022 is 40,000 mw. “Rooftop solar power plants are definitely an advantage to the power consumers as it will not only help them produce the power to meet their daily power requirements, but also make them earn some additional income, if there is any surplus power,” he said. The rooftop solar plants are being used by domestic consumers, institutions, hospitals, industries and other commercial entities. To encourage the rooftop solar power plants among domestic consumers, the State government through NREDCAP has been providing a subsidy of 30 per cent for the equipment. In case of government department, though there is no subsidy, incentive of 20-25 per cent will be provided based on the target achieved. However, for industrial and commercial including institutions, there is no no subsidy.

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INDIA Roof top & Offgrid

P Now, GVMC schools set to run on solar power As many as 144 schools located in the limits of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) will soon draw electricity from solar photovoltaic (SPV) systems mounted on their rooftops instead of the electricity supplied by Eastern Power Distribution Company of AP Limited (EPDCL).

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roposed capacity of the SPV system is about 215 kilowatt peak (KWP) and civic officials are hoping that the project will be able to fulfil their aim to power schools as part of the Smart Cities Mission. The government primary school in Pedawaltair which has a contracted load of 5KW from the discom will get a solar panel of 5KWP, while Madhuranagar High School with an available rooftop area of 220 sq mt will get a solar panel of similar capacity. Other schools that will get solar panels include MVD High School, Prakasaraopeta High School, MVDM High School, MGM High School, GVMC Girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; High School in Anakapalli, and PNMH School in Bheemunipatnam. A GVMC official said that they have recently issued a request for proposal and online submission of bids is still open. The private bidder has to carry out site survey and layout planning before installation and commissioning of the SPV system. They will also shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the systems for a period of five years. In grid-connected SPV systems, energy is fed into the building loads through a service connection. The surplus energy will be fed into the grid and shortfall will be drawn out. GVMC officials are expecting that the solar panels will generate surplus power and they will sell some electricity back to the discom through the grid.

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Roof top & Offgrid

Amplus, Honda Motorcycles Amplus installs 2 MW inks power purchase pact solar rooftop project Amplus Energy Solutions said it has inked a Power Purchase at Greater Noida Expo Agreement (PPA) deal with Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India to provide 30MW solar energy. Centre

olar power will be provided to Honda’s Narsapura, Karnataka plant. Amplus will supply power from its solar park in Chitradurga, which is a 42 MW plant, Amplus Energy Solutions said in a statement. According to the statement, Honda Motorcycles will meet 85 per cent of plant’s energy needs through solar power supplied by Amplus Energy. By switching to solar power, Honda plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 38,000 MT/annum, which will be equivalent to planting 47,500 trees/ annum in India.

This plant will get 45 million units of solar electricity per annum. “At Honda Motorcycle and Scooter, we are clear in our vision to use renewable resources to provide power to our plants as our goal is to be environmentally sensitive for two-wheeler production. In Narsapura factory, all our future expansion plans for production will have in-built provisions to use renewable energy,” said Vinay Dhingra, Vice President & Plant Head Narsapura, in the statement.

Amplus Energy Solutions said it has completed construction of 2 MW solar rooftop plant for India Expo Centre Mart at Greater Noida.

“This plant spanning across 35,000 sqm of roof, consists of 7,860 Trina PV modules of 320 Wp each and 33 of SMA inverters,” Amplus Energy said in a statement.

he project was completed in around 8 months and was declared for commercial use on . India Expo Centre & Mart is slated to use the generated solar energy to meet up to 50 per cent of its varying energy needs. Gurgaonbased Amplus will own, operate and maintain the project for a period of 25 years.

“This plant not only serves as a testimony of India Expo Centre & Mart’s commitment towards ‘going green and reducing carbon footprint’, but will also bring total savings of INR 380 Million over project lifetime of 25 years,” Rakesh Kumar, Chairman at India Expo Centre & Mart, said.

“Their commitment of primarily using solar power for manufacturing of two-wheelers is a significant move in Indian two-wheeler sector and we are happy to be their partners,” Amplus Energy MD & CEO Sanjeev Aggarwal said in the statement.

Going forward, Amplus has plans to achieve 100MW of solar rooftop projects in this fiscal year with over 60MW already clocked with this latest contract. In a short span of time, Amplus is already serving more than 30 clients in 200+ locations across India. Industry experts believe the Indian rooftop market is currently growing at over 100 per cent annually. The government has set a target to increase energy sourced from grid connected solar rooftop systems to 40 GW by 2022, it addded. Source: PTI

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Source: PTI

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Roof top & Offgrid

How India can improve its rooftop solar journey With India emerging as the bellwether nation in the global movement towards increased renewable energy adoption, streamlining policy measures with unwavering focus on reliability and sustainability of Solar PV is the way forward for the domestic rooftop Mr. Suresh Sugavanam segment. VP and MD, UL South Asia, UL

nergy security is perhaps the most powerful lever that pivots the growth trajectory of an economy irrespective of the country’s political milieu. Massive international efforts invested in decarbonization over the past few decades have proven that renewable energy, with its enduring potential is no doubt a far more potent propeller of inclusive development than its conventional counterparts. Ideologically too, this movement toward greener energy is redefining what it means to be a responsible entity, be it individual, corporate or nation. India has a vociferous renewable energy agenda articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Power Minister Piyush Goyal in various fora. The momentum created in the march towards achieving 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 has resulted in India overtaking US for the first time, in Ernst and Young's Renewable Energy Attrictiveness Index. Bold as India may be in pursuing and even leading the second innings of a global energiewinde, the journey may not come without impediments.

Making rooftop solar a success story – challenges and opportunities

uch has been written about India’s ambitious targets for renewable energy. Amidst the clamoring optimism about the efficacy of the combined machinery of government and private enterprise to achieve these targets, it is important to look at challenges in rooftop solar sector– intended to account for 40 GW of the total 100 GW allotted to solar in India’s grand renewable plan. Despite an attractive capital subsidy of 30 per cent and a slew of other incentives by state governments, challenges remain in promoting resident-ial rooftop installations as compared to

potential capacity. In a larger sense, it is not only residential rooftop that needs handholding but the entire rooftop segment as a whole. The problem is mainly two pronged – overcoming infrastructure woes and deftly shaping a policy to outline commercial requirements like a well-defined financial lending model or insurance scheme and technical preconditions that specify a mandatory standard or code for installation, operation and maintenance. A key to tackling these issues is to understand the long-term implications of renewable energy investment.

Building the right infrastructure

rimarily, rooftop solar is more of a ‘distributed generation’ activity, requiring an overhaul in energy infrastructure – a daunting challenge in itself. State DISCOMs, for instance, do not have a line for evacuation of solar power. The non-availability of power evacuation infrastructure only hastens the necessity to install advanced technologies for energy storage like battery solutions, which only exacerbate the cost of power.Apart from facing the prospect of piling on new connections to the grid and preventing grid collapse, nurturing solar rooftop would obviously require combating voltage fluctuations, tripping and interference - challenges that are associated with relaying PV power through the grid. Net metering can be effective once these infrastructure challenges are effectively addressed at the ground level. he formidable UDAY scheme, aimed at resurrecting ailing DISCOMs has ushered in an era of much awaited power reforms by making provisions for financial turnaround, operational improvement and reduction in cost of power generation. Most opportunely, the scheme enables the development of renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy conservation. It is, thus, high time for DISCOMs to step up and support the renewable energy mission by prioritizing their spending to improve power evacuation infrastructure for rooftop solar system. A well-defined power evacuation process

September Part C 2017

bound by a dedicated timeline and technical standards programme will greatly help in maintaining power quality and meeting national grid code compliance requirements. The infrastructure challenges are not related to the grid alone but permeate the financial ecosystem of the rooftop solar sector as well. To sustain consumer interest, the need of the hour is an innovative financing model for rooftop solar similar to attractive property loans with affordable interest rates and EMI options. Asset Insurance is another major challenge. For example, in case the project is endangered by debilitating factors like a hurricane or even monkey menace, with no insurance mechanism for the small-scale rooftop segment, the IPP is straddled with bearing the cost burden in case of damages. alling solar tariffs may have steamrolled investment in the sector, the flipside of the issue is the impact on module makers. Currently, it is estimated that more than 85% of modules, worth nearly 2.5 bn USD are imported, from no less than 30 countries, owing to foreign funded projects, where developers may insist on buying panels from preferred vendors. In case profit margins keep getting narrower in the wake of crashing tariffs, it would further impact module makers and also the IPPs. These crashing tariffs will have spillover effect on rooftop solar segment as well putting unrealistic demand on the price point of electricity generated.

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DAKSH ENERGY SYSTEMS How standards and a conformity assessment programme can help in building a robust rooftop policy

A reliable partner For Solar Module Manufacturers

or a fast-evolving sector like solar, laying an elaborate, watertight system of standards will provide the much-needed ground to help stakeholders in stabilizing the industry. It is thus imperative that India channelizes the positive environment to develop a rigorous standards ecosystem, encapsulating the entire solar value chain. India needs mandatory standards and a robust conformity assessment programme governing the quality of the solar systems, solar modules and other paraphernalia. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) regulation released in 2013 states that ‘the effect of wind, storm, floods, lighting, elevation, temperature extremes, icing, contamination, pollution and earthquakes must be considered in the design and operation of the connected facilities’. It is important to verify if these factors are accounted for at the design stage of the project, in order to ensure reliability and durability. Also, as the founding nation of the International Solar Alliance, perhaps India can take the lead in establishing standards for evaluating the quality of modules over time. For any power generating unit, much more so in case of a rooftop solar module, there is no guarantee for reliability of power supply. Hence, to avoid grid failure, it is essential that the government mandates Low Voltage Ride Through (LVRT) testing to examine the ability of the rooftop project in supplying power without destabilizing the grid. It would, therefore, bode well to mandate and implement the technical standards for grid connectivity for wind and solar stations laid down by the Central Electrical Authority in 2013.

egradation for any solar project begins roughly three years after installation, by when the financiers have already planned their exit. To prevent the IPP from shouldering the brunt of operational and maintenance issues, in the absence of an evolved insurance policy framework, it is vital that nonresidential rooftop power purchase agreements allow for a significant amount in escrow, to enable the IPP to bear the risks without shutting down the project. In the uncertain climate of module manufacturers shutting shop, the PPAs should also mandate appropriate technology transfer to the IPP before conclusion of the contract.

Backsheet EVA Film Solar Cells

Junction Box Silicon Sealants Solar Glass

Conclusion As the Indian solar industry matures, it is inevitable that the government will no longer be able to offer generous subsidies to stimulate growth. Establishing a comprehensive standards and conformity assessment ecosystem is there fore critical to sustain the development of the industry, not just till 2022, but beyond. India already embarked on an admirable mission to develop reliable and sustainable energy programme. It will no doubt consolidate India’s position as a global green power, with the planned 100 GW of solar capacity, and the resultant Twh of reliable energy bearing proud testimony to the government’s commitment of reduction in carbon footprints.

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MNRE/CP/GCRT/C/4395

www.solarindia.net

September Part C 2017

Technology

Hanergy Releases Hantile to Snatch Construction Material Market Share Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd. (00566.HK) released a new thin-film solar product “Hantile” in Beijing. The new product integrates Hanergy’s world-leading flexible thin-film solar chip with roofing material, capable of efficient power generation with high safety level, a perfect fit for current aesthetic modern architectural design.

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pgrade to current distributed solar products and traditional roof tiles in the market, the “Hantile” possesses promising prospects, and its large-scale promotion will surely contribute greatly to the replacement of clean energy. Guests attended the launch event included the following: Li Bingren, president of China Building Decoration Association, Li Hejun, Board Chairman of the Hanergy Holding Group, over 600 potential distributors and channel partners, and another 3000-odd people from local governments, industrial associations, financial organizations, as well as domestic and foreign media. They gathered together to witness the historical release of the Hantile, an upgraded-product inspired from the company’s original Hanergy Civil Focusing solar products.

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In his speech titled “One Tile, One Tree,” Chairman Li Hejun remarked: “Hanergy took advantage of the lightness, thinness and flexibleness of thin-film solar power material and creatively integrated it with roof tile. This integration between technology and industrial products is a breakthrough in the history of construction; even more so, such creation is an innovation based on our Chinese culture.”

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September Part C 2017

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Technology “The Hantile highly reflects the essence of Chinese traditional culture and architectural philosophy. The choice of material and design considers practicality, incorporates aesthetic and humanistic values, and creates environmentally friendly architecture reflecting the harmony between human beings and nature. The product name – Hantile – is taken from and develops on Chinese culture as well as Hanergy technology,” He said

Merging cutting-edge thin-film technology and traditional culture “Qin bricks and Han tiles” have long been upheld in Chinese literature. From the Weiyang Palace of Western Han dynasty to the home of peasants, tiles have been considered not only as an important characteristic of Chinese architecture, but also endowed with cultural significance. To quote a famous folk saying “home is where the tile overhead”, tile signifies home in the heart of the Chinese. All around us, everything is going through tremendous changes, except the material and function of tiles have remained the same, as their purposes are still simply protection from wind and rain, preservation of warmth, and decoration. the introduction of the Hantile will change all that! The Hantile, using laminated packaging technology, encapsulates a thin, light,

flexible and efficient CIGS thin-film solar chip into ultra-clear float glass that not only able to maximized solar chip’s conversion rate but fulfilling architectural aesthetic demands at the same time. Data shows that the current average conversion rate of the Hanergy’s flexible thin-film chips used by the Hantile is 16.5% at the manufacturing level, such rate is expected to rise to 17.5% by end of the year, and such consistent growth is expected at the future. At the event, during Mr. Li’s speech, an all-in-one construction team was building a 50m2 rooftop with Hantile. About 40 minutes later, a rooftop covered with 168 pieces of Hantile for an installed capacity of 5000W had been completed and was ready to be displayed in front of guests.

Strong distribution channels facing a trillion RMB market According to data from the China Bricks & Tiles Industrial Association, in 2016, 1.01 billion m2 of tiles were sold. The market is still expanding with an annual speed of about 20%. According to the current price of the Hantile, the potential domestic market is estimated to be 1.4 trillion yuan annually. As for the global market, it is at least two times as big as China’s market, bringing its potential market scale up to 2.8 trillion yuan. The Hantile mainly targets newly-built commercial villas, urban and rural public buildings and self-built houses in rural areas. It aims at the construction of beautiful villages and towns. The Hantile is also highly competitive when it comes to rooftop reconstruction projects, such as renovating aged rooftops and turning flat rooftops into slanted ones. Hanergy intends to share this

September Part C 2017

rapidly growing market with its distributors. In recent years, Hanergy has creatively developed China’s residential distributed power generation market; its specialized distributor model and system is now mature, offering a one-stop service system integrating marketing, installation and aftersales services covering all established municipal and county-level markets. Learning from successful business models and market experiences, Hanergy gave authorization of Hantile at the municipal level under the “sole distributor in a city” channel policy. It is planned to absorb 300 distributors that will cover 90% of China’s cities. Hanergy will establish its internal training system, “Hantile Distributors’ College,” to offer systematic training and support on marketing, design, installation, operation and maintenance and services.

Upgraded products and services and pioneering “Automatic custom service” Current distributed solar power modules are generally installed on the surface of buildings, which cannot be part of them. As an upgraded version of these modules, the Hantile comes in three models: curved, flat and upturned C styles, which can cater to the aesthetical and individualized needs of most buildings. In addition to integrating the thin-film solar chips for power generation, the Hantile the product series also contains accessory tiles of the same color and design to achieve consistency. As a one-stop service provider for complete clean energy solution, Hanergy provide customers with integrating consultancy, system design, installation, grid connection, user training, operation and maintenance data monitoring so on. As a construction material, the Hantile has better performances than traditional tiles in terms of thermal insulation, heat preservation, fire prevention, infiltration prevention and hail prevention. The Hantile especially stands out with its waterproof performance because of its special design: glass material, U-type weather bar and Ftype slot. In terms of structure, this product has perfect windproof and lightning protection design. It is able to generate power at a temperature from -40 degrees Celsius to 85 degrees Celsius. At present, the Hantile has received the China Compulsory Certification and the China Quality Certification, and passed installation testing, meeting all industrial requirements in term of product quality and safety. At the launch event, Hanergy announced the market price of the triple arch solar tile as 1390 yuan/m2. Hanergy offers lifetime warranty and lifetime charged maintenance. Hanergy’s mature service system, fostered by residential power generation product and other distributed solar products, is being further upgraded. It has first put forward a service concept of “Automatic custom service,” according to which all Hantile systems delivered to customers will be accompanied with an inverter data collector connected to a big data analysis platform at the Hanergy headquarters; when the operation data from the Hantile system diverge from local average data by 20%, the backstage supporter at the headquarters will issue orders for on-site repairs through its nation-wide network to solve any customer issue. All the orders and evaluations are made through the Customer Relationship Management system and the mobile APP “Hanergy Man”. To further ensure its clients’ interests, Hanergy also bought insurance for customers from a third party, the People’s Insurance Company of China.

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Technology

LONGi: Distributed PV Formally Enters 3.0 Era In 2016, China’s newly installed capacity of distributed PV was 4.24 million kilowatts, an increase of 200% year on year. In 2017, according to an analysis of major enterprises by China National Renewable Energy Center, it’s estimated that China’s newly installed capacity.

V power generation reached 24 million kilowatts in the first half of the year, including 7 million kilowatts of distributed PV, nearly 3 times of the newly added in the same period of 2016, indicating the advent of a new era for the robust development of distributed PV. Despite the explosive growth, the problem of distributed PV is obvious. Low-efficiency, low-quality PV modules are flooding the market, while high-quality products are forced to go abroad. In the past two years, the power of LONGi’s modules has increased rapidly, from 260W to 270W, 280W and 290W. Today,

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On this market deviation, LONGi president Li Zhenguo took a clear-cut stand that distributed PV must enter the 3.0 era, which means, efficient products like 300W modules are put into final application on a large scale, distributed PV bids farewell to the era of shoddy and low-quality, lowefficiency products, distributed products are not only highly efficient, but also highly reliable and attractive.

the 300W module has realized mass production represents the most leadingedge technology and the most outstanding product quality! In the 3.0 era of distributed PV, LONGi will take the lead to eliminate low-quality, low-efficiency products in the field of distributed PV, so that “good money” can drive out “bad money”; in collaboration with industry peers, LONGi will firmly put high-efficiency products like 300W modules into final application. According to Li Zhenguo, LONGi will spare no effort to enable the consumers of distributed products to have access to the industry’s most cutting-edge products, and enjoy the value returned by highquality products!

September Part C 2017

Technology

GCL-SI Boosts PERC Global Sup- All JinkoSolar Standard ply Volume with the Launch of PV Modules Guaranteed 600MW Plant in Vietnam to Meet IEC Double Anti-PID GCL System Integration Technology Co., Ltd. (GCL-SI), a world’s Standards leading solar manufacturer, announced that its solar cell plant of 600MW production capacity in Vietnam has started operation on 27th July. The facility will be a powerhouse in the production volume of GCL-SI for the global market, sharpening the solar energy group’s competitive edge in the world, especially US and European markets.

Shu Hua, the president of GCL-SI, said that the Vietnam plant’s launch is the latest step for the company’s development requirement and entire strategy. GCL is now hammering at promoting its global competitiveness and building an international brand image. “GCL’s high-efficiency PERC production line in Vietnam, based on the localized management, will offer a strong support to the high-efficient cell supply and contribute to cost-down as well as voiding anti-dumping issues,” Shu noted.

he cooperation between GCL-SI and Vina Cell could be considered as a customization for GCL-SI, especially the PERC production. Dong Shuguang, executive director of GCL-SI said that the company has been working on improving the efficiency of Polysilicon PERC products in the recent years. By the beginning of 2017, it has achieved an average efficiency of 20.3% for Black Silicon PERC products. The result is estimated to surpass 20.5% by the end of 2017. The average power output for this model is close to 290W, meeting the latest standard of Top Runner. In 2016, following the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese solar companies have established their ultramarine factories in more than 20 countries, with over 5 GW capacity. Exports to India, Turkey, Chili, Pakistan and other emerging markets has expanded, while 30% reduction to Europe and US markets, which has further impacted the anti-dumping issue. Chairman of GCL Zhu Gongshan has in many occasions encouraged Chinese solar energy companies to “team up to march overseas and to gain a more advantaged position in foreign markets”. It is a strategic move in line with the Belt and Road Initiative and will also make the company better poised for a wider range of opportunities from the global market.

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JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (“JinkoSolar”), a global leader in the photovoltaic (PV) industry, announced that it has become the first PV module provider to guarantee that all JinkoSolar Standard Mass Produced PV Modules meet IEC62804 double anti-PID standards.

“JinkoSolar’s products deliver a stable performance over their entire service life. We have taken the extra-step that exceeds industry standards to guarantee the performance. We are the first module manufacturer to guarantee that all our Standard Mass Produced PV Modules meet the IEC double anti-PID resistance standards. I am confident this will create a better and more secure investment environment for our customers.” said Mr. Kangping Chen, CEO of JinkoSolar.

inkoSolar Standard Mass Produced 1,500V PV Modules are guaranteed to perform under 85C/85% relative humidity conditions (double 85) for 96 hours. JinkoSolar Standard Mass Produced 1,000V PV Modules have had their guaranteed performance time improved to 192 hours under the same conditions. JinkoSolar Standard Mass Produced anti-PID PV Modules guarantee the high quality and reliability which enable the stable operation of PV installations operating in hot and humid environments over their 25-year life span.

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Technology

GCL-SI Signs Cooperation Agreement with IBC SOLAR a subsidiary of world-leading energy group GCL, is entering a business partnership with IBC SOLAR in Germany, a global leader in photovoltaic (PV) systems and energy storage. This marks a further step that GCL-SI is exploring the European markets by providing the local markets with its solar modules.

er agreement, GCL-SI will deliver 60 megawatt polycrystalline solar modules to the system house from Upper Franconia before the end of the year. The first batch of solar modules will arrive in September. The modules delivered to the European markets will be produced at its factory in Vietnam. IBC SOLAR is a leading global provider of photovoltaic and energy storage solutions and services. As a project developer and general contractor, IBC SOLAR implements and markets major solar projects worldwide. It has currently implemented photovoltaic systems with an output of over 3 gigawatts globally and guarantees the highest quality of all its projects.

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The partnership implies further recognition from IBC SOLAR of GCL-SI’s production quality. “IBC SOLAR has always put great importance on quality products. That’s why we are pleased to have found a new partner in the module sector in GCL that meets our high standards,” says Sebastian Geier, Director Product Management and Development at IBC SOLAR. Philipp Matter, President Europe and Managing Director of GCL Systems Integration Technology GmbH in Munich adds: “The reliability and quality of our modules is of paramount importance to us. We are proud to supply our products to one of the leading system houses and in doing so to continue to promote the turnaround in energy policy. We hope to build a greener future for the European society with our products and other initiatives.” In the morning of July 27th in Vietnam, GCL-SI just held a ceremony to kick off its module production in Vietnam. This marks that GCL-SI already has the capability to meet the further demands of the European and U.S. markets and regularly provides its high-quality solar products.

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Technology

Sunglasses that generate solar power designed Scientists have designed new ‘smart’ solar glasses incorporated with coloured, semi-transparent organic solar cells that can generate electric power enough to operate devices such as hearing aids or step counters.

rganic solar cells are flexible, transparent, and light-weight – and can be manufactured in arbitrary shapes or colours, said researchers from Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie (KIT) in Germany. They are suitable for a variety of applications that cannot be realised with conventional silicon solar cells. Researchers designed sunglasses with coloured, semitransparent solar cells applied onto lenses that supply a microprocessor and two displays with electric power.

Trina Solar Rated as a Top Module Manufacturer by an US Authoritative Organization

This paves the way for other future applications such as the integration of organic solar cells into windows or overhead glazing, researchers said. “We bring solar power to places where other solar technologies fail,” said Alexander Colsmann, from KIT’s Light Technology Institute (LTI).

Recently, Trina Solar passed through the product certification test conducted by PV Evolution Labs (“PVEL” for short, a whollyowned subsidiary of DNV GL), and was rated as a top performer in the Module Reliability Score Card Report 2017 issued by DNV GL.

The ‘smart’ solar glasses are self-powered to measure and display the solar illumination intensity and ambient temperature. The solar cell lenses, perfectly fitted to a commercial frame, have a thickness of about 1.6 millimetres and weigh about six grammes – just like the lenses of traditional sunglasses. The microprocessor and the two small displays are integrated into the temples of the solar glasses. They show the illumination intensity and the ambient temperature as bar graphs. The solar glasses also work in indoor environments under illumination down to 500 Lux, which is the usual illumination of an office or a living area. Under these conditions, each of the “smart” lenses still generates 200 milliwatt of electric power – enough to operate devices such as a hearing aid or a step counter. “The solar glasses we developed are an example of how organic solar cells may be employed in applications that would not be feasible with conventional photovoltaics,” said PhD student Dominik Landerer, who contributed to the solar glasses at KIT. According to Colsmann, another field of application is the integration of solar cells into buildings: Since the glass facades of high-rise buildings must often be shaded, it is an obvious option to use organic solar modules for transforming the absorbed light into electric power.

NV GL PVEL Product Qualification Program (PQP) is an integrated one incorporating module reliability and power generation performance tests. As the typical destructive test, this certification test comprises 2-4x IEC thermal cycling test, damp heat test, UV irradiation test, dynamic mechanical load test, humidity-freeze test, PID attenuation and hot spot test etc. PVEL test is much more rigorous than some basic tests such as IEC and UL tests in terms of both test conditions and sequence, thus it continues a huge challenge for product reliability.

Source:PTI

September Part C 2017

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Technology DNV GL test is extremely authoritative in the industry. Trina Solar has been taking an active part in the DNV GL test since 2014. In this portfolio of tests, most modules from Trina Solar have successfully passed the tests on product reliability based on their power attenuation rates which are all less than 3%.Trina Solar conducts rigorous quality control and more than 175 individual laboratory tests to ensure a high level of QA. Since PV module is an investmentoriented product with a long life cycle up to 25 years, the choose of a reliable company becomes necessary. As the most respected and reliable solar company, Trina Solar is devoted to providing clients with top quality products. Trina Solar’s being rated as a top module manufacturer after passing through all tightened PVEL tests with excellent results.

“The result demonstrates the high reliability and quality of our products, meanwhile, it enhances our products’ market competitiveness and help us earn clients trust.” said Ms. Zhou Wei, Quality VP of Trina Solar, “looking into the further, we will continue to research and develop new products to meet customer’s demand according to different applied scenario. We aim to lead the PV industry to benefit all humanity.”

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325.6W! LONGi Solar’s 60 cell Hi-MO1 Module Demonstrated another Power Record Recently LONGi Solar received a test report from TUV Rheinland that its latest 60 cell Hi-MO1 module achieved a power output of 325.6W under standard testing conditions (STC) with the conversion efficiency reaching 19.91%.

he module incorporates the monocrystalline PERC cells based on mass production technology with a 21.9% conversion efficiency. The test was completed at the TUV Rheinland Shanghai Lab on April 17, with the open circuit voltage and short circuit current reaching 40.79V and 10.160A respectively. Hi-MO1, launched by LONGi Solar in 2016, is the only P-type monocrystalline module that promises a first-year power degradation within 2% in the industry, featuring high efficiency, low LID and high energy yields. It was awarded the TUV Rheinland “All Quality Matters” PV Module Energy Yield Simulation Award 2016 (MONO), with the simulated energy yields for five cities around the world ranking No.1 among all modules. The field test conducted at Sanya Base by State Key Lab of China Electric Apparatus Research Institute has also proved that the energy yield of Hi-MO1 module is on average over 3% higher than that of the conventional products.

Mr. Li Wenxue, President of LONGi Solar, emphasized, “LONGi Solar has always been committed to providing the most efficient products with the best quality and cost performance to end customers. We have been investing in R&D consistently, and achieved remarkable results in delivering higher and higher efficiency products. The 325.6W is a result of LONGi Solar’s continuous innovation following our parent company LONGi Group’s philosophy, and is also LONGi Solar’s commitment to the industry. In the future, LONGi Solar will continue to accelerate the technological innovation, and make contributions to LCOE reduction and aim to achieve grid parity.”

September Part C 2017

featured

There Could Be 3 Lakh Jobs in Solar, Wind Sectors by 2022 in India Over 3,00,000 Indians could find jobs in the wind and solar industry over the next five years if the country works towards its 2022 target of 160 GW.

urrently, wind and solar together account for almost 14 percent of India’s installed power capacity. Over the next three years alone, the sector can generate jobs for about 80,000 Indians. The industry employed over 21,000 people in India in 2016-2017 and is expected to employ an estimated 25,000 people more in 2017-18, according to an analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a not-for-profit research organisation based in New Delhi, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a nonprofit. About 64 percent of India’s population is expected to be in the working age-group of 15-59 years by 2026, according to Ernst and Young, a professional services consultancy. It is also likely to have the world’s largest workforce in the world by 2025. The green sector, with its employment potential, could absorb a significant chunk.

India, One Among Top Four Job Markets in Renewables Sector In 2016, India accounted for 5 percent of the world’s renewable energy capacity, and invested $9.7 billion (Rs 64,990 crore) in the sector, according to the Renewables Global Status Report 2017, released by REN 21, an international non-profit working on renewable energy. Direct and indirect jobs in renewables (excluding large hydropower) reached 8.3 million in 2016, with China, Brazil, the United States, India, Japan and Germany being the leading job markets. Jobs continued to shift towards Asian countries, which together accounted for 62 percent of jobs in 2016, compared to 50 percent in 2013, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a global intergovernmental organisation. In India, estimated renewable jobs (direct and indirect) in 2016 were 3,85,000 – 4.6 percent of the global total. Jobs in large hydropower projects (over 10 megawatt), which were estimated to be 2,36,000, are excluded.

Domestic Solar Module Manufacturing Could Create 45,000 Jobs The CEEW-NRDC study also estimated that 45,000 additional jobs could be created through solar module manufacturing if the country meets its demand for the product domestically.However, in 2016, local manufacturers struggled in the face of cheap imports while Chinese firms supplied an estimated 80 percent of the total requirement. Indian firms accounted for no more than 13 percent of supply, according to a 2017 report by IRENA. In July 2017, India began an investigation into the dumping of solar cells and modules from China, Taiwan and Malaysia. Dumping is when a country exports goods at prices cheaper than domestic rates. The Indian Solar Manufacturers Association has also asked the Directorate General of Safeguards to consider a safeguard duty on solar cells and modules, according to a report by Bridge to India. However, the report did not advocate safeguard duties. There is “little upside to imposition of anti-dumping or safeguard duties on solar cells and

September Part C 2017

modules. There is no evidence from other countries of such duties resulting in any long-lasting benefits for domestic manufacturers. At the same time, any duties raise the risk of side-tracking India’s solar capacity addition target affecting more than 10,000 MW of project pipeline,”

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Rising Chinese solar module prices may put solar power projects at risk Rising prices of Chinese solar modules may arrest the sharp decline in Indian solar power tariffs and also put at risk projects that won licences betting on a continued decline in module prices.

everal developers and analysts Mint spoke to said that the record low tariff of Rs2.44 per per kilowatt hour (kWh) at the auction of 500 megawatts (MW) of capacity at the Bhadla solar park in Rajasthan in May was quoted assuming module prices will fall to around 23 cents per watt. With the module prices currently around 32 cents and the August delivery quoted at around 34 cents, developers are wary about the future tariff trajectory. Modules account for nearly 60% of a solar power project’s total cost and their prices fell by about 26% in 2016 alone.

Module prices have, however, firmed up with China extending the feedin tariff regime, which ensures a fixed price for power producers, for the third quarter and US developers placing advance orders to shore up cell and module supplies amid demands for a cap in prices of cheap imports to the US. “There is a cause for concern given the aggressive solar power bids in the country,” said a project developer who had participated in the Bhadla solar park auction conducted by state-run Solar Energy Corp. of India.

Most solar power developers in India have been sourcing solar modules and equipment from countries such as China, where they are cheaper. According to consulting firm Bridge to India, the local solar module market is dominated by Trina Solar (25.7% market share), Hanwha (10.5%) and Risen (7.6%), with domestic manufacturers’ accounting for only 10.6% market share.

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“In an integrated international demand-supply scenario, bidders have to take cognisance of the situation which can be largely beyond their control. If they assume an optimistic scenario while bidding and if one of the variables goes significantly wrong, then it can lead to complete unviability of the project,” said Sanjeev Aggarwal, managing director and chief exec utive of Amplus Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd,

a solar rooftop project developer. India plans to generate 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2022. Of this, 100GW is to come from solar projects. “We feel there is a bit of irrationality in the competition,” said Pankaj Sehgal, chief executive officer, SUN Renewables, which is not present in the grid connected ground mounted large solar project space. SUN Renewables sets up distributed generation solar power projects.

September Part C 2017

featured “The prices have gone up a bit in the third quarter because in China originally they were to do away with feed-in tariffs and move towards competitive bidding which is the norm in India. They have extended feed-in tariff for the third quarter. Hence, tariffs have tipped up rather than come down which has been the case,” said Sehgal. Of China’s solar module manufacturing capacity, estimated to be around 70GW per year, the major markets are the US, India and China itself. However some believe this is a temporary phenomenon.“It is a temporary phenomenon for the next three months,”

Foreign rupee limit poses new threat to Indian high-yield bonds Foreign investment limits complicate efforts to replicate Greenko structure By Daniel Stanton and Krishna Merchant

“The prices developers have quoted are for projects that will be commissioned 12-18 month down the line. This present increase in prices of solar modules is not a longterm trend. It’s a trend that will be reversed in a quarter or two, after which prices will again come down. For developers, it is always a concern that modules prices may not fall as much as they estimated at the time of bidding. Timing has a lot of role to play,” said Jasmeet Khurana, associate director at consulting firm Bridge to India. Major Chinese solar module manufacturers include Jinko Solar, JA Solar Holdings, ET Solar, Hanwha Group, Chint Solar, GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd and Trina Solar Ltd. “The prices in the past have come on that trajectory, but obviously they can’t continue in that trajectory; otherwise, they will virtually become zero. So, there is not a significant technological breakthrough that has happened that will support that kind of assumption going forward. It has been largely based on the supply-demand imbalance. There is always incremental improvements but not to justify that steep decline in the cost curve,” said SUN Renewables’ Sehgal. Source:LiveMint

September Part C 2017

Three years after stirring controversy, an offshore financing structure pioneered by Indian renewable energy producer Greenko Energy Holdings is now under threat as foreign investors near their quota limits on rupee bonds.

reenko last Monday sold $1 billion of international bonds, the biggest high-yield Green bond globally and its third such deal in three years. The proceeds are invested in Indian rupee bonds issued by the group’s onshore Indian subsidiaries, giving the dollar bondholders an indirect claim over the Indian assets if the company folds. Azure Power and Continuum Wind Energy are also working on similar US dollar offerings. However, those deals may be in jeopardy after the Securities and Exchange Board of India last Thursday put new restrictions on the sale of rupee bonds to foreign investors to prevent a breach of the foreign investment ceiling. Foreign investors have used 92.7 percent of their corporate debt quota as of July 20, an all-time high, according to data from the National Securities Depository. Sebi said the issuance of rupee bonds, which come under the corporate bond limit, would temporarily cease until the utilisation rate fell back to below 92 percent. If it goes above 95 percent, investors would have to bid in an auction for the remaining capacity.

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“RBI yield caps – or all-in price ceilings – are for US dollar bonds issued by Indian corporates. In this structure, the US dollar bond issuer is an entity incorporated outside India,” said Abhishek Tyagi, a

senior analyst at Moody’s. When Greenko first used the structure in August 2014, the Reserve Bank of India spoke to bankers on the deal and issued a statement warning companies against circumventing its restrictions on offshore borrowings, although the central bank never named Greenko specifically. After that initial uncertainty, however, it seems the structure has been accepted into the mainstream. “Greenko has used this structure to issue US dollar bonds twice before – August 2014 and August 2016 – thus there is no ban on this structure,” said Tyagi. When Greenko issued its first bond, the RBI was thought to have been concerned of a build-up of offshore liabilities as a result of Indian entities guaranteeing overseas debt. However, in Greenko’s deal on Monday and for Azure Energy’s planned issue the guarantees are from entities in Mauritius. Continuum Energy’s parent, which is expected to provide support but not a full guarantee, is based in Singapore. On paper, the RBI has no jurisdiction to intervene.

ORPHAN SPVS

“Azure and Continuum will be affected because they have to take stock of available limits, or else the deals cannot happen,” the head of capital markets at a foreign bank. Bookrunners on the deals said on Friday that nothing had changed, but that they were evaluating Sebi’s announcement to see whether anything needed to be addressed.“The deal is still on track and we have been told to maintain course,” bookrunner. MAINSTREAM TOOL Indian companies face tough restrictions on external commercial borrowings, which effectively shut lower-rated companies out of the offshore markets – either in US dollars or rupees. The Reserve Bank of India’s caps on borrowing costs stand at 300 basis points over six-month Libor for three to five-year debt, 450bp over five years, and 500bp for 10 years or more. With US dollar six-month Libor around 1.45 percent mid-week, that meant an Indian issuer could pay a maximum yield of 5.95 percent for a five-year dollar issue – no problem for an investment-grade issuer, but more challenging for high-yield credits. The yield cap is no longer a problem for Greenko, which priced a $350 million five-year non-call two bond at 4.875 percent and a $650 million seven-year non-call three at 5.25 percent, as its yield has compressed since its first issues. However, the structure is still useful as it allows a wider range of Indian high-yield issuers to consider access to the international debt markets.

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A structure used in February by ReNew Power Ventures looks unlikely to be repeated, however. Mauritiusbased SPV Neerg Energy issued $475 million of five-year non-call three bonds at 6 percent and used the proceeds to subscribe to offshore rupee bonds issued by Indiabased ReNew. The offshore bonds are secured against the shares of the issuer and the Masala bonds, but the structure is short of an onshore guarantee.

“We understand that the regulator does not have issues with the Greenko structure (with offshore parent, guarantor and issuer), but is concerned more with thinly capitalised companies that are trying to circumvent the guidelines,” said Abhishek Dangra, analyst at S&P. “Orphan SPVs by definition have no linkages to the Indian parent and may be thinly capitalised.” “The new RBI circular in June in some ways rules out or makes more difficult the orphan SPV structure used by ReNew. As per our understanding, a company following that structure would need to go through the RBI approval process and meet the Masala yield cap,” said Dangra.

Source: in.reuters

September Part C 2017

featured

Solar Energy Installed Ujaas Energy tumbles Capacity Touched 13652 MW after uninspiring Q1 As on 31.07.2017, the cumulative Solar Energy capacity installed, as results on 31.07.2017, is 13652 MW while the same at the end of 2014-15 was 3743.97 MW. This was stated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy and Mines in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

he States of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have crossed the solar installed capacity of 1 GW, as on 31.07.2017. State-wise details are as follows:-

The Minister further stated that the Government of India has revised the National Solar Mission target of Grid Connected Solar Power projects from 20,000 MW by 2022 to 100,000 MW by 2022. The same is sought to be achieved through rooftop solar projects (40,000 MW) and ground mounted solar projects (60,000 MW), the Minister added.

In a written reply to another question, the Minister said that No specific ‘Solar Energy Policy’ has been formulated. However, the Government has launched following schemes to promote solar energy,: i.

Solar Park Scheme for setting up of over 50 Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects targeting over 40,000 MW of solar power projects. ii. Scheme for setting up 1000 MW of Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects by Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) and Government of India organisations with Viability Gap Funding (VGF). iii. Scheme for setting up 300 MW of Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects by Defence Establishments and Para Military Forces with VGF. iv. Pilot-cum-demonstration projects for development of grid connected solar PV power plants on canal banks and canal tops. v. Bundling Scheme - 15000 MW grid-connected solar PV power plants through NTPC Ltd./ NVVN. vi. VGF Scheme for setting up of 2000 MW of Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects through SECI. vii. VGF Scheme for setting up of 5000 MW of Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects through SECI. viii.Installation of Grid Connected Solar Rooftop Power Plants.

Ujaas Energy lost 5.93% to Rs 23 at 12:47 IST on BSE after net profit rose 1.9% to Rs 7.40 crore on 8.1% growth in net sales to Rs 106.87 crore in Q1. The result was announced after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 137.59 points or 0.44% at 31,586.62. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 138.07 points or 0.9% at 15,547.27.

n the BSE, 1.53 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far as against the average daily volumes of 1.63 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 25.40 and a low of Rs 23 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 52.25 on 16 December 2016 and a 52-week low of Rs 19.40 on 29 September 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 14 August 2017, sliding 8.26% compared with the Sensex’s 1.79% fall. The stock had also underperformed the market over the past one quarter, declining 33.38% as against the Sensex’s 4.18% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market over the past one year, advancing 3.38% as against the Sensex’s 11.71% rise. The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 20 crore. Face value per share is Rs 1. Ujaas Energy is engaged in solar power plant operation business, and manufacturing and sale of solar power system.

Source: business-standard

September Part C 2017

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

In Exclusive Talk With

Mr.Ritesh Pothan Senior VP - Business Development SCORPIUS TRACKERS EQ: What is the importance, feasibility, viability of using Solar Trackers in various states of India

RP : Well Engineered Trackers with Zero Mechanical O&M are the need of the hour with current capability to reduce dependence on Module Imports and increase yields to derive maximum value and bringquality benchmarks to projects. Well Designed Trackers bring in gains of 18% to over 25% depending on the location and technology used. Current trends of over specâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ing BOS components are detrimental in the long term which trackers can alleviate substantiallyby loading optimally as well as providing schedulable energy throughout the day, also important is the focus on quality that SCORPIUS TRACKERS brings to the table with our designs undergoing BWLT Testing by CPP and Engineering Bankability from Black & Veatch. SCORPIUS TRACKERS slocally grown globally patented technology solutions straddle both BLOCK and ROW allowing developers to use either based on their technological comfort and land options. This is an amazing advantage wherein you are not locked into a particular Technology / Organization but can use either to deliver the optimal solution. Another benefit we bring to the table is that SCORPIUS TRACKERS entire R&D is homegrown from the ground up in India with our technology leaders delivering multiple optimizations year on year which shows upin the form of superb generation numbers from our plants with average CUFs in excess of 26%. This also allows clients to rest assured that the implementations are done by experts and

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not some bought over technology with substandard implementations. A not so often highlighted value add is the ability to reduce the impact of grid downtimes with dated technology delivering maximum power for minimum time, SCORPIUS TRACKERS is able to deliver maximum power for maximum time, thus reducing the impact of backdowns and failures. On an MU to MU basis SCORPIUS TRACKERS technology works out to be more economical, viable and better quality than any Fixed Tilt system.Our technology has gone through the grind with multiple validation by independent consulting organizations on behalf of our clients and the industry. We are consecutive winners of the Solar Tracker of the Year - 3 years running, as well as multiple other industry recognized awards which reinforce the technology strides we have taken to be the Best in the World. This along with many more benefits, prove the need for the old technology to recede in favour of better homogenous solutions. Our tracker technology is widely installed in Punjab, AP, UP, MP, Karnataka, Maharashtra delivering the wide base that provide Developers comfort in our execution and delivery capabilities. With 250 MW installed across India, as well as installations in Middle East, Africa, Japan and supplies to the US we are the defacto standard for trackers. Since we are local pure-play technology providers we have created a local ecosystem that provides local jobs in steel, civil and ancillaries which bring a lot of needed economic advantages to the forefront rather than depending comp letely on imports that hurt our economic security.

EQ: What are your plans for India, your view on the GOI target of 100GW Solar Power by 2022

RP : India is a global hot bed for Solar and our technology brings in advantages of Value with Quality which no one else can match. For the current financial year we expect to have a 1 GW in orders, doubling every consecutive year. The tar -get of 100 GW is easily achievable however there needs to be concentrated effort from the government to promote the right technology and not just quick fixes which are detrimental to the Economic Security of our nation. Just investing in panels is not a long term solution but a holistic approach using multiple technology mediums will provide a substantial boost to the energy and economic security environment that our proud nation is looking to create. A sustained push on schedulable solar technology with storage is the need of the hour which needs to be met head on by the political class.

September Part C 2017

37Â

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

EQ: Explain briefly about your company, directors, promoters, financial & tech strengths, investors its background, vision & mission etc…

RP : Scorpius is promoted by Shailesh Vaidya (CEO) and Kiran Shah (CTO), both serial entrepreneurs based in Pune, India. This is their 5th venture in technology space, having previously worked in Image processing, machine vision, CNC Automation, DOT COM and Concentrator Photo Voltaics (CPV) The vision is to make Scorpius a global products technology company, for the solar space to begin with. After a successful launch of cutting edge trackers, the next product is an integrated BOS solution to be followed by a state of art robotic cleaning solution for tracked and fixed tilt plants, old and new.

EQ: What is the kind of tracker technology you supply for the solar market

RP : We are the only Global Bankable Dual Technology provider with the capability to deliver both BLOCK and ROW technology. Last year we were placed among the Top 10 Tracker Companies Globaly by GTM Research. Each Solution has their individual strengths and we allow the client to choose the most appropriate technology, each technology is Best In Class and our numerous installations with generation that is an industry benchmark validate our statement. Our design for the independent ROW technology is the simplest to assemble with no welding at site and easily executable over difficult terrain with minimal leveling which provides us with a tremendous advantage. Based on our ability to provide dual solutions we are easily the defacto choice for tracking technology especially if you are looking for economic viability with guaranteed quality metrics.

EQ: What is your USP’s, distinctive advantage of your technology, products, solutions

RP : • MADE IN INDIA – Complete R&D at Pune Excellence Centre • ZERO maintenance bearings (mechanicals) which do not have to be cleaned or lubricated for 25+ years. NO O&M cost for bearings • Developed completely in-house with

September Part C 2017

• • • •

Indian Patent received, with global Patent filed Most competitive and Bankable Tracker technology Aggressive supply chain with localised supply, installation, erection and O&M support Standalone Tracker Technology – NO cabling for power and communication Many worlds’ first features like Lightening detection, which is a precursor to a storm

EQ: Please present case studies, noteworthy projects in India and/or worldwide RP : Our plant in Punjab with its unique design delivers 20% more than similar installations by competitors whereas our generation numbers in Karnataka hit the roof topping out around 32% CUF on more than 10% of days. Similarly we see increases of almost 19% over Fixed Tilt systems in states like Telangana / Andhra Pradesh.

EQ: In the overall Solar Market….what is the size of installations with trackers…in this what is your market share

RP : As of FY 2016 we were #1 with the largest installed base of trackers in the country with 250MW on the ground. We are also a Global Top 10 Tracker Organization as acknowledged by GTM Research.

EQ: What are the various technologies, players in the trackers space…their technology, advantages, disadvantages, costings

RP : The industry is plagued by unvalidated designs both in the Fixed as well as Tracker space. This gives a poor name to those whom quality is a matter of habit. A lot of this is attributable to the inexperience and dearth of seasoned professionals who have designed other technologies and the safety parameters they bring in with experience.The treme -ndous pressure on price brings down quality however well designed solutions like ours deliver better economics with quality which are a much needed respite. Some technologies come with need for substantial maintenance and repair over time.

EQ: In terms of solar energy costs per kWh….how much trackers can contribute in lowering the costs

RP : Well engineered solutions with optimization easily increase project IRRs by a 2-3 % and in some cases even more. On an MU to MU basis SCORPIUS TRACKERS technology works out to be more economical, viable and better quality than any Fixed Tilt system.

EQ: Comment on the O&M, Life of solar trackers

RP : SCORPIUS TRACKERS technology are tested and validated against multiple global standards and we constantly improve our components through rigorous inhouse R&D.Our technology O&M is proven to be equivalent to Fixed Tilt which is not the case with all tracker technologies. The reduction in O&M expenses as well as scale reduction correlates into a lower O&M cost per KWh than Fixed Tilt as well as any other Tracker provider on the market.

EQ: What are the top 5-10 markets for Solar trackers worldwide

RP : India of course is our home turf and very exiting for us. USA and middle east are the next large markets in terms of volume. South America (Mexico, Brazil, Chile etc.) South East Asia (Japan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Philippines etc.) and Australia are markets which we have already got leads in and will be exploring aggressively this year.

EQ: What are your plans for India and your view on the opportunities and challenges.

RP : India has the potential to be the world leader in solar technology and lead the market rather than just play follow the leader as is now. The opportunity to lead from the front in Panels, Tracking, BOS are some of the major parts that India can show the way. We have extremely high engineering talent that international companies hire in India, they need to be tasked with better R&D opportunities and resources to drive innovation. Our R&D and innovation centre is completely based in India and provides for immediate delivery from our HeadQuarters in Pune. Since we are a pure play technology with outsourced manufacturing, our ability to scale is significant with no limits on our delivery and execution which is now further improved due to reduced number of parts and lower structural requirements while maintaining the same parameters for quality and durability.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW EQ: Please present the cost benefit analysis of using trackers in India

delivering economical and longlasting solutions to the nation.

EQ: How much extra land, time required, investment required, O&M costs for projects with trackers

EQ: Mention the technical specifications of the trackers you offer

RP : Our trackers are tested using salt spray chambers for cycles that cover 150 years, with a tracker going through barely 10,000 movement cycles in 25 years, our mechanicals are tested for 60,000 cycles. The latest update to our technology makes cleaning a breeze with installation profile similar to fixed tilt and reducing the amount of O&M required substantially vis a vis other tracking. Technical specifications of the ROW and ARRAY are available on our website and can be provided if you write to us at info@scorpiustrackers.com

EQ: Please share a video about your tracker / company for our digital media platform.

RP : Lots of details are available on our website and Scorpius YouTube links and also on the Scorpius LinkedIn page.

EQ: What is the size ofyour company in terms of manufacturing capacities, growth chart, future expansion plans, revenues, shipments, ASP’s, financial figures,

RP : Scorpius has at present more than 75 engineers, working in the areas of R&D, product qualification and reliability testing and on site supervision. We plan to remain a product technology company as we are extremely strong in new R&D concepts in cleaning, storage etc.

EQ: Explain various guarantees, warrantees, insurance,certifications, test results, performance

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report of your trackers

RP: WE provide 10 years guarantee as a standard on our mechanical parts. Extended periods can be discussed.

EQ: The recent aggressive bidding by various developers keeping Solar Tariffs in the price range of Rs.2.44 to 3.3 per kWh in various Solar Tenders…Whats your view on the viability,Costs & timeline pressures, Resource Challenges (Materials,ManPower, Execution, Grid Connection, Land Possession) etc… RP : The entire focus is only lowest tariff with the cheapest BOM possible and is detrimental to the entire energy ecosystem. The lowest bid doesn’t guarantee quality parameters nor creates a healthy environment for the industry to flourish, which in turn saps the quality of manpower and material with no long term goal in mind. The glut of power being delivered between 11am to 2 pm is already facing stiff resistance from DISCOMS and SLDCs who are backing down power due to grid instability as well as the inability to absorb concentrated loads. The future solution lies in delivering constant, consistent, continuous and clean power with a revitalized focus on quality as well as scheduled TOD delivery making the transition to renewables less painful and more proactive rather than a financial play with no considerations for down the line realities. Technology plays that holistically improve the overall profile of the industry are already present with developers needing to adopt more and depend less on cheap imports while driving innovations with a focus on

RP : This is a misconception, whereas in reality the land required for a similar generation profile is less and only if you want to increase generation difference significantly do you need to increase the gap between rows resulting in additional generation with minimal increase in land cost only. ST are designed with ZERO Mechanical O&M requirements from the ground up and require no maintenance other than a change of batteries every 5-7 years. We also have a comprehensive AMC program that guarantees the parts for 25 years and is an industry first

EQ: In terms of solar energy costs per kWh….how much trackers can contribute in lowering the costs

EQ: Comment on the O&M, Life of solar trackers

RP : SCORPIUS TRACKERS technology are tested and validated against multiple global standards and we constantly improve our components through rigorous inhouse R&D. Our technology O&M is proven to be equi-valent to Fixed Tilt which is not the case with all tracker technologies. The reduction in O&M expenses as well as scale reduction correlates into a lower O&M cost per KWh than Fixed Tilt as well as any other Tracker provider on the market.

EQ: What are the top 5-10 markets for Solar trackers worldwide

September Part C 2017

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

In Exclusive Talk With Mr.Rahul Gupta Chief Executive Officer, Rays Experts Government of India target of 40GW Rooftop Solar by 2022...Can the industry achieve this target Considering that the rooftop market is heating up, there is larger than ever awareness & rising electricity tariffs, this target can be achieved. If we believe the optimistic side of industry, i can be achieved early.

EQ: Please describe in detail about your company, its promoters, directors, investors, vision, objectives and its plans in the solar industry Rahul: RaysExperts started its journey from hostel rooms of IIT Roorkee as a consultancy service. The founder Rahul Gupta was into his final year studying civil engineering at IIT Roorkee. After college he decided to officially constitute a private limited company as Rays Power Experts Private Limited and envisioned setting up a 5MW solar power plant at the young age of 22. This was a humble start to what will become poster company of Indian Solar Dream. Architecting the concept of India’s first Private Solar Park, RaysExperts established its first solar park in Kolayat village of Bikaner District in Rajasthan. Within a span of just 6 years, RaysExperts has become one the emerging solar companies 40

September Part C 2017

of India. RaysExperts has been ranked in the top 10 solar companies of India by Bridge to India in Ground Mounted EPC, Ground Mounted Open Access, Rooftop Project, Rooftop EPC categories. Today RaysExperts has established more than 230MWs of Solar plants across India. RaysExperts has developed more than 600 Acres of private solar farms. Their clientele includes both government & private sector. We hope to become the largest solar company in India with an aim to become the most widely respected practitioner of solar Industry. We have a solid foundation, a thrilling momentum & we hope to fire it up. Our Company is promoted by Mr. Rahul Gupta, and Ms. Nidhi Gupta.

EQ: What are your USP’s and differentiating factors as compared to your competitors? Rahul: Our Service & focus on quality & efficiency of the projects coupled with sustainable success demonstrates the secret of our business success.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

EQ: What are the opportunities in this space and the challenges in upscaling and mainstreaming distributed solar Rahul: The opportunities & Challenges in upscaling & mainstreaming distributed solar are as follows : Opportunities:● Massive

employment generation across all income segments

● Huge

growth for localized businesses dealing in equipments, hardware, machinery etc

● Huge

growth potential for service providers like welders, pilers, fencers, security agencies, contractors etc across India

● Biggest

ever opportunity for finance sector to grow by leaps as 100Bn $ money would be needed to reach 100GW. This will also add up in the national GDP

Challenges:Costs ● Policy Instruments ● Transmission & Distribution Network ● (Inability to handle) Intermittency of resources ● Reduced Taxes on Coal ● Competition from Conventional Power ● Non Availability of) comprehensive resource database ● Administrative Issues (Local/State/ National) ● (Un)-Willingness to switch to RE ● Research ● Skill Development & Education in RE ● Implementation of EU & American models of RE in India Hope this suffices. ● Capital

EQ: Kindly rank various states in the order of attractiveness of distributed solar market Rahul: The leading states are Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra& Uttar Pradesh.

Mr. Rahul Gupta established a full scale business in the name of Rays Power Experts Private Limited. Under his leadership, RaysExperts has grown exponentially from nothing to one of the most awarded solar company in India. He had won “Visionary Award” in 2015 given by Vision World Academy.

EQ: Solar Cities : How many solar cities are announced and describe in detail as to what will happen in these solar cities Rahul: By Definition, Solar City aims at minimum 10% reduction in projected demand of conventional energy at the end of five years, through a combination of enhancing supply from renewable energy sources in the city and energy efficiency measures. Inprinciple approval is given to those Cities which fulfill the requirement as per criteria, have commitment for undertaking renewable energy installations and energy efficiency measures and have submitted their proposals in the prescribed format. So far, based on the proposals received and the cities identified by some of the State Governments, in-principle approval has been given to 48 Cities which are: Agra, Moradabad, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Surat, Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombiwali, Thane, Nanded, Aurangabad, Indore, Gwalior, Bhopal, Imphal, Kohima, Dimapur, Dehradun, HaridwarRishikesh, Chamoli-Gopeshwar, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Coimbatore, Vijaywada, Bilaspur, Raipur, Agartala, Guwahati, Jorhat, Hubli, Maysore, Thiruvananthapuram, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Ajmer, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bhubaneswar, , Aizawl, Panji City & Environs, Itanagar, Hamirpur, Shimla, Kochi, Howrah, Rewa, Shirdi and SAS Nagar Mohali.

EQ: Foreign Investment: What is the scenario of foreign investors (Debt & Equity in this space)

Ms. Nidhi Gupta, as a Director at RaysExperts, she leads company operations & finances. She has been awarded Emerging Leadership Award by Brands Academy and Woman of the Future Award by the Rajasthan Cultural Awards in 2015.

Rahul: Foreign Investments are surging in the country in the solar sector. But it should be highlighted that foreign investment in Indian solar industry currently is less than 20 percent, and even after the 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) under automatic route and 74 per cent through foreign equity participation in a joint venture (without approval), it Indian solar industry has failed to attract significant foreign investments.

Source: AP

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September Part C 2017

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

In Exclusive Talk With Mr.Steven Chen EQ: How much modules have you supplied to India till now, what is the target/expectation in 2017-18

Director Of Indian Sales & Business Deveopment JA SOLAR

SC : JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. ("JA Solar"), one of the world's largest manufacturers of high-performance solar power products, on 17th April , announced that the company's cumulative module shipments to India reached the milestone of 1GW of capacity. The 1GW of modules hipped to India represents electricity generation capacity of approximately 1.7billion kWh, which can reduce carbon emissions by 1.47 million tons annually. The company's shipments to India in 2016 represent significant market share in the region. JA Solar also believes that it held its leading market share position in the first quarter of 2017. Our target in 2017-18 will be more than 1GW in India market.

EQ: The recent aggressive bidding by various developers keeping Solar Tariffs in the price range of Rs.2.44 to 3.3 per KWH in various Solar Tenders…Whats your view on the viability, Costs & timeline pressures, Resource Challenges (Materials, ManPower, Execution, Grid Connection, Land Possession) etc…

SC : Tariff/price is stabilizing, and has not dropped dramatically in recent bids. Recent PPAs for solar projects are priced at similar levels to conventional power. In fact, the cost of solar power is now competitive and further cost reductions are no longer necessary to make project economics work. Since the central government is promo ting solar power and is providing solar parks for upcoming bidding rounds, resource challenges are being reduced. Due to prompt support and infrastructure facilities provided by the Indian government, especially in solar parks, IPPs can streamline their costs, leading to relatively stable IRR projections at lower tariffs.

September Part C 2017

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW EQ: Kindly enlighten our readers on the performance of your modules in India in various geographic locations, customer feedback,.

SC : By exclusively using high efficiency cells and with anti-PID ratings, we provide modules that can be used in different types of locations and conditions. Using tests such as ammonia resistance, salt mist corrosion, and thresher tests, we and our customers can understand the capability of our module to perform in a range of weather conditions. We utilize this strategy around the world, and feedback from Indian customers confirms their appreciation of our approach. We offer a variety of types of modules, which are tailored for various geographic areas; the modules are highly cost competitive in their respective technology segments.

EQ: Present some noteworthy projects, case studies of solar plants built using your solar modules

SC : JA has offered to many partners for big utility projects in India, like 130 MW project in Maharashtra, skypower 115MW Telengaana project, CLP 120MW Telengana project, energon 65MW Telangana project, ostro 69MW Telengana project Welspun 44MW Bihar project and 30MW Tamil Nadu project, shapoorji 40MW telangana project, etc.

EQ: Please describe in brief about your company, directors, promoters, investors, its vision & mission

SC : JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd is a world leading manufacturer of highperformance solar power products that convert sunlight into electricity, for residential, commercial and utility-scale power generation. The company was founded in May 2005 and publicly listed on the NASDAQ in February 2007. JA Solar, the world’s leading cell producer since 2010, has firmly established itself as a tier 1 module supplier. Capitalizing on its strength in solar cell technology, it is committed to provide modules with unparalleled conversion efficiency, yield efficiency, and reliability to enable customers to maximize the returns of their PV projects. With its leading industry experience, continuous effort on R&D, customer-oriented service and sound financial conditions, JA Solar is the most trustworthy long-term partner

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in the industry. Mr. Baofang Jin is the executive chairman and chairman of JA Solar; he has been the chairman of the board of directors since May 2005. Mr. Jin currently serves as vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of Ningjin County, vice president of Hebei Chamber of Commerce, vice chairman of Hebei Association of Entrepreneurs, executive chairman of Hebei Information Industry Association, chairman of Electronic Information Materials Sub-Association of Hebei Information Industry and Informatization Association, etc.. Mr. Jin was awarded National Model Worker, Model Worker of Hebei Province, National "Wuyi" Work Medal, Outstanding Entrepreneur of Hebei Province, etc., and was the deputy to the 10th and 11th and 12th National People's Congress.

EQ: What is the size of your company in terms of manufacturing capacities, growth chart, future expansion plans, revenues, shipments, ASP’s, financial figures, SC : JA Solar adopts a selective vertical integration model, covering silicon wafer, cell and module production, as well as photovoltaic power plant investment, development, construction, operation and mainten-ance. It has eleven prod-uction facilities world-wide. Its silicon wafer, cell and module production capacity will reach 3GW, 7GW and 6GW respectively by the end of 2017. To date, JA Solar has a cumulative shipment of over 20GW.

EQ: What are your plans for India, your view on the GOI target of 100GW Solar Power by 2022

SC : Since we already have leading market share in several geographies, over the long term we intend to be a top tier supplier-- and hopefully the number 1 supplier—in the Indian mar-ket, once prices stabilized. Due to the 100 GW installation target, we have already seen rapid growth in installation activities in the past two years. Growth is further accelerating in 2016,2017 and will likely continue. We fully expect the government target to be achieved by 2022.

EQ: What are your plans for Manufacturing set up in India, the opportunities and challenges in manufacturing in India

SC : As the leading cell and module manufacturer in the world, JA is in talk with several significant players for potential manufacturing set up in India to capture Indian market growth in the coming years. During evaluation process, we also found great government incentives and attractive cost structure relative to other countries in south-east Asia.

EQ: Solar Trade Wars : What is Your View ?

SC : We see India as a significant market with a high growth rate. In order for a project to be sustainable, the whole value chain must be secured. Our opinion is that due to high demand in India, supply must come from foreign as well as domestic manufacturers. Cooperation between domestic and foreign manufacturers to achieve the government installation target is a better path to success than rivalry between different manufacturers based on location. We feel a cooperative approach will still create healthy competition and technological advances.

EQ: How much is your R&D budget as % of your sales / profits

SC : In the year of 2016, R&D expense was $ 25 milion, equivalent to 1.1% of total revenue.

EQ: What are the top 5 markets for your company in the past, present and future. SC : In 2016 , 2017 and 2018, we believe the top 5 markets for JA will be China, US, India Latin America and Japan.

EQ: Technology road map in terms of 1500V , Double Glass, BiFacial Cells, PERC/ PERT Technologies, HIT/HJT, IBC upcoming game changes technologies

SC : JA has already commercially launched the Bi-facial product in Q2 2017, will launch multi PERC and Halfcell by 2017 H2. Other technologies are still in the R&D phase, and our business plan will depend on market conditions. JA bi-facial product could produce 3~10% more energy compared with conventional products, and JA will ship 1st 10MW by the end of June,2017.For the next generation of solar techn-ology, JA takes a cautious approach. We dedicate abundant resources to R&D, inclu-ding (but not limited to) N-type, bi-facial, MWT, HIT, and PERC. JA will launch a product to market only after the demonstration of a solid business need .

September Part C 2017

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

EQ: Kindly highlight your product, technology & company USP’s, distinctive advantages etc…

SC : JA at one time was the largest cell producer and supplier in the industry, and supplied its cells to almost all the top module manufacturers in the world. JA is renowned for its high efficiency solar cell, and works to maintain its leading position in efficiency. The efficiency of PERC in mass production is higher than 20.8%, and is expected to be higher than 21% by the end of 2017. We are dedicated to promote PERC series products, and will launch multi PERC by Q3 2017, and half cell PERC by Q4 2017, in which the highest power rating would be 370W for module with 72 piece cells. As one of the first several monocrystalline PV product manufacturers and the largest P-type mono crystalline PV module supplier, JA Solar has provided approximately 50% of modules required for the first phase of the "Front Runner" demonstration PV project in Datong, Shanxi province, including over 300MW of mono crystalline modules. By the end of 2016, the company's cumulative shipments of mono crystalline modules had reached over 7 GW. While mainly based on PERC technology, JA Solar’s mono products keep maintaining the steady growth in efficiency and a worldleading mass production advantage.

EQ: Do you also bring financing solutions for your customers ?

SC : JA will help clients to develop projects in several different ways.Fina ncially, we have strong relationship with tier one international banks, as well as good relationships with leading

September Part C 2017

trading insurance companies, such as Sinosure. These relationships can help clients to solve most of their financing needs.

EQ: As a manufacturer, kindly share your plans to foray as developer or equity investor in solar pv power projects.

SC : JA has its own EPC team and has already developed several significant solar projects in China. Given the capital intensive nature of development, JA plans to build 200MW of solar projects every year, which is relatively conservative compared to our peers. The solar industry is replete with formerly solid companies that overextended themselves in project development, causing great financial challenges. In order to avoid a similar fate, JA maintains a solid balance sheet that enables it to honor its 25 years of module warranties.

EQ: Please share information of some new orders in hand.

SC : We have already signed several significant orders for the 2nd half and have already completed installation of the needed manufacturing capacity.

EQ: What are the trends in new manufacturing technology equipment, materials, processes, innovations etc…

SC : The core values of PV products are efficiency, availability and reliability. The industry continually seeks improvement on these values. To drive progress, manufacturing equipment is now highly automated. JA Solar launched of its high-performance 400MW photovoltaic (PV) solar cell

manufacturing facility (the “Facility”) in Penang, Malaysia. The Facility, which is JA Solar’s first manufacturing facility outside of China, is equipped to produce high-efficiency multi-crystalline solar cells whichwill primarily be used to manufacture JA Solar modules outside of China to provide competitive product solutions for wide variety of overseas markets. JA Solar invested approximately MYR300 million in the facility located in the Penang Bayan Lepas Industrial Park. The Facility will provide up to 700 job opportunities for the local economy, and is able to accommodate further expansion in production capacity to meet growth in demand.

EQ: As a module manufacturer provided 25 years warranties.. is it backed up by warranties by cell manufacturer, materials manufacturers ?

SC : As one of the biggest module manufactures in the world, we are supported by our suppliers for warranties. For quality assurance, we have commitments from our suppliers to provide the best service and assistance to support our long-term quality warranty.

EQ: Whats your commitment towards the solar sector in India SC : JA is committed to be the Number 1 supplier in Indian market in the mid to long term.

EQ: What will be the cost, technology trends in solar pv modules For large utility scale projects, cost is of critical importance. SC : We expect costs to continue decreasing in the future

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electric vehicles

NTPC plans to add 20 charging stations for electric vehicles

fter successfully commissioning two charging stations for electric vehicles, state-run NTPC is planning to add 20 more soon. In June this year, the Maharatna firm entered into the new business segment of setting up charging stations for EVs and has installed first such points at its offices in Delhi and Noida.

“We want to expand this business and hope to add at least 20 more locations. We are also in talks with different governments for the same,” NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Gurdeep Singh told reporters in a select media briefing here . initially the company will set up stations in the New Delhi Municipal Corporation area and then spread its business across the country.

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“It is a policy decision to have a major share in the charging station. We are currently working on it,” Singh said. He further said the company is planning to add 25,000 MW of solar capacity by 2025 and has already opened tenders for 10,000 MW of projects. “We believe the solar tariff prices are more or less likely to be between Rs 3-3.25 per unit. Solar tariff fell to Rs 2.44 per unit for the 200 MW Bhadla project in Rajasthan, but going forward, we dont expect to see such a drop. Also the implementation of good and services tax will only increase the tariff to some extent,” he said. NTPC is also exploring the feasibility of cofiring biomass along with coal, Singh said. “We have invited bids for identifying vendors for retrofitting biomass cofiring facility in 490 MW thermal plant in Uttar Pradesh. We are working on it,” Singh added. In FY17, NTPC commissioned around 3000 MW of coal projects and has a total installed capacity of 51,635 MW as on June, 30, out of which 38,755 MW is thermal capacity.

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electric vehicles

India’s JSW Energy to invest up to $623 million in electric cars JSW Energy will invest up to 40 billion rupees ($623 million) to build electric cars, batteries and charging infrastructure, part of the power company’s diversification plans to drive future growth, its chief executive said.

JSW plans to roll out its first electric car by 2020, which will make it the first non-automotive company in India to enter electric car business, as well as making batteries and supporting charging infrastructure, Prashant Jain, chief executive of JSW Energy said

ndia has proposed a 15-year roadmap for rolling out electric vehicles and is also auctioning solar power capacity as part of a push to triple renewable energy generation by 2022 and to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Jain, speaking after JSW reported first-quarter results, said energy storage was the right focus for the company, which has limited growth opportunities in the power sector and surplus cash. JSW, part of the JSW Group, which also includes JSW Steel, plans to build electric storage batteries for vehicles, telecom towers, household use and renew-

able power, he said. The company, with robust finances and a strong track record in efficiency, is scouting for manufacturing locations and technology partners for electric vehicles and will sell the car under JSW brand name. Jain did not elaborate how the company plans to make profits for shareholders from a venture which does not have a proven business model, but said it is betting big on the falling costs of electric vehicles and incentives offered by the government. He said in just three years time the cost of a conventional car in India will be equal to an electric car. But

“It is indeed a stiff deadline,” Abdul Majeed, automotive lead, PwC India, said. “Existing OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are struggling as battery costs are still three times the cost of conventional car battery, plus (charging) infrastructure is completely missing in the country,” Majeed said. He said a complete ecosystem for electric vehicles was at least seven to 10 years away. analysts are skeptical that JSW can meet the 2020 deadline for launching the car. India’s Mahindra & Mahindra in May had said that the company would invest in building long-range electric vehicles by mid-2019. It had entered the electric vehicle business in 2010 by acquiring Bengalurubased Reva Electric Car Co. JSW Energy reported consolidated net profit of 2.17 billion rupees for the quarter ended June 2017 versus 3.67 billion rupees during the same period last year.Analysts expected the company to post net profit of 2.70 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data. Source: in.reuters

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electric vehicles

EESL to procure 10,000 electric cars for various ministries State-run firm EESL has floated a tender for procuring 10,000 electric cars and 4,000 chargers for coal, mines, power and new & renewable energy ministries as well as for providing them on rent to other departments.

nergy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL) has floated a tender for procurement of 10,000 electric cars including complete system warranty under the faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles in India (FAME) scheme of the ministry of new & renewable energy. According to the tender, 3,000 AC (alternate current) or slow charger’s and 1,000 DC (Direct Current) fast charger’s compatible with Bharat AC-001 and DC-001 charger specification would be procured. The tender is part of the government’s plan to promote electric vehicles in the country in a big way. In April, Power, Coal, Mine, New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal had said that India would sell only electric vehicles by 2030. Earlier this month he had admitted however that it may take a little longer to replace existing petrol and diesel vehicles in the country.

“only electric cars by 2030…existing cars may take a little longer to replace. but the government is working on a framework to see what we can do on promoting electric vehicle. niti aayog is currently tasked with preparing a futuristic vision for electric vehicles,” Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal goyal had said. On hybrid cars, he had said, “It reduced fuel consumption a little bit but the future is all electric cars. I had also recommended to the finance minister that it is not advisable for an intermediate technology which reduces the fuel consumption by a little bit but otherwise that is not the future, the future is all electric cars.” Talking about lobbying for hybrid cars he said, “It is a campaign being run by those companies who don’t have electric vehicles. These companies have come to me also to convince not to oppose hybrid cars. The world is moving towards electric vehicles and the country would promote electric vehicles.” Source: PTI

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September Part C 2017

Solar project

Parijat Industries first solar plant helping India to achieve its solar energy target India’s largest power blackout across the globe (The Great India Outage), which stretched from Kolkata to New Delhi. This blackout was attributed to the northern power grid failure, resulting in about 700 million people going without power.

n sync with this initiative, and as a commitment to clean the environment,Parijat Industries India Pvt. Ltd. recently invested and installed a solar plant at theirmanufacturing plant in Ambala, Haryana. Under Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency’s (HAREDA) state policy, Parijat Industries has installed a Grid-Tied Solar Rooftop capable of generating 450kW of energy. While this is enough to satiate 90 percent of the factory’s needs; excess or unused power will be added to a grid set up by the HAREDA, which can then be used by neighboring villages outside of Parijat Industries manufacturing premises. As the awareness for an alternative means of energy grows,

more and more corporates are investing in solar power. While there are several industries, like IT, steel, pharmaceutical, etc., across India, that have taken initiative in solar energy; there are but a handful of agrochemical companies associated with the enterprise of solar power. Running with the big corporations of the agrochemical industry; Parijat Industries’ commitment to creating a green, renewable energy source is cardinal. It is also a humble contribution to the commitment of government of India to generate 100 GW of solar capacity by 2021.Parijat was awarded the International Environment Management Award in the year 2015.

In January 2015, the Indian government expanded its solar plans, targeting USD 100 billion in investment and 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the 2015 COP21 climate conference in Paris, “The world must turn to the sun to power our future. As the developing world lifts billions of people into prosperity, our hope for a sustainable planet rests on a bold, global initiative.”

“The instillation of Parijat’s first solar energy generation capacity, is in line with our company’s commitment to responsible environment practices.” – Vikram Anand, Director.

Source:IANS

September Part C 2017

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Solar project

Rays Power Infra successfully commissions a 5 MW solar PV project for Aryavaan Renewable Energy Private Ltd Rays Power Infra, a leading Solar Energy company, announced that it has successfully completed a 5 MW solar PV project for one of their most prestigious client – Aryavaan Renewable Energy Private Ltd. The project execution work was started in October’2016 while the project was commissioned.

pread over an area of 25 acres, the project was executed on turnkey basis right from the land acquisition till the commissioning. With this, the total portfolio of commissioned projects of Rays Power Infra goes up to 65 MW in the state of Uttar Pradesh and over 400 MW in India. Based out of Secunderabad, Telangana, Aryavaan Renewable Energy Private Limited was founded in Hyderabad on 21 September 2015. The solar power plant being set up in Hamirpur is a part of the central government’s move to promote the adoption of renewable energy in the country. India aims to generate 40 per cent of its energy demand from renewable sources like solar, wind, water etc by 2022.

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Commenting on the milestone, Pawan Sharma, co-founder and director – projects, Rays Power Infra said, “This project is truly a watershed moment for us, considering the fact that it is commissioned under the Government of U.P. competitive bidding – 2013. Uttar Pradesh is an important market for us, thanks to the solar potential existing in the state. As always, we have made use of innovative technology and skilled field manpower to execute the project on time and deliver the best to our customer.” Lalit Kumar Baid, V.P. Finance, Aryavaan Renewables Energy Pvt. Ltd, “We are immensely pleased with our association with Rays Power Infra. This is an extremely important project for us considering that it is commissioned under the Government of U.P. competitive bidding – 2013. The services rendered by our esteemed partner Rays Power Infra are truly noteworthy and together we were able to deliver the project on time and par excellence.”

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

Uneasiness in Solar Sector to Ease Low Tariffs Offer Little Buffer Against Uncertainties; Stiff Competition and Robust Capacity Additions to Continue in Solar Power Sector Analysts : Divya Charen, Siva Subramanian R Venkataraman ( fitch group )

AGGRESSIVE BIDDING JITTERS: Tight tariff calls by developers attract distribution utilities, while low and aggressive bids send jitters in the solar industry. A bid as low as INR2.44/kWh could achieve a 10% equity internal rate of return (IRR) on a trackerinstalled plant configuration with a capital cost of INR34 million/megawatt peak (MWp) (INR40 million/MWac), an irradiation of 5.7/kWh/square metre (sqm)/day, a 16.25% panel conversion efficiency, an 8% p.a. rate of interest and an MWp/MWac ratio of 1.2.1 The average panel price has been at about INR22/Wp in the last few months, and this average been considered for making recent low bids.2 Capital cost required at INR34 million/MWp for a reasonable equity IRR appears aggressive and would have little room for contingencies. India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) observes that developers factor in advance a fall in module prices and lock in panel prices only six-eight months before the target commissioning date. Delaying the panel supply contract tie-up reduces or leaves no time contingency for construction in the event of slippages in the delivery of modules. Although demand-supply dynamics drove down solar panel prices, falling operating margins of solar panel manufactures raises the possibility of plateauing or increasing solar panel prices. However, in the long term, Ind-Ra expects a fall in solar panel prices due to technological advancements and improved economies of scale.

New Technologies to Immensely Benefit PLFs: Considering the use of next-generation solar panels, Ind-Ra expects solar projects to reach a plant load factor (PLF) as high as 28% on MWac (an MWp/MWac ratio of 1.2). Highly efficient panels, irrespective the usage of tracker, and a high DC/AC capacity are likely to yield a relatively high PLF. These factors improve the PLF to 23%-25% (assumptions in the recent bids) compared with the PLF of 17%-20% of existing operating projects. In addition, same-sized modules with a higher capacity would evolve. This could lead to savings on land size, installation of higher capacities within the identified land and balance of system cost savings. Bifacial and passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) technology panels could provide new breakthroughs in panel conversion efficiencies.

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Credit Profiles of Select Solar Projects to Improve: Solar projects with financially strong counterparties and strong power purchase agreement (PPA) provisions that address risks such as grid curtailment and payment security could exhibit improved reliability in debt servicing compared with projects that lack such features. Falling solar tariff has raised the topic of the possibility of the renegotiation of PPA tariff. Ind-Ra considers PPA renegotiation an event risk, as most PPAs signed in the power sector disallow renegotiation within terms.

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS Risk Rebalancing in Recent Tenders: Low tariffs in recent bids are a result of multiple layer of security features such as grid curtailment compensations (Rewa and TN Tenders), three month payment security fund in Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI) bids and guarantee from state governments in Rewa bids. Moreover, when PPA counterparties are SECI and NTPC Limited (‘IND AAA’/Stable), project developers discounted uncertainties in tariff receipts. Progressive terms such as freedom to repower solar projects will support project developers in optimising projects at a later stage.

Utility Scale Solar to Boost Capacity Additions Ind-Ra estimates 9GW and about 11GW capacity addition for FY18 and FY19, respectively,based on an analysis of the project portfolios of the top 20 renewable energy players and the tendering activities of SECI, NTPC and state discoms.

Utility Scale Solar Capacity on Pace; Rooftop Solar Capacity Lagging: According to Ind-Ra, the installation of 60GW utility scale solar capacity by FY22 is achievable, considering the impetus given by states and nodal agencies such as NTPC and SECI. Developers are attracted to these bids due to long-term PPAs and falling capex costs. The adoption of solar renewable purchase obligations by states at levels notified by the government of India (GoI), along with compliance with renewable purchase obligation, is critical for tenders to continue at the current pace. Current rooftop solar capacity is estimated at 1.4GW. SECI has completed the auction process for 500MW rooftop solar projects and is in the process of inviting another 1,500MW. While states have notified net metering policies, there is no concerted effort to achieve the rooftop solar target of 40GW by FY22.

Continued Counterparty and Grid Challenges: Weak counterparties in the power sector pose a risk to renewable projects. Solar projects, except those in Tamil Nadu, are witnessing receivable days less than 90 days across counterparties. However, uncertainty prevails when a weak counterparty starts delaying payments. Low tariffs in recent bids do not have the headroom to absorb revenue loss due to grid curtailment. In states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, where renewable capacity is burgeoning, the possibility of curtailment could be high. This is based on demand-supply situation, transmission infrastructure and grid management expertise. Infrastructure requirements (green corridor) and forecasting capabilities (setting up renewable energy management centres) would address some concerns about grid management.

Financing of Solar Projects: Renewable projects continue to depend on bank funding during the construction stage. Developers have started raising USD bonds for operating projects. Although all-in hedged cost of debt may be higher than 10%, developers are approaching the USD bond market on account of ease in placing a large issuance. Ind-Ra believes that lack of investor appetite for rupee bonds rated below AA and the depth of the international bond market have led to the shift towards USD bonds. Typically, developers use fully hedged letter of credit to save interest costs during the construction phase.

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The GoI has set an ambitious target of 100GW (60GW ground-mounted and 40GW rooftop installations) capacity installation by FY22. The capacity addition of utility scale solar projects is proceeding at a brisk pace. The ground-mounted solar target could be achieved, considering bids from agencies such as SECI and NTPC are involved, and states increase solar targets and launch bids (recently from Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh). In 2017, the government doubled the targeted capacity of solar parks to 40,000MW. Solar parks offer plug-and-play benefits to developers.

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

An analysis of the solar bids indicate that the pipeline capacity is concentrated in Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Solar Policy Targets & RECs The solar policy targets set by the GoI are yet to be adopted across states. The delay could contribute to dampened capacity addition. The 12.3GW capacity commissioned as of March 2017 can supply 21.5 billion units of power in FY18 at a 20% PLF. This solar energy supply is sufficient to meet a solar energy renewable purchase obligation of 2% in FY18, according to Ind-Ra’s estimates, against the Ministry of Power’s target of 4.75% for FY18.

Renewable energy certificates (RECs; one REC is for 1,000/kWh) worth INR5.1 billion (i.e. 5.1 million unsold solar RECs at the latest floor price of INR1/kWh) are unsold.3 In its order dated 30 March 2017, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission reduced floor and forbearance prices of both solar and non-solar RECs. REC trading has been halted by the Supreme Court of India

in response to appeals against reduction in REC floor and forbearance prices. According to Ind-Ra, the entire outstanding solar RECs are sufficient to meet 0.53% of solar purchase obligation compliance in FY17; these could have been sold, had there been a strict enforcement mechanism on renewable purchase obligation.

Improved Risk Allocation in Solar Tenders Recent solar bids aim to mitigate some key risks to elicit low bids. The payment security mechanism in the Rewa bid features a state government payment guarantee, a payment security fund (35%-40% of revenue at a 22% PLF) and a deemed generation compensation for grid unavailability, in addition to regular letter of credit. Termination compensation addresses debt recovery in case default is triggered. The mechanism ensures the distribution of risk faced by developers among various participants. Latest solar energy purchase bids invited by Tamil Nadu Generation

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and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) include a compensation for grid curtailment beyond 175 hours in a year. SECI, in its bids, gives discretion to bidders to repower project any time, but with a caveat that any excess energy cannot be sold to any other entity, unless refused by SECI. Most bids include a cap on PLF or an upper limit on energy purchase, beyond which a different tariff will be applicable or a cap on the DC/AC capacity ratio. Although bids from SECI and NTPC do not include any curtailment compensation, low credit risk faced by

the companies is one of the reasons behind low tariffs quoted in bids sought by them. SECI is included as a beneficiary in the tripartite agreement between the Reserve Bank of India, the GoI and states to allow withholding of central assistance to states in case of a default to SECI. Bid terms generally include a different tariff in case generation is in excess of a certain level and defines penalties in case generation is below a certain threshold. Ind-Ra does not expect projects to breach the lower threshold, as they have a DC/AC ratio of 1.1-1.3.

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

Capital Cost Pressure on Suppliers Solar panel prices are falling continually (down 33% yoy in May 2017), largely due to oversupply and high competition. In 4Q2016, the median gross margin and the median operating margin of the nine solar panel suppliers analysed was 8% and negative 2%.4 Ind-Ra expects solar panel prices to fall in the long term, due to manufacturing efficiencies and technological advancements. However, interim adjustments in solar panel prices could render low tariff bids unviable, unless prices are finalised through agreements.

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Ind-Ra estimates at least a 30% fall in costs of projects to be commissioned in 2018-19 compared with costs of projects commissioned in 2017. Cost savings in balance of system, especially inverters and trackers, are likely because of high

competition and economies of scale. Solar park project development enables savings in land cost, evacuation cost and pre-operative expenses (because of plug-and-play benefits). However, solar park fee will be applicable.

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS Technological Advancements Likely to Lead to High PLFs Trina Solar Limited, a China-based solar panel manufacturer, claims a panel conversion efficiency of 18.8%-22.5% for its bifacial panels, which generate electricity using the front and back side of panels. Bifacial panels are likely to produce 25% more energy than normal panels, according to manufacturers. 5

Increasing completion levels compel solar module manufacturers to adopt better technologies and offer economical products. PERC, which improves light capture at the panel level and optimises energy generation, is being adopted by solar manufactures.6 In addition to scale of manufacturing and oversupply, technological advancements will contribute to a fall in solar energy costs. Different combinations of technology indicate that solar PLFs could be as high as 28% for bifacial panels with tracker technology. A major advantage of increasing panel conversion efficiency is

Falling Solar Bids

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reduced land requirements and expenses on balance of systems for the same amount of energy generation. Thus, improving panel efficiency could lead to the next phase of cost reduction. Already, mono-silicon panels indicate a panel conversion efficiency of 17%18% (based on Ind-Raâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s portfolio). New technologies always introduce additional technical risks for lenders, especially with regard to reliability and maintenance. Ind-Ra will assess such factors through third-party reports and the backstops available in the supply agreement to tackle technology failure.

Ind-Ra believes that considering the current low panel prices and exchange rates, solar bids, except for lower than INR3/kWh, are likely to have a decent equity IRR.

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

High Risk Stem from State Utilities Unpredictable Counterparty Continues to Pose Risks Payment days across distribution utilities vary widely, indicating a counterparty risk in the power sector. Projects engaged in direct power sale to states are especially vulnerable to the behaviour of counterparties. For instance, although solar projects in Ind-Raâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s portfolio that sell to distribution utilities in Telangana are paid within 30 days from raising bills, payables days on power purchase are around 180 days.7 Such anomalies allude to a possible elongation in payment days for projects.prices are finalised through agreements.

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Companies on x-axis from left to right: Gujarat distribution utilities, Haryana distribution utilities, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, Southern Power Distribution Company of AP Limited, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited, Madhya Pradesh Paschim Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited, Madhya Pradesh Poorv Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited, Madhya Pradesh Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited, Eastern Power Distribution Company of AP Limited, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited,

Mangalore Electricity Company Limited, Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, Purvanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited, Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited, Kanpur Electricity Supply Company Limited, Southern Power Distribution Company of Telengana Limited, Hubli Electricty Supply Company Limited, Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited, Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS Utilities Flouting Must Run’ Status Pose Grid Risk Grid curtailment remains a major risk to revenue. The risk has pronounced presence in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. Multiple solar energy developers have approached Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, seeking directions on non-adherence to the must run status by the state utility. From the Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission’s order dated 28 February 2017, it is apparent that distribution utilities are facing difficulties in scheduling wind and solar power while maintaining the

frequency band of the grid in the range of 49.90 hertz-50.05 hertz and adhering to the deviation settlement mechanism. Curtailment compensation or deemed generation is included in the 750MW Rewa and the 1,500MW Tamil Nadu bids. The Ministry of Power has circulated a draft framework for providing curtailment compensation to existing projects. Ind-Ra’s opinion on the framework can be accessed at Power Ministry Proposes Compensation for Grid Curtailment; Positive for Renewables.

Low Panel Degradation Risk There are a limited number of long-term reliability studies on solar installations due to a nascent stage of solar energy penetration in India. According to the 2016 Module Reliability Survey by the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education, ground-mounted solar modules have significantly less degradation than rooftop ones. Rooftop modules are affected by high temperature and corrosion levels, and tend to be less professionally installed and managed. The survey was the third field study of solar modules installed across India.

The survey indicated an average annual degradation of 1.1% in ground-mounted solar modules with a capacity of over 500kW. The highest degradation observed was about 4%, indicating a wide dispersion of degradation rates in the survey. The survey covered modules of different suppliers, in different

Commissioning Delays to be Sporadic The majority of projects have a 12-18-month period between the signing of a PPA and the commissioning. PPA terms include a reduction in contracted capacity to the extent commissioned when a project is delayed beyond a certain period specified in the PPA. In IndRa’s opinion, although the possibility of the termination of a PPA seems remote, challenging high-tariff PPAs during PPA tenure is an emerging risk. Distribution utilities could cite delays in commissioning to stall high-tariff PPAs. Large projects involving land acquisition and setting up evacuation infrastructure are facing delays. PPAs allowing partial commissioning are at an advantage for developers. Projects in solar parks are likely to face the least implementation hurdles. Continually falling panel prices have led to developers completing projects at the end of the available period for commissioning to get the best price for solar panels.

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locations and of different age profiles. It may include smaller size projects. Ind-Ra is yet to come across a significant fall in generation levels caused by degradation in its portfolio. It is reassuring to observe in such studies that large ground-mounted solar capacities tend to have low degradation on average.

Funding and Debt Structure Bank loans fund projects during the construction stage. There is a significant interest in tapping into the bond market after commissioning. However, counterparty concerns, technology and tariff renegotiation risks and small capacities facing revenue concentration risk impede capital market access. Counterparties such as SECI, NTPC and Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited are perceived as highly safe. However, small asset size and the curtailment and tariff renegotiation risks have made investors cautious. Bond transactions in the solar sector were stray. In 2015, India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (‘IND AAA’/Stable) partially guaranteed the bonds of Porbandar Solar Power Limited were raised by Hindustan Group. The pooling diversified assets in terms of geography and counterparty could address the inherent limitation of small renewable assets, errant counterparty behaviour and unpredictable grid curtailments.

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS Moreover, renewable players taking foreign currency-denominated debt shows there is no rupee bond market for instruments rated below AA. Debt per MW raised through USD issuances is more than original debt per MW, indicating some equity repatriation occurs during debt issuance. This leads to the release of some capital of developer for future investments. In contrast, highly rated Indian power companies (e.g. Tata Power RenewThe creation of a major maintenance reserve and a cash sweep/trap to ride through able Energy Limited (‘IND A+’/Stable) the impending stress are some new features lenders stipulate in recent loan agreecontinue to tap into the rupee bond ments. market.

Rooftop to Play Second Fiddle Rooftop solar installations are estimated at about 1.4GW.9 Installed rooftop capacity is lagging far behind the cumulative target of 5GW by FY17. Thus, IndRa does not expect the targeted rooftop capacity addition of 5GW in FY18 to be achieved. With higher pace of additions and bids in the utility scale solar space, there is a possibility that utility scale solar capacity exceeds the target and compensates partially for lagging rooftop solar installations. SECI has awarded 500MW rooftop solar capacity and is in the process of tendering another 1,000MW. Ind-Ra believes that lack of proper funding is a major constraint in the development of rooftop solar projects. Rooftop solar

projects benefit from a large pool of developers (small size of bids), but the economies of scale is lost. Current solar panel prices provide a highly economical option to bulk consumers (both industrial and commercial) compared with tariffs charged by distribution utilities. According to Ind-Ra’s analysis, distribution utilities across 10

states charged bulk consumers INR6.08.5/kWh for power. The 10 states are Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. Tariff quoted in rooftop bids floated by SECI was as low as INR3.0/ kWh. Thus, the incentive for tapping into the rooftop solar space is high.

Competition to Intensify with Entry of Global Players The GoI’s ambitious installation target was followed by favourable reforms such as removal of interstate transmission tariff and multiple levels of payment security terms. Prominent foreign investors are trying to gain a foothold in the space for solar capacity development in India through subsidiaries, joint ventures and minority shareholding. These foreign investors include Soft Bank, Engie, Actis, Sembcorp Utilities, GE Financial Services, Goldman Sachs, Foxconn and Warbrug Pincus. Panel sup-

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pliers such as Canadian Solar and Hareon Solar are participating in solar project development through joint ventures or own companies. Piramal Group reportedly extended a flexible credit line to ACME Solar Holdings Limited, introducing a new form of funding, apart from bonds/ bank loans. Multilateral development bank such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank have expressed interest in investment commitments of about USD3 billion renewable sector funding (Figure 19).

September Part C 2017

CUSTOMISED PAINTING

CUSTOMISED PAINTING SOLUTION TO PREVENT COROSSION AT SOLAR PLANTS protects all that is important Solar is the fastest growing renewable energy in the world. With the increase in its affordability and the per unit cost coming at par with other conventional sources of energy, the government is giving thrust on addition of renewable energy capacity. Most of the investment in the solar plant goes into the steel structure that supports the energy generating solar panels for three decades. The role of mounting structures is two fold, one is to optimize the costs involved and make a solar power plant economically viable and the other is to ensure the durability of a solar power plant. Solar Plants which are more than 5 years old, have started facing the issue of corossion.

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September Part C 2017

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CUSTOMISED PAINTING

he life of a solar PV system may be seriously effected by corrosion. Even the galvanised structure gets corroded after some time. Corossion can happen due to:

• Insufficient deposit of zinc in Galvanisation Process • Mechanical damages during transportation and erection • Atmospheric conditions • Lack of periodic maintenance, etc. This can cause serious structural failures in racking and mounting components. This can hamper the design life of the solar panel, since if the underlying structure supporting the panel gets corroded, it shall in turn affect the solar panel. The best method of protection of the underlying structure is application of Proper Coating System.

Surface Preparation The performance life/durability of painting primarily depends upon good surface preparation. The following methods need to be adopted for surface preparation: • Clean the surface with chipping hammer to take out heavy corrosion rust/scale. • After the initial hand tool cleaning, use Hand Grinder with Metal Wire Brush as the accessory and clean the affected area to a standard of SSPC SP 3. In other words, when this Power Tool is applied over the affected area, the surface should become

Painting System Once the Surface Preparation has been done, the following Painting System needs to be followed: • Apply MOHPOXY Surface Tolerant Rust Converter Primer (DFT- 15-20 microns per coat). Care has to be taken that this primer is applied within 60 minutes of sanding.

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We, at Mohan Paints, have developed a specialised coating system for solar panel module structure, which saves the underlying structure from corrosion. The specialised coating system has been tested at Acme's solar plant in Khambat, Gujarat. We are delighted to share that the painting system has shown excellent results and has stayed intact for more than five years. It has saved the corroded galvanised structure from further corrosion. To overcome the corrosion at Solar plant, we recommend manual cleaning of the surface and application of our customized painting system specially designed keeping in mind the existing site conditions. Since the painting has to be done at the erected site, blast cleaning is not practically possible. Following method of surface preparation and painting system needs to be followed:

free of any visible rust/ contaminants and become smooth and shining and devoid of any coating whatsoever. • Replace the Metal Wire Brush with the Sand paper and roughen the surface so that it creates a surface profile of around 15-20 microns (signifying that the surface metal has become rough with angular peaks and troughs) to enable it for accepting the first coat of Surface Tolerant Primer. Just after this cleaning, use sturdy cloth / jute soaked in Washing Solvent for wiping the surface clean.

• After overnight drying of Surface Tolerant Primer, apply a coat of MOHPOXY HB Red Oxide Zinc Phosphate Tolerant Primer (DFT- 40-50 microns per coat). Allow this to dry overnight. • Apply Two Coats of MOHTHANE Hi Build UV-Stabilised PU Coating (DFT- 3540 microns per coat). The two coats have to be applied after a gap of one day.

Paint Application • The paint shall be applied brush or by spray or combination. The paint should penetrate into all crevices and corners. • Sufficient number of drop cloth should be provided and care shall be exercised to protect all finished surfaces and other work and all the spots and marks from such surface shall be immediately removed. Care should also be taken to avoid falling of paint on the moving element of equipment. Use tarpaulins to avoid falling of paint on finished products or running equipment. • During the preparation of paint / primer mixing with catalyst or thinner, time lag between inter coat, maturation time, pot life etc. should be maintained strictly as recommended. • Prior to removal of paint material from container, stir the content thoroughly. Care should be taken to properly stir the contents of the drums after opening for at least 20 minutes before using them. Improper mixing may not give adequate corrosion protection. This is essential for overcoming settlement effect and maintaining uniformity of product. • Do not plunge the painting brush too deep in painting material, this results in overloading brush bristles and in filling “heels” with paint. Remaining excessive paint also give lesser covering of paint. • Hold brush normally at 45 egree to the work; make several light strokes of brush with paint. Ensure uniform spreading / wetting of the surface, in one direction and cross wise lapping strokes be continued. • Do not pull dry brush on wet paint. This will break the wet film, reduce hiding capacity and DFT will be poor. This is uneconomical way of paint saving. • When the surface is completely covered, again take little paint and brush the surface with light strokes to smooth up the brush marks when the surface is just covered with paint. • Surface so painted has to perform with result of uniform gloss, uniform hiding of under surface, uniform dry film thickness, no porosity, no breaking of film and no over stretching / flexibility failure on drying. • The paint shall be applied in accordance with recommended standard and should have good workmanship. • The thickness of each coat of paint shall be regularly checked by means of a “Dry Film Thickness Gauge” or similar instrument. The paint coat build up shall be checked in dry condition.

September Part C 2017

Solar Technology

Looking for long term performance, durability, and safety for solar panels? Choose PV backsheet materials wisely! By RAHUL KHATRI Technical Manager, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions, India

V backsheets available in the market for solar panels can be broadly divided into two categories – fluoropolymer-based and non-fluoropolymer-based. Fluoropolymer-based backsheets consist of an outer layer (air side) only or outer and inner layer of fluoropolymer material such as Polyvinyl Fluoride (PVF) film, Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) film orFluoroethylene-Alkyl Vinyl Ether(FEVE) coating. Non-fluoropolymer based backsheets consist of an outer layer of non-fluoropolymer material (does notcontain any fluorine atoms), such as Polyester (PET) and Polyamide (PA). Considering the importance of backsheet outer layers(exposure to climate) to protect the inner backsheet core and solar cells from harsh environmental stresses such as UV radiation, humidity, dust, chemicals, etc., fluoropolymers have shown consistentsuperior performance in the field over non-fluoropolymers,thanks to their excellent weather resistance properties. There is sufficient data available demonstrating poor field performance of non-fluoropolymer-based backsheets,due to their poor resistance to outdoor stresses,which makes them unsuitable for harsh climate regions such as India.

September Part C 2017

Are all fluoropolymers good for PV backsheets?

V backsheets need to have an optimum blend of three key properties – weatherability, mechanical strength, and adhesion – to perform in harsh climates for 30 years and enable reliable and safe operation of PV modules. Fluoropolymers, in general, provideexcellent weatherability. However, not all fluoropolymers possess good mechanical strength, adhesion or both.

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Solar Technology Tedlar® PVF and PVDF fluoropolymer-based backsheets

edlar® PVF and PVDF are the two most commonly used fluoropolymerfilm-based backsheets. The former has been in use ever since NASA selected the material as part of its final recommended Bill of Materials in a decade long exercise (1975 – 1986) designed to identify the most reliable backsheets for crystalline silicon PV module technology.Itis the only backsheet that has performed successfully (no backsheet degradation, low module power loss) in the field for more than 30 years.The superiority of Tedlar®-based solar backsheets is well establishedin field performance while PVDF has only been in use for around7-8 year, and isnot field proven. Both PVF and PVDF sound similar and PVDF has been marketed as a product that performs like Tedlar® PVF in the field. However, there are many myths/ unknown factsassociated with PVDF material that are clarified below:

Myth 2: PVDF has higher fluorine content than Tedlar® PVF, therefore it is better

VDF films can have very weak initial mechanical properties and the level varies with manufacturer. More importantly, the mechanical properties degrade very quickly under environmental stresses(addition of acrylic weakens ability of PVDF to withstand these stresses). PVDF can have very low elongation (stretch-ability) along transverse direction (TD) (figure 1). When exposed to environmental stresses (damp heat, increased temperature, temperature cycles and UV exposure),the TD elongation drops to almost zero(figure 2& figure 3) for 7 different commercial PVDF films tested.This makes PVDF film brittle and prone to cracking in the field. This inherent weakness of PVDF + acrylic film cracking along transverse direction has also been analyzed and documented by third party research [1]. Tedlar® PVF filmhas significantly superior mechanical properties and more importantly retains them even after long-term exposure to environmental stresses and harsh climatic conditions(figure 2 & figure 3). The impact of weak mechanical properties of PVDF film have been seen in both lab as well as field analysis, where modules made with PVDF-based backsheets show cracks in PVDF layer (figure 4 & figure 5) along transverse direction.

Fact: Fluorine atoms in the fluoropolymer do improve UV and chemical resistance but they also reduce its ability to adhere to other materials. As fluorine content increases, the adhesion of the fluoropolymer decreases. For example, DuPont™ Teflon® has very high fluorine content but very low adherability and thus it is used as a non-stick coating for multiple applications. Higher fluorine content in PVDF negatively impacts its adhesion properties.This is undesirable for PV backsheets as it increases the risk of delamination. On the contrary, proven field experience of Tedlar® PVF film-based backsheets in different climatic conditions demonstrate that the fluorine content in PVF is sufficient to provide adequate weather resistance and adhesion required for proper functioningof PV backsheets in any service environment.

Myth 3: All PVDF films are same Myth 1:PVDF is a fluoropolymer Fact: Most PVDF films are a blend of up to 30% acrylic (PMMA) polymer and are not composed of “pure”fluoropolymers; hence, they do not provide the benefits of a “pure” fluoropolymer.Tedlar® PVF, on the other hand, is >99% fluoropolymer and provides excellent weather resistance properties associated with fluoropolymers.

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VDF films are manufactured by multiple companies and have different compositions (acrylic content, structures) and quality levels. With the emergence of variouslow cost PVDF films in the market, PVDF material quality varies significantly, further increasing risks around PVDF based backsheets lead to much faster degradation in the field. Tedlar® PVF filmcomes from a singleknown and trusted source, which helps to control quality, uniformity and key properties of the material.

September Part C 2017

Solar Technology

Conclusion

luoropolymer-based backsheets are widely chosen and used as the most reliable and best protection for PV modules. Within the fluoropolymer category, not all backsheets are equal. There are clear differences between Tedlar® PVF and PVDF-based backsheets. Tedlar® PVF-based backsheets are the gold standard for protection with more than 30 years of field proven use. PVDF-based backsheets suffer an inherent weakness in loss of mechanical properties and integrity. In addition, there is large variability from multiple suppliers with different blends, compositions, and structures. The loss in mechanical properties in PVDFbased backsheets has been demonstrated in accelerated testing and is causing field failures. With only 7 years in the field, the concern is that even more failures will happen over time. Making a prudent choice while selecting PV materials for solar panel backsheet will help mitigating backsheet failure risks and safeguard your investment.

September Part C 2017

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Company Profile

World's Biggest PV Module Manufacturers JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS) is a global leader in the solar industry. JinkoSolar distributes its solar products and sells its solutions and services to a diversified international utility, commercial and residential customer base in China, the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, South Africa, India, Mexico, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and other countries and regions.

inkoSolar has built a vertically integrated solar product value chain, with an integrated annual capacity of 5.0GW for silicon ingots and wafers, 4.0GW for solar cells, and 6.5 GW for solar modules, as of March 31, 2017. JinkoSolar has over 15,000 employees across its 8 productions facilities in China(5), Malaysia, Portugal and South Africa, and 16 overseas subsidiaries across Japan (2), Singapore, India, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Australia and South Africa. JinkoSolar has 16 global sales offices across China (2), United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Kenya, Costa Rica, Colombia and Argentina.

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As of today, JinkoSolar has excelled in module sales. The company has shipped over 6.65GW solar modules to over 80 countries in 2016, emerging as the World’s No. 1 solar module manufacturer with 6.65 GW module sales. <2016 JinkoSolar Market Share>,

JinkoSolaris also devoted at <self-improvements>, having shipped over 21GW of solar modules, saving over 25 million tons of CO2 emission worldwide. JinkoSolar has been reducing its own emission from production. Till 2015, JinkoSolar has installed solar power on production sites and implemented advanced production technology. The company has reduced 53.39% and 76.26% in electricity and water consumption, 76.15% in waste water discharge and 53.05% in GHG emissions. India market forms an important part of Jinko’s global strategy. JinkoSolar has a whole team dedicated to the Indian market, located in Aerocity, Delhi, and BKC Mumbai. JinkoSolar India has a local team in sales, marketing, legal, technical, finance, and human

Global

10%,

Latin America

41%,

Mexico 35%,

10.5%, South Africa 30%, Japan 8.5% and China 11.6%. USA

resource, providing clients realtime sales and technical support response. Considering high temperature and humidity environment in India, JinkoSolar offers its Eagle Series to the market. Eagle Series are the first to pass Anti-PID test under 85 C/85% relative humidity, ensuring maximum power output and ROI for investors. JinkoSolar shipped around 20% of its modules to APAC region in 2016. JinkoSolaris confident to ship in excess of 1 GW modules to India this year. Currently the company is working with some of the top IPPs and developers of the country. Enel, Engie, ADEWA, Equis, Sterling & Wilson, ReNew Power, Adani, Tata, Greenko, Mahindra, Harsha Abacus, Orange Power, Acme, CleanTech, CleanMax, Hero Future, Jakson, L&T to name a few.

September Part C 2017

Technology Policy & Regulations

MAHARASHTRA ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION

ERC/Legal/2017/3972. In exercise of the powers conferred under Sections 86(1) (e) and 181 of the Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003) and all other powers enabling it in this behalf, and after previous publication, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission makes the following Regulations to amend the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Net Metering for Rooftop Solar Photo Voltaic Systems) Regulations, 2015, namely

Amendments to Definitions in Regulation 2.1 of the principal Regulations

2.1 The following definitions shall be added in Regulation 2.1 of the principal Regulations “(na) “Renewable Energy’’ means the grid quality electricity generated from Renewable Energy sources, including a combination of such sources;” “(pa) “Renewable Energy Generating System” means the Renewable Energy power system installed on a Consumer’s premises, and owned and/or operated by such Consumer or by a third party, that uses Renewable Energy for conversion into electricity;” 2.2 The definition of ‘Roof-top Solar PV System’ in Regulation 2.1(o) of the principal Regulations shall be deleted, and shall be substituted by the following :— “(o) “Renewable Energy sources” means the renewable sources or combination of such sources, such as Mini, Micro and Small Hydro, Wind, Solar, Biomass including bagasse, bio-fuel, urban or Municipal Solid Waste as defined in the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions for Determination of Renewable Energy Tariff) Regulations, 2015, and such other sources as are recognized or approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India;” 68

September Part C 2017

Short title, extent and commencement

1.1 These Regulations may be called the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Net Metering for Rooftop Solar Photo Voltaic Systems) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2017. 1.2 These Regulations shall extend to the whole of the State of Maharashtra. 1.3 These Regulations shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. Substitution of terms in the principal Regulations

The following terms, wherever they occur in the principal Regulations and their Annexure, shall be substituted by the terms set out below :— (a) The terms ‘Solar PV Generating System’ and ‘Solar PV System’ shall be substituted by the term ‘Renewable Energy Generating System’; (b) The term ‘Solar Generation Meter’ shall be substituted by the term ‘Renewable Energy Generation Meter’; (c) The terms ‘Solar Renewable Purchase Obligation’ and ‘Solar RPO’ shall be substituted by the term ‘Renewable Purchase Obligation’; (d) The term ‘Solar energy’ shall be substituted by the term ‘Renewable Energy’. www.EQMagPro.com

PV Manufacturing InnoLas ILS-TT production machine with fully automatic loading and unloading

Authors: Mr. Rico Bohme Ernst Hartmannsgruber (InnoLas Solutions GmbH)

It is about 15 years ago when the production of crystalline Silicon (c-Si) solar cells and thin film modules moved from small quantities to a mass production scale. A review of the evolution in process technology of this young industry reveals laser processing to play an ambiguous role. InnoLas, who started its developments in solar cell technology already in 1999 and was the pioneer in laser processing since the beginning of the photovoltaic (PV) industry, was able to successfully install the first laser process machines for the production of c-Si solar cells in 2003. www.EQMagPro.com

Actual and future requirements on laser processing for High EffiCiency crystalline solar cells T he first process step suitable for laser processingwas via drilling for Metal/Emitter Wrap Through (MWT/EWT) solar cells, which howevercould only reach a limited market volume as MWT/EWT never took off to become amainstream solar cell technology. The second one was the laser edge isolation (LEI)process, hich became the leading technology to solate the front and rear sides of theindustrial standard c-Si solar cells. Only a few years later it was gradually replaced by asingle sided wet chemical etching process yielding higher cell efficiencies. In parallel to the laser processes for c-Si solar cells, laser scribing technologies (P1, P2, and P3 patterning) for thin film solar modules were developed and introduced to the market. Surely the laser scribing processes were a very successful and enabling technology for thin film modules, however, always limited by the smaller market share of the thin filmcompared to the c-Si technology. From 2005 on InnoLas started to work

on new technologies for standard c-Si solar cells like laser-doped selective emitter (LDSE) and laser contact opening (LCO). LDSE became another short hype around the year 2010 and was superseded by a continuously optimized printing technology rendering the benefits of a selective emitter unnecessary. So we saw a lot of up and downs for laser processing in the PV industry over more than a decade, and it looks like LCO is about to establish itself as a mainstream process in the manufacturing of industrial standard solar cells. Thereason can easily be found in the international technology roadmap for PV (ITRPV). According to the ITRPV the passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) is becoming a dominatingtechnology in the area of c-Si solar cells during this and the next two years wherein LCO is a necessary process step. So far there is no suitable metal paste to be fired through the deposited passivation layer.

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PV Manufacturing Consequently, laser ablation is the most cost effective method to locally open the area to be contacted by the fully covering Aluminum paste on the rear side of the solar cell. Going a little bit further in the ITRPV to next generation technologies we find the LCO process not only on the rear side. The front side dielectric (usually SiN) can be opened by lasers as well to enable direct plating on Silicon (PoSi). Aslong as the Cu printing technology is lacking the ability to provide the inevitable diffusion barrier between Cu and the Si wafer, the PoSi technology is the main road to replace the costly Ag metal grid with the much cheaper Cu, since it can plate a stack of Ni, Cu, and Ag or Sn, which is required to embed the harmful Cu in between a diffusion inhibiting anda surface passivating layer. And going one more step further in the ITRPV we find again avery promising LCO process, namely in the technology of interdigitated back contact (IBC)solar cells, which are predicted to enable the jump over 23% efficiency.

The Laser Process Chamber

laser source, a scanner, some optical components, and a controlled x/y stage make a laser machine. Everything is available off the shelf and it looks like it can be built by anyone. This fundamental misunderstanding often led to frustration and jeopardized the success of laser machines as a highly cost effective and even enabling technology in the PV industry. A variety of unavoidable influencing factors from outside, such as e.g. temperature variations, vibrations, pollution, amongst others, lead to degradation of the laser beam quality and alignment and must be eliminated by proper countermeasures in the machine design. Insufficient exhaust causes a so-called clouding effect, which is a cloud of dust generated from removed material during a laser ablation process. And laser sources exhibit a certain power degradation over time by nature, which must be compensated for. InnoLas looks back onto 20 years of experience in building machines for laser applications in the PV, electronics, semiconductor, and printed circuit board industries. Over this time period InnoLas continuously developed its unique platform strategy to the point of a standardized machine base with all fundamental features of a laser production machine, which can be equipped ith the applications-specific laser source and optics.

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Requirements on laser machines for mass production A worldwide install base of more than 350 machines based on not more than 4 basic tool platforms allowed a holistic optimization of these platforms. High speed galvanometer scanners, automatic vision alignment and machine calibration systems, which have been integrated repeatedly by InnoLas, assure a very high accuracy and stability in a 24/7 production environment as well as extremely high throughputs up to 3600 wafers per hour for various process applications. As an acknowledgement for its evolving laser system technology, InnoLas was awarded the 2014 Solar Award Winner at the EU PVSEC trade show for its LCO process and machine solution. The reason for winning the Award was that InnoLas developed the fastest laser process with an outstanding Cost of Ownership (CoO) for the PERC technology, which opens the window to affordable high efficiency solar cells. Other than wet chemical, CVD, or printing processes, the laser processing is almost free from consumable costs. Main contributors to CoO are capital investment per throughput, maintenance cost, and operating cost. Therefore the task of the laser equipment provider is to design a system, which is based on a standardized and proven industrial platform such as InnoLas ILS-TT, and avoids any fancy and unnecessary optical features.

A few examples: nanosecond laser sources are cheaper than picosecond laser sources and can be superior in performance for LCO through their ability to create a melting zone at the Si surface. They can achieve the highest throughput through very high repetition rates and can provide enough power for supplying two process heads with one laser source, presuming the right laser source is chosen by the machine vendor. Maintenance and spare part cost can be minimized by choosing a laser source with a diode lifetime greater than 40.000 hours and with no need for an external cooling system. Stationary processing with conventional scanner technology is by far more reliable and cost effective than so called on-the-fly processing with polygon scanners. System uptime can be optimized by automatic calibration routines, which avoid stopping the production machine for mechanical adjustments. There is still a variety of system parameters, which contribute to an optimized laser production tool with the lowest cost of ownership in the market, as provided by InnoLas. www.EQMagPro.com

PV Manufacturing Processes and tool solutions for PERC

Line Solar cell

Dot Solar cell

dashed pattern Solar cell Considering the various factors contributing to the performance of the rear side of PERC solar cells, it becomes obvious that the future direction of optimization will be to managethe increasing complexity of the dash pattern design, leading to a layout with changing dash and gap lengths cross the wafer. This is related to connected upstream and downstream processes in the production line and will become necessary to achieve the optimum current yield for the solar cell rear side. Although the performance of PERC solar cells today is often limited by their front side design, it is clear that only

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rom a process integration point of view, a line pattern represents the easiest and most common way to mplement LCO for PERC. Today, the standard process is a line opening with 30-50μm wide lines, and a line-to-line distance of 1 mm. Such a relatively wide opening in the passivation layer presents a good interface for the subsequent contact formation during the co-firing of the screen printed metal layer. The larger the local surface opening is the faster and more homogeneously the Aluminum-Silicon alloying process can start. This has a direct influence on the formation of the local back surface field (BSF) during the alloying and affects he final Voc. On the other hand, from the perspective of the PERC solar cell design, the wide opening lines restrict the final cell efficiency, because more open area reduces the passivated area leading to lower current (Isc) and voltage (Voc). In order to extract the whole electrical current from a typical PERC solar cell the required cross-section-equivalent opening ratio is 1% ± 0.2%. For a line opening pattern, the opening ratio is in the range of 3% to 6%. Increasing of the line to line distance would help to reduce the opening ratio and therefore increase the Voc and Isc, but the series resistance (Rs) and consequently the fill factor (FF) of the solar cell will suffer. Especially for high ohmic wafer material the effect can become dramatic. It is sometimes believed that an optimum contact design combining the opposing requirements of opening ratio and series resistance would be a dot pattern with equidistant dot-to-dot spacing. The drawback of this design, however, is that contact formation during the co-firing process is made difficult. While a line represents a onedimensional opening which allows for compensating local inhomogeneity of the local BSF (e.g. voids), every dot is a single event which contributes significantly to the final cell performance. If the contact formation process is not applied perfectly, some of the dots may fail and the solar cell significantly suffers from loss in Voc and Rs/FF, despite an almost optimal opening ratio of 1% to 1.6%. As of today, there are not many users known who could manage this tricky process in mass production. A loophole from the described restrictions of the line opening and the dot opening designs is given by the so-called dash pattern. Such a dashed line pattern consists of scattered lines with an asymmetric relation of the length of the dash and the gap in between two dashes. The ratio between dash and gap is determined by the aluminum paste and the firing conditions used, and allows for a wide range of parameter combinations. Consequently, the complexity of finding the optimized dash pattern is higher than for a line or dot pattern, but is rewarded by an excellent PERC solar cell performance. The contact formation behavior is comparable to a line pattern and an opening ratio of 1.4% - 3% is achieved, which is close to a dot pattern. Additionally, if the rear side bus bar pads, which do not contribute to the electrical contact and BSF formation, are kept free from the LCO process the opening ratio can be optimized further.

with this complexity of the rear contact design, PERC solar cells will reach their efficiency optimum in the future. There are not only a few technologists, who believe that optimization of the PERC solar cell rear side comes along with a revival of the LDSE technology or the implementation of new metallization schemes such as PoSi in order to overcome the actual limitations of the front side. From a laser machine point of view the line opening process is a relatively simple approach. The laser is switched on and the laser beam moves from the desired starting point of the line to its

ending point, where the laser is switched off. Repeating this procedure over the entire wafer surface leads to the specified line pattern. InnoLas has developed this process already 10 years ago and has been continuously improving it along with equipment for highest throughput and precision as unique in the industry. Scanning speeds up to 25m/s using a robust and well-developed galvanometer scanner technology together with InnoLas´ ILS TT tool platform supports customer requirements on throughput of up to 3600 wafers per hour either as fully automated stand-alone or inline solution.

September Part C 2017

PV Manufacturing Guided by its outstanding know how in the more difficult laser processing of IBC solar cell architectures, about two years ago InnoLas was able to introduce a high speed dash pattern technology to the market, utilizing its outstanding scanner technology and control software to run highly complex dash patterns with the same high scanning speed as a simple line pattern without losing accuracy. In order to meet the requirements of the more and more complex dash pattern, the design of the layout has to be done with CAD software. InnoLas’ novel software directly converts the CAD layout into a machine compatible script and recipe package, which optionally can be downloaded via MES from an external workstation directly to the production machine. Meanwhile, a production capacity of over 3 GW of PERC solar cells is rolled out with InnoLas’ high speed dash pattern technology.

Detail of InnoLas high speed dash pattern with bus bars staying clear from LCO

Future trends in laser processing for the PV industry There is no more doubt, that PERC technology is becoming a mainstream in standard industrial solar cell production. The question arising is “what is next?”

good candidate to make the race to become a new standard process is Cu metallization to replace the costly Ag printing, which accounts for almost 50% of the solar cell production cost. RENA Technologies, the pioneer in the PV industry for wet chemical processing equipment, and chemical vendor MacDermid together with InnoLas developed an electroplating process to directly deposit a stack of Ni, Cu, and Ag on laser opened areas of the Si substrate (Plating on Silicon, PoSi). The technology package developed by the three partners comprises of a front side LCO process followed by subsequent PoSi and post annealing processes, which can be directly integrated into existing production lines as an upgrade. With this package for the first time a proven industrial solution is being offered where the formerly well known adhesion problems of the metal

stack after soldering have been solved. The key to this technology is the choice of the right laser process together with a perfect adaption of the plating method and chemistry. In contrast to the rear side LCO process for PERC, the front side LCO process for PoSi does not allow any melting of the textured Si surface and damage to the sensitive junction, while the passivation layer must be removed thoroughly with no residues hindering the onset of the metal growth process. The technology developed by RENA, MacDermid, and InnoLas works for standard as well as PERC solar cells and does not require any changes to the standard module assembly and soldering process. Module reliability tests have already been passed successfully with excellent results and no degradation of the module performance after heat cycling testing.

Laser fired contacts (LFC) are commonly dealt as next generation PERC technology, whereby the Al printing and co-firing steps are substituted by a layup of an Al foil directly onto the passivated rear side, which is locally fired and subsequently cut out by lasers, all being processed within one single laser equipment.

Plated Ni-Cu-Ag stack directly on Si after LCO of the front side passivation layer (Source: MacDermid Photovoltaics Solutions) 72

September Part C 2017

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PV Manufacturing

Summary

LCO of a dielectric layer for an IBC-cell

A significant cost reduction compared to the actual LCO, Al printing, and co-firing processes will be enabled. As the exclusive partner of the patent owning technology developer Fraunhofer ISE, InnoLas has already developed the required laser processes as well as prototype equipment for the foil layup. Challenges still to be solved are on the industrial maturity of the technology and passing the module reliability testing.IBC or IBC-related solar cell concepts are starting to become more and more relevant for companies, who managed to exceed a certain level of cell efficiency performance. IBC cell architecture represents a more revolutionary step in the efficiency roadmap than evolutionary steps like PERC, PoSi, or n-type bifacial cells. There is a significant gap between the requirements of e.g. a standard production line with PERC upgrade and a fully blown IBC production line in terms of process stability, reliability, and precision, and the equipment for IBC production must fulfill speci-

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fications close to semiconductor standards. E.g. an alignment accuracy of down to ±10 μm with an absolute precision of ± 5 μm in 24/7 production must be achieved. The complete control of all functions of a leading-edge ultra-short pulse laser source is only one of the required enhanced features next to an integrated analytics for inline characterization of the laser process result to close the feedback loop with the machine and to assure that the process result is always within a tight process window. More than thirty machines meeting these challenging requirements have already been installed by InnoLas for industrial production of IBC. The most obvious application for laser processes on IBC cell architectures is again an LCO process substituting the costintensive photo-lithography and wet etching processes, which were needed to create the metal pattern of the interdigitated fingers. Besides LCO, there are a couple of other possible applications for laser processing on IBC, which are still under investigation.

The historical role of laser processing for the fabrication of industrial standard c-Si solar cells is ambiguous. Several applications for lasers such as via drilling, laser edge isolation, laser doped selective emitters emerged and vanished. Laser contact opening is about to establish itself as a mainstream technology in the PV industry and is indispensable from PERC solar cells. State-of-the-art laser machines for mass production must dispose of automatic routines to compensate for misalignments and laser degradations over time, and must be able to run sophisticated patterns at a very high speed and throughput in order to achieve optimum efficiency at affordable cost. In future, the laser contact opening will play an increasingly important role, e.g. for electroplated Cu metallization or IBC solar cells.

September Part C 2017

Pv Manufacturing

Innovative Double-Glass Bifacial PERC Modules By JA Solar Proven To Yield Additional Energy CostEffectively For PV Systems

The implementation of passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) withAl2O3/SiNx dielectric passivation stack and localized contacts on the backside of main-stream p-type Si solar cells has become the prevailing technological approach to achieve high energy conversion efficiency for Si-wafer based solar cells in the PV industry for the past few years since JA Solar broke the 20% conversion-efficiency barrier for p-type mono-Si cells using screenprinting metallization process in middle 2013 and started mass production of PERC cells and modules at the beginning of 2014.

September Part C 2017

he large-scale adoption of PERC cell and module technology by the industry is primarily due to the facts that this approach is compatible with the screen-printing based manufacturing platform. It only requires moderate retrofitting to the existing cell production lines, especially when the concerns over the costs of manufacturing wafer-based Si cells need to be addressed. It is also fueled by the rapid progress in the development of high-throughput Al2O3 deposition equipment for PV application as the tools become more adaptive and affordable for the industry. JA Solar has since taken the PERC cell technology one step further by utilizing the unique PERC architecture to structure it into a device capable of actively admitting lights from its front (sunny) side and back (shade) side in a bifacial configuration. This innovative approach of bifacial PERC cell and the methods of making it are granted by the National Bureau of Patents and Trade Marks of China as Chinese Patent CN103489934B in March 2016 entitled “Double-side Light Admitting Solar Battery with Localized Aluminum Back-surface Field and Methods of Making It”. It further enriches JA Solar’s IPs over Si-wafer based solar PV cells and modules that includes Chinese Patent CN101853899Bof laser processing and screen printing of PERC cells entitled “A Solar Cell with Localized Back-surface Field and Method of Making It”. This innovation has led to the PV products from JA Solar commercially available to the global

market recently expand to include advanced double-glass modules assembled with high-performance bifacial PERC cells in both 60-cell and 72-cell formats. The volume shipment of such double-glass bifacial PERC (Bi-PERC) modules has begun since the first half of 2017. Generally, a bifacial module produces more energy than a monofacial module with the same power rating under the same conditions. The amount of additional energy generation of a bifacial module, however, depends specific conditions including the intensity of diffused light available to the backside of the bifacial module, albedo reflectance of the surface underneath the module, as well as the installation height of the module at the installation locations. Field data collected from JA Solar’s doubleglass bifacial PERC modules at various locations where a number of Bi-PERC modules deployed along with same amount of regular PERC modules with front cover glass and conventional insulating white back sheet for comparative study have shown that Bi-PERC modules consistently out-perform regular PERC modules in terms of energy yield. Shown in Figure1 are energy generation data from a group of Bi-PERC modules and regular modules with mono-facial cells. The rated power is~290W for the Bi-PERC modules (measured from the front side only with the back surface covered by a black sheet) and ~295W for the regular PERC modules. These modules are installed side-by-side on a same rack with two horizontal rails in one of JA’s testing sites with two sub-groups at heights of 1.5 and 2.0 meters, respectively.

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Pv Manufacturing

Figure 1. Energy generated by regular modules with mono-facial PERC cells, as well as various versions of double-glass modules with bifacial PERC cells from June and July, 2017.

Figure 2. Relative ratio of additional energy yield from Bi-PERC modules over the energy generated by regular PERC modules. It can be clearly seen from the figure that Bi-PERC modules yield additional energy in comparison with the energy generation by regular mono-facial PERC modules. The transparent back side of a Bi-PERC module allows the photons incident onto the active back surface of bifacial PERC cells to make an extra contribution to the energy produced by the bifacial PERC cells assembled in the modules. It is also worth noting that the installation heights does make a small difference in energy yield from all the modules as the higher the modules are installed, the better the performance of the modules. The difference observed at this particular location is about 0.5-1.5% relatively from 1.5 meters to two meters, most likely due to the intensity of available diffused light getting stronger as the module height is increased. The ratio of the difference in the energy yields between Bi-PERC modules and regular PERC modules over the energy produced by

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the regular PERC modules is illustrated in Figure 2.There is approximately 8-15% additional energy (energy gain) yielded from the Bi-PERC modules as compared to that from regular monofacial PERC modules. The variation of the energy gain from module to module for the Bi-PERC is a combined result of installation configurations and site conditions, as well as the encapsulation materials of the Bi-PERC modules. It is also interesting to note that the ratio of energy yield from Bi-PERC over that from regular PERC is higher in the month of June than that in July accumulatively on a relative scale while the overall energy generation in June is much lower than that in July on an absolute scale. This can be explained as the effect of weather conditions of the geographic region (City of Yang Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province of China) where the modules are installed, as the regional ways experiences many rainy and heavily clouded days in June while

much less such days in July. Since solar irradiance is consisted of both direct and diffused lights (for instance, 90% direct and 10% diffused in AM1.5G spectrum), a bifacial module has two active sides to admit the diffused light naturally works better than a mono-facial module having only one active side in terms of energy generation when direct light is scarcely available in a rainy or heavily clouded day, resulting in the higher energy yield ratio observed in June. The bifaciality of JA Solarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s double-glass bifacial PERC modules, defined as the ratio of the output power measured from the backside of such a module over that measured from its front side, is currently at 70-75% in mass production. It is primarily determined by the coverage of metallic contact grid mainly composed by Al paste on the total area of the back surface of the cells. It has to be pointed out that, while the bifaciality of a doubleglass bifacial PERC module looks relatively smaller than that of a doubleglass n-type bifacial module (~80-85%), Bi-PERC modules are still much more cost-effective in producing additional energy in terms of $/W. This is because making Bi-PERC modules does not require any additional steps in the cell fabricating process on cell level, so that no extra cost incurred except some fine tuning of process control. While the cost of producing double-glass modules may remain the same regardless the types of cells to be assembled with, making n-type bifacial modules needs several more major steps in its cell fabrication process as compared to that for p-type cells, inevitably resulting in some significant cost increase on cell level. In addition, as the intensity of diffused and scattered light available to the back side of a string of tilt mounted modules is always about one order of magnitude weaker than that on the front side, a 10% discrepancy in bifaciality does not really make too much significant difference in yielding additional energy. To date, JA Solar is actively working with a few selected metal paste suppliers to further refine the Al pastes for continuously improve the performance of bifacial PERC cells, which in turn, will further increase the listing power of Bi-PERC modules as well as the ability of yielding more additional energy from the backside of the modules. JA Solar firmly believes that Bi-PERC modules are a cost-effective solution for yielding additional energy therefore reducing the leveraged cost of energy (LCOE) for PV systems large or small, as it has been proven by the energy generation data collected from the fields where the modules are deployed.

September Part C 2017

75Â

energy storage

Lithium-ion batteries below $200/ kWh by 2019 will drive rapid storage uptake,Finds IHS Markit

n acceleration of the 70% cost reduction seen in lithium-ion prices since 2012 will drive global uptake of energy storage over the next few years, finds a new report by IHS Markit. The analysts forecast prices for lithium-ion battery modules to tumble below $200/kWh by 2019, enabling previously “uneconomical applications” such as the colocation of battery storage and solar PV to surge. This sharp and sustained cost reduction will help cement lithium-ion as the battery chemistry of choice in all energy storage markets, including grid-scale behind-the-meter storage,

residential storage, and microgrids. By 2025, the world’s base of cumulative installed storage capacity will reach 52 GW, IHS Markit says, up from around 4 GW today. Last year, 1.3 GW of grid-connected storage was deployed globally, and this rate is poised to accelerate to 4.7 GW a year by 2020, and 8.8 GW annually by 2025. In monetary terms, last year’s $1.5 billion annual revenue will be dwarfed come 2025 – a CAGR of 16% will push annual revenue to more than $7 billion by that date as utility-scale storage comes to dominate the market: by 2020, behind-the-meter batteries will account for more than half of all installs, forecast the analysts.

“For many larger players entering the industry energy storage is seen as a strategic investment with significant long-term growth potential, as storage will become a pivotal ingredient in our future energy mix,” Julian Jansen, senior analyst, solar and energy storage, “Especially energy suppliers/utilities whose traditional business model is under threat energy storage development is part of a new strategy tying together a decentralised, digitalised and flexible demand and generation infrastructure required for the future.”

Other trends to look out for include the growing dominance of the U.S. storage market, which will enjoy a CAGR of 21% between now and 2025 while surpassing 1.2 GW of annual deployment as early as 2020; Australia, Japan, Germany, the U.K. and South Korea will be the next biggest storage markets. System aggregation and demand response programs in these markets will drive value stacking and improved economics, with supportive subsidy policies boosting large-scale storage deployment particularly in Germany, Japan, California and South Korea. In Australia, a combination of generous public tenders and large solar+storage projects are already boosting the utility-scale storage market, not least following sizable project announcements by Tesla and Lyon Group.

Source:IHSMarkit

September Part C 2017

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energy storage

Trina BESS achieves more than 1000 sets of Trina Home shipment in first half of 2017 Expect to gain 5% market shares in residential BESS market in 2017

Changzhou, China, July 31, 2017/ Press Release/: TrinaBESS has announced that it has achieved to ship more than 1000 sets of TrinaHome in first half of 2017 globally. TrinaHome family, the residential battery energy storage system (BESS) for all households, includes S&T series for European market, PowerCube 2.0 for Australian market and F6015A/ F3015A for Japanese market.

General Manager of TrinaBESS Frank Qi comments :

his is a good track record for our team in the first half of 2017 and, most of all, a tribute to our customers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; their success is our success. I am so proud of our team that they achieved this good track record in such short period of time. Also I am so delighted to see TrinaHome receives many positive market feedbacks. We expect to gain 5% market shares in residential BESS market in this year globally. We have taken a long time to conduct in-depth analysis of the market and develop these residential BESSs to meet the various market needs. With a focus on continuous dedication to R & D in battery technologies and integrated energy storage system engineering, we will continue to work with our customers and partners to change the way the world produces and consumes energy. We believe we will help support the shift towards energy efficient and low-carbon future.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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TrinaHome family includes S & T series for European market, PowerCube 2.0 for Australian market and F6015A/ F3015A for Japanese market. This collection is designed to fit aesthetically with home appliance and pragmatic to save on installation costs. The systems can also be monitored remotely from mobile device putting the power in the hands of the user. TrinaBESS is a battery energy storage leading company and always keeps to the highest standards from third parties whether that be product standards such as IEC 62109/61000 or financial by being the highly bankable manufacturer in the industry.

September Part C 2017

77Â

SOLAR Inverters

Sungrow to Present 1500Vdc PV Inverters at REI 2017 At this year’s Renewable Energy India, Sungrow, the world’s leading inverter solution supplier for renewable, brings its latest 1500Vdc family and commercial PV product to the event. Backed by its cutting edge technology, Sungrow products are best characterized by their high yield, easy O&M, saved investment and complete grid support. All of these products are on show at stand 137 in hall B3.

September Part C 2017

SCIENTIFIC DESIGN FOR DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS The first half of 2017 has witnessed a rapid growth of Sungrow. The company has shipped over 49 GW of inverter equipment accumulatively by this June, among which over 1GW of PV inverters were shipped to India. This great achievement can be largely attributed to Sungrow’s product philosophy of ‘scientific design for different applications’, which means developing different products and solutions for customers according to their varied needs. For example, central PV inverter solution is promoted for utility-scale PV plants on flat terrain and string inverter solution promoted for complicated applications like irregular terrain or commercial rooftop. This design has not only significantly reduced initial investment for PV plants, but also maximized the ROI of the projects.

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SOLAR Inverters

THE 1500VDC FAMILY

1500V string inverter SG125HV

he SG125HV, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most powerful 1500Vdc string inverter, is designed to significantly reduce installation and balance of system costs for utility-scale PV systems. It features a 125kW capacity, up to 5MW block design, and max. DC/AC ratio up to 1.5. Thanks to its Virtual Central Inverter Concept of installing at one place near the MV transformer, SG125HV significantly reduces the cost for installation and maintenance. The inverter, equipped with IP68 fan, can work with no derating upto 50. The SG2500HV, a containerized 1500Vdc turnkey station, is best characterized by its 10-foot container design which helps save initial investment and installment cost. The central inverter comes with a max. system efficiency of 99% and full power operation without derating at 50, O & M efforts are reduced through the integrated zone current monitoring function and modular design. This station is an ideal choice for 1500 Vdc large scale utility PV projects.

Commercial PV Product

Threephase DC/ AC inverter / singlephase / for solar application / without transformer SG80KTL

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ith a max. efficiency of 98.9% and Euro. efficiency of 98.7%, the SG80KTL string inverter is able to work without derating at 50, ensuring high yield for the commercial PV plant. It also significantly saves investment by supporting maximized DC/AC ratio up to 1.4. The product is equipped with string current monitoring function, making trouble shooting even faster and easier.

September Part C 2017

79Â

SOLAR Inverters

CyboEnergy Releases the World’s First Battery-less OffGrid Solar Inverter for Air Conditioners

CyboEnergy, Inc. (Rancho Cordova, CA), the developer of the world’s first solar power Mini-Inverter that possesses the key merits of both central inverters and microinverters, announced today that the company has released a family of off-grid and on/off-grid CyboInverters that can run Inverter-AirConditioners (IAC) without batteries.

CyboEnergy CEO Dr. George Cheng

said, “Inverter-AirConditioners (IAC) are becoming more popular. They can start with small amounts of surge power; therefore, our special off-grid CyboInverters can run these air conditioners with just solar panels. No battery is required. We believe off-grid solar air-conditioning has huge market potential in many parts of the world where the electric grid is poor or there is no electricity.”

September Part C 2017

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SOLAR Inverters

MINI-SPLIT INVERTER-AIR CONDITIONER, 120 V, 60HZ

MINI-SPLIT INVERTER-AIR CONDITIONER, 230 V, 60HZ

he graphic above shows a 4-channel 1.2KW off-grid CyboInverter that directly connects to four 250W to 330W solar panels with MC-4 connectors. It can run a 9000 to 12000 Btu IAC. The graphic below shows an off-grid CyboInverter TwinPack that connects to eight solar panels and can run an 18000 to 24000 Btu IAC or multiple smaller IACs. Solar panels and CyboInverters can be installed on the roof with “plug-and-play” installation. The AC output wire runs down to connect to the IAC. Since the system is so simple and easy to install, the total system cost is affordable, especially as the solar panel price has dropped substantially. Most off-grid inverters on the market require batteries to operate. This battery-less solar air conditioning system is unique, cost effective, and can work in high temperature and high humidity areas.

The following table lists the off-grid and on/off-grid CyboInverters that are specially designed to run Inverter-AirConditioners with different AC standard around the world. CyboInverters are patented, UL1741 certified, NEMA 6 rated, and made in the USA. The On/Off-Grid CyboInverter listed on the table is useful in areas where the electric grid is unstable or poor weather conditions can take the grid down for days. It can be switched to off-grid mode automatically when the grid is down to run an IAC, lights, fans, and phone chargers.

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September Part C 2017

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