Saur energy magazine September 2017

PERSPECTIVES

THE SOLAR

TITANS HOW SOLAR WON THE DIRTY GAME! Ramesh Nair CEO|Mundra Solar PV Ltd

INDIA 2022

SAUR ENERGY

LETTER

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

FROM THE

EDITOR

MANAS NANDI editorial@saurenergy.com

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Enthusiasm All-Over!

EDITOR

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In many ways, September 2017 ply as the busiest time of the year as the new Minister takes in charge and biggest ever REI till date comes to the verge. Apparently, the lauding notion can also be extended to the biggest standoff ended with our neighbour which helped business resume at its peak. In this mega issue, the statesmanship torch has a rational donnée engaging the pioneers of the industry. To this course, we successfully accomplished to divulge our nonpareil quirky intellect to essence the materiality of this GW market. I would also take this moment through few words to acknowledge the hard work of individuals and industry at large, who worked like a charm throughout our story, “The Indian Solar Titans”.

Our quest for in-depth technology and breakthrough to behest the best in class solar cell and modules led us to RenewSys, Hyderabad manufacturing facility. There we witnessed India’s first 5BB cells getting manufactured.

The first-of-its-kind ground report on India’s solar cell manufacturing.

This would share a literary-certainty to our readers and influencers on how Saur Energy - International works fingers to the bone to cater real ground stories for the industry. The Hyderabad visit tickled us to go further deep and understand the machines and the automation process involved in the module manufacturing.

There forth, our story traversed across 3 different cities in India and 4 different manufacturing setups to untangle, unedited analogies for the complete process. It was really fascinating to witness the Ecoprogetti machines and the assembly lines producing the modules with such ease and negligible human interface.

This mega issue also finds space for the most ‘Burning-Topic’. It inscribes how we are actually defeating the coal and inching towards a greener ecosystem chalking a roadmap for the 2022 target.

A lot of industry veterans have shared their perspective on the Indian solar industry with us and this story shares a deep insight on what more needs to be done to accomplish a greener economy.

There are lot more interesting reads, motif, print montages and wondrous feature await for our readers. To boot further inside, one will discover Top Trends, New Business Opportunities in Solar and Latest Perovskite Research which we believe has never been given a sweat in any other media-house.

HAPPY READING!

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

ManasNandi manas@saurenergy.com

Wisdom creates efficiency.

Our Research and Development team is

Visit us at:

constantly thinking about paste. We are

REI | Hall 1, Booth 1.23 | Greater Noida, India

committed to developing leading-edge

September 20th - 22nd, 2017

solutions, which improve the power output and

EU PVSEC | Booth A4 | Amsterdam, Netherlands

performance of solar cells at a lower cost per watt. We

Septermber 25th - 29th, 2017

are always mindful of the current and future technology

PV Taiwan | Hall 1F, Booth I0116 | Taipei, Taiwan

needs of our customers, and are driven to deliver results.

October 18th - 20th, 2017

So when you think of paste...think of Heraeus.

Heraeus Photovoltaics Business Unit Leadership through R&D. Breakthroughs via innovation.

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Achievement by tradition.

China | Singapore | Taiwan | Europe | America | Japan

CONTENT

NATIONAL NEWS

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

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MARKET GLANCE - The global photonic crystals market to reach $53,607.1 million by 2021: Research and Markets - Thin Film Solar Cells Market to increase its revenue fourfold by surpassing USD 30 billion by 2024: Global Market Insights - Increasing Use of Advanced Materials and Emerging Solar Technologies to Propel the HAPS Market: Technavio - Concentrated Solar Power Market Size to Reach $8.92 Billion by 2025: Grand View Research, Inc.

REPORT ON QUALITY CELL & MODULE MANUFACTURING

INNOVATION -A low-cost method for solar-thermal conversion that's simpler and greener - Scientists power past solar efficiency records

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HOW SOLAR WON THE DIRTY GAME...

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THE SOLAR TITANS 08

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RAMESH NAIR

NIRANJAN NAYAK

PEROVSKITE

CEO|Mundra Solar PV Ltd

Business Head – PVI|Delta Power Solutions India Pvt Ltd

New Tech for Efficient Solar Cells

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ALEX HE

President|Huawei Smart PV– India

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NATHAN DUNN MD|Enphase Energy Asia-Pacific

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OPPORTUNITIES IN SOLAR TRADING

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ALLEN CAO

Director|Arctech Solar India

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START YOUR SOLAR BUSINESS VOL 1 l ISSUE 12 l AUGUST 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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PERSPECTIVE

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LIOR HANDELSMAN VP|Marketing & Product Strategy & Founder|SolarEdge

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ANDREAS LIEBHEIT

President|Heraeus Photovoltaics

WHAT'S TRENDING IN SOLAR INDUSTRY?

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INDIA 2022: A ROADMAP TO 100GW 10

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PAWAN KUMAR Director|Radite Energy Infra Solutions Pvt. Ltd

NATIONAL NEWS Amplus Energy Inks PPA Deal with Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India for 30MW solar energy Amplus Energy Solutions has announced that it has inked a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) deal with Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India to provide 30MW solar energy. The solar power will be provided to Honda's Narsapura Karnataka plant from the Amplus’ 42 MW solar park in Chitradurga. The company in a statement said, 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.

IBC Solar Signs PPA with SECI for a 20 MW AC Solar Power Plant in Odisha IBC Solar has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for a 20 MW AC solar plant with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). The project is part of 270 MW AC PV tender in the state of Odisha and was assigned to IBC SOLAR through a competitive bidding process during 2016. The PV system is planned to be put into operation by late 2017. IBC Solar has furthermore concluded negotiations about debt finance of approximately Rs. 980 million for the Odisha Project with L&T Infrastructure Finance Co. Ltd. This ensures financing of the project from the construction phase. The local financing has a term of 18 years.

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ABB India Bags Order to Install Solar Inverters at 750 Railway Stations in the Country ABB India has bagged order to install solar inverters at 750 railway stations in north India to reduce dependence on traditional sources of energy. The 750 stations are located in the busy northern Indian part of the Indian Railways network, one of the most used railway corridors in the world.

ABB solar inverters for this project vary between 5kW to 50kW in performance depending on the size of the station and as part of the ABB Ability of connected solutions, the customer can ensure uptime through remote management services. They will be part of the solar installations being set up

by Azure Power. ABB set up its solar inverter manufacturing facility in India in 2012 and contributes to approximately 40 percent of the country's solar installations. ABB solar inverters have been widely used in the transportation sector, deployed, for instance, in the world's first fully solar powered airport in Kochi. "We are privileged to partner with Azure Power to support the renewable energy drive of Indian Railways," said Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India. "ABB has been an integral technology partner for railways for decades, providing technology from turbochargers to substations.

The scope and scale of this order is a tribute to ABB quality for such critical installations, used by millions. Providing the latest technology to drive energy revolution in sectors like transportation is a part of ABB's next level strategy," he added.

JNU Goes Green, Installs 100 Kwp Rooftop Solar

The Jawaharlal Nehru University has installed 100 KWp solar PV power plant at the roof top of the administration building (50 KWp) and at the school of social sciences-III (50 KWp). The solar power plant installed with the help of M/s PEC Ltd. a GOI enterprise under the Minister of Commerce was inaugurated by M. Jagadesh Kumar, ViceChancellor of JNU. The 100 KWp solar power plant will generate 400450 units of green power daily for about 300 days in a year. Total annual green power generation is projected to be around 1.2 to 1.5 Lakh units.

“Using solar power will reduce the carbon foot print reducing the atmospheric pollution. JNU will strive to install at least 2 MW of solar power to run its research labs efficiently,” said M. Jagadesh Kumar.

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Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. Boosts Generation Capacity by Four-fold

Tata Power has announced that the company’s 100% subsidiary, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. (TPREL) increased its generation capacity by 337 per cent in FY17 as compared to FY16.

Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. generated 1440 MUs that from renewable energy sources (wind & solar) in FY17 as compared to 329 MUs in FY16. TPREL is the primary vehicle through which Tata Power's investments in renewable energy capacity are driven and it pro poses to grow its capacity through organic and inorganic means over the next few years.TPREL completed commissioning of 100 MW wind farm at Nimbagallu, Andhra Pradesh and 50 MW Rojmal phase-II in Gujarat and 15 mw solar plant in Belampally, Telangana in last quarter of FY2016-17. "We aim to create a focused renewable energy business in TPREL with a sustained growth trajectory. An increase in our generation capacity is testament to our hard work in ensuring and increasing our operational efficiency," TPREL CEO Rahul Shah said. He added “this achievement gives us confidence to further make progress in the renewable energy sector.

NATIONAL NEWS ABB India Hits 5GW Milestone for Solar Inverters ABB India has announced that it has surpassed the 5 GW milestone for the supply of solar inverters in the country. From schools to airports, canal tops and mega solar plants, ABB’s solar inverters with global technology made In India power various solar Installations across the country, said the company in a statement. Azure Power and ABB India’s senior leadership were present at an event to mark the 5GW milestone journey supported by ABB customers in India. The event took place in ABB solar inverter factory in Bengaluru.

India’s Overemphasis on Renewable Energy Would Affect Thermal Power Projects: CEA Indian thrust on renewable energy would result in reducing viability of coal-fired thermal power plants in India, adding to the massive non-performing assets (NPAs) of state-run lenders, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian said.

Subramianan at the 16th Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture organized by TERI said, “Rapid changes in technology are promising to help realize the promise of renewables. This is an eminently desirable development and one that India is attempting both to benefit from and accelerate.

At the same time, these changes need to be seen in the context of India’s current economic situation and its enormous endowments of coal which is still a very cheap way of providing energy to hundreds of millions who are still energy-deprived.”

Government’s New Solar Norms Prevents DISCOMSs from Terminating PPAs

The government has announced new norms to improve bankability of solar power projects and boost investments without raising tariff, even as IRENA said the country can raise renewable energy use to meet a quarter of its demand by 2030. The solar guidelines, laid down by the renewable energy ministry, prevent DISCOMs from unilaterally amending or terminating PPAs, a recent trend among states which threatened the bankability of projects. The norms prescribe tariff-based bidding method for purchasing solar power by discoms, with at least 25-year PPA tenure to keep tariffs low. Simultaneously, Provisions for compensating generators in case of arbitrary termination of PPAs as well as in cases where power cannot be sold due to technical constrains have also been provided to improve bankability and reduce risks for generators. The risk of a generator’s revenue getting blocked due to delayed payment or non-payment has been addressed through provisions of LC (letter of credit), payment security fund and state guarantee. The guidelines also takes into account issues arising later from solar projects due to change in law, an issue that has nearly run aground large coal-fired power projects burning imported fuel.

Jakson Commissions 200 KW Solar Rooftop Plant, Installs 669 Solar Modules Union Minister of State, Ministry of Law & Justice and Electronics & IT, P.P. Chaudhary recently inaugurated a 200 KW solar rooftop PV power plant installed and commissioned by Jakson Group at Electronics Niketan Building in New Delhi. This rooftop solar plant will help generate upto 3,00,000 units of electricity every year, reduce emissions by 216000 kilograms per year and help achieve cost savings between Rs 8 to 10 lakhs per year notes the company.

As part of the solar power project, Jakson, installed 669 solar modules of 200KW manufactured at its solar module manufacturing plant in Greater Noida. In addition to turnkey engineering, procurement and construction services for the project, Jakson will also provide annual operations and maintenance service to the plant for 25 years. The project was executed under Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI) RESCO scheme. Under the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model, the consumer can install a solar power plant and not pay anything upfront. A power purchase agreement is signed between the installer and the consumer at a mutual tariff.

MNRE Drafts New Guidelines on Solar Power Procurement

The government has implemented new rules for buying power from grid-linked solar power projects through competitive bidding under the National Solar Mission to improve transparency and standardize auctions. These guidelines, prepared by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), cover the grid-connected solar PV power projects with a size of 5 mw and above, an official said. The official said, this will help in reducing off-takers’ risks, encourage investments, enhance bankability of projects and improve profitability for investors. The norms provide that the minimum power purchase agreement tenure (PPA) will be 25 years that will help ensure lower tariffs. Besides, unilateral termination or amendment of PPA is not allowed. The issues related to land, connectivity and clearances and the extension in the case of delay have been streamlined for ensuring project preparedness. The event of default and the consequences thereof are clearly defined to ensure optimal risk sharing. There is a provision for termination compensation to increase bankability of projects by securing investment by the generator and lenders against any arbitrary termination of a PPA. The guidelines also provide payment security mechanism. The risk of generator’s revenue getting blocked due to delayed payment or non-payment has been addressed through provision of Payment Security Mechanism through instruments like Letter of Credit (LC), Payment Security Fund, State Guarantee and the like.

The new framework also contains provision for force majeure. Now, the PPA would have provisions with regard to force majeure definitions, exclusions, applicability and available relief as per the industry standards.

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NATIONAL NEWS Waaree Announces Shipment of 15 MW High Efficiency Mono Solar Modules for NSCBI Airport, Kolkata Waaree Energies has announced that it has supplied 15 MWp 330 watt solar panels for Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBI), Kolkata, West Bengal. The company in a statement said that these solar panels are special designed to meet antiglare requirements. Waaree has supplied solar panels to various other airports in India and aboard too. In June this year Waaree supplied 144 Solar Panels for the Rooftop Project of French Consulate Heritage Building.

The heritage building houses of French Consulate of Puducherry became the first administrative building of the French government in India to go green.

The 45.36 kW capacity roof top on-grid solar system produces on an average 5700 units per month.

Falling Panel Prices and Increased Competition have Contributed to Aggressive bids: Ind-Ra With solar developers bidding aggressively at lower tariffs, they have little financial buffers to face challenges such as cost overrun, increased interest rate and counterparty delays, says India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra). According to the rating agency, falling panel prices and increased competition have contributed to aggressive bids. An increase in panel conversion efficiency has contributed to a reduction in land required for panels and a fall in the balance of system cost, resulting in lower bids. The analysis of the tariff of Rs 2.44 per unit of the Rewa project shows that it could have an equity internal rate of return of 10 per cent.

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Renewable Energy Capacity of 100 GW Should be Achieved by 2019-20: Niti Aayog Premier think-tank Niti Aayog has set for the government an ambitious goal of 100 giga watt of clean energy by 2019-20 and wants financial provision for generation and infrastructure rather than just capacity creation.

"A renewable energy capacity of 100 GW should be achieved by 2019-20 so as to contribute to achievement of 175 GW target by 2022. The financial support for renewable sector will be aimed at promoting generation and infrastructure creation rather than mere capacity creation," stated the 3-Year Action Agenda unveiled by the Niti Aayog earlier this week.

According to the Central Electricity Authority monthly report for July, India has 58.3 GW of renewable energy capacity, including 32.5 GW wind power, 13.1 GW solar power, 4.3 GW small hydro and 8.1 GW biomass. The Agenda stressed on the need for developing storage solutions to boost use of clean energy in the country. It suggested that the state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) should develop storage solutions within next three years to help bring down prices through demand aggregation of both household and grid scale batteries. On strengthening the renewable purchase obligations (RPO) system, it favoured creation of a robust market for renewable power by 2019-20 through effective implementation of RPOs, especially in light of uniform targets. It also called for encouraging renewable rich states to sell power to those with a deficit. The blueprint made a case for creating a friendly ecosystem for integration of renewable electricity by improving regulatory practices and better coordination through state-specific renewable action plans.

Schneider Electric Launches ‘Be a Responsible Indian’ Awareness Campaign Schneider Electric has launched an awareness campaign titled ‘Be a Responsible Indian’, on the need for optimizing energy usage in our everyday lives. The campaign aims to instill a sense of responsibility by highlighting the importance of saving energy in nation building. Schneider Electric aims to inspire all the citizens of India to reduce energy wastage by optimizing its usage in cities, so that electricity could be made available to areas that are still dark or have intermittent access to power, especially under-developed areas that are far from the grid. The integrated campaign will leverage both traditional and digital media to ensure not only wider reach, but also deeper penetration. Considering the cause that Schneider Electric aims to address, the campaign would be touching lives of people from all age groups. It is an interactive campaign that focuses on building a collective effort from citizens to address the issue.

Launched on August 17, the six month campaign will be unveiled in three phases, with each phase expected to come up with unique solutions, and have advocates within its target audience, who can further be the torchbearer of the cause.

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West Bengal Demands for Relaxation to Access Clean Energy Fund for Small Solar Power Projects The Centre is yet to respond to West Bengal's demand for relaxation to access clean energy fund for small solar power projects in the state.

"The Centre is asking us to set up large solar parks in the state, but for that we need large tracts of land which is hard to get. So, we are asking it to consider funding small solar projects," state Power Minister Shobhandeb Chattopadhayay said at CII organised 'Energy Conclave'. "But, we are still to hear from the Centre," he added.

He said for each megawatt of solar project four acres is required. The state faced resistance while getting land for even sub-stations and the Trinamool Congress government had repeatedly said that it would not take land forcibly for any projects. West Bengal power department is planning to set up a solar park to support a second pump storage power plant in the state and is seeking grant under the clean energy fund of the Centre. Chattopadhayay emphasized on the need of technology and modernisation to reduce transmission and distribution losses.

NATIONAL NEWS MNRE Issues Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of power from grid connected solar PV power projects.

These Guidelines have been issued under the provisions of Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003 for long term procurement of electricity by the ‘Procurers’ from grid-connected Solar PV Power Projects (‘Projects’), having size of 5 MW and above, through competitive bidding.

The ministry notes that the new guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of solar power will help enhance transparency and fairness in the procurement process, while protecting consumer interests through affordable power.

There is No Ambiguity on 5% GST on Solar Equipment: Piyush Goyal Amidst reports that there is still lack of clarity on the 5 per cent goods and services tax (GST) levy on solar equipment, the then Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal reiterated that there is no ambiguity as the government is very clear on the issue.

The industry has claimed that though the government has said GST would be applied to solar modules at a concessional rate of 5 per cent; there is still no clarity on whether it will be extended to other equipment as well. "The Goods and Services Tax was introduced to bring in more clarity and transparency in the system. I think our stand is very clear in this," he said.

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India Imposes Anti-dumping Duty on Tempered Glass Imported from China for Five Years

India has imposed anti-dumping duty on tempered glass, used in solar PV and thermal products imported from China for five years to protect the domestic industry from below-cost imports. The ministry of finance has issued a notification imposing anti-dumping duty in the range of $52.85- 136.21 per tonne on tempered glass imports from China. The duty has been imposed on 'textured toughened (Tempered) Glass with a minimum of 90.5 per cent transmission having thickness not exceeding 4.2 mm (including tolerance of 0.2 mm) and where at least one dimension exceeds 1500 mm, whether coated or uncoated. The ministry notes that the anti-dumping duty imposed shall be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier)from the date of publication of this notification. Investigations by the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) had found that tempered glass has been exported to India from China below its associated normal value. Also, it concluded that domestic industry has suffered material injury which was caused by the dumped imports of the goods from China. The petition seeking antidumping was filed by India’s sole solar glass manufacturer Gujarat Borosil Limited. In August this year, the then Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed Rajya Sabha that, "anti-dumping duty is in force on 93 products concerning imports from China". India's imports from China marginally dipped to $61.28 billion in 2016-17 as against $61.7 in the previous fiscal.

MAHAGENCO Floats Tender for 110 MW of Solar Power Project in the State Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MAHAGENCO) has floated tendered for two (60 +50 MW) solar projects in the state. The 60 MW grid Interactive Solar PV power plant will be developed at various locations of Tembhu, Tal. Karad, Dist. Satara to cater the load of Tembhu lift irrigation scheme on boot basis. The scope of work includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of the projects. On the other hand 50 MW solar power project will be developed at various places to cater the AG feeder load of various substations at various places in Western regions of Maharashtra. The projects will be developed on public private partnership basis. Successful bidder will provide operation and maintenance (O&M) services for a 25-year period. Last date for submission of bid for both the tenders is September 26th 2017. In June this year, MAHAGENCO invited an expression of interest for 500 MW solar PV farm, which will be country’s biggest solar farm if commissioned, and a further 1.5 GW of small solar farms located at agricultural feeder installations.

Sembcorp Increases its Stake in India Renewable Energy Business, Acquires IDFC PE for Rs. 1400 Crore

Sembcorp Industries has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Sembcorp Utilities has entered into an agreement to acquire IDFC Private Equity Fund III (IDFC)’s remaining stake in Sembcorp Green Infra (SGI), for Rs. 1410.2 Crores. With this, Sembcorp will become the sole owner of SGI. Pursuant to the prevailing shareholders’ agreement between the parties, Sembcorp Utilities has exercised its contractual right to acquire IDFC’s remaining shares in SGI. The consideration for the acquisition was agreed between the parties based on, amongst others, comparable market valuations, and an assessment of SGI’s assets and business prospects. SGI is one of the largest renewable energy players in India. It has established itself as a reliable renewable energy provider and is present across seven states in India. It was awarded 250 megawatts in India’s first national wind power tender earlier this year, reflecting the strength of its capabilities. Neil McGregor, Group President & CEO of Sembcorp Industries said “Buying IDFC’s stake in SGI reaffirms Sembcorp’s commitment to a long-term presence in India. The deal will allow us to drive SGI’s growth as the 100% owner, and increase our investment in a wind and solar generation portfolio that strongly complements our thermal power assets in the country. Strengthening our investment in renewables will also help us stay abreast of advances in greener power generation, and will enable us to deliver electricity to our customers in an increasingly sustainable manner.”

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS 1366 Technologies and Hanwha Q CELLS Boost Direct Wafer Champion Cell Efficiency to 20.3% 1366 Technologies has announced a new performance record for 1366’s direct wafer technology with the achievement of 20.3% cell efficiency, independently confirmed by Fraunhofer ISE CalLab. The company achieved this repeated efficiency record in a joint effort together with its development partner Hanwha Q CELLS. 1366’s Direct Wafer products in combination with Hanwha Q CELLS’ Q.ANTUM cell technology also achieved an average efficiency of 20.1% on the pilot line with standard

Amtech Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Stock Amtech Systems has announced that it intends to offer shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.

Roth Capital Partners is acting as the sole manager for the offering. The Company plans to use the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include working capital, capital expenditures and potential acquisitions. A shelf registration statement relating to the shares of common stock to be issued in the proposed offering was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and is effective. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and, when available, may be obtained from Roth Capital Partners.

Amtech Systems has also announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 1,055,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $9.50 per share. The company has also granted to the underwriter a 30-day option to acquire an additional 158,250 shares to cover overallotments in connection with the offering.

boosted the cell efficiency of

Wood Group Supports 1 GW Sweihan PV Project to Financial Close

Saudi Arabia Aims to Exceed Annual Renewable Energy Target of 9.5 GW

the direct wafer technology by

The Sweihan Solar PV Plant, which is located in

Saudi Arabia aims to exceed its target to generate

an average of 0.8% per year.

the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates,

9.5 gigawatts of electricity from renewable energy

Sunworks to Complete 1.4

will provide power to the Abu Dhabi Water and

annually, to highlight its long-term commitment to

MW Solar Project for Los Altos

Electricity Authority (ADWEA) under a 25-year PPA

green energy, a senior government official said.

School District

at a record-setting low price. Once constructed,

"We plan to exceed 9.5 gigawatts," Turki al-Shehri,

Sunworks has announced a new

the 1.177 GW project will be world’s largest

1.4 MW solar power construction

single utility-scale solar PV plant, at one of the

project for nine elementary and

most competitive prices seen to date in the solar

middle school locations in the

PV industry.

Los Altos School District (LASD).

Wood Group’s clean energy team was appointed

Sunworks was contracted by

by the developer, a joint venture between Marubeni

ForeFront Power, a leading solar

and JinkoSolar, as technical advisor to the group of

power developer that assists

local and international lenders. As part of the scope

public sector agencies by deli-

of work, the renewable energy and grid integration

vering the most impactful be-

experts also delivered an independent energy yield

hind-the-meter, virtual, and

assessment prior to the tender bid submission,

wholesale renewable energy

and will also provide construction monitoring

solutions. Sunworks’ dedicated,

services during the two-year construction period.

in-house construction team will

The financing agreement for the Sweihan Solar

manage all of the engineering,

PV Plant was closed in May 2017, with the start of

procurement and construction

construction announced shortly afterwards. The

for this project.

plant is due to be fully operational by April 2019.

processes used in mass production. The collaboration between the two companies has

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

head of the energy ministry's Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) told the Sino-Saudi investment forum in Jeddah. "The whole idea of this is to give investors a sense of comfort that the Kingdom has a long-term vision for renewable energy," he added. The government has said it plans to generate 9.5 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from renewable sources a year by 2023 through 60 projects, involving an estimated investment of between $30 billion and $50 billion. Shehri declined to give further details on when the government expects to exceed the target or other details, saying such an announcement would be made by the energy minister. Expressions of interest in Saudi's first utility-scale solar project had come from China more than any other country, he said.

Bringing solar power to the world

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Generation

Lavender Pond Farm Announces Installation of Solar SmartFlower

Saudi Arabia has issued a reg-

Lavender Pond Farm, New England's largest lavender farm has announced the installation of a solar

Saudi Arabia Issues Rules for Small-Scale Solar Energy

ulatory framework for electricity consumers to operate their own, small-scale solar power generating systems and export unused power to the national grid. The rules will come into force next July 1 and cover small photovoltaic facilities with generating capacity of no more than 2 megawatts. Consumers will have their excess electricity offset against their future consumption and after a year they will receive cash payments at a tariff approved by the authority.

"What has been achieved is an essential step forward towards the realisation of the deployment of renewable energy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," said Fayez al-Jabri, the authority's directorgeneral Franklin Park Investments Helps Lead Sammons Renewable Energy Acquisition of 194 MW Solar Project Portfolio Franklin Park Investments has helped lead the acquisition of a 194 MW portfolio of solar power plants on behalf of Sammons Renewable Energy. As part of the transaction, SRE is acquiring a 36-project portfolio of operating solar power plants with long-term energy contracts from Heelstone Energy. Franklin Park, pursuant to its management agreement with SRE, identified, structured, underwrote, and in conjunction with the SRE team closed the transaction on behalf of SRE. Franklin Park will manage the projects on behalf of SRE.

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SmartFlower, the all-in-one, plug and play photovoltaic solar system. Inspired by sunflowers and other phototropic plants that follow the sun across the horizon, the SmartFlower wakes up at sunrise, fans out its twelve solar "petals" to 194 square feet and automatically cleans itself in preparation for capturing the sun's rays. SmartFlower then turns to face the sun at a 90° angle, and follows the sun throughout the day using dual axis tracking to maximize solar energy yield. At night, the system automatically folds itself up for compact storage, then starts the cycle over the next morning. One SmartFlower produces the equivalent of a 4 kW rooftop system. Thanks to its plant-inspired design, the SmartFlower takes up less space than traditional solar panels but yields 40% more output – up to 4,000 – 6,500 kWh per year. While there are over 1,000 SmartFlowers installed in Europe, Asia and Middle East, the Lavender Pond Farm SmartFlower is the first in Connecticut and only the second installed in the United States.

Yellow Door Energy to Install 311 kWp Rooftop Solar PV Plant at Elcome's Headquarters in Dubai

Yellow Door Energy (YDE) has announced that it will begin the installation of a 311 kWp solar PV plant at Elcome's headquarters located in Dubai Investments Park, Dubai, UAE. Elcome is one of the world's leading marine technology system integration and services companies and employs a workforce of over 500 people in 11 countries. Yellow Door Energy will manage the construction, operation and maintenance of the rooftop solar PV plant for next 20 years. The solar lease structure eliminates the need for Elcome to make a capital investment and take on operational risk, allowing them to focus on their core business. The solar PV system will generate approximately 503,050 kWh per year and reduce CO2 emissions by 354 tons annually, which is equivalent to planting 9,162 tree seedlings per year.

The EPC contractor for the project will be Enerwhere, a Dubai-based, DEWA-certified solar company specialized in commercial-industrial scale systems. Construction of the project will commence in September 2017 and the plant is expected to be operational by the end of the year.

Jeremy Crane, CEO of Yellow Door Energy, said, "As a technology leader in Dubai for nearly 50 years, it is natural for Elcome to adopt solar power. We are excited to be able to provide them with an installation at zero cost, which offers them long-term savings."

Sungrow's Flagship 1500V Central Inverter is Now UL 1741SA Certified Sungrow has announced that its 1500Vdc turnkey station, the SG2500U has received UL 1741-SA certification. That makes SG2500U the first central inverter to receive this certification, a stringent grid interconnection requirement which will be required for North American projects in the near future.

The containerized 2.5MW SG2500U, Sungrow's leading 1500V central inverter product, features high efficiency, energy-saving operation, and the ability to function in extreme environmental conditions with little to no loss in efficiency, almost always hitting its mark at 98.8% efficiency regardless of humidity, temperature, and other variables. The product is also designed for simplified logistics and easy O&M. These features of SG2500U help it generate greater ROI for utility-scale PV plants.

"We are proud to be the manufacturer of the first central inverter to receive the UL 1741-SA certification, for it has been one of the most difficult requirements to satisfy but also necessary step in modernizing the grid for greater reliability and stability. This achievement is testament to Sungrow's large investments in research and development, and we will continue this trend so we can keep bringing more environmental friendly power to North America and the rest of the world," said Professor Renxian Cao, President of Sungrow.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS U.S. Army Invests in 1 Megawatt Energy Storage System to Complement 10MW SunPower Solar Power Plant SunPower Corp. has broken ground on a 10 megawatt solar photovoltaic system at the Redstone Arsenal U.S. Army post in Alabama which is expected to create more than 200 jobs at peak of construction.

With a newly added 1 megawatt energy storage system, the project is designed to strengthen energy security and resilience at Redstone Arsenal, supporting the Army's efforts to reduce electricity costs at installations while also making them more energy independent."This project reinforces the Army's commitment to advancing adoption of reliable, cost-effective, home-grown renewable energy at Redstone Arsenal," said Col. Thomas Holliday, Garrison Commander, Redstone Arsenal. "We're continually looking for ways to grow our capability and reduce our cost to provide the nation with a more efficient defense."

Developed by the U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives, Redstone Arsenal's Directorate of Public Works, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntsville Center's Energy Division, the innovative project was financed by a power purchase agreement (PPA), allowing the Army to buy 100 percent of the power generated without having to pay for the power plant's construction, maintenance and operation. The Army continues to collaborate with private-sector partners and utilities to build clean, alternative energy projects including onsite power generation, electricity storage, and energy control.

"Solar is cost-competitive with traditional energy sources today, and is helping the U.S. military reduce operational costs," said Nam Nguyen, SunPower Executive Vice President. "We commend Redstone Arsenal for managing its significant energy demand with abundant, renewable solar power. The high performance solar and storage technology we are installing for the agency will substantially increase the value of energy produced by the solar plant over the long term."

Solar Spectrum and Horizon Solar Power Merges Under Sungevity Family Solar Spectrum has announced that it has merged with Temecula, California-based Horizon Solar Power to create the nation's fourth largest resi-dential solar system provider. Frank Kneller, CEO of Horizon Solar Power, will serve as the CEO of the combined business along with a new leadership team. The combined business will be part of the Sungevity family. This merger of Solar Spec-trum and Horizon will create the second largest provider of residential solar systems in Cali-fornia and the fourth largest in the country. Residential solar power generation is a $9 billion annual industry and is growing rapidly as customers seek to play their part in tackling climate change and to save money.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS Hanergy and Audi Sign MOU on Strategic Cooperation in Thin Film Solar Cell Technology Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Limited has announced that its wholly-owned US subsidiary Alta Devices has signed with AUDI AG a MoU on strategic cooperation in thin film solar cell technology. Two parties will jointly undertake the "Audi/Hanergy Thin Film Solar Cell Research and Development project". As the first step, Audi and Hanergy will introduce the solution of integrating thin-film solar cells in the panoramic roof of Audi models. It is aimed to prolong the endurance mileage by feeding solar energy into the internal vehicle electrical system - including air conditioning and other electrical appliances. In the long term, by leveraging the technologies from both sides, the two parties plan to gradually transition to utilize thin film solar technology to feed solar energy into the drivetrain battery to provide additional primary power for vehicles Electric Carmaker Tesla Starts Production of Solar Cells in Buffalo Tesla Inc. has started production of the cells for its solar roof tiles at its factory in Buffalo, New York. The company has already begun installing its solar roofs, which look like regular roofs but are made of glass tiles. But until now, it has been making them on a small scale near its vehicle factory in Fremont, California.

Tesla's Chief Technical Officer, JB Straubel said that the company now has several hundred workers and machinery installed in its 1.2 million-squarefoot factory in Buffalo.

Solar Bankers Using Blockchain Technology to Develop Digitalized Electricity Ecosystems The solar energy company Solar Bankers Singapore is launching an Initial Coin Offering in November to fund the development of localized energy communities in which consumers can freely produce and trade electricity. Solar Bankers Singapore's Arizonan affiliate, Solar Bankers LLC, is known for having developed and patented a series of innovative photovoltaic solutions, including a hologram-based film that filters and concentrates incoming sunlight to make solar panels more efficient and less expensive. Solar Bankers is working with the Chinese blockchain technology company, ShellPay, to promote the wholesale decentralization of all infrastructures for electricity production, transmission, and exchange. The partnership plans to make energy generation and distribution greener and more efficient by supplying households with Solar Bankers' cutting-edge PV devices and connecting them through local micro-grids. This will allow consumers to produce their own electricity and sell any excess at competitive prices to their neighbors in local marketplaces.

While owners of devices will gain an additional source of income, reduced transportation costs will provide passive consumers with cheaper electricity. Transactions will be managed by smart contracts based on ShellPay's improved blockchain platform, making large bureaucratic intermediaries obsolete.

Solar Bankers' own crypto-token, SunCoin, will act as the exchange medium within these local energy trading networks.

Fortum Appoints Ingela Ulfves ReneSola Secures Project as VP, Investor Relations and Financing for 30MW of Financial Communications Distributed Generation Ingela Ulfves, M.Sc. (Econ.), Projects in China has been appointed as Vice

President, Investor Relations and Financial Communications at Fortum starting in December 2017 at the latest.

She will report to Fortum’s CFO Markus Rauramo. Ingela Ulfves joins Fortum from

RMB120 million (US$18 million) financing facility from China Kangfu International Leasing Co., Ltd ("China Kangfu"), an affiliate of State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC). The financing will be used to support the development of ReneSola's 30 MW of solar distributed generation

Eltel, an infrastructure service company listed in

projects in Henan Province.

Sweden, where she has been responsible for the

Xianshou Li, Chairman and Chief Executive

areas of investor relations, external and internal

Officer of ReneSola, said "We are excited to

communications, marketing and brand. Prior to Eltel, she was heading investor relations and group communications at Tokmanni Group, the largest discount retail chain in Finland, and was responsible for investor relations and financial communication at Outokumpu Oyj. "Ingela is highly professional in investor relations and equity markets with years of experience in several listed companies. I wish Ingela warmly welcome to Fortum and to the energy sector", said Markus Rauramo.

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ReneSola has announced that it has secured an

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partner with China Kangfu. This facility reinforces our confidence in the enormous potential of China's domestic distributed generation market.

It also demonstrates the confidence that the capital markets put in our ability to successfully develop projects in this market. We look forward to accelerating our distributed generation development in China."

HOW SOLAR WON THE DIRTY GAME...

Who would ever expect a country with generations naively leaned towards fossil fuels and struggling to lighten up their houses will be blessed with solar power. Sounding like intercession, today, a livelihood is well upholstered to arrogate a technology-driven life. Apparently, the black smut coal field where nourishment of human-kind was painted black has open-armed the genesis of “Green Energy”. Not only feeding clean power needs but also giving a new dividend for propelling a better life. India has a diverse and dynamic culture and terrain. Hence, with growing urbanization and mapping villages to the mainstream, the electricity demand

DC powering houses powering small-scaled businesses and also homes can blaze a trail on creating a better individual livelihood. In 2014, when the BJP government came to power, India had the world’s largest energy access deficit in terms of electricity–270 million people, accounting for just under a third of the world’s deficit, according to the World Bank’s 2017 State of Electricity Access report. A strategic turnaround for solar power was underlined when tariff rates crashed over the years.

From a tariff rate of around Rs 12 per unit in 2010, solar power touched a tariff of Rs 2.44 per unit in the recently

in the country has gigantically stemmed. The egalitarian dialogue for power and turning towards a sustainable and green power has also been a vicious cycle. Palm-greasing, local strong-fist people, poverty and lack of awareness have mismatched the calculation of basic demand and supply. In this scathing situation, an independent and also minimal influx of solar power like LED lights or charging mobile phones seems to bring some hope for these vast locales.

But looking at broader canvas, larger off-grid systems and

auctioned Bhadla Solar Park, Rajasthan. Solar panel prices have fallen by 85 percent over the last five years. At an instance, today, solar power prices are even cheaper than India’s coal-based thermal power plants. The country’s largest power company, NTPC, sells electricity from its coal-based generation units at a princely Rs 3.2 per kilowatt-hour. The sudden proposition of setting up new renewable goals has certainly befogged analysts and researchers to cope with the new pulse.

Coal Mines – The Abundance and Redundancy of Humanity in ‘Black’ India is a home to 30 most polluted cities in the world. India produces 89 minerals operating 569 coal mines, 67 oil & gas mines, 1,770 non-coal mines, and several more small mines, running into over a lakh.

About one million people on an average are employed on a daily basis at these mines, with the sector contributing about 5 per cent to the country’s GDP. A coal sector which is less named aspiring and respiring keeps a brutal dossier of unaccountable number of workers been undesirably perished in the black cemeteries. This sector faces a fatal accident every seven days arguably making mining the most dangerous profession in India. Records show that a majority of mining accidents in India involve roof and side wall collapses of a mine. The Directorate General of Mines Safety figures suggest annual fatality rate is 0.21 in India (taking into account the total number of mines), down from 0.36 about five years ago. If these fatal deaths were not enough to reveal the destitute situations in the coal mines, then the toxic emissions constantly fuming the air is known to contain 40 to 50 hydrocarbon compounds, and many of them are toxic or carcinogenic. These vast fields have been cursed with zero vegetation, no animal life, tress are a far beyond story and life cannot be spelled through literature.

India has rich coal reserves, but imports

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much of its coal, since coal brought into the country is subject to fewer regulations than domestically produced coal.

Present Coal Development and Sigh of Relief for Solar Coal secretary says Coal India, known as the largest coal producer company in the world is expected to achieve its 2016/17 production target of 575 million tonnes and aims to raise output to 1 billion tonnes by

2020. Lately, Coal India has earmarked a capital expenditure of Rs 8,500 crore in 2017-18 to expedite mining projects and ramp up production. The governmentowned miner also plans to invest Rs 6,500 crore to set up power projects, revive a fertiliser plant and acquire coal blocks.

Coal India had spent Rs 7,700.06 crore in 2016-17. These figures critically woo the dream of green and sustainable energy in this country.

Although, state-run NTPC Ltd., India’s largest power producer, along with RattanIndia Power Ltd. are considering installing solar panels over land initially intended for thermal projects. NTPC said lately that it’s aiming to have 30 percent of its capacity come from non-fossil fuel by 2032. Analysts have rightly calculated that even when the share of non-fossil fuel power rises to 40% by 2030, as proposed currently, that will mean only a 4% reduction in the share of coal in India's energy mix (i.e. from the current 61% to 57% level),

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given another 200 GW of coal-fired capacity is in the pipeline to be commissioned over another ten years. As part of a longterm strategy the government, in fact, has raised the target capacity addition of solar-based power generation to 100GW, while generation from other renewable resources including wind, biomass and hydro was envisaged at 75GW. These targets, proposed to be attained by 2022, entail an investment of close to US$100 billion. A government release earlier said that in the solar sector alone the target would principally comprise of 40GW rooftop and 60GW through large and mediumscale grid-connected power projects.

Accordingly, the programme would make India one of the largest green energy producers surpassing several advanced countries. The government also expects green companies from China, Japan, USA and Germany will take part in the investment programme that will help India's current solar generation of about 13.11 GW transition to 100 GW over a period of next five years.

Can Sun Clear the Black Clouds?

According to a survey, investments in renewable energy are crucial for India to meet its climate change goals, such investments shall be made at a calibrated pace looking into the total cost accrued to the society. It adds further that the social cost of renewable at Rs 11,000 per MWh, as of now, is around three times that of coal. On the back of prolific growth in non-conventional power, Ernst & Young reckons that India is the world’s second best market for investing in renewable energy. The Narendra Modi government has moved decisively to assure private renewables developers by backing a payment security mechanism. Last year, the Solar Energy Corporation of India, the country’s largest solar power purchaser, was included in a tripartite agreement between the Central government, state governments and the Reserve Bank of India, which safeguards it against payment defaults. While solar energy becomes

cheaper, the cost of coal power is rising in India. It’s becoming more costly to mine at home and faces tougher environmental regulations, BNEF(Bloomberg New Energy Finance) said in a report. Low demand is also an issue.

The levelized cost of energy from a new super-critical coal plant in India stands at 3,541 rupees a megawatt-hour, or 3.54 rupees a kilowatt-hour, meaning it’s above the 2.44 rupees a kilowatt-hour achieved at the recent auction, according to BNEF. The cost of new emissions rules increases the cost of new coal plants further to 3,890 rupees a megawatt-hour, or 3.9 rupees a kilowatt-hour, BNEF said.

Analyst Tim Buckley said the shift away from the dirtiest fossil fuel and towards solar in India would have “profound” implications on global energy markets. According to his article on the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’s website, 13.7GW of planned coal power projects have been cancelled so far in May – in a stark indication of the pace of change.

Strong Solar Roar of India An energy blueprint released recently by the Indian government predicts that 57%

of total electricity capacity will come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2027, exceeding the Paris Agreement’s target of 40% by 2030. Currently, almost 33% of the country’s total energy comes from non-fossil fuel, which makes the Paris target relatively unambitious. It looks like India is almost three-and-a-half years ahead of schedule.

But in terms of large-scale implementation, neither solar nor coal are easy options in India. For solar energy to be reliable and widespread, the country would need to build grid infrastructure on an unprecedented scale.

Algorithm of IRR Prospering Solar Top of the list is the decision of the government to provide security to bidders that the solar power generated will be bought by the government and payment will be ensured. This has been done by setting up the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) under the ambit of the tripartite agreement for payment security against defaults by state distribution companies.

This single move has transformed solar power from a power sector play to a financial one. Investments are based on how much internal rate of return (IRR) the

project can generate. Many investment firms and banks are partnering with companies who understand the solar sector to invest in India as the risk has been taken care of by the government, making the project as good as a financial instrument with visible cash flows. A double-digit IRR is good enough for most foreign players. Apart from ensuring purchase and payment, the government has also taken care of the next big issue, land. Solar companies were finding land acquisition one of the biggest hurdles in setting up solar power plants. The government has now allowed companies who specialize in land acquisition, and state governments, to allocate land which can be leased out to parties interested in setting up units. Currency fluctuations also play an important part as most of the panels are imported. In the case of Bhadla Solar Park rupee appreciation helped bring down cost of power purchase further. Finally, it is the way in which solar power farms are constructed that has helped in bringing about a boom in solar power. Most players, rather than purchasing solar panels, enter into a long-term lease with the supplier.

Coal and Solar – Leaders Yielding New Political Speech At UN Climate Conference in Paris last year, India, with its resolute stand on the use of coal was seen as the major holdout to any meaningful dialogue on climate change. The country had then categorically stated it was at least two decades away from reducing its coal use. Asserting strongly, and also speaking for all economically underdeveloped countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there that the consequences of the industrial age powered by the fossil fuel were evident, especially on the lives of the poor.

Former Power and Renewable Energy Minister of the country, Piyush Goyal, certainly prompted a new notion. He said, the country would not be apologetic about having to use coal in future while all developments in the US and the West for over 150 years were on the back of the coal itself. It’s also acceptable that the government's electoral promise of bringing quality electricity to 28 million more homes by 2022 still requires capacity addition of many more thousand megawatts too.

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Solar’s Organized Employment vs Enrolment Dysfunction of Labors in Coal

Source: CEEW-NRDC analysis

If the country has a decisive stance towards its 2022 target of 175 GW, the wind and solar industry together to employ over 300,000 Indians over the next five years.

Currently, wind and solar together account for almost 14% of India’s installed power capacity. Analysts cite that 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% 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 pick a healthy chunk.

India is today one among top four job markets in renewables sector. In 2016, India accounted for 5% 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 organization 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,

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Source: International Renewable Agency

Japan and Germany being the leading job markets. In India, estimated renewable jobs (direct and indirect) in 2016 were 385,000, 4.6% of the global total. Jobs in large hydropower projects (over 10 megawatt), which were estimated to be 236,000, are excluded.

When comparing to solar industry alone, coal has a haphazard employment base across the country. This sector has profoundly lacked the labor law and have dwelled humans at large scale(specifically local).

There is no healthy life and workers tend to give up the job after a year or so. It can be said in today’s scenario coal industry shall be the rearmost industry where employment ratios see a prolific growth.

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According to UNICEF's report in 2013, some 28 million children work to supplement their families’ meagre income, 400,000 children aged between five and 14 work in various coal mines. Despite the 1952 Indian Mines Act that stipulates that no one under the age of 18 can be employed in the mines, many children do so anyway.

Rules mean little to the children who claw coal from the guts of the earth for a living. On a normal day, the workers(mostly underage) earn 200 rupees ($3.60) by going into these mines. Their future looks as bleak as the dark mines they are forced to work in. Schools are scarce in the region, and education is often seen to be a luxury.

How Solar Can Save Lives from Slaying of Coal?

When talking about India, about 115,000 people die prematurely from pollution caused by Indian coal-fired plants, including 10,000 children below age five. The health costs to India are about $4.6 billion (Rs 29,400 crore) annually, which is the cost of setting up five power plants of 1,000 megawatts (MW) each, or 2% of India’s installed capacity, every year. Emissions from an Indian power plant were estimated to kill 650 people, said this study of emissions between 2000 and 2008, conducted by Harvard University researchers.

Replacing coal-fired power plants with solar power installations could save as many as 51,999 lives every year, a study from the Michigan Technological University has found. Workers in all likelihood die of things such as asthma and congestive heart failure resulting from harmful emissions from coal-fired plants. If we talk of America, by transitioning to solar photovoltaics (PV) in the US, up to 51,999 American lives would

be saved at $1.1 million invested per life.

Coal Will Silently Toast the Success of Solar The cost of solar generation in India has fallen by more than half. The country’s competitive auctions for solar power have pushed prices below 2.5 rupees ($0.04) per kilowatt-hour. Solar is cheap and getting cheaper, and at a certain point it becomes hard to turn down as a marginal unit of new power generation. From 2030, solar would begin to sideline coal in India, with the pace of photovoltaic (PV) additions more than doubling from the 2020s to the 2030s, said the New Energy Outlook-2017 by BNEF. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India has decided to halt further CFF extraction projects for energy requirements and instead; increase dependency on RE(Renewable Energy) through concerted efforts in R&D and government policies.

Due to these efforts, RE such as solar and wind energy is becoming increasingly affordable and accessible. Further, due to fiscal and tariff incentives provided by

the Government, India has become a hub for foreign investment in RE. Among other measures, India has liberalized the RE sector in recent years to facilitate transfer of foreign technology to hasten the shift from dirty energy to RE. Today, India boasts of some of the world’s largest solar plants which are located in the States of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Recently, India built the world’s first canal top solar power park in Gujarat which not only generates RE, but also saves land area (a scarce resource in an overpopulated country like India). India has built the world’s first fully solar powered international airport.

Private sector participation in RE via publicprivate partnerships has also witnessed an upsurge as evidenced by Adani Group’s investment in the one of the world’s largest single location solar plant in Tamil Nadu.

Apart from grid solar power installations, India has transformed millions of lives by providing non-grid solar lamps throughout rural India.

- Niloy@saurenergy.com

Ramesh Nair CEO|Mundra Solar PV Ltd

Q

Adani Mundra Solar recently made their first 5BB modules in the company’s module production line using their own cells. When do you plan to change the whole production to 5BB? How important is this step for the company?

The Adani Group is strongly focused on clean energy technologies and solar remains an integral part of this strategy. We expect the mass production to commence from September 2017. This transition is in line with Adani’s technology road map, towards increasing efficiencies.

We aim to achieve above 2 GW of solar installed capacity by the end of this year making the company the largest solar player in India’s renewable energy sector in various states.

With 1.2 GW state-of-the-art PV module capacity, our recent facility is the India’s largest cell and module manufacturing facility and is in line with the governments ‘Make in India’ initiative.

According to reports Solar modules and solar photovoltaic cells from the house of Adani Group developed under Make in India initiative would cost higher than the imported version. How are you planning to compete with the Chinese players with higher price tag?

Costs of production is closely related to volume of production.

The higher the volume of production – lower is production costs.

However, we are certain that our cost reduction roadmap puts us in line to match Chinese manufacturing costs by next year. We are also expecting governmental support to level the playing field with other global players.

What percent of modules and cells will be exported from the manufacturing plant in next two years?

Our sales strategy is flexible and therefore caters to international demand depending on the needs of the market. However, we are qualitatively and quantitatively well-placed to cater to any international demand.

Shed some light on the state of the art R&D Infrastructure and new technologies that Adani is currently working on.

What percent of the revenue does the company put into R&D? Our team consists of several qualified industry professionals. Our R&D and testing facility is one of the best of its kind in India, equipped with world-class equipment. Adani is investing a significant amount into these capabilities and remains committed towards developing advanced technologies like Bi-facial, cut cells, etc.

Early August this year MNRE proposed for 7.5 GW of solar to be developed using domestically manufactured solar

Q

Q Q Q

cells and modules during the second phase of its CPSU program.

DO you think this program will help revival of domestic solar manufacturing, which is facing intense competition from Chinese module manufacturer?

The plan is welcomed by all Indian manufacturers and provides us encouragement to remain competitive. A coordinated effort from the government will lead to successful implementation of this program.

In the wake of pushing the solar generation capacity and the achievements of low tariffs, have we failed to efficiently support our domestic manufacturing? Is the antidumping suit filed by ISMA only way to support the home grown manufacturers?

We feel that overtly relying on imports to fulfill the nation’s 100GW solar installation targets, and dumping from the Asian manufacturers have led to non-sustainable lower prices in solar. The government can support domestic manufacturing by providing manufacturing incentives and various other schemes to assist manufacturers.

Adani is selling multi-crystalline, mono-crystalline and dual glass modules, what type of demand you see for mono and dual glass modules in the country and abroad.

The market is currently shifting to higher efficiency products, which can be satisfied with mono/mono PERC and bifacial modules depending on the category of installation. The demand has already started picking up internationally - India will follow soon.

We would like to know more about products manufactured by adani.

Adani’s facility is the India’s largest solar PV cell & module manufacturing plant. The facility has created employment for more than 2500 people. The state-of-the-art plant is an integrated manufacturing facility for PV cells & modules and will manufacture premier, high performance solar PV cells & modules in India.

Apart from conventional polycrystalline module, the facility shall manufacture high efficiency Mono PERC module, with 15% higher efficiency, first of its kind to be manufactured in India.

The integrated plant shall also manufacture Bifacial module, with efficiencies higher up to 30%, to cater to ever increasing demand of technologically advanced rooftop solutions. The plant also has capacity to manufacture glass to glass modules and customised size modules.

Q

Q Q

- Manas@saurenergy.com

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MARKET GLANCE

Thin Film Solar Cells Market to increase its revenue fourfold by surpassing USD 30 billion by 2024: Global Market Insights With a great deal of interest to improve the quality of solar power system due to fossil fuels rigorously getting drained, thin film solar cells market is speedily evolving with every passing year. Strong concerns regarding global environmental issues has brought a dramatic growth in the clean energy market, with solar energy at the pinnacle. Furthermore, the surging demand for electricity specially from off grid areas along with reducing renewable energy tariff subjected to the increase in competitive bidding will heighten the market demand in the coming timeframe. As per a report by Global Market Insights, Inc., “Global thin film solar cells market is expected to increase its revenue fourfold by surpassing USD 30 billion by 2024, having had a worth of USD 8 billion in 2015.�

Technological progressions along with a large number of promising energy conservation programs that have been initiated worldwide have resulted in a decline in overall component cost. These adopted initiations will act as a catalyzer for the overall growth of the market. In this regard, India is already a step ahead. In 2016, the country has launched a target of deploying 20 GW grid connected solar power projects in half a decade, which will finally result in cost reduction of solar power generation of the country.

The solar technology is witnessing a continuous evolution with technological progression. Three types of thin film cells that are predominant in the market are cadmium telluride thin film cells, amorphous silicon cells, and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGD) solar cells.

Amorphous silicon thin film solar cells market accounted for more than 13% of the total volume in 2015, and is expected to observe a surge due to increasing demand for solar

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wristwatches, garden lights, and electronic calculators. Cadmium telluride solar cells are largely adopted for generating terrestrial solar power in residential sector owing to the product’s cost effectiveness and highlevel conversion efficiency. This secondgeneration thin film solar cells industry is estimated to grow stupendously at a CAGR of 17% over the period of 2016-2024. Copper indium gallium diselenide based film solar cells are the top performing cells till date, with an upper hand due to absorption of more sunlight than the other products. CIGD thin film solar cells market is anticipated to generate revenue of USD 8 billion by 2024.

L o w t o x i c i t y, h i g h e ff i c i e n c y, a n d comparatively affordable manufacturing cost are the leading factors driving thin film solar cells industry to penetrate a wide array of sectors. Thin film solar cells market is gaining a huge popularity across residential, utility and commercial sectors owing to its flexibility and light weight. Thin film solar cells industry from commercial application have collected a huge revenue of USD 1 billion in 2015, and is anticipated to be one of the prominent sectors driving the application landscape in the coming timeframe. Growing consumer claim for uninterrupted power supply is redirecting the focus toward sustainable and reliable energy sources, which in turn is influencing the market outlook. Driven by the handsome number of government solar projects that are continuously being launched, thin film solar cells market share from utility sector is slated to exceed a power capacity of 60 GW over the coming seven years.

US is one of the prominent regions which is actively involved in the market. Positive outlook toward relying more on renewable energy sources along with increasing installation of photo voltaic models is

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

fueling U.S. thin film solar cells industry. Asia Pacific is expected to hold a considerable industry share in terms of revenue with China prominently driving the regional demand.

China thin film solar cells industry accounted for more than 40% of the regional market in 2015 and will register a massive double digit growth rate of 15% over the forecast span. The growth can be attributed to the huge investment in the PV projects in China.

UK thin film solar cells market covered more than 25% of the market share in 2015 and will cross 4GW power generation capacity by 2024, owing to the favorable government initiatives pertaining to sustainable energy production.

Market players are concentrating more on research activities to enhance the product quality along with improving the energy efficiency. However, lack of proper knowhow of the ongoing financial incentives related to non-conventional energy sources may act as a deterrent in the growth path of the industry. According to the research firm prominent participants of thin film solar cells market include Hankey Asia Ltd., Ascent Technologies Inc., Hankey Asia Ltd., Global Solar, Inc., and First Solar.

Report on

Quality Cell &

Module Manufacturing with RenewSys India’s solar power capacity as on July, 31, 2017 crossed 13 GW mark with states of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu emerging as the leading green energy producers. Within this short duration the country has marked for itself, several accolades in the renewable energy sector, catching the eye of global investors.

Interestingly during FY17, India exported solar modules and cells worth $69 million and imported $3.2 billion.

Compared to FY16, solar imports grew by 36 percent and exports declined by 60 percent. According to a report, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has started the second phase of its CPSU program to provide installation capacity totaling 7.5 GW of solar projects made using domestically manufactured solar cells and modules.

The ministry has outlined plans to support the domestic solar sector in the country wherever it can. However, with this whole slew of achievements, developments and announcements, an important question is raisedin the wake of pushing the solar generation capacity and the achievements of low tariffs, have we failed to efficiently support our domestic manufacturing? The anti-dumping suit filed by ISMA reflects the stress point of the domestic players. Amid the ongoing tiff between the domestic players and the ministry, we decided to visit the solar manufacturing unit of one of India's biggest player RenewSys to understand what makes locally produced panels and modules shine as opposed to Chinese competitors.

RenewSys is India’s first and only integrated manufacturer of solar PV modules & three of its key components i.e. PV Solar Cells, Encapsulants and Backsheets.

The company is the renewable energy solutions arm of the Enpee Group, which was established in 1961 and is a global conglomerate with a heritage of over 55 years of diverse manufacturing excellence and employs over 2500 professionals globally. RenewSys India started business in 2012 and has two state-ofthe-art manufacturing facilities strategically located at Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Our visit to RenewSys manufacturing facility in Hyderabad started from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 6:30 am in the morning. Google map on my handset

showed that the distance between the airport and our destination is almost 16 km and will take 30 minutes to reach there. Initially it looked boring for us , however, the scenic beauty and pleasant early morning weather on our way to the destination made me pull out my DSLR. What was even more attractive was the gigantic and well-planned manufacturing facility of the company located in the lap of Mother Nature. As we entered the manufacturing unit, a huge solar power plant of approx. 1 MW and the fascinating interior of the facility that is spread across 50 acres openheartedly welcomed us. Without wasting a minute we moved to Managing Director- Avinash Hiranandani’s office to meet him and know more about the company.

SPOT REPORT and steps taken to ensure the quality of the products.

Let me tell you one thing, before entering the cell manufacturing unit we had to slip into the industry suit and mask and believe me after wearing that even if you know someone for ages you can’t identify him/ her. As soon as you slip into the suit you have to move to a chamber where a wind is blown to clear the entire dust particle before you step into the unit.

RenewSys owns state of the art cell manufacturing lines that combine the best European machinery and technology housed in an ultra-modern clean room facility.

Speaking about the company’s cell manufacturing unit Avinash said our cells under The soft-spoken gentleman in his blue formals with a smile on his face greeted us in his office; probably it is his smiling face that made the interaction more casual and open! During the interaction, Avinash said, "an ‘ISO 9001:2015’ & ‘OHSAS 18001:2007’ certified company, RenewSys is committed to providing innovative & technology driven solutions. RenewSys recently also earned the distinction of becoming India’s first and only manufacturer of 5BB solar PV cells. The company’s growth is fuelled by a unique combination of agile strategy, a dedicated and skilled team and a continual review and upgrade of systems, processes and products."

Avinash Hiranandani Managing Director RenewSys India Pvt. Ltd.

38

In between our conversation we were served with traditional Hyderabadi breakfast and cappuccino, probably Avinash could sense we were famished. However, after a short chit-chat we continued to feed our mind with answers to the questions that we came with. Replying to our next question Avinash said,"to keep pace with the challenging and swiftly changing solar PV landscape and fulfil the highest standards of quality, reliable PV material; we leverage our in-house talent, state of the art European machinery and wellequipped R&D labs. These add value to the components we manufacture - whether it is Encapsulants, Backsheets or Solar PV cells; that enable them to exceed expectations and help our modules perform optimally on-field. The assurance that comes from the perfor-mance of our modules and components is growing our customer base steadily and helps us contribute towards the ‘Make in India’ vision that the government has been advocating." He added, "thus we are scaling up sustainably as we quickly imbibe new technology and respond effectively to shifts in demand, ensuring that we are partners in the truest sense for all our customers."

After spending an hour at his office we decided to take a walk of the company’s manufacturing unit to know in detail about the RenewSys’ cell and module manufacturing process, production of 5BB cells

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the brand name RESERV are made available worldwide.

The company’s current cell manufacturing capacity is 130MW and its newly acquired lines are operating at full capacity and have been commissioned successfully to manufacture cells with high efficiencies at a competitive price.

Talking about the 5BB cells, he said, "increasing the number of Bus Bars (BBs) in a photovoltaic cell lowers the series resistance and thus increases the current.

Eventually, the PV cell power increases, which improves the overall module performance. Apart from the advanced technologies such as PERC, PERT and IBC, increasing the number of Bus Bars, is an attractive technology development to produce solar panels with higher efficiency."

Adding further Avinash said, "these are just a few of the advantages of having an in house innovation lab and stringent quality parameters and tests to ensure consistent quality. We manufacture PID resistant cells and hold the distinction of being the only manufacturer to measure PID resistance at the solar PV cell level in India. We house this machinery in a clean room, with a completely automated binning process, ensuring that potential damage to the wafers and cells through the process is minimized."

RenewSys manufactures a range of reliable, competitively priced, certified modules complying with IEC standards under the

SPOT REPORT S. No

Equipment

Capacity in terms of no. of samples tested per test

Range Temperature:-70⁰C to +180⁰C

1.

Climatic Chamber

2.

Climatic Chamber

10; 60 cell modules

3.

Temperature:-75⁰C to +180⁰C RH 10-98%

UV Chamber

Temperature:-60⁰C to +120⁰C

8; 72 cell modules

4.

Climatic chamber

Temperature:-60⁰C to +120⁰C RH: 10-95%

10; 72 cell modules

5.

Climatic chamber

Temperature:-60⁰C to +120⁰C RH: 10-95%

10; 72 cell modules

6.

Climatic chamber

Temperature:-65⁰C to +150⁰C RH: 10-98%

10; 72 cell modules

7.

Climatic chamber

Temperature:-65⁰C to +150⁰C RH: 10-98%

10; 72 cell modules

8.

Climatic chamber

Temperature:-60⁰C to +120⁰C RH: 10-95%

16; 10 cell modules

Relative Humidity : 10-98%

brand name ‘DESERV’. Our next stop after visiting the cell manufacturing unit was the modules. On querying about the company’s manufacturing process of best in class modules and steps taken to ensure the quality, Avinash said, "our modules are designed to deliver optimal performance in adverse conditions and are fortified with PID resistant cells and Encapsulants and Backsheets. In fact, we only use Encapsulant and Backsheet that have been manufactured in-house at our Bangalore division for all our modules; this further enhances the performance of our modules." He added, "our current module capacity is 250 MW and the modules produced suit applications from small home lighting requirements to utility scale mega power plants. The PV modules come in configurations of 36 Cells, 48 Cells, 60 Cells and 72 cells."

While walking through the huge manufacturing plant Avinash said, "we are in the process of expanding our capacity and additional module lines with the latest

10; 72 cell modules

European technology. This will take our capacity up to approximately 350 MW." He further stated, "our module manufacturing process is completely automated and we perform rigorous and thorough in-house testing of the modules manufactured for compliance with IEC standards. We are able to ensure quality modules that generate more electricity i.e. have higher efficiency due to the use of only A+ grade cells and ensuring that all modules have positive power tolerance. Apart from a wide range of standard modules, we also produce the ‘Prime’ and ‘X-Prime’ Series of modules designed specially to suit applications like pumping due to their voltage output. These modules have been appreciated by small business owners worldwide."

RenewSys recently launched two specially designed modules, a 355 Wp module that is currently under certification made with standard mono cells and a 340 Wp module made with multi-crystalline Si cells that the company feel will grow in demand going forward.

Test Can be done Damp Heat, Thermal Cycling, Humidity-freeze, Potential Induced Degradation Damp Heat, Thermal Cycling, Humidity-freeze, Potential Induced Degradation UV preconditioning

Damp Heat, Thermal Cycling, Humidity-freeze, Potential Induced Degradation Damp Heat, Thermal Cycling, Humidity-freeze, Potential Induced Degradation Damp Heat, Thermal Cycling, Humidity-freeze, Potential Induced Degradation Damp Heat, Thermal Cycling, Humidity-freeze, Potential Induced Degradation Damp Heat, Thermal Cycling, Humidity-freeze, Potential Induced Degradation

Avinash said, "when setting up our module manufacturing process, we leveraged a combination of the feedback and insights we collected from the market and our partners, a detailed third party study conducted on the performance of modules in various climate zones in the Indian Subcontinent and the experience and expertise of our specialized in house R&D teams." Talking about the module performance he said, "these findings and our dialogue with industry partners globally helped guide us in selecting technology and in formulating processes to ensure that our modules perform reliably and exceed expectations." He said, "that our in-house R&D team has also worked on specialized designs and customizations to help incorporate solar PV panels in various projects efficiently. One such recent example that comes to mind was the design of vertical modules for a solar street lighting project where we customised the modules to vertically fit the pole and the modules were the same size as the pole. With modules

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SPOT REPORT another significant aspect that has an impact on the life and performance of the module is the post production care.

RenewSys ensures that all our modules pass the three stage laminator process.

This prevents the module temperature, post lamination, from dropping suddenly and thereby prevents the formation of micro cracks. We have also invested in an automated humidity chamber that among other aspects ensures that the module ‘cures’ in-line and has brought down the curing time per module from eight hours to four hours. The automated binning system sorts out modules with positive power tolerance and these are then packed and stored at the company’s automated stacking facility. This facility is the largest of its kind in India and has paved the way for seamless raw material and finished goods handling and storing at RenewSys’ Hyderabad manufacturing facility."

After spending hours at the huge manufacturing unit and witnessing one of the largest manufacturing process one thing immediately popped up in our mind was “how the company ensures that everything goes as per the promise they make to their customers of delivering quality modules.”

However, Avinash looked quite composed and all set to answer our questions. He took us to show the company’s R&D setup, RenewSys has unparalleled in house R&D facilities in India at both its manufacturing plants – Hyderabad and Bengaluru. While the facility at Bengaluru specialises in polymer research and testing, the R&D lab at Hyderabad specialises in cell and module testing. He said, "for modules, we have a comprehensive module testing facility – an in house ‘Reliability Lab’ – a one of its kind facility that is at par with global third party certifying labs and is capable of testing modules in climatic and environmental conditions up to 2- 2.5 times those required for international certifications. It consists of 7 climate chambers and is managed by a talented, diligent R&D team," said Avinash. He further detailed that, "RenewSys carries out comprehensive tests on their modules routinely to ensure that all our

40

Module Characterization (Pre chamber)

Qualification Test Plan

-Visual inspection -Electrical performance/Flash Test -EL image -Dry insulation Test -Wet leakage current Test

Indicates IEC/UL Indicates Extended Life Test

Light Induced Degradation(LID) 5KWh/m2 or 1.5 days

Hot Spot Test 2 weeks

UV Exposure 15Kwh/m2

Module Characterization

Hot Spot Test 4 weeks

Hot Spot Test 10 weeks

200 cycles

Module Characterization

Thermal Cycling Test

Humidity Freeze Test 20 cycles

Hot Spot Test 12 weeks Only Flash Test & EL After HF20 HF30 And HF40

Thermal Cycling Test

50 cycles

Humidity Freeze Test 10 cycles

Humidity Freeze Test

Damp Heat Test 500 h

Only Flash Test & EL after TC 100,TC 300,TC 500

Thermal Cycling Test

Flash Test & EL After every 2 weeks

Hot Spot Test 8 weeks

Thermal Cycling Test 100 cycles

400 cycles

Module Characterization Thermal Cycling Test 600 cycles

Potential Induced degradation 96 h

Only Flash Test & EL After DH 500,DH 1500,DH 2500

Damp Heat Test 1000 h

Damp Heat Test 2000 h

Module Characterization

Only Flash Test & EL After PID ,96,192, 288

Potential Induced degradation 192 h

Potential Induced degradation 288 h

Damp Heat Test 3000 h

30 cycles

Humidity Freeze Test 40 cycles

Humidity Freeze Test 50 cycles

manufacturing systems and processes are exceeding performance expectations and Indicates IEC/UL delivering quality modules. Additionally, we leverage our expertise in component manufacturing and develop Encapsulants and Backsheets to suit the demands of varied climatic and geographical in field conditions. These are then incorporated into our modules and are tested in both our Reliability Testing labs as well as in our own solar power plants located within the premises of our manufacturing facilities.

RenewSys has just commissioned a state of the art German module line and have

a European cell line that is delivering cells with efficiencies at par with global

standards. Its manufacturing systems and processes creates the symphony between the best in class machinery and robust talent pool. These help the company ensure that it delivers quality and reliable products consistently. This ability to respond swiftly is further compounded by the access to a well-equipped R&D infrastructure and talent pool in house at both the manufacturing facilities."

From R&D our next stop was the huge stacking facility where the packed modules are stored. As mentioned earlier this is the largest of its kind in the country and has paved the way for seamless raw material and finished goods handling and storing

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at the facility. Usage of technology has undoubtedly improved the efficiency of Indicates Extended Life Test the material handling. The company uses robots, automated guided vehicles, and automated storage and retrieval systems in materials handling in the facility. The automated storage and retrieval systems help the company to stack the packed solar PV modules in a rack at a height of 5 storeys. The ABC classification system makes it easy for the company to identify the stacked modules. It is worth noting that each rack can be moved individually or together to make the space in the stacking facility. It was already 2:30pm and we were seriously starving, so we decided to move to the canteen in RenewSys campus to treat our tummy. We understand that you may not be interested to know what we had in lunch, but I couldn’t resist sharing that mouthwatering hyderabadi biryani is seriously awesome with the curry they serve. As we couldn’t cover the whole facility in a day, we decided to know more over the lunch. After some chit-chat we asked about the distribution, replying to which Avinash said, "RenewSys is part of the Enpee Group, it is engaged in areas like Metal and Flexible Packaging, Soaps and Chemicals, Industrial Flooring, Electrical Cables and Roofing Sheets, among others, along with Renewable Energy. This heritage

SPOT REPORT of manufacturing excellence coupled with the a global network of offices in India, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Singapore, UAE, UK and representative offices in USA and countries across Europe and an evolving distributor network ensures that RenewSys is able to reach out to and provide timely, quality Solar PV material globally." He said, "the Solar PV market is dynamic and maintaining a just-in-time inventory is crucial to our survival and profitability as a business. We ensure that we keep check of the pulse of the market and this helps us better forecast our inventory and customise our offerings, at times even pre-empting market trends.

This helps us respond swiftly to market demands building customer confidence in our offerings."

RenewSys also participates in global events that provide an excellent platform for networking and building new alliances and to benchmark our products and services.

Adding further Avinash stated, "we believe in providing value-addition to our partners across board and facilitate this by sharing the insights and understanding that we collect/ receive from our R&D and ‘Reliability Testing’ teams. This keeps channels for two way dialogue open and helps us respond to and serve our partners better. Locally, our modules are available across India regardless of order size. We also have a robust pipeline for exports of modules and its components i.e. Encapsulants (EVA & POE), Backsheets and Solar PV Cells. Our team services sales requests for modules to quality conscious customers in India & globally and is not limited by geography," said Avinash. He added, "for smaller projects like rooftop installations for homes we have the added facility of a support network of system integrators along with a strong partner for distributing our panels across India."

Soon after ending up our lunch we moved to Avinash’s office to continue with our questions, RenewSys is undoubtedly home to leading talent and experienced professionals both from within the Solar Industry and without. This provides the company with unique access to ideas and learning from across the board. Upon asking

the workforce strength Avinash Hiranandani said, "we currently have a strength of over 800 professionals across India and what sets our team apart is the guiding values of the Enpee Group that lend character and direction to our team. " When asked about the expectation from the government, he said, "considering the rate at which Indian domestic solar manufacturing installed capacities are expanding, some protective measures from the government will be much appreciated and will provide Indian manufacturers with an opportunity to become globally competitive within a span of 4 to 5 years.

Much like other countries, who have implemented protective mea-sures for safeguarding their markets, India will see a rush in locally manufactured goods as well, should the government choose to announce the same. This move will only strengthen the Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. He stated further if this happens, module manufacturing and consequently, the manufacturing of module components will see significant growth. Currently a lot of the raw materials required for modules and its component manufacturing is largely unavailable in India. This impacts the competitive pricing of modules as the solar industry is very cost sensitive. An impetus and support to local players at all levels will definitely help."

Before leaving for Delhi after a long day visit at the RenewSys office and having awesome food, we had a final question for Avinash, he looked as fresh as we met him in the morning. With broad smile on his face he was all set for the final googly

from us. Answering our final question about the EVA and Backsheet Manufacturing, Market and opportunities, Avinash said, "the Encapsulant (EVA/ POE) and Backsheet are critical components of a solar panel.

RenewSys manufactures these at their Bengaluru facility as per international standards, using top of the line European equipment. We apply the same rigour and quality parameters to our Encapsulant and Backsheet production as we do to our best in class modules. We have a state of the art ‘R&D Lab’ and ‘Reliability Testing Lab’ for Encapsulants and Backsheets at our Bangalore Facility.

It is the quality and performance of these products that has helped us enter the competitive global market for Encapsulants and Backsheets and grow our customer base in the Middle East, Europe, USA, etc." said Avinash.

RenewSys holds the distinction of being the only manufacturer of POE in India. The special formulation of the company’s POE suits its use in Glass –to- Glass modules, due to its anti-thermal creeping property.

The company also provides advanced level of customizations for its Encapsulants and Backsheets to suit modules of different varieties.

After long and knowledgeable conversation, it was time for us to say goodbye. However, as Socrates said “to know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge,”so we promised Avinash Hiranandani, to come back again and share more his experience and knowledge with our readers.

- Manas@saurenergy.com

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PRESIDENT|HUAWEI SMART PV– INDIA

Alex He Q

Please detail us on Huawei’s commitment to sound operations, ongoing innovation, and open collaboration and where this stands for India as a market.

Huawei maintains a strategic focus, patiently applying to make breakthroughs and create real value for our customers. In 2016, our sales revenue rounded off the year at US$75.1 billion, up 32% yearon-year. Huawei ranked No.83 on the 2017 Fortune Global 500 List.

At Huawei, we aim to think from the customers' perspective, anticipating and solving their problems and challenges. We believe this strategy is a way to quickly occupy the top of any industry.

Over the past several years, Huawei has never slowed its pace in optimizing its hardware and software configurations to better meet customer demands.

Huawei is now cooperating with upstream and downstream industryleading manufacturers to establish an openness, collaboration and shared success smart PV ecosystem. We are helping PV plant investors improve energy yields, reduce operational costs, and maximize profits.

In 1999, Huawei set up the first oversea R&D center in Bangalore,

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

India. After 18 years’ development, there are more than 5,700 local employees currently, among which 2,700 are engaged in R&D. Huawei invests 200+ million USD per year for local sourcing, purchasing and partnership and 150+ million USD per year for R&D in India. That’s a large amount.

Huawei always sees India as an essential inverter market. After more than one year of development, we have achieved the1.7 GW shipment till now in India and our goal is 2+ GW this year. The PV market in India will maintain rapid growth. Huawei will bring more advanced and useful products and FusionSolar Smart PV Solutions to the Indian market to contribute to the prosperity of the PV industry in India.

Indian solar industry demand high efficiency products at low costs. Share us how Huawei as an industry leader in the segment is addressing this issue, given high competition in the Indian solar sector.

Huawei agrees that all the customers demand low cost products.

So what is the cost? We think that cost of a PV project is composed of the CAPEX, OPEX, system residuals and lifetime accumulated energy production.

Q

From the LCOE formula we can see that the Indian PV market is in urgent need of an innovative solution with the following characteristics: the lowest CAPEX and OPEX along with maximum accumulated energy yields through the entire lifecycle (25 years) of the PV plant.

Huawei FusionSolar Smart PV Solution can fully meet these requirements. FusionSolar Solution is a 25-year “String” based PV power plant system that enables higher yields, smart O&M and greater safety & reliability. From power plant design, construction to O&M, Huawei optimizes and innovates throughout the entire process to maximize the return for its customers.

Share us about your R&D centers and how they are helping you to offer products with better power efficiency?

Huawei insists innovation on R&D, which is the guarantee of enterprise’s future development. Internally, Huawei has a mature process for research of each new product. This product development process that we are following is very strict and scientific. We call it integrated product development (IPD). With this process, we can mostly guarantee the product to be a successful product that delivers value to our customers.

Huawei has six R&D centers specifically for inverter products around the world with 800+ engineers, having received more than 100 patents of which 90% are invention patents.

The six inverter R&D centers in the world are: -Nuremberg, Germany – Architecture design center.

-Stockholm, Sweden – Algorithm & topology research center.

-Santa Clara, USA- Chipset design center.

-Shanghai, China – Product design center.

-Shenzhen, China – Product engineering & manufacturing center.

-Beijing and Chengdu, China: FusionSolar R&D centre.

From the corporate level, Huawei has more than 39,000 technical and design patents, with a large platform based R&D technologies.

Q

For example, 120 expert-level engineers specialize in researching the natural cooling technology that plays a huge role in the communications base station to ensure that the communications base station with natural cooling can work steadily and reliably in any desolate places such as hot deserts or icy polar regions, from 6500 meters above the sea level to 2900 meters below the sea level. The Huawei string inverter with natural cooling technology eliminates the need of building an inverter room or awning in India's high temperature environments which saves plant investment costs.

O&M personnel do not have to regularly inspect or replace the external fan which reduces the O&M cost while ensuring 25 years of stable operating.

Huawei FusionSolar brings together cutting-edge technologies from various countries and fields. By incorporating its expertise in Digital Information Technology, Internet Technology and Photovoltaic Technology combined with innovative concepts of simple, full-digital and automatic O&M, Huawei introduces its innovative FusionSolar Smart PV Solution that helps customers lower cost, lift yields and maximizes ROI. Fall in tariffs are affecting feasibility of projects and investor sentiment. Do you as a supplier to the Indian solar industry are also feeling the heat?

Tariff decrease is an inevitable trend. The tariffs in various countries around the world have different cuts. But what we focused is on how to provide customers with competitive PV plant solutions through technology innovation and solution optimization, so that they can gain from rapidly fallen tariffs.

India has a huge potential market capacity: by 2022, the market capacity is expected to grow from 20 GW to 100 GW. We also have great enthusiasm in promoting Huawei Smart PV Solution to help Indian people build larger-scale and higher-revenue PV plants. To ensure customers' benefits through technology innovation rather than cost reduction is always Huawei's goal with 15% of every year's sales income being spent on R&D. Under the condition that the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) price falls sharply, how to improve energy yields and how to reduce O&M costs are the core customer requirements. Huawei Smart PV Solution improves energy yields by 2%, reduces half of O&M costs and effectively decreases the customer's Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), which helps customers successfully cope with challenges on the market.

Huawei launched 1500V Smart PV Solution sometime back. Can you talk more on the innovative features of SUN2000-55KTL-IN-HV-D1?

Huawei 1500 V Smart PV Solution is a PV plant solution with higher revenue, security and reliability on the equivalent investment. First, Huawei's 1500 V system is simple and requires only a few auxiliary devices. Compared with a central 1500 V inverter solution, Huawei solution eliminates the need of DC combiner boxes, DC power distribution cabinets and DC circuit breakers, thereby saving the initial investment cost. Second, Huawei uses the latest five-level topology to reduce the component loss and improve the efficiency.

The maximum efficiency exceeds 99%. A conventional 1500 V

Q

Q

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SUN2000 -55KTL

system is prone to the PID effect. Huawei smart PV solution can completely avoid the PID effect and ensure personal safety and property safety with the minimum use of DC nodes and low arc risks.

In addition, Huawei 1500 V Smart PV Solution inherits the advanced technologies of Huawei string inverter solution.

High efficiency up to 99%. Multiple MPP trackers realize real time and accurate string detection. The detection accuracy can reach 0.5%, 6 times higher than traditional centralized inverters. Multiple MPP trackers can also effectively reduce the impact and influence caused by shadowing, different orientation and string mismatch, dramatically improving the yields by at least 2% for ground PV plants and up to 5% and more for hill and mountain mounted PV plants.

We remove vulnerable parts like external fans with natural cooling technology and fuses, which enable 0-touch maintenance and guarantee human and property safety.

Huawei is the first inverter manufacturer to offer a high-power inverter with IP65 compliance. The SUN2000-55KTL string inverter can operate well for all the hostile outdoor environment like high temperature in India. The embedded chipset has allowed Huawei to reduce the use of copper inside the inverter and make inverter’s design highly compact.

Furthermore, our inverters are open, supporting inputs of different equipment and parts like trackers and sensors of other industries. We expect more customers to choose and enjoy the high performance of our smart PV inverters.

What is the roadmap Huawei have for the Indian solar market?

Indian solar market is one of the most significant PV markets in the world and possesses the maximum growth rate. Huawei sees India an essential inverter market. Currently, Huawei has set up comprehensive cooperation with many investors and EPCs in the industry. Till now, Huawei has over 1.6 GW shipment capacity in the Indian market and this number keeps increasing. This demonstrates the huge benefits brought to customers by the high energy yield,

Q

44

fan-and-fuse free design and smart O&M features of Huawei Smart PV Solution. Huawei plans to launch the next-generation 1100 V and 1500V commercial Smart PV Solution and residential PV systems.

We will continue to provide excellent products and solutions for the development of India's PV industry to drive the development of India's PV market.

What benefits does your Smart PV Management System brings on table for the PV developers and why should one adopt it?

Huawei Smart PV Management System complies with the security regulations in the power industry and manages the massive data of PV plants through industry-leading technologies such as cloud computing and big data analytics. A high-speed scheduling system is used to help implement intelligent, refined and mobile/remote PV plant O&M management.

1.Timely discovery: String-level intelligent detection helps to locate abnormal PV strings and generate alarms, saving the time for fault identification.

2. Rapid diagnosis: After an alarm is generated, the fault location is rapidly showed on a graphic PV plant view. Mobile and remote O&M ensures that the fault can be immediately rectified, reducing the downtime loss in power production.

3. Fast recovery: A fault is rectified as soon as it is identified.

4. Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis: The root cause is identified by analyzing the string I-V curve characteristics and using the smart diagnosis algorithm. No O&M personnel are required to enter the site for fault identification. All PV strings in the PV plant are detected, so that you can master the PV plant status in a comprehensive manner.

Finally, kindly tell us what new does Huawei has in store to showcase for Renewable Energy Expo 2017?

Huawei will release a breakthrough product. Please stay tuned.

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

- Manas@saurenergy.com

A leading

Global Inverter Company

Now a leading global inverter company, SolarEdge was initially founded in 2006. Its founders include Guy Sella, CEO and Chairman, Lior Handelsman, VP of Marketing and Product Strategy, Yoav Galin, VP of Research and Development, Meir Adest, VP of Core Technologies, and Amir Fishelov, Chief Software Architect. SolarEdge's founders and executive team bring extensive multidisciplinary experience in business, power electronics and photovoltaic systems. The company's core founding group and technology management team have worked together for more than 15 years.

The combination of the team's entrepreneurial spirit, business trackrecord, and collaboration fosters the type of innovation that has made SolarEdge a leading player in the PV electronics markets.

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enhanced maintenance and accurate troubleshooting through module-level monitoring. Another benefit is the DC shutdown for installer, maintenance personnel, and firefighter safety through SolarEdge's SafeDC™ mechanism.

Since beginning commercial shipments in 2010, SolarEdge has shipped approximately 5.3 Gigawatt (GW) of its DC optimized inverter systems and products have been installed in solar PV

Lior Handelsman

VP, Marketing & Product Strategy & Founder|SolarEdge SolarEdge invented an intelligent inverter solution that revolutionized the way power is harvested and managed in a solar photovoltaic (PV) system. The SolarEdge direct current (DC) optimized inverter system maximizes power generation at the individual PV module level while lowering the cost of energy produced by the solar PV system.

Addressing a broad range of solar market segments, from residential solar installations to commercial and small utility-scale solar installations, the SolarEdge system consists of inverters,

systems in 120 countries.

SolarEdge’s mission is to become the leading provider of inverter solutions across all solar PV market segments and broaden the availability of clean, renewable solar energy.

In March 2015, the company had an initial public offering and is currently listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “SEDG.” Optimise your PV business with SolarEdge DC Optimised Inverters

With the current state of the PV market in India, the installation business is becoming more competitive. As the cost per watt of PV hardware drops, installers can find it more difficult to stay profitable. Installers are looking for ways to improve their competitiveness and bottom line. Inverter selection can be key

power optimizers, storage solutions, and a cloud-based monitoring

to this process.

platform.

Inverters account for only about 10% of a PV system’s cost,

The SolarEdge system enables superior power harvesting and

but they significantly influence soft costs such as permitting,

module management by deploying power optimizers to each PV module while maintaining a competitive system cost by keeping the alternating current (AC) inversion and grid interaction centralized using a simplified DC-AC inverter.

customer acquisition, Balance of System (BoS) costs, labour, and more. The inverter also affects secondary costs, such as monitoring, reporting, and Operation and Maintenance (O&M).

The SolarEdge DC optimised inverter solution can reduce these

Module manufacturers, installers, and system owners enjoy the

costs and as such, can help installers to optimise their business.

benefits of SolarEdge technology, which allows maximum power

A Better Inverter

production through module-level maximum power point tracking (MPPT), optimal roof utilization through constraint-free design, and

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Traditional PV inverters have two main functions: converting DC to AC and tracking the maximum power point for the string.

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However, by splitting the traditional inverter functionality into two

energy production and a better RoI. By increasing the percentage

functions, the power optimiser to maximise energy production for

of systems successfully completed, installation companies’

each module and a simplified inverter that is only responsible for efficacy is improved. This helps decrease the average cost/watt DC-AC inversion and grid management, SolarEdge was able to of customer acquisition. overcome the inherent drawbacks of traditional inverters. This new solution offers system owners many benefits, but it also provides value for installers.

Longer Strings with Lower BoS Costs With the SolarEdge DC optimised inverter, installers and system

owners benefit from constraint-free design. In a SolarEdge system, the string voltage is always fixed, regardless of temperature or Connecting each module to a power optimizer allows the modules string length, allowing longer strings and reduced BoS cost. This to produce at their individual maximum production potential. means that with SolarEdge, installers can design systems with The maximum power harvesting from each module offers more parallel strings of unequal lengths, multiple module orientations energy by mitigating module-level mismatch. While this offers and capacities, and layouts in a single string. This design system owners more energy for their system, it can also help simplicity allows installers to be significantly more time efficient installers win more projects by offering PV systems with more in designing PV systems.

More Energy and Better RoI

More Design Flexibility The design flexibility also allows for longer strings of up to 12.75kWp per string. These longer strings allow for fewer strings to be installed and ultimately reduce BoS costs by up to 50%. This can help the installer in providing a competitive price quote for a system that can also provide more energy.

An additional benefit of the SolarEdge DC optimised inverter solution’s design flexibility is the ability to maximise system size. The combination of the previous benefits allows more modules to be designed into rooftop systems. For a system owner this means more power and more revenue, but for installers it gives a competitive advantage and helps to increase the average profit per installation.

Improved Safety Another important aspect in PV systems is safety. Many new regulations are coming online in advanced markets that call for a means to shut down the voltage of PV cables when the sun is shining. This can often be costly to implement, but with the SolarEdge DC optimised inverter, its SafeDC™ technology is embedded into the system – without any additional costs or design required. In a SolarEdge system, whenever AC power is off, DC wires are de-energised. Power optimisers decrease the DC voltage in the PV wires to protect installers, maintenance personnel, and firefighters. In some locations, there may not be such safety regulations, but system owners may have concerns about firefighters’ willingness to fight a fire due to safety issues with a traditional PV system or insurance costs may increase. These can cause a potential installation to be cancelled.

However, with SolarEdge’s

troubleshooting, installers benefit from less trips to sites, less time spent on site, and system owners have a higher system uptime.

In fact, O&M can be a potential new revenue stream for installers, by offering different levels of O&M services to system owners.

The bottom line is that the SolarEdge DC optimised inverter solution offers value throughout the entire supply chain. It helps installers to increase revenue and decrease expenses, while also improving the RoI for system owners.

About the Author

SafeDC™, this hurdle can be easily overcome. By offering peace of mind, without any additional costs, SolarEdge offers installers another competitive advantage.

Improved O&M with PV Asset Management As PV systems age, a growing cost to both system owners and installation companies is Operation & Maintenance (O&M). However, with SolarEdge’s free cloud-based, module-level monitoring platform, this can turn a potential drawback into an opportunity. With module-level performance monitoring, automatic alerts, and remote

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Lior Handelsman, VP Marketing and Product Strategy, founded SolarEdge in 2006 and currently serves as our Vice President, Marketing and Product Strategy where he is responsible for SolarEdge’s marketing activities, product management and business development.

Prior to founding SolarEdge,Handelsman spent 11 years at the Electronics Research Department (‘‘ERD’’), one of Israel’s national labs, which is tasked with developing innovative and complex systems. At the ERD he held several positions including research and development power electronics engineer, head of the ERD’s power electronics group and manager of several large-scale development projects and he was a branch head in his last position at the ERD. Handelsman holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering (cum laude) and an MBA from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology in Haifa.

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INDIA 2022 100GW A ROADMAP TO

Dan Shugar

Chief Executive Officer NEXTracker

Ritesh Pothan

Senior VP - Business Development Scorpius Trackers

India is poised to achieve a growth rate which is

FY17) when India added 3120MW of utility scale solar

projected to trigger a major rise in energy demand due

capacity, pace in Q2 2017 was relatively slow at 1,437

to demographic expansion, increasing urbanization

MW against a scheduled capacity addition of 3,300

and rising demands for mobility. By 2022, India targets

MW. Highest capacity addition as well as slippage was

solar power installation of 100GW, which is an ambitious

from the 2000 MW allocations in Telangana. Around

target and requires a quatum four-fold growth in the

1680MW was due to be commissioned in Telangana

sector. India’s total installed solar power capacity

during Q2 but only 640MW came online because of

reached 15611MW (13951MW utility scale and 1660

delays arising from land and transmission related issues.

MW rooftop solar) on June 30, 2017. India quadrupled

Total utility scale project pipeline allocated to deve-

its solar-generation capacity from 2650 MW on 26 May

lopers stood at 12250MW at the end of the quarter.

2014 to 12,289 MW on 31 March 2017. The country

More than 3000MW of new tenders were announced

added 3.01 GW of solar capacity in 2015-2016 and

which were greater than the aggregate of all new

5.525 GW in 2016-2017, the highest of any year,

tenders announced in previous three quarters. But

with the average current price of solar electricity

at the same time, eight tenders with an aggregate

dropping to 18% below the average price of its coal-

capacity of 2130MW were scrapped due to DISCOMs

fired counterpart. After a bumper Q1 2017 (end of

reconsidering their power procurement options.

New utility scale capacity addition of 1565 MW and 2265 MW is expected in Q3 and Q4 of 2017. Expectation for total rooftop solar capacity for 2017 is 1056 MW. It is set to take capacity addition estimated to 9443 MW in 2017. As a result, renewable energy in India has seen more fervent investment, capacity building activity and a steeper fall in per unit energy supply tariff than any other energy source in the country. To give it a stir, the Bhadla tender drove it to a new low of Rs 2.44 per unit, continuing the free fall in the cost of green energy. Acme Solar Holdings and SBG Cleantech, the joint venture of SoftBank, Foxconn and Bharti Enterprises won the latest auction for 500 MW of projects in Rajasthan.

This has notably resulted in a 157% increase in solar power capacity addition during FY2015 and FY2016. It also notches landmark achievements such as the commissioning of Adani's

648 MW Kamuthi solar plant in Tamil Nadu, now the world's largest. This is an evident testimony on how the sector is eyeing towards its ambitious target of 100GW by 2022. India is expected to become the third biggest solar market worldwide in 2017 with estimated utility scale and rooftop solar capacity addition of 8.4 GW and 1.1 GW respectively.

Helping MNRE Attain the 100GW of Solar by 2022 On enquiring how companies are being instrumental in helping MNRE help achieve its vision and target of adding 100GW of solar energy by 2022, Dan Shugar, Chief Executive Officer, NEXTracker said, we stand behind the MNRE vision. The future is solar, so let's build it with confidence. Solar is on the brink of a mainstream breakthrough. NEXTracker ensures solar’s ubiquity and viability by making it more affordable and accessible by

NEXTracker’s 30MW CleanMax site in Tamil Nadu

strengthening and streamlining smart tracking systems – the backbone and brains of the solar plant. Customers around the world – and especially the high-growth market of India – trust us to help them solve their solar challenges – from design and permitting to shipping logistics and from installation to maintenance. With dedicated personnel on the ground across India, we ensure each project is in experienced, reliable hands from start to “great job.”

Project-by-project, we are committed to helping India achieve its vision and target of adding 100GW of solar energy

by 2022 for more than two years. To date, the company has delivered over 1GW of solar tracker product to seven clients on 21 solar farm projects in India spread over six states. We plan on delivering between 1.5GW to 2GW more annually in India in the mid-term and have hugely expanded our Hyderabad office and leadership capabilities, serving India and beyond with more than 60 staff members. In addition, in India we have a new tube manufacturing line currently under construction that will be operational later this year, accelerating project velocity and lowering logistics costs for projects. We have learned a tremendous amount by participating in the market. Our collaboration with our customers is for the long term, demonstrated by incorporating feedback from customers into our product and adapting our technology to local India conditions – from market and geotechnical standpoints. For example, we have adapted our flagship product, the NX Horizon selfpowered tracker, to the realities of the Indian solar market. Specifically, we have updated this product, known to our Indian customers at NX Horizon 100, to include: • Lower cost (CAPEX advantage).

• Higher energy yield (e.g. to include a 100 degree rotational range and TrueCapture control system).

• Reduced special tool requirements.

• Faster delivery with local manufacturing.

• Simplified configuration (in combination with perimeter fence design).

Another important initiative we began over a year ago was the extension of our PowerworX Academy for solar installers and EPC partners in India. According to Bridge to India, over 300,000 workers will be needed in the next five years alone, and installation, construction, and operations & maintenance make up the majority of the skilled workers needed to achieve the Indian government’s aggressive targets.

Our PowerworX Academy seeks to address the skills gap in the Indian solar workforce.

Since we began the program, we’ve had over 200 solar installers take our hands-on course to learn NEXTracker best practices, tool handling, and installation techniques for DG and utility scale installations.

Ritesh Pothan, Senior VP - Business Development, Scorpius Trackers talking in regards to tracking technology highlights that trackers are the need of today with the ability to space out generation throughout the day and reduce the evacuation infrastructure by almost 30,000 MW and reduction of panel imports of almost 25 GW to achieve the 100GW target. He asserts that the Honorable Prime Minister is saving lakhs of crores rupees for the nation.

The advantages of deploying good trackers technology are: • Reduce AC Evacuation & Transmission Capacity by almost 30%.

-Savings of 30,000 MW (lakhs of crores) on achieving target of 100GW. • Reduction in tariff due to optimal utilization of technology and resources.

• Savings in current account deficit for 100GW target due to reduction of panel imports.

-Rs. 2.2 crores per MWp x 25,000 MWp = Rs. 55,000 crores.

• Balanced ecosystem created and nurtured within the country.

• Promoting R&D, jobs, manufacturing, engineering – 10,000+.

• Improved energy storage capabilities due to longer charging and shorter discharge i.e longer, constant, consistent, quality power delivery.

• Efficient, constant, consistent, extended power delivery throughout the day as long as the sun shines.

Ritesh further mentioned that the current technology is limited by the ability to deliver maximum power for barely 3-4 hours of the day and leaves much to desire by way of constant and consistent power needs of the nation. On the other hand, trackers space generation throughout the day and are far more resilient to grid outages and extract the best performance from the solar panels.

Future Plans: Once Saturation is Reached Dan Shugar reiterated that India is a large economy with massive solar industry potential. That said, the per capita power consumption in India is well below the world average. With a growing economy and improving per capita incomes, we believe the per capita power consumption will also increase over the next few decades.

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With sound commercial growth moving simultaneously with huge demands for power in India, solar will be a formidable energy source in power generation. Such a dynamic market requires a partner like NEXTracker – reliable, driven, and obsessive about details. We are proven, trusted and partner focused – a must-have in a market with such dramatic changes to the energy landscape.

On the other hand, India’s per capita power usage which is 1/10 of USA and 1/6 of China. Commenting on the statistics, Ritesh Pothan cites, we have a really long way to go before we hit saturation, the need for energy is bound to grow by leaps and bounds as we move to a more connected and power hungry nation with automation being a key driver for the next level of growth which needs copious amounts of energy.

The current consumption is approx.1142 Billion Units as of FY2016, which is likely to grow substantially in the coming years with the Make in India push as well as growing conflicts with our neighbors with whom we have a substantial deficit in trade. And due to the standard PLF/CUF of 19%, the name plate capacity does not indicate the true MU generation (100GW Solar MU = 20-25 GW THERMAL MU) and 100 GW in renewables will only add 166 BU to the mix which is barely 15% of the current consumption.

Another factor is that coal as a source is not sustainable and many old plants will reach 'End of Life' so there is huge scope that 100GW target cannot fulfill.

Will India Achieve its Ambitious 100GW Target?

Talking about the possibilities of India achieving its 100GW target, Dan Shugar mentioned that the Indian Solar market is booming – just take a look at the cumulative installed solar capacity of 12.5GW at the end of March 2017 with an additional pipeline of 12GW. The annual capacity addition in India was approximately 6.5GW in FY2017 (i.e. approx. 50 percent of the total installed capacity was added within this year itself).

India was the fourth largest solar market in 2016 in terms of capacity additions after China (34.5GW), the U.S. (14.5GW) and Japan (10.2GW). New solar capacity additions for 2017 in India are expected to

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be between 9GW to 10GW making India the third largest solar market in 2017, superseding Japan. With these trends, we are confident India is on track to achieve its 100GW target most definitely by 2025.

Ritesh Pothan on the other hand has a different opinion on this. He believes that the given current constraints due to government policy there is still a long way to go. Land is a significant hurdle since solar will require almost 4,00,000 acres to meet this target. There are technologies which can improve this need and holistic adoption is necessary to achieve the target.

Ritesh presumes that 2022 looks difficult given the current market instability due to the Chinese reneging on contracts.

How Future looks like for Solar Industry?

CEO of NEXTracker, Dan Shugar briefs that according to a recent report called the New Energy Outlook 2017, published

by Bloomberg, $10.2 trillion is expected to be invested in new power generation capacity worldwide by 2040. 1 of this, 72 percent goes to renewables, or $7.4 trillion, of which solar accounts for $2.8 trillion of this total. Investment in renewable energy increases to around $400 billion per year by 2040. This means solar is expected to account for 34 percent of electricity generation worldwide by 2040. This is compared with just 5 percent today. Installed solar capacity is expected to increase 14fold by 2040. With solar energy's declining capital costs and solar electricity output that is highest during times of high (on peak) demand, NEXTracker firmly believes that solar capacity worldwide is anticipated to grow beyond 2022 - not just in the current markets but newer markets like Africa, Latin America, and South America. The future is bright and sun is abundant. Since we bring together solar expertise and tracker innovation in a way no other company can, we will grow alongside the market.

Ritesh from Scorpius Trackers believes that tracking technology will play a vital role in the future of solar industry. We see the entire industry moving to trackers due to the ability to generate power from sunrise to sunset which increases the stability of the grid and brings in all day power to the grid allowing for the systematic ramp

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up and down of thermal sources. The future of trackers is very bright given the value it brings to the table coupled with energy storage which allows for base load replacement, something that the grid needs to replace coal as the primary source.

Scorpius, being a technology company with a very strong R&D Ethos has new products in pipeline – Smart BOS and robotic cleaning is set to launch in 2018.

Biggest Challenges to the Attainment of Solar Target Dan Shugar opines that the Indian solar

market will continue to grow despite challenges with declining tariffs enabling rapid solar power adoption to compete with coalbased power. Solar tariffs are governed by many factors but primarily capital cost, longterm financing availability and competitive bidding. Over the last few years, equipment price reductions and installation cost drops have kept pace with the declining solar tariffs enabling bankability of solar PV projects in India. In the future, over-optimistic speculative assumptions and aggressive bidding by developers will be the biggest challenge for the Indian solar industry to

attain solar targets. At NEXTracker we are bullish, but realistic.

On the other hand, Ritesh considers land, safety, engineering and quality as the few of the challenges that might hamper the 100GW solar target by 2022.

• Land: Improved per ACRE generation is need of the hour.

• Engineering: Standards for plants needs to be standardized.

• Safety: Too many corners are being cut making it a hazard to the local environment.

• Quality: Certain benchmarks need to be etched in stone and not moved based

on tariffs.

But he also believes that if implemented properly, no target is unachievable.

Causes of the Drop in Solar Cell Technology According to Dan, the decline in solar PV cell and module technology in the past few years is primarily attributed to continued global oversupply of PV cells and modules.

In 2016, the global demand for PV modules was approximately 70-75GW while global manufacturing capacity was approximately 95GW. We are collaborating closely with our partners since many Indian EPCs bid

NEXTracker’s 30MW CleanMax site in Tamil Nadu

in auctions based on prices in the low 20 cents per watt. According to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, “The slowdown is complicating plans for solar developers in India, who were anticipating the cost of their panels would fall more quickly and are now facing an unexpected reduction in their returns. That’s making the industry more cautious about future developments, adding a hurdle to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambition for quick growth in clean-energy.” Again, that’s why proven, trusted, bankable partners like NEXTracker are critical for the dynamic Indian market.

Ritesh mentions that the costs drops in India are primarily due to cheap BOMs and less due to the impact of improvements of cells technology. A majority of the improvements and quality material is bound for the Europe and USA markets who are offering better costs whereas our markets are for the lowest BOMs. Chinese manufacturers deliver multiple quality based on price, the Current Idiom ‘cheapest = best’ is the biggest misnomer in the market.

When asked how sustainable this trend of dropping prices is and does industry expect prices to fall further or have they reached the lowest point; to which Dan replied that global solar demand in 2017 is expected at about 90GW, representing a 14 percent increase from 2016. Meanwhile, the global manufacturing capacity will only see moderate growth of 5 percent. Narrowing

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the demand-supply gap means that PV module prices should remain steady in the near to mid-term.

While Ritesh expects that the sustained focus on quality will improve the overall delivery and the current short term focus on price which is impacting the market to an unnatural degree creating safety and health hazards for the future. With consumption globally increasing Chinese will deliver their products to better paying markets thus creating a global increase in prices. Another factor that Indian Developers are missing is the continuous bankruptcy due to falling prices renders the 25 year guarantees by module manufacturers invalid and it has been seen to happen continuously rather than the exception. The gravitation of a mature industry towards quality is given with the centre stage that solar is now at, with failures creating blemishes that impact the future of the industry due to few players who are focused more on price than quality.

Expectations from Policy Makers In regards to the attainment of solar target, NEXTracker and the solar industry seek the development of long term, stable and sustainable policies for the industry from the policy makers to ensure growth as well as sustainable long term business and technology advancement. Dan Shugar commented that we all know that solar is the long-term answer to energy problems in many regions of the world, so we expect the policy makers to foster a predictable

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policy environment that drives smart, clean energy solutions and job growth.

On the same note, Ritesh Pothan wants policy makers to focus on creating a sense of stability and maturity in the market by bringing in quality and standards to ensure a level playing field. He believes that the race to the bottom in tariffs is severely detrimental to the industry as a whole as it sacrifices innovation, R&D, quality in favour of cheap delivery which will create ripples that will destroy local ecosystems and the future of the next generation by delivering jobs to the Chinese markets while killing local markets. The focus on replacement of base load with continuous, constant and schedulable delivery of power is a must and needs to be integrated into the policies at the highest level.

Sighting Trepidation or Anticipation Extending the dialogue on trepidation or anticipation to the next 5 years, Dan replied, NEXTracker is bullish on solar around the world but we are especially confident in the Indian market. With our reputation for reliability, expertise and innovation, we will play a key role with our EPC partners to help drive this growth.

While Ritesh anticipates a huge uptick in the market towards trackers due to the advantages brought to the table over fixed, seasonal and tracker technologies.

Developed completely in-house with Indian patent received with global patent filed, Scorpius Tracker provides most competitive

and bankable tracker technology. It cultivates aggressive supply chain with localized supply, installation, erection and O&M support. With more advantages to its side, the company expects that the next 5 years will be a boon for the India market.

Envisioning Solar Industry 10-20 Years from Now Dan Shugar sees things going on the right direction. More than ever, solar companies are seeking to improve plant efficiencies and optimize performance with smart technologies. Smart solar is driven by the adoption of newer intelligent technologies and designs like solar trackers, high voltage designs (1500V), digital O&M, energy storage and intelligent self-adjusting control systems (for example, TrueCapture).The entire world over is being transformed by data and intelligence, better known as the Internet of Things and solar is a frontrunner in smarter energy systems.

Talking about the solar sector 10-20 years from now, Ritesh said that the solar industry will be recognizable with solar projects implementing base load characteristics and replacing thermal including nuclear projects delivering energy security and clean power to the nation.

Shift in the General Trends of Solar Industry Complimenting the solar trends in India, Dan spoke extensively on the Indian market.

He noted, India continues to grow rapidly

where added solar capacity is being driven by a strong utility scale solar EPC, financial institutions and developer players. Utility segment accounts for over 90 percent of the India market and we expect this trend to continue in future. Also, solar auctions have gained acceptance and have been instrumental in driving down the cost of solar power in India. The solar market in India has matured with average project size now in the 50MW to 100MW size versus around 5MW to 10MW few years back. Also, the velocity of execution has changed dramatically from the burgeoning, committed solar ecosystem developed in the country over last decade.

We now see a rich landscape of domestic and international project developers and IPPs in India with a strong ecosystem and workforce of EPC, integrators and installers.

Frankly, we’re proud to have helped grow this ecosystem.

Ritesh commented that we have seen the industry move towards generating more power per MW AC using adaptions that mimic tracking and the entire industry looking to become more efficient and deliver more power at the same or better efficiencies. He believes that the next step is integrating multiple technologies with energy storage to break the glass ceiling that DISCOMs and SLDCs have hit due to the concentrated profile of generation between 11am to 2pm which needs to be smoothened out to 7am to 6pm, thus enabling scheduling as well as base load.

Environmental Constraints Will Shape Global Markets Prompting last quick words, Dan said, we’re on a mission to mitigate climate change through the worldwide deployment of solar power and we’re not about to slow down. With a combined 100 years of solar experience and 3GW of solar installation, NEXTracker is making the possibility of solar as a mainstream solution a possibility.

We accomplish this by listening to our customers, investing in the right people and innovating sustainable technologies that are better for the planet (and economics).

The effects of climate change and environmental challenges are widely understood worldwide. Governments from the G20 and developing countries alike are

taking steps to ensure long-term growth and development for their countries.

Governments are heralding energy policies with sustainability baked in and a long view for energy security provided by renewable sources of power - such as solar.

Governments will continue to underscore this strategy, resulting in increasing solar energy generation providing over 30 percent of the global electricity demand by 2040.

Ritesh believes that the need for cleaner, consistent and constant power will drive new efficiencies and technologies with the ability to deliver baseload needs. As we grow, our need for safe, clean and quality power will only increase and our tolerance levels will decrease for global warming and fossil fuel based after effects.

Editor’s Note The target of 100GW is huge but not difficult. With proper execution plans and policies in place, a solar plant unlike other energy plants can be operational in a few months. Also, it is important to heed the participation of private sector in the process, as it is the only way out. The Government of India needs to provide more and more incentives to people to use solar. Planning out innovative schemes for public participation will actually help the government reduce cost. Moreover, India needs to take steps in addressing issues of financially unviable state electricity retailers and an inadequate grid. Individual entities need to start selling power to individual industrial units and make money while providing constant power to the industry.

The Indian government has taken positive steps to support the supply of solar on the grid; it should now also focus its attention on the demand for solar energy, by developing solutions that provide the private sector with access to affordable solar. Of course, India is on track to achieve its annual solar capacity addition target for this financial year but the government will need to do more in subsequent years to reach India’s ambitious solar goals.

- Laique@saurenergy.com

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Automating Future With the REI Trade Expo 2017 approaching, Saur Energy International settled on a plan of action to accomplish our yearning to get close and personal with the machines and technologies that forge solar modules.

With an urge to catch sight of Ecoprogetti’s Turnkey Photovoltaic Production Machines and Lines, we decided to pay a visit to solar module production sites that have been favored with Ecoprogetti’s Turnkey Module Production lines. We visited 3 different cities in India to get a glimpse of what we need to make high quality Solar Modules.

But before we step into our first destination- let us brief the readers about the existence of the company that makes manufacturing of solar modules much simpler.

Italy-based equipment manufacturer of Turnkey Photovoltaic production machines and lines; Ecoprogetti has been aggressive in marking its footprints in the Indian solar market for quite some time. Instituted in 1998 by Mr. Domenico Sartore, Ecoprogetti began its journey back in 1994 in module manufacturing business with total dependence on manual production unit. But, with the

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advent of technology and innovation, the company took over to mold PV production machines for its mass production operations – as to lighten the dependence on manual labor force and enhance the production capacity along with quality standards of the finished photovoltaic products. And it was then that the soar in the PV sector made Ecoprogetti rise as an independent entity specializing in the development of 'Turnkey Photovoltaic Production Machines and Lines'.

During the initial stage of its business, Ecoprogetti started with the fabrication of machines for the entire photovoltaic production line. It included the system for silicon cleaning to ingot squaring automation along with wafer quality control, automatic cleaning lines and automation for cell production and now the company has earned fame in machine creation for the manufacturing and quality control process of photovoltaic modules. Also, it is involved in delivering a complete range of innovative technological solutions for the renewable sector and specializes in planning of manufacturing equipment and automation. The company makes sure that the photovoltaic industry is favored with all the merits

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of Manufacturing of modern robotic technologies.

Ecoprogetti’s headquarter are located in Italy’s Padua Province, and together with its overseas branches in UAE, India and USA, the company has been successful in winning extensive trust and support from customers in photovoltaic segment around the world.

Active in the field for more than 20 years now, Ecoprogetti has set up a good number of highly efficient, flexible and easy-to-operate turnkey machines and systems for the production of solar modules all around the world. The company is now making rapid strides in Southeast Asia, delivering its PV module manufacturing lines to some of the popular module manufacturers in India. Ecoprogetti offers a complete range of Turnkey Solutions for PV module manufacturing in the capacity range of 10MW to 1GW, with all equipment like Stringer and Layup Assembly Units, Laminator Machines, Framing Machines, Testing Equipment and other Line Accessories designed and manufactured in their factory situated in Italy.

Celebrating nature, Ecoprogetti has embedded innovations and technologies, making sure it promotes robotic advancements and

development in line with the economic success and sustainability of the clients . Today Ecoprogetti is the only company in the world to design and manufacture all the equipments and automation in Italy under one roof.

Reaching Ecoprogetti After an early flight from New Delhi and a road trip to Sewree area of Mumbai, we arrived at Ecoprogetti’s India head office to meet with Rajen Shah, MD, Ecoprogetti India. The journey to the eastern edge of South Mumbai early in the morning turned out to be a fascinating one-hour drive from Mumbai Airport, trailing the Dharavi thoroughfare we reached Sewree. At the time of our arrival, Rajen was engrossed in some official discussion with the team but took a moment to greet us with zest.

Sipping on a cup of freshly brewed coffee, we had a very interactive session with Rajen, unlike any mundane interview restricted to just questions and answers. While speaking about our early morning flight and ride to Ecoprogetti’s office, we also talked a bit on company’s PV Production Machines and Assembly Lines and role of automation in production process. As we had spent a

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couple of hours discussing various topics with Rajen at his office, we decided to ply to our next destination which was Jyotitech Solar to have a look at the company’s installed automation system.

The First Stop

The agenda of the day was to witness the Ecoprogetti’s high efficiency Turnkey Solutions for PV module manufacturing.

Rajen guided us to the production area where Ecoprogetti’s Turnkey lines and Machines were lodged. The unit comprises state-of-the-art technology from Ecoprogetti.

The turnkey lines and other automation machines installed in the premises was an impressive sight. The installation methods and practices followed in solar industry are different than what we have seen in other industrial production process. We’ve seen a number of solar module production facilities earlier in the past but this one from Ecoprogetti was on another level- a well designed and installed automated system that maximizes the quality and standards of the final product.

The first remarkable innovation we saw was ET700 Stringer Machine. The production process consists of a Tabber/Stringer that firmly solders poly/mono crystalline cells together in a string. The ET700 stringer machine installed is loaded with a patented soldering system that guarantees a breakage rate lower than 0.2%. The ET700 Stringer Machine offers a high productivity and extremely low breakage; and can handle the latest technologies of solar cell. It is particular suitable for Bifacial solar cells, 4&5 busbar cells and

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cut solar cells (30 to 156.75mm). Rajen highlighted that this equipment is one of the first steps in the production line and it’s one of the most important in the entire PV module production line. Rajen further added that the simplicity and extreme flexibility of the machine allows operator to work with different types of material only by changing some settings or installing some additional kit.

The next noteworthy intervention that caught our attention was that of Layup StationEcolayup 100, where a load arm, with the help of vacuum, picks up the strings and turns them clockwise or anti-clockwise before positioning them on the glass already prepared with the first layer of encapsulation material. The glass is further pushed in the machines on a motorized conveyor belt. The Layup Station flawlessly lays up strings on anti-reflected coating glass and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA). The Layup Station is capable of delivering 150 string/ hour, and supports maximum module size of 2000 x 1350mm. There was a touchscreen control panel that allows operators to set parameters and analyze any failure. Rajen told us that Ecoprogetti layup station doesn’t require much maintenance and if needed, it can be performed without calling our service lines.

Rajen further introduced us to the EVA/ Backsheet Foil Cutter Ecocut 10 that can work both in-line and off-line. It can easily change the cutting measurements easily and supports maximum foil width of 1500mm. Just like Layup Station, the cutter’s measurement can be adjusted via control

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

panel. In the EVA/Backsheet spreading process, the cutter incisively cuts the EVA/ backsheet to spread on the cells before lamination. Operator also has the option to add cutter to prepare incision for ribbon exit.

Rajen also showed us how Ecoprogetti’s ECOLAB EL conducts Electroluminescence Test (EL) meticulously inspects micro-cracks, broken cells, soldering and dead cells.

After some clicks, notes and discussion we moved ahead to examine ECOLAM 09 Laminator with 4 module capacity that comes with load and unload Teflon belts.

Rajen informed us that after the testing process, the laminator is used to bond glass, EVA, solar cells and backsheet together at high temperature and vacuum.

Ecoprogetti’s lamination process enhances the durability of PV module by protecting solar cells against heat, humidity and stringent weather conditions.

After some chit chat, we were further taken to the area where Ecoprogetti’s Framing Machine ECOFRAME H was installed.

Rajen told us that how this wonderful machine works well with both silicone and tape framing. It supports frame punching on long side for module dimensions within the range up to 1350mm to 2000mm. The ECOFRAME H uses corner key to acquire a good alignment, mechanical robustness and electrical connection. Rajen mentioned that being aware of the characteristics of quality, Eocoprogetti believes in 100% perfection when it comes to deliverance of final product, for both manufacturer and end customer. To comprehend this, we

were shown Eocoprogetti’s ECOSUN 10L A+A+A+ LED Sun Simulator installed at the facility, where Rajen demonstrated us the procedure Eocoprogetti follows and explained that the machine facilitates in simulating STC conditions for measurement of output power of PV module. It emits light matching with the suns luminosity and spectrum. He showed us how with the use of I-V measurements. The ECOSUN can

predict the behavior of the solar module when it becomes operational.

After spending two good hours examining the turnkey lines and automated machines, we headed back to Ecoprogetti’s office, where we had an appetizing lunch together. Meanwhile, Rajen talked about the advantages of automated machines and turnkey lines. He mentioned how Ecoprogetti has focused more on enhanced

productivity, improved quality, shorter cycle times, reduced waste and better floor utilization. He told us that the ET700 can be combined to other Ecoprogetti stringer machine and also with layup machine such as Ecolayup 100 in order to speed up and reduce the labor on the entire process, further optimizing the PV module assembly line.

DAY 2

tion ECOLAYUP,Bussing Station,EL Tester ECOLAB EL , Laminator ECOLAM 09DS, Framing Station and ECOSUN PLUS LED Sun Simulator.

Rajen discussed with us about Automatic Bussing Machine. He told that this machine is one of the best solutions for bigger line automation which automatically solders the junctions between the strings, performing an automatic PCB/Ribbon placement and coverage, making the process simple yet faster. Speedy Framing was something new to us, to which Rajen informed that it is composed of a 6 axis robot- ECOFRAME Vertical and ECOSIL, controllable with touchscreen. Here, modules enter in the framing station with the backsheet up to avoid turning them after lamination and exit with the backsheet up position for installation of the junction box.

After examining other line accessories

System BUFFER, Trimming Station, Silicone Dispenser ECOSIL 14 and Packing and Sorting, we decided to call it for a day.

When enquired about the Ecoprogetti’s take on R&D and quality standard, Rajen told us that the company has been researching, designing and constructing turnkey photovoltaic production machines and lines in adherence to the set industrial parameters.

He further added that based on their extensive experience, they are able to offer a wide range of services that are not just limited to making photovoltaic modules or production lines but also include a series of activities that guarantee all-round professional and punctual support and assistance. After some notes and snapshots of the turnkey lines and machines and a scrumptious Punjabi lunch, we decided to hover to New Delhi to turn up at our next destination in Greater Noida. The visit was

Next day early in the morning, we flew to Chandigarh; where a cab was already arranged for our journey ahead to Ambala, which is some 40Kms from the airport.

We reached the Saatvik Green Energy Production Facility within an hour long drive.

Tight on schedule, Rajen guided us to the 125MW Plant laden with Ecoprogetti’s Fully Automatic Production Line, compatible with 3BB/4BB/5BB cells.

With Ecoprogetti’s professed aim of taking measures to reduce the dependence on manual labor workforce and promote more reliable fully automated production system as one of the new drivers of growth, the future for module manufacturing seemed bright. The facility installed Ecoprogetti’s state-of-the-art technology turnkey line setup that includes Glass Loading System ECOGLASS R, Foil Cutting Machine ECOCUT 10, Stringer ETS700, Layup Sta-

and automated machines like Storage

scheduled for the next day in the morning.

DAY 3

Next day around 11 in the morning, we visited Jakson Solar’s 65MW solar module manufacturing unit located at Udyog Kendra area of Greater Noida. After reaching the site, we went straight to the production unit. Operators working there demonstrated the functions of ETS700 Tabber/Stringer Machine along with ECOLAYUP 100 Layup Station. While we were there, the staff was assembling solar module panels, possibly those destined for some upcoming projects.

We were also briefed on the testing method done before and after laminations via ECOLAB Tester. The next we were introduced to ECOLAM 10 Laminator with 5 Module capacity. We were informed that this laminator is a flagship from Ecoprogetti. It is laden with all the latest technology in order to deliver best in the

class lamination process. After couple of hours of survey in the facility, we took leave to pay a visit to our final destination which was Moser Baer, also located in Greater Noida.

The Final Hours of the Visit It was already 2pm when we left for the next site. After reaching the location, we headed to the 50MW state-of-art Fully Automatic production unit. We were introduced to Ecoprogetti’s combined Tabber and Stringer Model ETS1800 wrapped with several advanced features. It has been loaded with technologies emphasizing on interconnecting high efficiency cell concepts such as heterojunction, bifacial, PERC, top-standard mono and multicrystalline cells. Other important improvements of the model are a higher throughput, less breakage, higher uptime and simple design. ETS1800 is designed to interconnect the cells with 4 and 5 busbars in standard configuration, with a possibility to process 3-busbar cells which is optional. The system is designed to be compact with a footprint of 3.4 m x 1.3 m and a special care has been taken to reduce the maintenance. The tool has a rated technical availability of 95%. The ETS1800 comes with remote access and online trouble shooting function and can be integrated with any kind of Automation supplied by third party.

After some talks and clicks, Rajen mentioned that countless individual tests are undertaken throughout every step of the fabrication of turnkey lines and automated machines. He added that the R&D team ensures to record every measurement and analysis report for future reference and data collected feeds back into the production for continuous improvement. He also told us that Ecoprogetti is involved in offering services and solutions for 'Process Training' to the clients apart from module testing procedures, installation and commissioning of its machines that also includes tailor made production lines meeting the client’s requirements.

The team from Ecoprogetti ensures to follow up the clients during the complete production ramp-up process and after it is executed with complete service team available in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chandigarh.

MARKET GLANCE

Increasing Use of Advanced Materials and Emerging Solar Technologies to Propel the HAPS Market: Technavio Technavio in its latest market report on the global high-altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS) market has provided an analysis of the most important trends that is expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021.

According to the research firm increasing use of advanced materials and emerging solar technologies will propel the HAPS market.

Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.

The firm notes that the global HAPS market will post a CAGR of 14% during the forecast period. A major driver that propels the growth of the global HAPS market is the cost effectiveness of HAPS as well as their long-endurance and augmented flight range capability. Also, these platforms can be deployed rapidly. Further, unlike satellites, these platforms can be grounded for maintenance and retrofitting.

The top three emerging market trends driving the global HAPS market according to Technavio research analysts are: • Increasing use of advanced materials • Emerging solar technologies in aerospace industry • Rapid advancement in sensor fusion technology Technavio states the stratospheric ozone layer, the operations face numerous challenges as the air at the area remains rarefied with a density of about 7% of the sea level.

HAPS platforms may employ aerodynamic or aerostatic forces that can counteract the weight of the aerial platforms.

It is also indispensable to incorporate the design of such platforms with relatively advanced and lightweight materials so that the structural weight of HAPS platforms can be optimized. For instance, Google has been using various ultra-light materials for its stratospheric balloons.

The use of renewable energy has become essential to reduce the dependence on fossil fuel gas and oil. There is a concurrent global need for cheaper and obtainable

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energy resources to address the growing concern over climate change. Due to its abundance, solar energy remains the best available resource, the use of which is being encouraged by governments around the world for the development of solar airplanes.

“The aviation industry accounts for around 3% of the global warming, and about 80% of the global warming is associated with CO2 emissions. Hence, there is growing pressure on the industry to reduce its overall CO2 emissions to mitigate climate change. Private entities, in collaboration with governments, are in the process to change the approach of using solar technologies with innovative solutions to maximize the absorption of solar power,” said Avimanyu Basu, a lead analyst at Technavio for space research.

Rapid advancement in sensor fusion technology “As the demand for sophisticated sensor platforms are increasingly growing within military operations, the requirement for deploying more trained professional for data parsing is also increasing. This entire process can considerably raise the operating

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

expenses of the military agencies,” says Avimanyu. Therefore, military agencies and technology providers are focusing on adopting alternative approaches like sensor fusion technology that advocates amalgamation of an assortment of sensors supported by integrated software that can deliver final products instead of the raw data set. In July 2015, the US DoD initiated a feasibility study for the development of multispectral sensor fusion technology with an aim to aid helicopter pilots in degraded visual environment conditions.The HAPS market is consolidated with the presence of a few companies. The coming years will witness the entry of new market players that offer wide-ranging alternative powered HAPS, which will intensify the market’s competitive environment. To sustain the competition and increase their revenue shares, the vendors in this market space have the need to offer distinguishable solutions and also focus on maximizing the value proposition of their services, which will help attract customers from both the defense and commercial sectors.

Allen Cao Director, Arctech Solar India

Q

What is the importance, feasibility,

is normally finalized in the last but site

viability of using Solar Trackers in

delivery is expected much ahead of any

Q

Mention the technical specifications of the trackers you offer.

various states of India

other material. We try very hard to satisfy

Dropping PPA prices, high irradiation and

the needs and requirements laid down by

our trackers which can drive up to 1000 pcs

utility scale makes solar trackers the perfect

our various customers through leveraging

of 72-cells solar modules.

and only choice to get higher IRR for a solar

our huge production capacity and adapting

In the meanwhile, our unique redundancy

plant in India. The solar plant generation can

advanced inventory control system. The

design makes “never stop tracking system”

achieve up to 15%-25% more yield when

good thing is that we have never let down

from a concept to a real product. The backup

using a horizontal single axis tracker in

our customers so far.

system can automatically be activated

most regions of India, such as: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, AP, Telangana, and Maharashtra.

Even in North India, you can still get 15-20%

Q

We normally use heavy-duty slew gears in

Explain briefly about your company,

whenever the primary system stops.

directors, promoters, financial &

Therefore, there is no power generation loss.

tech strengths, investors its background,

Q

What is your USP’s, distinctive

more energy by using a horizontal single axis

vision & mission etc…

tracker with tilted solar modules.

Arctech Solar is now ranked No. 1 in terms

As a result, more and more top solar

of solar structure supplied in China and

Firstly, Arctech solar is not always trying to sell

developers tend to use solar tracker

India with a vision to be a leading solution

trackers or racking system to our customers.

technology.

advantage of your technology,

products, solutions

provider and manufacturer of solar racking

We are the solar structure solution provider.

What are your your view on the GOI

and tracking systems in the world.

We always listen to the customers, try to

Q

target of 100GW Solar Power by 2022

Since 2009, the year Arctech installed its

understand the real needs, and then provide

Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

first high precision dual axis tracker, we

financially viable and technically workable

has expressed huge determination to adapt

have always tried to adapt our products

solar mounting solutions to the customers

renewable resources as a viable means to

and technology to market demands and

including trackers and racking systems.

meet the rising power demand in the Indian

as a result our accumulated installation is

Secondly, we will sit with our customer

sub-continent by setting an ambitious target

10GW up until this January.

together and discuss how to adapt our

of achieving 100GW through solar by 2022.

With a 3GW tracker and 6GW fixed structure

products to the local applications. For

This target makes India a booming market

annual production capacity, Arctech is well

example, since it becoming more and more

and there is no doubt that India will emerge

equipped to be an active player in the world

difficult for investors to find flat land for PV

as top 3 solar market in the world in 2017.

solar market.

projects, we launched a smaller tracker

We see great potential in the Indian solar market, at least in next 5 years.

Q

What is the kind of tracker technology

which can be much more flexible for land

you supply for the solar market

requirement.. We also have an integration

The horizontal single axis tracker with

solution with inverter and solar module

obvious, challenges and associated risks

redundant backup system and linked rows is

to help our customers minimize cost and

cannot be sidelined. Due to the stringent

the main tracker technology we are promoting

simplify the design.

project delivery timelines, most of the projects

in Indian market, and it is also the most

Thirdly, we provide highly reliable products

are executed in an extremely short time

cost effective and durable solution we have

backed by a dedicated R&D team with

frame which cannot be seen anywhere else.

developed.

more than 40 talented engineers. Our

Planning and coordination becomes major

Our R&D team is working on next generation

Redundancy Solar Tracker Technology,

contributing factors in order to achieve stern

to help our clients reduce column post

also called “Arctracker PRO”, has set a new

targets as everyone is under paramount

foundation nos and land consumption, and

level of reliability for solar trackers.

pressure to deliver. MMS suppliers. have

the same time increase energy yield.

Finally, Arctech Solar is committed to only

While growth opportunities envisaged are

to face the major brunt because design

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

providing the highest quality solutions in

any market that we enter. Arctech Solar is probably the only company which has very strong R&D capabilities and a huge vertical integrated production capacity as well. It allows us to control quality from design phase and throughout every step of production. On the other hand, our customers can also experience the high quality of our services from site surveying, plant layout, financial analysis, tracker performance monitoring, local warehousing for spare parts, technical support, and on site instruction.

Q

Please present case studies, noteworthy projects in India and/or worldwide.

Arctech has supplied the biggest solar tracker project in India, which was a 172MWp 100% solar tracker project in Telangana, has commissioned this year. Our client will have around 18%-19% generation gain with support of Arctech solar’s redundancy tracker technology.

Q

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

We are proud to announce that we have achieved an unprecedented record 2GW installation footprint in India which includes 650MW solar trackers. We have signed MOU’s and firm agreements with several top IPP, developers and EPC companies with a strong pipeline of more than 2GW backing us.

For Arctech Solar, we take India market as one of the two home markets besides China. In India, we want to be viewed as an Indian company, which means localization of more and more aspects of our business and long-term commitments accordingly. In addition to business, we also want to develop our CSR and grow the company together with the society.

Q

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

You can search “Arctech Solar” in youtube.com, to find video of our solar trackers.

Q

Explain various guarantees, warrantees, insurance, certifications, test results, performance report of

your trackers Arctech Solar is one the few tracker companies to obtained ISO, CE, UL2703, UL3703 certificates and Black& Veatch bankability report, and the first tracker company certified by TUV according to IEC 62817.

Q

The recent aggressive bidding by various developers keeping Solar Tariffs in the price range of Rs.4.34 – Rs.5

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…

Currently the Rs 2.44 tariff price will force the solar panel and BOS cost coming down, but will also encourage use of new VOL 2 l ISSUE 1 l SEPTEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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technologies such as use of high efficiency solar panel, robotic cleaning systems and system integration.

Arctech Solars R&D team has done a lot of innovations and we treat our tracker systems and MMS as a platform to integrate different technologies. For example, we have released integrated solar tracker design, which allows tracker and inverter share power and communicate cables, and no UPS or battery needed for trackers eventually saving the BOS cost.

Using higher efficiency module such as bifacial module on solar tracker will reduce the BOS cost significantly and what’s more importantly, it will solve land limitation issue. We can also further think combination of tracker and robot cleaning technology.

Q

In the overall Solar Market….what is the size of installations

with trackers…in this what is your market share.

Solar tracker is one of the most effective equipment to help investors increase their IRR with some IPPs considering 100% tracker portfolio. In 2016, global tracker installation capacity was estimated at around 11.6GW, 20% of total installed volume. We are expecting the percentage will further increase by 40-45% in next 5 years.

Arctech solar ranked Top 5 in order of global shipment volume. If look at Asia pacific market, India market and China market, Arctech Solar shipment volume were No. 1 in 2016.

India and China became the most active market for solar tracker besides United states.

Above info sourced from GTM research.

Q

How has Arctech's perspective of the solar energy segment in India changed over the past one year? Accordingly,

how have the company's strategies for developing solar portfolio evolved?

As per our experience in last year, we witnessed several new trends emerge in the market Solar tracker projects scaled from 100MW to GW within 1 year.

Solar roof-top market has heated up in last one year, especially in the commercial and industrial segment due to various policies announced by states leveraging solar as a viable and sustainable form of energy which further helps reduce the carbon foot print.

Indian solar market exceeds 10GW milestone. Since many developers and EPC companies have gained the expertise to manage utility scale installations, it will further help in ramping up the installation capacity for meeting future milestones. As a MMS and tracker solution provider and manufacturer, our target is not only to meet the market request, but also to lead the market trend by innovation.

Besides high-quality products and on-time delivery, after sales support is the most important deciding factor for our clients while opting for our solutions. We have built a strong local service team in India which allows Arctech Solar to render professional and timely technical support.

Q

What are your manufacturing plans in India?

We do have plans to set up manufacturing facilities in India

and we will announce details at the right time.

- Manas@saurenergy.com

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Perovskite New Tech for Efficient Solar Cells

T

he use of solar energy is mounting

is put into facing them and some

across the world, but the efficiency

companies are already talking about

of silicon solar cells has made

commercializing them in the near future.

very little advancement in the last

Usually solar cells are made of silicon

few decades. However, perovskite

with power conversion efficiencies

solar cell seems to be the answer

that have been deteriorating in the

to high-efficiency solar power. The

low-20% range for about 10 years. A

rapid enhancement of perovskite

perovskite is a material that has the

solar cells has made them the new

same crystal structure as the mineral

star of PV industry and has taken the

calcium titanium oxide (also known

solar cell industry by storm with their

as Perovskite). Generally, perovskite

ability to absorb light across almost

compounds have a chemical formula

all visible wavelengths, exceptional

ABX3, in perovskites, the ‘A’ cation

power conversion efficiencies and

is much larger than the ‘B’ cation.

relatively easy process of fabrication.

Perovskite structures occur naturally

They are cheap, easy to produce

as the minerals Perovskite, Loparite,

and very flexible in their applications.

and Bridgmanite. Perovskite are also

Their efficiency at converting light into

predicted to play a role in next-gen

electricity has grown faster than that

electric vehicle batteries, sensors, lasers

of any other material -- from under four

and much more.

percent in 2009 to over 20 percent in

A perovskite solar cell is a type of

2017 -- experts believe that perovskites

solar cell which includes a perovskite

could eventually outperform the most

structured compound, most commonly

common solar cell material, silicon.

a hybrid organic-inorganic lead or tin

Since their working methods are still at

halide-based material, as the light-

nascent stage, there is great chance for

harvesting active layer. Perovskite

further research into the basic physics

materials such as methylammonium

and chemistry around perovskites.

lead halides are cheap to produce

Perovskite solar cells are still facing

and relatively simple to manufacture.

several challenges, but much work VOL 2 l ISSUE 1 l SEPTEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

75

Advantages of Perovskite solar cells

reports the life of perovskite solar cells

solar cells in the future, members of the

depreciates quickly

in presence of

Energy Materials and Surface Sciences

efficiency and lowers the cost of solar

moisture. Encapsulating this cell to protect

Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science

them from moisture and decay can add

and Technology Graduate University (OIST)

to the cell cost and weight.

have been investigating the cause of rapid

Scaling up is another issue – reported high

degradation of these perovskite solar cells

efficiency ratings have been achieved

(PSCs) and have developed a potential

using small cells, which is great for lab

solution to improving perovskite solar cell

testing, but too small to be used in an

architecture. The new findings suggest

actual solar panel.

that interactions between components of

Another major issue is toxicity – a

the solar cell itself are responsible for the

substance called PbI is one of the

rapid degradation of the device, and that

breakdown products of perovskite. This

interface engineering is important for the

is known to be toxic and there are concerns

fabrication of highly stable and hysteresis-

that it may be carcinogenic (although this

free perovskite solar cells.

is still an unproven point). Also, many

The cell’s titanium oxide (TiO2) layer,

perovskite cells use lead, a massive

which extracts electrons made available

pollutant. Researchers are constantly

through solar energy, was found to cause

seeking substitutions, and have already

unwanted deterioration of the neighboring

made working cells using tin instead.

perovskite layer. To achieve a high power

Kevin Tran notes that perovskite solar

conversion efficiency (PCE) and long

cells still face a number of challenges

lifetime simultaneously, an insulating

before they can be implemented on

polymer interface layer was deposited on

a widespread level, the efficiency of

top of the TiO2, preventing direct contact

perovskite solar, though relatively high,

between the TiO2 and the perovskite

is uncertain. To determine the efficiency

layers. The polymer layer was insulating

of a solar cell, an I-V curve showing the

but very thin, letting the electron current

current vs. the voltage is measured, and

tunnel through without diminishing the

the point of maximum power is found.

overall efficiency of the solar cell or the

This power is compared to the incident

integrity of the perovskite structure.

light to determine the power conversion

Dr. Shenghao Wang, first author of the

efficiency. In perovskite cells, however,

publication in Nature Energy, suggests

the I-V curve changes depending on how

that the degradation of MAPbI3 perovskites

quickly the voltage is varied and whether

may not be a fixable issue. His research

the voltage is scanned from high to low or

reveals that iodide-based perovskites

low to high. Hence, the true performance

will universally produce a gaseous form

of a perovskite photovoltaic in a long-term

of iodine, I2, during operation, which

practical scenario is unclear.

in turn causes further degradation of

Challenges for Perovskite Solar Cells

Innovation and Efficiency Record

perovskite. While many researchers have

In last few years the efficiency of the

pointed to other sources, such as moisture,

perovskite solar cell technology is still in

perovskite solar cell has increased to the

atmospheric oxygen and heat as the

point where its rivals are at the moment

cause of MAPbI3 degradation, the fact

and looks like will overtake the efficiency

that these solar cells continue to degrade

of the conventional photovoltaic cell soon.

even in the absence of these factors led

However, the perovskite structure continues

Wang to believe that a property intrinsic to

to experience stability issues, causing these

these PSCs was causing the breakdown

cells to degrade quickly and shortening

of material.

A Perovskite solar cell increases the energy. The 3rd gen solar cell indeed holds promise for high efficiencies, as well as low potential material and reduced processing costs. One of the biggest advantages of perovskite PVs over conventional solar technology is that they can react to various different wavelengths of light, which lets them convert more of the sunlight that reaches them into electricity. Additionally, they offer flexibility, semi-transparency, tailored form factors, light-weight and more. According to electronics designers and researchers, such characteristics will open up many more applications for solar cells.Kevin Tran, Stanford University notes that-perovskite solar cells have many distinct advantages over traditional silicon cells. Firstly, the fabrication of perovskite photovoltaics is much cheaper and simpler than silicon photovoltaics production. The wafer processing and cell fabrication associated with silicon require expensive equipments and facilities. In comparison, perovskite cell fabrication has been accomplished with simpler methods like solution spin coating. Additionally, perovskite cells have a higher band gap than traditional silicon or thin film cells.

Therefore, they are transparent to typical solar absorption wavelengths and can be placed on top of lower band gap cells. This combined "tandem" photovoltaic system is able to absorb a greater part of the solar spectrum and achieves a higher efficiency than either type of cell individually.

In spite of the significant potentials, the early stages of commercialization as compared to other solar technologies as there are a number of things that needs to be worked out before availability. One of the biggest problems is the cost of perovskite solar cells and another is that short lifespan. According to several

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their lifespans. In order to help create better

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

“We found that these PSCs are self-exposed to I2 vapor at the onset of degradation, which led to accelerated decomposition of the MAPbI3 perovskite material into PbI2.” Wang explained, “Because of the relatively high vapor pressure of I2, it can quickly permeate the rest of the perovskite material causing damage of the whole PSC. This research does not rule out the probability of using perovskites in solar cells, however.

Professor Yabing Qi, leader of the Energy Materials and Surface Sciences Unit and corresponding author of this work, expounds “our experimental results strongly suggest that it is necessary to develop new materials with a reduced concentration of iodine or a reinforced structure that can suppress iodine-induced degradation, in addition to desirable photovoltaic properties”.

Earlier this year in July, researchers at UNIST announced that hey has found key to produce a new cost-efficient way to produce inorganic-organic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) which sets a new world-record efficiency performance of 22.1 % in small cells and 19.7 percent in 1-square-centimeter cells.

This breakthrough came from a research conducted by Distinguished Professor Sang-Il Seok of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST in collaboration with Professor Jun Hong Noh of Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology and Professor Eun Kyu Kim of Hanyang University who both partook as co-authors

of the study. A key feature of this technology is its ability to fix the dominating defect in perovskite-halides, which is known to decrease the photoelectric efficiency. Their results, published online in the June 30th issue of the journal Science, demonstrates that careful control of the growth conditions of perovskite layers with management of deficient halide anions is essential for realizing high-efficiency thin-film PSCs based on lead-halide-perovskite absorbers.

"This study can improve the current record efficiency of perovskite solar cells from 20.1% to 22.1%," said Professor Seok. "This will accelerate the commercialization of the low-cost, high-performance perovskite solar cells."

In an another research, scientists at the University of Manchester recently demonstrated potential of the next generation solar cell technology by using insulating polystyrene microgel particles instead of costly polymers to make perovskite solar cells.

According to the research report, published

by The Royal Society of Chemistry in the journal Nanoscale, showed that polystyrene particles enhanced stability and slashed the manufacturing costs of solar cells. As their power conversion is approaching parity with established solar PV technology, perovskite solar cells are becoming more commercially attractive. However, using organometallic halide perovskite as the light harvesting layer instead of silicon makes

them vulnerable, as it quickly degrades when exposed to water. These cells also rely on a hole-transportation layer, which promote the efficient movement of electrical current when exposed to sunlight, but is very costly and unstable in the long run. In the research, the weak points have been addressed using insulating polystyrene microgel particles.

“The perovskite layer in solar cells is not inherently unstable, but the required holetransport material is. HTM layers made of congregated polymers are thin, but they are also relatively expensive and contribute a significant portion of the total cost of the solar cell. In this study we used polystyrene, which is 1/10,000th of the cost of polymers to produce, and is also hydrophobic which helps improve the stability of PSCs,” said Brian Saunders, Professor of Polymer and Colloid Chemistry from the school of Materials at The University of Manchester, noting that more research is required to enable the full potential of the existing PSC technology to be realized.

In last few years, perovskite solar cells have witnessed prodigious increase in efficiency which quite rare in PV technology. In the latest generation of solar cell technologies, perovskite photovoltaic seems to have the greatest potential to revolutionize the industry.

- Santanu@saurenergy.com

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ANDREAS LIEBHEIT PRESIDENT|HERAEUS PHOTOVOLTAICS

Q

Please detail us how your orga-

been consistently delivering 0.1% / year

an enormous contribution to the continued

nization’s Vision to continuously

efficiency gain; with HeraglazeTM we will

growth of solar energy. Innovation will make

improve the businesses of your customers

deliver 4% higher yield in multi-crystalline

solar energy more attractive and affordable.

around the world actually takes shape

silicon wafer manufacturing. These gains

This is especially important for India. The

through your products.

add up and make a real difference for our

country’s energy demand is forecasted to

Heraeus is a German technology company

customers.

grow fivefold until 2040. This is probably one

with a wide portfolio, especially in renewable

The second part of the equation is about

of the biggest challenge the country has

energies. We believe that in the next five

finding ways to make our customers’ pro-

and we at Heraeus believe that our products

years, the costs for electricity from renewable

cesses more efficient. With our individual

and services will be able to support India to

energies will decrease by 50% and that our

products, bundled products and services,

manage this enormous growth.

technologies and services will be able to

we have become the only PV player in

contribute one third to it.

the world, offering a one stop shop for

When you put this into practice for the Photo-

the solar photovoltaic industry. The most

voltaics industry, it all revolves around effi-

important thing we can do is to help them

leader in the segment is addressing this

ciency. And we view efficiency in two ways:

accelerate their speed-to-market. This

issue, given high competition in the Indian

The first is maximizing the efficiency of our

gives them a competitive advantage in a

solar sector.

products so that they can make the end-

very fast pace industry. Our organizational

Due to our outstanding product efficiencies

product of our customers perform significantly

culture and strategic approach is about

and services, Heraeus is globally leading

better. We have products ranging from

rapid innovation and responsiveness. That

the market for silver metallization paste.

silver metallization paste and electrically

helps our customers build more efficient

We realize that the common denominator

conductive adhesives to cell optimization

processes in their value chains.

across all markets is cost-per-watt, and

consultancy and HeraglazeTM. For instance,

And finally, we remind ourselves that every

the Indian market is no different. However,

with our silver metallization paste we have

gain in efficiency and performance makes

there exist differences in technology and

78

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

Q

Indian solar industry demand high efficiency products at low costs.

Share us how Heraeus as an Industry

process across various customers. This means that only bespoke solutions will lead to optimized efficiencies. Our industry renowned R&D, Application Engineering and Cell Optimization teams all over the world, work in close coordination with customers and address the customers’ needs thereby delivering significantly higher efficiency gains on performance and process.

Together with our customers we analyze in detail the whole value chain and seek for optimization. We have strategically built these competencies because there is no “one fits all” solution.

Take for example our diffusion consultancy.

During the cell production phosphor is used to optimize the transport of electrons between the silicon wafer and the silver paste. If the diffusion on phosphor is not equally spread on the wafer, the silver paste does not adhere perfectly to the wafer. By optimizing the diffusion we are able to increase the efficiency of our customer’s wafer by up to 0.2%. This is an enormous efficiency gain, which can help to generate more profit for our customers.

So R&D Services, seeing the full process perspective and our very fast scale up potential – from first sample to full size batch – are key to our market leadership and proven by our customers worldwide.

Q

Share us about your R&D facilities and how they are helping you to

offer products with better power efficiency.

The Indian market is served by our India & South East Asia application center in Singapore. Furthermore we operate R&D centers in the US, Japan, Taiwan and China.

This allows us to practically offer a 24/7 service. We like to say ‘PV innovation never sleeps or stops at Heraeus.’ Our customer’s benefit from short lead times on R&D samples and fast customization thereby realizing efficiency gains in the shortest possible time.

In these centers we constantly optimize our products, we ensure that we absolutely minimize the batch to batch variation and that we ensure the scaling up process. No other competitor is offering this. Furthermore, a global spread also allows us to benefit

from different views and ideas of our global

Space (Zhonghui Photovoltaics) to dev-

engineering talents. Only the best ideas are

elop High-performance Silver Pastes

being provided to our customers.

Solutions. What strategic benefits can

Q

Why do you think the Taiwan Patent

Solar Space derive from this cooperation?

decision will significantly impeded

We have strategic cooperation with a lot

industry innovation?

of our customers. This is a special trust

This is not specific to Heraeus, or even

agreement which gives us a better inside

Taiwan. It is a global issue that is a concern

into our customers operations. It allows

to the entire industry. There are countless

us to look into the customer’s processes

companies like Heraeus that make significant

more in detail and to develop stronger

investments in R&D in order to compete

efficiency gains. We also offer this to our

and succeed in the marketplace. When you

Indian customers and would be very happy

finally discover that elusive breakthrough,

to enter into agreements.

a new idea or product enhancement, you

Specifically to Solar Space, this means that

want to be able to monetize your intellectual

based on the remarkable advantages of

property. That is why IP rights are so critical.

Heraeus Photovoltaics’ SOL9641BX silver

Whether the market is large or small, there

metallization paste, Solar Space will be able

must be an environment of fair and proper

to improve its competitiveness. Furthermore,

legal protection around the major markets.

they will receive strong support for the other

In order for solar energy to gain greater global

processes that are planned for the future.

adoption, the industry needs to continue to

Together with Heraeus’ cell optimization

innovate, reduce cost / watt and become

consultancy, Solar Space will uncover further

independent of government subsidies.

breakthroughs in performance through

Over time, the loss of fair IP protection

optimization of the SOL9642BX product and

impacts a company’s ROI and their bottom

production processes.

line. Solar is still in the early stages and the companies who are genuinely committed to R&D investments will be crucial to advancing

Q

Tell us more on how your cooperation with Meyer Burger on heter-

ojunction (HJT) solar cell technology will

this technology. Having IP safeguards and

help its development.

legal protections in place is important to

With efficiencies above 23%, heterojunction

attract and incentivize the innovators.

solar cells are regarded as one of the most

Q

Your organization has signed new

promising successors to replace current

strategic cooperation with Solar

technologies and are expected to triple their

VOL 2 l ISSUE 1 l SEPTEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

79

market share in the next ten years. Heraeus

which eradicates the infrastructure for free-

already the cheapest way to produce ele-

Photovoltaics and Meyer Burger continue to

zers. Also, the waste is eliminated, since

ctricity in the world and the prices will con-

work together to enhance the development

opened metallization pastes can easily be

tinue to decrease. Photovoltaics thus

of metallization pastes for HJT solar cells,

re-used again.

offers great opportunities for India to help

which have specific requirements for the

Q

As a supplier to the Indian Manu-

solving the very strong growth in energy

facturers, what do you feel that the

demand. This however requires a good and

govt. needs to do for boosting domestic

technologically leading partner for the Indian

than conventional solar cells.

manufacturing?

solar market. Heraeus is convinced that it

Heraeus is delivering modified low tem-

The Indian government has been very visi-

can be this partner. We are very focused

perature silver pastes on polymer ba-

onary and supportive for solar photovoltaic

on the needs of our Indian customers and

sis, which cure at temperatures below

install and manufacturing market. This mir-

will launch a technology initiative in India.

200°Celsius, while Meyer Burger provides

rors the great leadership of the Indian gov-

We have opened a new office in Delhi,

a new HJT pilot production line for performing

ernment. The “Make In India” initiative and

hired a Commercial Director and have set

joint trial runs with Heraeus and Meyer

the recent GST implementation provides a

up dedicated resources for India in our

Burger experts. Together they are devel-

good ecosystem for Indian PV companies to

engineering Technology Center to serve

oping Standard Operating Procedures

thrive. From a manufacturer’s perspective,

Indian and SEA customers. There are good

(SOP) and Best Known Methods (BKM) for

four things are essential: a skilled workforce,

reasons why we lead the global market in

the heterojunction solar cell production at

infrastructure, business-friendly policies and

our industry and we believe that we can also

Meyer Burger.

programs to encourage investment and

support the Indian solar industry as we do

Common silver pastes used for HJT cells

growth and strong local/regional market

with other countries all over world.

are stored at minus 40°Celsius and need

potential. With further reform and industry

additional time for defrosting. Once defrosted,

friendly initiatives the expansion of Indian

they can’t be re-used. Heraeus SOL560 and

domestic manufacturing is bound to happen.

metallization since they have to be produced at significantly lower process temperatures

SOL570 metallization pastes are much more customer and environmentally friendly: The pastes can be stored at room temperature,

80

Q

What is the roadmap Heraeus have for the Indian solar market?

Energy production from Photovoltaic is

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

- Manas@saurenergy.com

THE

SOLAR TITANS

“We have objectives.

The ministry will attain its objectives on time. We have to electrify (the unelectrified villages) within a set time frame. I have worked as a public servant at different places.

I have handled law and order in Bihar. All these things have filled me with confidence to attain my goals. I am quite certain that I will live up to the expectations.�

Raj Kumar Singh Minister of State (IC)|Power and New & Renewable Energy

Jatindra Nath Swain Managing Director SECI

K.S. Popli Chairman & MD IREDA

Earlier appointed as the Joint Secretary for Ministry of

He has taken over as Chairman and Managing Director of

New and Renewable Energy, Jatindra Nath Swain now

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA)

holds the office of Managing Director of SECI. He brings

from 1st March 2014. Popli is an Electrical Engineer from

with him a rich and diverse experience primarily in Roof Top Solar Projects, Solar City Programme, Setting up of New Institutions, Scheme on Energy Efficient Solar / Green Buildings, Formulation, Implementation as well as monitoring of Startups Policy, Geothermal and UNDP/ UNIDO schemes. Previously, Mr. Swain was Managing

Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi. He also holds Post Graduate Diploma in Project Management and a Degree in Law. He has experience of more than 29 years in power sector. As Director (Technical), he is responsible for project appraisal, financing, policy formulation, planning and monitoring of renewable energy and energy efficiency and conservation projects. Prior to joining IREDA, he

Director, Magnesite Chemicals, Salem. A 1988 batch IAS

worked with Power Finance Corporation for 14 years for

officer, Mr. Swain had been Aranthangi Sub-Collector in

both state sector and IPP Projects for Hydro, Thermal,

1991 and had served as Additional Collector, Thanjavur.

Transmission and Distribution Sectors. He has served NHPC

Mr. Swain also served as Perambalur Collector.

for 11 years and was associated with Design, Engineering

84

and Implementation of Hydro Electric Projects.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

Upendra Tripathy Interim Director General International Solar Alliance ISA has essentially come up to address issues at the field level. In our first program, we echo the sentiments of PM Modi, who said that if we are going to do something about energy access, think about farmers. We have provided 1.5 million solar pumps to solar farmers.

It is about energy access to the most marginalized members of society. The prices will come down 30-40 per cent as scaling increases, just like LED. In the 21st century, with 1.2 billion people not having energy access, we can’t tell them to wait till 2030. We have the technology and will power. We have asked banks to earmark 15 per cent of their earnings for solar projects. Our role is to being in finance and to bring in projects. And to put together ideas,

Gurdeep Singh Chairman & MD NTPC It is a policy decision to have a major share in the charging station. We are currently working on it, 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

institutions and actors so our projects are realized. This is the action oriented program of ISA.

Dr. Arun K Tripathi Director General NISE

NISE is an autonomous institute under Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India established to facilitate the Research & Development, Testing, Certification, Skill Development activities in the field of Solar energy technologies. NISE also supports the ministry in the implementation of prestigious National Solar mission. The institute is committed to the development and demonstration of solar energy related technologies and its applications

200 MW Bhadla project in Rajasthan, but

to the common man in the country.

going forward, we don’t expect to see

NISE continuously strives to improve the

such a drop. Also the implementation of

facilities so as to compete with the latest

good and services tax will only increase

technological advancements.

the tariff to some extent.

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Manoj Kohli Executive Chairman SoftBank Energy By affordable, (I mean) there is a threshold of Re1 per kilowatt hour. After 2020, solar and wind will have technology and infrastructure to become 24x7, which I believe will be changing the future course of the energy sector. Another point is the inflection of EVs over diesel and petrol cars,� he added. “I think in the next three years, EVs will become far more transformational, it will not only be

Gautam Adani Chairman Adani Group

at the top end of the market, it will be in the mid end of the market and the lower end of the market.

I strongly believe that solar power is the most environment friendly and sustainable source of energy,setting up of the rooftop solar plant at my own residence is a step in that direction.

Ashish Khanna ED & CEO Tata Power Solar

While there are some bottlenecks like decreasing unit cost driven by reverse bidding and influx of cheap and subsided imported panels, solar sector continues to be a key sunrise sector.

There will be enormous growth particularly for Tata Power in the rooftop segment with more initiatives on policy including quality aspects

86

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

Sanjeev Sharma Managing Director ABB India Ltd

ABB has been an integral technology partner for railways for decades, providing technology from turbochargers to substations. The scope and scale of this order is a tribute to ABB quality for such critical installations, used by millions. Providing the latest technology

Manoj K Upadhyay Founder and Chairman ACME Group I see a future of energy storage alongwith solar to provide 24x7 power and oilfree transportation. This should help India to solve many problems like reducing pollution, reducing oil import and will enable many industries to come up and increase employment,�

to drive energy revolution in sectors like transportation is a part of ABB's next level strategy,

Gyanesh Chaudhary MD & CEO Vikram Solar Limited

Power for All, Make in India are few of the words in the industry that have become ideals to strive towards for the betterment of the industry and the nation.

The Indian solar industry is showing a rapid growth, aided by Government initiatives and global acceptance for solar energy. Policies and support has helped the industry to reach 13 GW in mid-2017, almost doubling its capacity from 5 GW in 2015. New opportunities are coming in the form of new projects, and awareness is growing in order to make a bright and positive change happen.

As a solar PV manufacturer and EPC solution provider we want to stand by our mission to make a significant contribution in speeding up this energy revolution.

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Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty Founder, Chief Executive & MD Greenko Group "We believe in owning and operating all types of our assets. It helps from the perspective of risk management and opportunities. With turnkey models you have to depend on OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to provide you with a site to build the project, for the price of electricity, etc. We built our entire capacity without depending on OEMs. This approach has helped us to create scalable projects and build long-term ownership of renewable

Hitesh Doshi

assets. Renewable energy for us is a utility business and not a tech business."

Chairman & Managing Director Waaree Group Leading domestic players are already at par with their counterparts in developed countries in quality and pricing of photovoltaic modules. “A major chunk of solar-related goods coming from China are below par in quality as compared to products from domestic manufactures.

Imports of solar photovoltaic modules from countries like Japan and Europe are not very prevalent, owing to their higher pricing, while their quality is as good as that of Indian counterparts,”

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

Sumant Sinha Chairman and CEO ReNew Power

In April 2016, we were the first company in India to achieve 1 GW of commissioned renewable energy capacity. The doubling of our capacity to 2 GW within a year by March 2017 is a result of great teamwork coupled with our commitment to contributing approximately 10% to the government of India’s renewables target,”

Sanjeev Aggarwal Managing Director & CEO Amplus Solar

Amplus has been an active player in leading the distributed solar industry in India. Amplus is heading the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) committee on Rooftop Solar. It interacts with the Ministry of Renewable energy in India on behalf of the entire Rooftop Solar Industry. Amplus also spearheaded the formation of the Distributed Solar Power Association (DSPA) in the country for mutual sharing and coordination related to different emerging trends in the solar sector as well as in the regulatory regime. DSPA has 20 members at present. As a member of Advisory Council at Renewable Energy World Conference, BRICS business forum, India German Energy Forum and World

Sunil Jain CEO & ED Hero Future Energies Industry needs to make a concerted effort to reduce carbon intensity across sectors. The steel, cement and power

Bank consultation group on rooftop solar financing, Amplus has ensured the voice of India has been reaching the global platforms as well. Amplus actively participates in other forums through its speakers’ sessions in different renewable energy events and voices in news media over the concurrent issues in the sector.

Inderpreet Wadhwa Founder & CEO Azure Power

There can be blips in terms of supply and demand. So one must think about one’s procurement strategy with suppliers having long-term goals rather than ones with transactional approach,

industries account for a bulk of the emissions and are already under the PAT scheme. However, the challenge is in the implementation of programmes, and a focused approach on policy and reducing bottlenecks is an essential step towards a low carbon economy.

He further added that, there has to be a Renewable Consumption Obligation on energy intensive industries, defining that a certain percentage of industrial energy consumption should come from renewables. This will support and supplement the Renewable Purchase Obligation of power companies by providing them an expanded market for renewable power.

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Basant Jain Director Mahindra Renewables The solar sector in India is witnessing a high rate of growth and offers scalable business opportunities to players in the industry. We also aim to successfully leverage Mahindra Group synergies in terms of distribution channels and manufacturing to accelerate the rollout.”

“We would like to provide impetus to these start-ups and help them prosper by providing them technological mentorship and useful industry insights. In some cases,

Ratul Puri Chairman Hindustan Powerprojects

we may also look for co-development of products or services along with strategic investment.

As the country focuses to deliver 24X7 power to all , be prudent, take risk mitigating steps and focus on the sustainable growth – that is the key to success in the Indian energy sector.

Bikesh Ogra

President, Renewable Energy Sterling and Wilson We have been growing at fast pace with increased footprints across the globe.

The ranking by IHS is a huge recognition of our continuous and tireless efforts by our team to ensure we build world class solar PV plants. With this vision in mind, our operational teams are stationed in target markets and are clearly focused on our objective of strategic growth”

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

NIRANJAN NAYAK Business Head – PVI|Delta Power Solutions India Pvt Ltd

Q

What kind of ROI can DELTA Inverters

look forward for 1 GW by the end of FY2017

deliver to owners of solar power

in rooftop segment.

plant and what unique value proportion

In the utility segment as well, we are streng-

does it offer to its customers?

thening our market share by positioning

Delta Group was established in 1971 and is the global leader in power and thermal management solutions. Our mission statement- to provide innovative, clean and energy-efficient solutions for a better tomorrow focuses our role in addressing key environmental issues such as global climate change. As an energy-saving solutions provider, Delta's businesses encompass power electronics, energy management, and smart green life.

It is a proven fact that the cost of establishing a solar power plant is reducing day by day as it has reduced by almost 50% in past 5 years due to the continual advancements in solar panel and inverter technology which are increasing the efficiency and lowering the cost. Besides the cost factor, Delta’s comprehensive portfolio of inverters offers our customers’ industry’s leading efficiencies with maximum uptime guarantee which shortens the payback period and maximize the energy harvest. We have our in-house monitoring Solution with DelREMO for plant monitoring and Power Management.

We provide our customers with a wide range of products and services. We build our operations on long-term relationships and on innovative, energy-efficient solutions.

Q

Shed some light on the technology aspects of your Inverters which has

been taken care while designing so that it can sustain variable climate of India.

With Delta's cutting-edge technology, Delta Inverters are compact in size with durable quality.

IP65 enclosure provides higher level of protection and enhances its durability in a harsh outdoor environment which prevails across geographical locations in India.

The wide operating temperature range of

Delta inverters, i.e; -20oC to 60oC, ensures trouble free operation even in hot and cold climates. The inverters assure maximum efficiencies even in different humidity conditions (0~100%, Non-condensing) and elevations (<2000m).

Ergonomic grip design gives more convenience while moving the inverter during installation.

Q

How do you ensure that you fulfill Delta’s commitment to bring sma-

rter and greener solutions in India?

Delta is devoted to innovation and systematically developing new products and technologies, particularly those that are high-efficiency and energy-saving.

India is leading the race in moving farther away from fossil fuel consumption and closer to a cleaner and greener economy.

The benefits of this transition are enormous like better health due to clean environment, greater energy security, stronger economic growth and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Delta, as a thermal and power solutions provider, continuously upgrades the technology by investing heavily in R&D and green manufacturing; and delivering higher efficient products which are reliable, smart and green. Delta is continuously enhancing the engineering capabilities and is committed to developing innovative technologies and solutions for a better tomorrow.

Q

What kind of market share will you have by end of this year?

Delta has continued the legacy to lead the market share of rooftop solar inverters segment in India since 3 years. This year as well, we are leading with a market share of 36.5% in rooftop segment. We definitely

ourselves with technologically advanced higher capacity central inverter products.

Considering the overall market outlook of Solar PV industry in India, we are confident to grab the maximum share by the end of this year.

India is leading the race in moving farther away from fossil fuel consumption and closer to a cleaner and greener economy

Q

As a key industry player what will be you top two suggestions for the

Policy makers to address the current challenges?

The Indian solar market had its best first half and is on pace to have its best year.

However, uncertainty around GST rates, financing for renewable energy projects, utilities renegotiating to get better rates, and the recently initiated anti-dumping case have stalled momentum in the sector and could have a significant negative effect.

India has already implemented GST from 1st July. The uncertainty still prevails in the tax slabs pertaining to the different components, especially for Solar Inverters. Because of this, the industry activity has slowed down immediately after GST implementation. The policy makers would have come out with clarity on the GST rates in favor of Solar PV systems and its components hopefully by the time this interview goes into publication.

In India, the entry of commercial banks is increasing becoming a major source for financing infrastructure projects including

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renewable energy systems. But these national

energy shortage with average demand-

for many years to come.

banks provide debt at a rate much higher than

supply gap revolving around 12% of total

As the rooftop market is inching towards 1

what is available in the developed nations.

power supply. This, coupled with rising

GW installations during 2017-18; extensive

The ministry of new and renewable energy

energy needs, is a major factor driving the

and stable grid connectivity, Closer industry-

along with ministry of finance should come

growth of this segment.

government cooperation for the technology;

up with innovative financing measures to

The other major road block hindering the

and training and development of human

promote these capital-intensive renewable

growth from the supply side is huge demand

resources to drive industry growth and PV

energy projects. Financing measures such

for electricity in rural areas lacking grid

adoption are a few critical challenges.

as clean energy fund, generation based

connectivity. Having robust grid connectivity

incentive linked loan repayment and green

is essential. Micro-grid or off grid systems

bonds are some of those.

are an option in such locations.

Solar projects are capital intensive, and the

Q

What are your growth plans in this

lack of an effective financing infrastructure

space?

for these projects is another major factor impeding growth in this sector.

Delta recognizes the potential of India to become a powerhouse in manufacturing and its need for high energy efficiency which is one of Delta’s core competences.

Q

Q

How do you address any service related query (if any) for your

products? What is the turnaround time for that?

Building competencies around customer service and continually improving customer

Please list some of your key achi-

relations is one of the best ways to address

evements of last 1 year.

service related queries.

We have setup a “Technical Support Center”,

Delta will expand R&D and manufacturing

Being a world leader in Power conversion

dedicatedly for addressing customer support

operations in the country with new facilities

technology, Delta offers a complete product

queries 24X7. Through the technical support

in Bangalore and Hosur respectively, in line

range of solar inverters, accessories and

center, the customers can interact directly with

with its long-term plans to harness India’s

services to our partners and installers and

our team of engineers who are experienced in

significant long-term growth potential. Delta

the best photovoltaic systems to maximize

both the inverters and applications. Technical

India Electronics plans to develop smart

profit. With over 750MW of string and central

support Engineers can use their extensive

energy management solutions with industry-

grid-tied solar inverters already installed

experience to help installers and end users

leading energy efficiency at its new R&D

in India.

solve problems quickly and effectively.

centre which is expected to create up to

In the FY 2013-14 we had acquired 25.4%

In case the solution is not possible via tele

500 engineering jobs within the next 3 years.

of the market share and currently, in the

support, a ticket will be raised and engineer

In the next 10 years, Delta’s new factory in

latest FY2016-2017 we have achieved

visit will be organized for the onsite support.

Hosur is expected to create up to 20,000 jobs

36.4%. We at Delta continuously enhance

In case it a replacement is needed, with

for the manufacturing of power electronics,

our engineering capabilities and committed

15 warehouses located across India, the

renewable energy and automation solutions.

to develop innovative technologies cum

turnaround time is the same day excluding

We have already started manufacturing of

solutions for a better tomorrow. Delta quickly

the transportation time.

our central inverters from our Hosur facility

identifies the emerging trends and adapts

which has current capacity of producing

to capture it quickly.

50MW/month. This is expected to go upto 200MW by March 2018.

Our new R&D centre in Bangalore will be instrumental in the creation of innovative

Q

How has the response in the rooftop solar market been? What are the

key challenges faced by you in this sector.

and energy-efficient technologies that will support the realization of national initiatives

As per the latest report on rooftop solar by

such as ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’.”

Bridge to India, India added 678 MW of rooftop solar capacity in FY 2016-17, growing

Q

What are the key issues that are

at 81% Y-o-Y. Delta’s market share alone is

plaguing the solar sector in India

247MW, the leading chunk of 36.4%. Strong

currently?

market fundamentals including falling costs and improving debt financing mean that the

We are currently suffering from persistent

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market will continue strong growth trajectory

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

- Manas@saurenergy.com

COMPANY DESCRIPTION: Scorp Energy Private Limited is one of the leading stockist

customer-oriented approach. The company claims to have

and supplier of a wide range of products for solar power

a customer base of over 100+ clients in a short period of time.

projects. Founded in the year 2015, the company is based

Their excellent sourcing capabilities, has enabled them to

out of Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

cater to the clients' need with utmost promptness. Ever since

With the prime motive to attain maximum customer satisfaction

the inception, the team has concentrated all their endeavors

through the best in class service and products, in a short span

to provide their valued customers with the impeccable quality

of time, the company has acquired a respectable position

of products.

in the industry owing to their ethical business practices and

NATHAN DUNN Managing Director

Enphase Energy Asia-Pacific

Q

What drove Enphase to shift

Enphase has worked with LG Electronics

It’s been an exciting time for Enphase

from the computer networking

to deliver an AC module with an Enphase

as we’ve only officially launched in India

and telecommunications industry to

microinverter. One of the key advantages in

in August. While we’ve had an indirect

clean energy, and how did your past

having the Enphase AC module is it makes

presence through a distribution partner for

experiences assist in the successful

the installation faster and more cost-effective.

the last few years, Enphase is negotiating

launch of Enphase Energy?

While this product is currently available in

for a number of commercial projects in

Enphase Energy is a global energy tech-

North America only, the feedback we’ve

India that we hope to announce in the next

nology company that delivers smart,

had from installers has been very positive.

few months.

easy-to-use solutions that connect solar

Not only they have been able to reduce the

generation, storage and management

time they take to complete an installation

on one intelligent platform. Our heritage

by up to half, it’s allowed them to reduce

and small commercial installations but

has always been in solar technology but

the cost of a standard residential rooftop

not for larger commercial projects.

the founders of Enphase have come from

installation and this is a win for customers.

Are you developing products for the

high tech companies in the networking

We have since extended our relationship

commercial sector?

and telecommunications industry where

to Jinko Solar who also offer Enphase AC

We have well publicised plans of reducing

reliability is paramount. This has been one

modules in North America.

the cost of our microinverter and we believe

of the guiding principles where we create

Q

Q

Many PV integrators view microinverters as a solution for residential

For Enphase, NeON 2 Ace repre-

this will help us gain considerable share of

sents the culmination of a long-

the commercial market. We are already in

defined’ so it allows our engineers, installers

time drive to simplify solar electronics.

discussions will a number of local partners in

or utility companies to remotely manage

Can this new Enphase Energized AC

India with respect to large scale commercial

the solar generation of our customers. We

module be a major new revenue source

installations.

applied the same principle in the design

for the company?

Enphase microinverters can be used for both

of the Enphase AC Battery which allows

We believe our relationships with companies

residential and commercial installations.

homeowners to control how their battery will

like LG Electronics and Jinko Solar present

Because microinverters are individually

interact with the grid. For example, setting

a significant revenue and market opportunity

attached to each solar module, it allows

the battery to charge during solar hours as

for us by working with these major module

installers to scale the technology for large

well as overnight from the grid when the

manufacturers who have an established

commercial projects. Using Enphase

cost of electricity is lower.

market presence in many countries. Like

technology on large scale commercial

Enphase and LG have collabo-

us, LG and Jinko Solar’s focus on quality

solar systems may require a more significant

ratively launched a microinverter-

solar products ensures our customers are

investment, however the ability to pin point

integrated solar module- NeON 2

investing in a solar system that will go the

problems is even more crucial in large scale

ACe at Intersolar 2017. What are your

distance in even the harshest conditions.

commercial than in smaller applications.

expectations from NeON 2 Ace and

Can you tell us about your most

Enphase’s online monitoring platform,

recent Enphase installation?

Enlighten, gives the system owner full

products and solutions that are ‘software

Q

market response?

Q

VOL 2 l ISSUE 1 l SEPTEMBER 2017 l SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

97

visibility of the health and performance of

The Enphase Home Energy Solution is the

generation of the Enphase microinverter, IQ,

each solar module, as well as the ability

world’s simplest and most integrated end-to

is another leap toward making this a reality.

to troubleshoot issues remotely.

end solution that generates, stores, monitors,

Currently available in North America, IQ

Does Enphase have specific pro-

controls and analyses energy in a home. It

microinverters are easier to install, lighter,

Q

grams or training to assist inte-

provides a flexible platform for the future of

more cost effective and they support

grators in deploying microinverters into

energy allowing homeowners to expand

higher power modules. The introduction

larger commercial systems?

their solar generation and storage according

of IQ has addressed the cost concern for

We are providing dedicated training and

to their needs. The Enphase Storage System

homeowners who are looking for a more

support through our partners in India.

is one of the key components in the Home

modern alternative to central string inverter

Should installers or EPCs require support

Energy Solution allowing homeowners to

technology. With AC modules, I believe

in the design of large scale commercial

take a modular approach toward introducing

we will only see a greater appetite in the

installations, our team of engineers in

energy storage to their homes. Our AC

market for this.

Australia and the United States are able

Battery is simple to install, safe, very reliable

to assist in any technical details.

and provides the lowest lifetime energy cost

Q

Q

Any new product you decide to launch for the India market?

A common debate about micro-

for both new solar customers and retrofit

At this stage, we do not have any new

inverters in hot climates is that

customers. It has a 1.2 kWh capacity and

products that we are planning to launch

these complicated power electronics

its Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry makes

in India.

on the roof may be susceptible to the

it safe for any home environment. What

harsh elements. How confident are you

makes the Enphase Home Energy Solution

that the microinverters can stand the

unique is the Enlighten platform which allows

a vehement push in the last few years.

test of time, and what kind of data do

owners to track the performance of their

How do you think Enphase Energy fits

you have to support that?

system and manage this using Enphase

in this context?

Using years’ worth of accelerated testing

Enlighten software which provides real-

With the growth of urban populations,

under stress conditions as well as the

time, panel-level data and alerts that can

renewable energy technologies like solar

invaluable feedback loop provided by

be accessed from a computer or mobile

will continue to play a major role for urban

our global Enlighten network, Enphase

device. When you look at how the Enphase

planners looking to drive a clean energy

microinverters are designed to stand up to

Home Energy Solution has been designed, it

future through the planning of smart cities.

the harshest weather environments. This has

is a completely customer-centric proposition

Not only is solar power more sustainable,

been proven in Australia’s extreme summer

designed for greater energy independence

it can be integrated with smart technology

temperatures. In this test, https://www2.

and control which not many manufacturers

to advance functionality such as home

enphase.com/global/files/Enphase_Internal_

in the market can claim.

automation, the deployment of electric

Temp_Tech-Brief_AU.pdf conducted during

Q

Q

The Government of India’s ambitious smart cities project has seen

What are some of the major tre-

vehicles to rooftop solar farms in buildings.

nds regarding microinverters and

Enphase is already part of this evolution

microinverters continued to operate

microinverter-integrated solar modules?

and it can only get more exciting as we

well above the maximum rated internal

Many people think microinverters are a

head into the future in India.

temperature of 85 degrees Celsius. What

premium product and this is something we’ve

occurred in 2014 showed that all Enphase

sought to address at Enphase. We firmly

Microinverters continued to operate as

believe string inverters are technologically

normal and demonstrated quality and

outdated, and that microinverter technology

reliability in extreme weather conditions.

should be the norm. If prices reached

the 2014 summer heat wave, Enphase

Q

Can you brief on Enphase Home

parity it makes sense that microinverters

Energy Management System and

would occupy the vast majority of the

Enphase Storage System. Could you

market globally – the benefits are simply

give us significance of these energy

too great. As microinverters continue to

management solutions and how do

scale we will gradulally see this natural

they fit in your operations?

transition occur. The introduction of our next

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- Manas@saurenergy.com

INNOVATIONS

Deep-UV probing method detects electron transfer in photovoltaics Sensitized solar cells consisting of a molecular or solid-state sensitizer that serves to collect light and inject an electron into a substrate that favors their migration are among the most studied photovoltaic systems at present. Despite its importance in determining the potential of a photovoltaic device, current methods for monitoring the interfacial electron transfer remain ambiguous. Now, using deep-ultraviolet continuum pulses, EPFL scientists have developed a substrate-specific method to detect electron transfer. The work is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.The work was carried out by the lab of Majed Chergui at EPFL, which specializes in ultrafast spectroscopy. The group focused on two types of dye-sensitized solar conversion systems: one based on titanium dioxide, the other on zinc-oxide nanoparticles, both of which belong to the category of transition-metal oxide (TMO)

substrates. These TMOs are characterized by specific absorption bands, which are fingerprints of the system and are due to neutral electron-hole pairs, called an exciton.

The EPFL team aimed to overcome the limitations of current methods of measuring electron transfer, which all use light in the visible-to-terahertz frequencies (wavelengths around 400 -- 30000 nm). However, this approach is sensitive to carriers that remain free in the TMO substrate. They are therefore unspecific to the type of substrate and

cannot be extended to the new generation of solid-state-sensitized solar cells (such as those using perovskites as sensitizers).

Instead, the researchers at EPFL used deep-ultraviolet (260-380 nm wavelength) continuum pulses to probe the TMO substrates in the region of their excitonic transitions and detect electron transfer, via their response. This opens a route to the study of solid-state sensitized cells, as there is hope that the response of the substrate will be distinguished from that of the sensitizer.

Pawan Kumar Pandey Director|Radite Energy Infra Solutions Pvt. Ltd

Q

Please tell our readers about Radite Energy, its operations, projects and products.

Established almost 1.5 years back, Radite was started with a vision of providing quality installation and commissioning services in solar energy projects. In this short duration, we have already commissioned power projects of total 200 MW in India. We are planning to expand our businesses in the manufacturing of solar structure system and also going for development of few projects in India and Burma on BOOT model. Last year our turnover was 1.8 million USD and this year we targeting to achieve a turnover of 2.5 million USD. The total allocation for infrastructure development in 2017-18 stands at Rs 3, 96,135 crores, this is definitely going to boost economy, jobs & consumption.

How these allocations will affect the energy sector?

Make in India is an excellent initiative taken by our PM to boost the Indian manufacturers and the market. Lot of focus has been put to reduce cost of the solar equipment to achieve 100 GW target by 2022. The government’s Make in India initiative will not only save import cost but also reduce foreign currency outflow. The benefit of promoting solar in India is to make sure that it fulfills our dream of energy security in the country. Upsurge in allocation for infrastructure development will result in rise of energy demand in the industrial sector.

The government has decided take up the second phase of solar park development to meet this demand.

India is well on its to 100 per cent electrification of villages by May 2019 and the government has allocated Rs 4,843 crore for electrification in financial year 2017-18 under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana in 2017-18. The BJP led government has so far take decisive steps to develop key infrastructure components. It should promote projects which harness renewable energy sources by giving them special emphasis and announcing incentives. We as partners of country’s solar mission need to be self-reliant on technology and believe on the entire system.

Q

Q

What is your take on GST? What kind of impact do you see in the renewable segment with this?

Before implementation of GST the solar sector enjoyed lot of exemption and benefits, but imposition of 18% tax on the solar will impact in a huge way. Factors like dump duties, removal of some lower rate duties and taxes on capital good & services , some sort of concession in statutory compliance etc. will create imbalance where input related to execution and commissioning of plants are under GST, while output is kept out from GST. This will increase on current tariff and PPA. Looking into the current scenario, we can expect the rise of the solar tariffs that government tried to reduce in last few month. However, availability of input tax credit is expected to reduce operating costs and CAPEX cost. Thus, the impact on profit margins could be small but still this would lead to more rooftop assignment in India.

What are the current and potential challenges that solar EPC sector facing in India?

Oppor tunities are at galore. Power distribution sectors are adopting various new technologies to reduce distribution losses and working ceaselessly towards quality power with security. Radite is not only capable but also trying together to adopt timely technologies to be in race.

Major Challenges are: • To live up to the expectation of developersmanufacturers and utilities by meeting their demand on time in cost effective manner.

• Generating awareness of importance of accuracy, reliability to meet their demand.

• Still we are cost cautious which has to convert in quality and reliability.

• Lower rate of tariff is most challenging now a days for players like us .

Please share about your total cumulative capacity installed as on date and are you facing any kind operational challenges from these solar plants?

Total capacity executed till date on ground mounted solar projects is more than 200 MW and in rooftops the cumulative capacity is more than 2.5 MW. Solar power plants are running with full load and so far performances are very good. Major challenges come with

Q

Q

timely cashflow and payments from clients.

Who are your partners for solar projects in the country and how do you choose you partners for projects?

Major partners (Clients) are ACME, Harsha, Adani, Mytrah and Enerparc and many more. The clients are decided based on the project portfolio, financial strengths and till date track records. As far as vendors are concerned we have number of tie-ups for structure supply and labour supply and mostly we work on direct working at site.

What are the projects that you are coming up with this financial year?

This financial year we are targeting projects in Karnataka, Rajasthan, UP, Maharashtra and Odisha. Total capacity expected this year will be more than 200 MW on I&C model and also targeting to get some turnkey and self-development projects with total capacity of 30 MW. What kind of due diligence is done before you start operation of the project (s)?

Before taking up the project or starting operation of the project diligence is done based on the past credentials and financial strength of the clients. The track record of the client and market feedback is also been considered before finalizing the contract.

How Radite Energy is planning to create competitive advantage and emerge as formidable player in rooftop segment?

Being technocrats we are offering end to end solutions for our clients. We have tie ups for supply of structure, in-house structure design and in-house execution team. We are offering both BOOT (Build Own Operate and Transfer) and CAPEX model to our clients.

Share your views on how adoption of rooftop solar can be propelled in the country.

Rooftop projects are going to be the future for solar industry. With the use of rooftop solar major problem of light fluctuation and transmission losses will go down. This will help country to grow faster and achieve its targets to become super power with green energy.

Q

Q

Q

Q

Q

- Manas@saurenergy.com

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MARKET GLANCE

The global photonic crystals market to reach $53,607.1 million by 2021: Research and Markets

Research and Markets forecasts the global photonic crystals market to reach $53,607.1 million by 2021, growing at a CAGR of 8.5% between 2017 and 2021.

The photonic crystals market is driven by a number of factors such as superior properties of photonic crystals, increasing demand from various end-use applications, as well as photonic crystals in LED. However, fabrication of 3D photonic crystals is hampering the growth of the photonic crystals market. Substantial investment in research & developmental activities, increasing demand of photonic crystals in solar & photovoltaic cell, especially in the emerging economies such as India, China, and Brazil, are expected to create opportunities in the photonic crystals market.

The photonic crystals market is segmented into three types: one-dimensional, twodimensional and three-dimensional. The two-dimensional photonic crystal dominated

102

the global photonic crystals market with a market share of approximately 66.5% in 2016.

During the forecast period, the 3D photonic crystals market is expected to grow at a faster rate in comparison to other photonic crystals. Factors such as wider variety of applications are further aiding the market growth said the research firm.

On the basis of application, photonic crystals market is segmented into seven major applications which include optical fiber, LED, image sensor, solar & PV cell, laser, discrete and integrated optical components and others. The optical fiber application segment dominated the global photonic crystals market with a market share of approximately 33.7% in 2016. The rising demand for fiber optics is due to the increase in the demand of the smartphone, since it utilizes optical fibers for LED light.

Research and Markets expects the Solar & PV application segment to register the

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL l SEPTEMBER 2017 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 1

highest CAGR in the forecasted period.

This is because solar energy is one of the potential options to replace fossil fuels, as it is pollution free and also, available in abundance. Further, the solar cell or PV cells are also used to convert solar energy into electricity. Photonic crystals are used to stimulate enhanced light trapping in solar cells to make use of solar energy.

On the basis of end-use industry, photonic crystals market is divided into four segments which include industrial, aerospace & defense, life sciences & healthcare & others (research & development). Industrial segment dominated the global photonic crystals market. This dominance is expected due to the increase in the usage of photonic crystal in telecommunication, electronics, laser, and solar energy based products, among others, as photonic crystals are used to stimulate enhanced light trapping to make use of solar energy.

The solar industry is gearing up with growing number of solar system installers (a.k.a. EPC) and increasing number of manufacturers. There has also been a rise of stockists/warehouses specifically of foreign brands of inverters, modules etc.

Solar trading is becoming an important link in the chain of business. Primarily, traders are for equipment (modules, batteries, inverters, etc.) and accessories like cables, switchgear. The other type of traders are for EPC orders (though they may be most often called as business development associates, partners, etc.). I am bringing up the second type in the picture as many equipment traders also book sales orders for EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) for other larger companies or for themselves.

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Let us study the major parts of a typical solar system and their trading options: Modules: These are categorized as imported or local and most often in 60 or 72 cell configurations with poly crystalline being the major player. For large orders (>1MW) which are not under Domestic Content Requirement and /or for the Government bids; or smaller orders which may be not seeking subsidy, the imported modules are available in India through direct sales, local sales office or representatives and in some cases local stockists/distributors.

The purchase prices of stockists who are not warehousing on behalf of and owned by the manufacturing companies are a function of volume of purchase, and therefore working capital is an important requirement. Since the fragile solar modules require good warehousing, a cost associated with storage, loading/unloading, insurance; and market intelligence is to be considered for optimum inventory holding. A general requirement for direct import is Letter of Credit, with some manufacturers offering extended payment terms covered under the L/C, levering the lower interest cost in foreign countries, primarily China. While foreign Tier 1 companies have their offices (so direct sales) or existing large distributors, there is enough room for traders to sell to small roof top EPC companies, generally on demand generated by their orders booking. These trading options include local manufacturers’ products. Local manufacturing companies generally offer lower minimum purchase orders, most often some credit period and are flexible in terms of mix of the module rating mix. These companies are also good source for often hand strung solar (cut) cells for smaller ratings of modules (<200W), used in street lights to solar lanterns etc.

Inverters: These are often foreign brands if grid tied; and local manufactured if off-grid/hybrid type. A strong erection/ commissioning and after sale service in terms of engineering skill and network is a “good-to-have” feature for traders.

For both modules and inverters, brand, reputation, quality and overall market share are critical to consider for one to start trading in them. It would be good to have some preferred supplier/buyer relationships/tie ups and a occasional visit to the manufacturer’s

facility is recommended, as the volume builds.

Batteries: These are often lead acid types: flat, tubular, sealed for solar. These are not commonly traded by solar traders as the only component, as a larger network of nonsolar (auto, industrial, UPS) battery dealers already exists in the country. One may trade batteries while supplying a larger number of equipment or the complete system. Liion batteries are getting into the market, especially for smaller systems like solar street lights, but technical evaluation and brand are important skills to have before one tries them.

Mounting Structures: Aluminum or galvanized steel roof top pre-designed/standard structure and accessories are now available off the shelf, and are good business options.

Moreover, one can add the service offering for erecting these systems for EPC players.

Erection on rooftops is a specialized skill involving safety of personnel and equipment; and found in pre fabricated steel roof installers’ personnel. Hence, some of these roof material traders/dealers are getting into solar rooftop business as traders, or even being as system installers.

In general, the main difference amongst rooftop solar systems, from a design perspective, is the structure and their variance, considering optimum, shadow free, optimally tilted and oriented (at right azimuth) within the constraints of the roofs. Site specific type of mounting structures and strength of roof differentiates these systems. Structural engineering skill therefore comes handy, and more if there are specific raised structures/ pitched thatched/tiled roofs.

Balance of Systems (BOS): From cables, to junction boxes, combiners boxes, weather measurement, SCADA and currently, IoT based monitoring and control systems are the various components that are sold generally under one roof. Multi brand/capacity components and stocking/trading operations is growing with the increase in rooftop installations across the country.

The traders also find Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as good opportunities, for there is generally reduced competition, lesser price pressure and the option of being a system installers themselves, independently or with partnership with larger, experienced EPC

NAVRATAN KATARIYA

FOUNDER | SY-ENERGY CONSULTANTS companies. Standard, complete systems are being imported (as well as exported sometimes) for off grid small home/office power packs and packages like solar lights, chargers, consumer goods (lights, mobile chargers etc.). Some traders have erection and monitoring tools made available to EPC companies. It is likely that in future, solar systems which are commodotized or have become standard packages, will come with Do-it-Yourself instructions and a bit of training.

Raw material: There are trading companies who trade in raw material or components, like solar wafers/cells, EVA, backsheet, cables etc., most of which would need to be imported. Stock and sell is not a common feature in high volumes transactions. The commission agency is the route followed for them, except some have started stocking smaller value items like cables, combiner and junction boxes, consumer goods etc.

Another trading activity is for exports, and the well-established manufacturers in India (primarily of modules) have their own branches/representation in foreign countries. However, smaller orders (minimum 1 container e.g.) could be booked by export houses for countries in Africa, Latin America and island countries.

Price, variance with volumes, delivery & quality consistency/adherence, warranty & after sales support; and not to miss, sound business ethics are important parameters to consider while choosing your supplier.

These are same as applicable to many engineering goods and thus not unique to solar modules/systems.

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MARKET GLANCE

Concentrated Solar Power Market Size to Reach $8.92 Billion by 2025: Grand View Research, Inc.

The global concentrated solar power market

costs along with supportive government

forms of available systems will positively

is predicted to reach USD 8.92 billion

incentives like energy certificates, and

influence the growth of the concentrating

by 2025, according to a new report by

carbon credits will expand the concentrated

solar power market over the forecast period.

Grand View Research, Inc. increasing

solar power market over the forecast period.

Power tower technology was valued over

awareness about renewable energy along

Regulators around the world have been

USD 955.5 million by 2025. Enhanced

with government regulations to control

encouraging grid integration, making it an

heat storage ability, higher efficiency, and

growing carbon footprint is further propelling

affordable alternative compared to non-

favorable capacity factor will augment the

the market growth.

renewable energy sources.

business growth.

Increasing clean energy adoption over

Concentrating Solar Power technology

Further key findings from the report suggest:

non-renewable fuels is expected to drive

can store solar energy in the form of heat,

â&#x20AC;˘ The U.S. concentrated solar power market,

the global concentrated solar power

even post sunset, which is perceived as

in terms of value, will witness growth of over

over the forecast timeframe. Favorable

the greatest advantage that it offers over all

18.9% over the forecast period. Favorable

government regulations towards reduction

the other competing technologies. Reliable

government initiatives like tax credits;

of carbon footprint and greenhouse gas

power supply coupled with flexibility in

installation cost subsidies among other

(GHG) emissions will further enhance the

usage assist in bridging the demand supply

benefits will augment the business growth.

business growth.

deficit, currently faced by nations especially

â&#x20AC;˘ In Morocco, climatic conditions are

Growing electricity demand along with rising

in the developing world. However, CSP

favorable to the growth of CSP technology

investments to augment the efficiency index

technology is capital intensive as compared

adoption, in tandem with the existing

will provide an impetus to the concentrated

to other solar thermal technologies, as

pipeline projects. Morocco concentrating

solar power market growth. The Federal

this may prove to be a restraint for the its

solar power market is expected to exceed

Government sponsored USD 9 million

adoption over the forecast period.

USD 852.2 million over the forecast period.

towards the research and development

In terms of technology, the parabolic trough

â&#x20AC;˘ Spain concentrated solar power market

of six new CSP projects in the country,

technology held over 75% of the global

size is set to exceed USD 1.22 billion by

to reduce the total project costs though

concentrated solar power market share

2025. Spain is the market leader with the

technological growth.

in 2016. Matured technology coupled with

maximum installed capacity in the world

Substantial reduction in the component

affordable costs as compared to other

as of year 2017.

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START YOUR

SOLAR B

USINESS Solar power business in India is mollycoddling. The opportunity in this sector is dynamic and extolling. Every person in this country today has a well economic space to edify his/her solar business without thinking of capital and ancillary expenses. Evading figures, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a well-known that India today walks on a red carpet in the worldwide gala of solar sector. We have figured out on how you can put your foot in the carpet. Governing you further, we have chosen few best business opportunities and ideas that can bear some fruit for you in this green rush.

Having said that, today, consumers are nominating everything which is green, so specifically this business needs a smart inventory. Keep Adding it Your List!

Product-Oriented Solar Business Opportunities SELL PRODUCTS Sell Products â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Billions of dollars of solar PV, solar thermal systems, solar attic fans, solar cooling systems, etc. are sold each year, not to mention all the component parts required to build and operate such installations. Add to those solar lights, solar gadgets, solar rechargers are among the growing list of related products that you can shelf and strategize a go-to market plan and be a market-frontier.

1 BE A DISTRIBUTOR As more and more manufacturers emerge, the portfolio is going to fortify. Every manufacturer needs a distributor today who can proffer unique business models. For example, a manufacturer sitting in some 1st tier city needs to reach remote location or to unveil his solar panels in diverse geographies across the country needs an evident and aggressive marketing platform. There you come-in, feature their products, understand their portfolio and reach out to the very last mile (end consumer).

2 SELL AFTER MARKET PRODUCTS

3 112

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Many think that putting up a solar is the just the story but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not the case. Solar business brings long-term customer relation and business. There are products that can be sold to people who already have solar installations to increase their yields, reduce the need for cleaning, etc.

Product-Oriented Solar Business Opportunities SELL 3RD PARTY PROVIDED SERVICES Besides selling products, you can also sell services provided by other companies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as solar insurance products, solar cleaning, solar financing, etc.

4 INVENT SOLAR PRODUCTS

5

Are you a bit of an inventor? There's a whole bunch of new solar products being developed. Need an idea? Take a look at any existing product that needs power to operate and think about how you could use solar energy to provide that power. Maybe you have a new way of doing something, the opportunities in solar are just as big if not bigger (solar is truly a global business).

FIND NICHES Take what someone is successfully doing in one market and try to make it viable for your local market. You can also try it to a niche market like (e.g., solar for RV vehicles, solar products for boats, solar products for recreational users, solar powered agricultural buildings, government, mobile apps for people interested in solar energy, etc.).

There are a lot of opportunities.

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Product-Oriented Solar Business Opportunities PRODUCE INFORMATIONAL PRODUCTS With everything going on in the solar industry today, there is a strong demand for good quality information.

If you are good at research; consider producing research reports, ebooks, instructional videos, solar training classes. The list of things you can make is limited only by your imagination.

7 PRODUCE FINANCIAL PRODUCTS Set up a financial company and offer specific financing products such as solar construction financing, long term solar project financing, joint venture financing, provide angel financing, acquire solar projects, etc. There are a growing number of private investment groups that are well equipped in nurturing this business vertical. Why not you too join this lucrative business!

8 DEVELOP & OWN SOLAR PROJECTS

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Unlike other projects in different sector which evidently needs a harrowing experience. It can be well justified that everyone today can be a solar developer. Find a good location, put together a team of experts develop a good business plan, raise the money, build your project, use your experience and complete projects without getting your hands dirty.

Solar Business Opportunities in the Service Sector INDEPENDENT SOLAR CONSULTANT A lot of people would like to know if it makes sense to install solar on their property. There you come in, they need professional guidance and literature guiding them across their entire process. And I can second this sector is bullish, so you might tap it fast.

10 FINANCING CONSULTANT

11

Solar installations are expensive and there are a lot of different government programs out there. Also, some banks will lend money for solar installations; so why not provide your services to help clients find the money they need to build their projects. Just as there are mortgage brokers, why not create your own "solar brokerage serviceâ&#x20AC;?.

SOLAR APPRAISAL In real estate, this business model has been in the books for years. Hence, solar appraisal business can also corner a market. The nature of the business is to assess the value of a solar array on a property for sale or the future potential of adding a solar installation on a building.

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Solar Business Opportunities in the Service Sector SOLAR REPAIRS Solar systems last for a long time but some maintenance is required from time to time, especially on older systems that might need to be upgraded with new inverters, wiring replaced, storm damage repairs, etc.

13 START A JOB PLACEMENT SERVICE On one hand, you have a lot of companies in the solar industry that need to hire people and on the other, you have a lot of people who would like to work in the solar industry. Start a solar job placement service, offer tips and advice to employers and job seekers alike. You would be helping a lot of people, including yourself.

14 START A SCHOOL

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Have a skill already like knowing how to install solar panels or solar heaters then why not to educate others.

As noted above (No.14), there is a big demand for skilled workers and you can provide training (either online or hands on). There is a growing need for skilled installers.

That's just one example there are many other skills you could teach people.

Solar Business Opportunities in the Service Sector START A NON-PROFIT

You don't have to be limited to for profit ideas, there are a number of non-profit solar business opportunities.

For example, you can start a foundation to help bring solar energy to people in need, advocate the adoption of FIT programs in your state, promote solar energy awareness in your community, promote greater awareness of vitamin D to help prevent disease, raise money for installing solar systems in developing countries, etc.

16 SOLAR BROKER

17

There is a growing market for companies looking to acquire and develop portfolios of solar projects.

In India, the concept is simple. Work on your own schedule to provide energy solutions for commercial clients through your existing and new relationships that you build and get paid for doing what you love.

ENERGY AUDITOR Another service that is growing in demand is to conduct energy audits and make recommendations how people can reduce their electrical consumption.

In commercial and industrial real estate, an energy audit is the first step in identifying opportunities to reduce energy expense and carbon footprints.

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PERSP The government of India has set an ambitious target of 175 GW of renewable power installed capacity by the end of 2022, of which 58 GW has been installed so far. The Indian solar market added 1,869 MW in the second quarter of 2017, bringing installations in the first half of the year to 4,765 MW. This figure surpasses the 4,313 MW installed in all of 2016.

According to a research firm, in the first half of 2017, large-scale solar installations made up 4,290 MW (90 percent) and rooftop installations constituted 475 MW (10 per cent) of total installations. Cumulative solar rooftop installations crossed a significant milestone of 1 GW at the end of Q2 2017. Andhra Pradesh became the first state in India to install over 2 GW of solar power. Currently, seven states have exceeded 1 GW of solar installations.

The research firm forecasts 2017 installations to reach 10.5 GW, which would be a 144 per cent increase year-over-year compared to the 4.3 GW installed last year. However, a joint study undertaken by NEC Technologies and industry body Assocham- India will need to add over 15,000 MW solar capacity every

ECTIVE year to achieve the target of 100GW by 2022.

The countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s installed solar capacity fell short of target of 17,000 MW by the end of the financial year 2016-17. The biggest technological issue in terms of solar is the efficiency of solar cells, the study said.

To achieve the 1, 00,000 MW target by 2022, the focus has slightly shifted from indigenous manufacturing as policies to curb the imports from other countries are not benefiting the domestic manufacturing. Furthermore, the increase in taxes in the GST structure in solar from 0% to 5% coupled with reduced taxes on coal from 11.69% to 5% may lead to slow adoption of solar in the Indian energy sector. Lack of uniform policies across sectors and implementation issues is also an area of concern. However, if Indian thrust of renewable energy persists, it would result in reducing the viability of coal-fired thermal power plants in the country. We reached out to solar Industry veterans working in different domain to bring a concoction of views from to and understand the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth, market challenges, trends and more.

Anupam Dhiman

Executive Director | EPC | Vikram Solar

Growth

Briefing on the company’s growth in the past year and milestones that the company expects to achieve this year, Anupam Dhiman-Executive Director, EPC, Vikram Solar said we have bagged half a dozen projects in 2016-17. Our module and service quality has always helped us to secure clients from the most conservative circles, and in 16-17 was no different. NTPC Limited, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited, Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Jindal Aluminium Limited, Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Company are a few of our satisfied clients.

Dhiman further added- we executed more than 200 MW (cumulative capacity) of projects last year. And a few of our projects that were commissioned last year wereMegawatt projects.

• NTPC-Bhadla, Rajasthan -130MW. • NTPC-Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh - 50MW. • Jindal Aluminium Limited - Bavihalu, Karnataka-20MW. • Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam- Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh-10MW Rooftop projects.

• Anmol Biscuits Limited Bhubaneshwar, Odisha- 400kW. • VIT/VIIT - Pune, Maharashtra- 260kW. • Allana Investments & Trading Co. Pvt. Ltd. - Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra-100kW • Our continued growth showcases our commitment and the trust we continue to gain from the industry he added.

Manish Chaurasia, Managing Director, Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd. (TCCL) on

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Manish Chaurasia

Dharmesh Tanti

MD | Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd.

Director, Operations & COO | Enrich Energy

the other hand said, since inception, Tata Cleantech Capital Limited (TCCL) has participated in the funding of over 4 GW of renewable energy generation across 100+ projects saving approximately 6.5 million tonne CO2 emission annually. Over the financial year FY16-17, Tata Cleantech Capital Limited (TCCL) has doubled its asset book from $180 Million to over $360 Million. The quality of our portfolio is evident from our 0% NPA levels. We aspire to grow our book to over $1.5 Billion by FY20.The year has been quite dynamic as TCCL actively ventured into syndication and financial advisory services as a synergistic addition to our existing lending portfolio. The renewable energy sector has experienced tremendous traction in the past year through technological advancements & business friendly policies. We believe it is critical that we remain abreast of all the happenings in the industry and take conscious, informed decisions to achieve sustainable & profitable growth while maintain a high quality book.

Chaurasia added this year, our focus is to leverage our superior industry expertise to underwrite/syndicate transactions and continue to actively contribute to the growth of the clean energy sector. In addition, we are looking to slowly and selectively diversify our portfolio into conventional infrastructure sectors like roads, power transmission etc.

Our endeavor is to be able to provide a full bouquet of products for the infrastructure finance requirement of our clients, thereby becoming the platform of first choice for offshore and domestic funds targeting the infrastructure sector in India.

Dharmesh Tanti, Director, Operations & COO, Enrich Energy Pvt. Ltd. briefing about the company’s growth said Enrich pioneered the Solar Park concept by developing India’s First Private Solar Park in 2012. The solar park is of 50 MW capacity located in Mandrup, Maharashtra. In hot pursuit Enrich developed another solar park of 50 MW at Karajgi, Maharashtra in 2014. In 2016, Enrich commissioned first Solar Park under fixed PPA in Telangana of 60 MW; this too was a first of its kind. Power evacuation facility of 100 MW is already commissioned.

In 2014, Enrich also commissioned a 642 kWp solar rooftop project at Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) which was an important milestone. Enrich has also installed rooftop projects at World Trade Center in Pune and other premier Commercial & Industrial rooftops across the country. He further stated Enrich made its foray in the EPC market in 2016 and was soon amongst the top players in the industry. Through its 6 years of journey from 2011, Enrich has commissioned 163 MW with another 100 MW under development. Enrich’s footprint now pans India and is growing rapidly.

Ashish Khanna, ED & CEO, Tata Power Solar said Tata Power Solar turns around its business with more than two and a half times in 2 years. The company has witnessed an increase in its net sales by 52% to touch a new height of Rs. 2262 crore in FY17 as compared to Rs. 1490 crore in FY16. The profit after tax also increased by 330% during FY17, which a remarkable achievement considering the fact that solar EPC is extremely low margin and the pressures faced

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Ashish Khanna ED & CEO | Tata Power Solar

Sachin Jain

Co-founder & CEO | Oriano Clean Energy

Simarpreet Singh

by the domestic manufacturing sector.

Tata Power Solar is India's largest integrated solar company and one of the leading players in the PV module manufacturing industry in India. Over the last 27 years, we have evolved into a robust, pragmatic and integrated solar player and have been consistently leading the rooftop solar market for four years (Source: Bridge to India rankings). We have unmatched experience in designing, manufacturing and executing customized solar solutions for diverse sectors namely telecom, oil and gas, education, banking, healthcare, IT, public infrastructure like roads as well as railways. We also have hands-on experience in designing and engineering megawatt-scale grid-connected solar power plants over the past ten years. We have a trained workforce that undertakes efficient operation and maintenance initiatives for various solar projects. We are amongst the few in the country with valued experience in metering and monitoring of project performance. All this gives us the ability to implement end-to-end solar solutions across diverse requirements said Khanna.

He added, as one of the largest solar manufacturers in India, we operate world-class manufacturing unit in Bangalore, with a production capacity of 400 MW of modules and 300MW of cells. We have completed more than 708MW of ground-mount utility scale and 150 MW of rooftop and distributed generation projects across the country till date. We have touched various milestones.

We crossed the milestone of shipping 1 GW of modules early this year. Last year in August, we successfully commissioned

our largest project, a 100 MW solar project for NTPC in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.

We delivered the project in record 80% of stipulated timeline, and nearly three months ahead of the stringent schedule. We commissioned India’s largest vertical solar farm for Dell India’s largest vertical solar farm at Bengaluru. Our 12 MW installation for R.S.S.B. Educational & Environmental Society (RSSB-EES) and 1.8 MW solar projects commissioned for IIT Roorkee are world’s largest solar rooftop installations at a single place. The project has been decorated with National Excellence Awards 2016. Most recently, we undertook energy generation expansion for India’s largest car port plant at Cochin International Airport commissioning 2.67 MW of solar carport.

Ashish Khanna also said as part of the prestigious TATA group, we stand for quality, excellence and total commitment towards our work. Our vision is to be the leading solar solutions provider in the country, delivering high quality and sustainable results to our clients. We are committed to enabling solar everywhere and bringing the power of the sun to people in the most efficient and cost effective ways. We do not comment on future outlook as it is largely dependent on market dynamics and policy support.

Sachin Jain, Co-founder & CEO, Oriano Clean Energy Pvt. Ltd. said last year, Oriano Solar did turnkey EPC for one of the first solar park of 23MWp in Karnataka selling power to private consumers. Also, we were successful to do turnkey EPC for one of the largest solar rooftop installations of 5.5 MWp in the country for a single industrial

end-consumer, Ashok Leyland/Hinduja Renewables. This is was one of the first projects to be funded through World Bank and SBI partnership to support funding of 100 MW of solar rooftop projects. He added, this year, we have broaden our portfolio from pure EPC solution provider to providing land, transmission line, solar park infrastructure along with end-consumer PPAs. We are currently executing turnkey EPC for around 105 MWp by December 2017. This includes a 50 MWp solar project in Karnataka on 1500V system and a 30 MWp Single Axis Tracker project using String inverters. We estimate to install 120 MWp+ in FY17-18.

Simarpreet Singh, Head, Strategy, Hartek Group speaking on the milestone that the company wish to achieve stated having connected about 600 MW of solar power to the grid, we have been adjudged as the fourth largest EPC company in the solar domain by Mercom Capital, a leading market analyst. Building on last year’s momentum, when we had secured more than 1-GW solar EPC orders, we are targeting the 2-GW mark by the end of the current financial year.

Having executed 13.75-MW rooftop projects, we have also been adjudged by Mercom Capital as one of the notable rooftop installers in the country with a 2% market share. We aim to enhance our share in rooftop by laying more emphasis on commercial and industrial categories. Focused on developing a sustainable power ecosystem, we are also foraying into residential and small-scale solar added Singh.

Head Strategy | Hartek Group

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Innovation in Finance When asked about the direction of innovation in financing for clean energy Manish Chaurasia, Managing Director, Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd. (TCCL) said, there is a lot of innovation happening in clean energy financing on a global scale. From securitization of assets to setting up of yield to monetize and plough back capital, there have been many new instruments to innovate investment. He added, clean energy projects, once operational, offer predictable cash flows and require minimal intervention for their long life of 25 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 30 years and thereby constitute the perfect opportunity for long term investors expecting steady cash flows.

To address this investor market, there have been various initiatives like credit rating enhancement and infrastructure debt funds which attempt to widen the investment pool to pension and insurance funds. This is expected to substantially boost the funds available for deployment to the sector said Chaurasia. He noted green bonds and special funding lines from overseas investors towards clean energy and specifically solar rooftop and energy efficiency sectors are innovative means to boost investment in the sectors.

Challenges Solar energy in India has witnessed quite a shift in the market in last few years and has brought lot of challenges for EPC players, manufacturers, developers and financers in this segment. Speaking about the challenges Anupam Dhiman said, although, progress is being made; there are challenges to be handled. Offering flexible incentives and financing options, slow net metering implementation time frame, imposing anti-dumping on foreign solar modules (India spent $1.3 billion in 2015-16 in imports), consistent decrease in announcement and awarding DCR projects, enforcing solar installations on buildings, establishing more module assessment labs (currently India has 5 MNRE accredited labs), delay in awarding contracts 9 out of 12 GW of bids conducted in the FY 2016-17 so far, only 4 GW has been awarded), delay in new manufacturing policy implementation, continuously falling discount in tariffs, lack of solar skill development etc. need prompt response from Government to bring comprehensive socio-economic growth in the country through solar development, said Dhiman.

On the other hand Manish Chaurasia said, there has been a lot of enthusiasm in the solar energy sector in India in the past year. This is partly on account of increased investment

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in the sector, particularly from overseas investors. Another factor is the increasing optimism among the Indian lenders possibly due to a mix of better understanding of the sector and increased funds available for deployment. In addition, there has been a reduction in solar panel costs prompting aggressive bidding in reverse auctions resulting in tariffs falling to a record low of Rs 2.44/unit in the SECI bid for Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan in May 2017. However, any volatility in the price of solar modules will pose a key challenge in the sector. We also foresee that the solar module prices in the short term may not fall at the pace anticipated and estimated by project developers.

Chaurasia notes that while these factors have resulted in an optimistic investment climate with more players entering the market, there are significant pricing pressures being experienced in project financing. It has become all the more critical for lenders today to ensure no compromise in the quality of project components and execution. GST implementation was yet another factor which hit the industry in the past year. The cost of solar projects went up by around 10-12% on account of increase in taxes. Proactive monitoring and actions helped us navigate through the GST implementation

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without much ado.

The biggest challenge in the renewable energy sector, as we see it, is the potential of reneging of contracts and power purchase agreements by the DISCOMs. Hence, it is extremely critical for the Government to maintain the sanctity of the executed contracts and tariffs for the sector to continue to grow and flourish in India. In addition to the challenges mentioned above, some key challenges like land availability / ownership have persisted owing to availability of contiguous land parcels being a pre-requisite for solar energy and hence, the high impact of risk involved. Grid connectivity, grid availability and evacuation infrastructure being in place continue to remain key challenges in the renewable energy sector. Availability of water, especially for O&M for solar projects, is yet another challenge added Chaurasia.

Dharmesh Tanti notes that policy and purpose, both are reasons for this shift of gears in the Indian Solar industry. Federal Policy provided the much required impetus to renewables, particularly Solar. On the other hand input cost reductions provided better viability for solar project investors, who have made investing in sustainable energy part of their overall purpose to support the environment and health.

As I see, there are two major challenges ahead for EPC- 1) Short to medium term volatility in module & commodity prices; pose

financial risk to EPC contractors who bagged fixed price orders based on current/projected aggressive prices and 2) Buyerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remorse to already ordered or under development projects, due to short term fall in input said Tanti.

Ashish Khanna said, we believe the domestic manufacturing has the potential to play critical part in the success of Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission. The sector has seen aggressive growth lately. India registered 145% growth in 2016 with total solar capacity addition of more than 5 GW. New capacity addition of around 9 GW is forecasted for 2017. This shall make India the third biggest solar market worldwide. He added, in India, people have â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;assumed certain costsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. However, cost is actual whereas price is strategic.

On the cost front, domestic modules are working capital costs and disadvantageous to some extent because of the scale, and subsidies provided to the Chinese manufacturers in form of power, land costs etc.) Having said that, we need to question and understand if it is the cost differential or price differential between us?

Khanna further stated that there has also been limited investment in manufacturing sector for quiet sometime which is not helping us to grow in scale. Compare this to the increasing domination of Chinese in the solar panel market. It is not more than 10 years old phenomenon i.e. a very recent development. This has been possible with the help of strong governmental support. That said

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it is imperative to create awareness among masses and stakeholders on the quality of the product. We need to understand that there is a gap between imports prices into India and import prices of other countries.

We have been informed that even within China, the price of solar module is higher than its price in India. This sort of pricing is possible only in case of strategic sale or distress sale - both of which are not favorable since we consider 25 years of life cycle for modules. Consumers must be aware that the most important repercussion of low quality wafers decrease life of the modules and consequently lower return on their investment. Lack of robust contractual obligations with any supplier can also play out to be a major roadblock in Indian solar dream.

In last 2 years, Indian manufacturers heavily dependent on DCR. However, in the absence of the revenue policy framework which incentivizes the manufacturing of not only cells and modules but PUE wafers as well as a sustainable pipeline will help manufacturers

to further invest in capacity and technology enhancement, said Ashish Khanna.

Speaking about the challenges Sachin Jain stated, currently due to newly introduced GST regime, there is still some different interpretation among the solar industry suppliers, manufactures, EPCs and developers. For e.g. for projects where modules are in scope of EPC and where it is only Balance of Plant. We see it would take another month or so to get the clarity on this issue.

Simarpreet Singh stated, Hartek Power is essentially Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) company with expertise in executing high-voltage substation turnkey projects and connecting solar power to the grid. Held in high esteem for timely execution of projects and high quality standards, Hartek Power provides complete EPC solutions on substations and transmission lines to the industry, independent power producers and utilities. We act as a single point of contact for getting all approvals and clearances.

Procedural delays by state DISCOMs can

come in the way of project deadlines, which are extremely crucial when it comes to solar. The utilities should come up with a mechanism to expedite the processes so as to ensure timely completion of all projects.

He further added that the rooftop segment also presents its own set of challenges. The main reason why rooftop solar has not really picked up in India as compared to groundmounted solar is lack of awareness about its immense scope and advantages to the end user. There are so many overzealous smallscale players in the integration business who commit more than what they can comfortably deliver, leaving the end consumers confused.

Concerted awareness programmes can go a long way in checking this trend.

Specialized manpower is another big challenge. Considering the unprecedented pace at which the Indian solar industry continues to grow, there is a need to give due importance to proper training and utilization of manpower said Singh.

Suggestion To Support Market Growth Manish Chaurasi believes, in order to support market growth, it is critical for the interests of all stakeholders to be protected and for the processes to be transparent. The government should continue to take a holistic long-term outlook to the industry and should not focus on short term gains. He said, the policy makers would do well to ensure that the power purchase agreements and other critical approvals like those for power evacuation or capacity allotment are honored for the entire term of the agreement. Increasing the clarity and transparency in the clearance processes in addition to decreasing the time taken for according clearances will help accelerate project execution and hence prevent delays.

Going forward, significant capacity addition is expected to happen in solar parks. Attractive bid structures with deemed generation, support in evacuation infrastructure and land etc

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will help drive timely project execution and

be better to auction projects where max size

boost investor confidence, said Chaurasia.

for all the players in the market. For this

of a project is 10 MW. This would create a

He further added, must-run status is critical

certain fundamentals need to be rectified

more dynamic and sustainable marketplace

for renewable energy sector due to inherent

to set the sector in the right trajectory.

where several players can take place and

variability in production due to variance in

We all understand that subsidy model is

industry can bloom further.

resource availability. Hence upholding the

not a sustainable model in the long term.

According to Ashish Khanna, the industry

must-run status is critical for the sector.

Investment in technology to the extent that it

is going through unprecedented growth. It

The Government should introduce policies

can compensate for the advantage garnered

continues to be a strong year for solar and

to protect the interests of the Indian solar

by subsidy is the key. A policy framework

is in line with the Government solar mission.

developers against any renege on contracts

that aligns the alternative sources of energy

However, the Indian solar PV manufacturers

executed with overseas solar module sup-

with due consideration to the environment

are facing challenge primarily due to inflow

pliers. This will help achieve certainty on

needs, to cater to the country’s base load

of cheap imports. He added, it is imperative

project cost and hence alleviate lender

is the need of the hour.

for government and the industry to work

concerns around cost over-run. Clarity on

MNRE should continue the critical role of

together to address basic concerns that

net metering scheme can provide boost to

policy formulation role with central and state

challenges the sector now.

the solar rooftop sector.

controllers to guarantee that the process

• Focus on Quality: Critical is to ensure

of tariff adjustment is as smooth as could

quality is not compromised due to singular

to incentivize the move to carbon-free rene-

be expected under such circumstances,

focus on lower tariff. Current reverse bid-

wable energy. Some states like Karnataka

said Khanna.

ding has certain checks and balances, but

have very favorable open access policies,

According to Simarpreet Singh, the gov-

considering the 100%

upfront CAPEX

he added.

ernment should formulate consistent long-

of solar projects and the long-term viability,

According to Anupam Dhiman, policy

term policies which boost investments

it is critical that more emphasis is given to

aid by Government has given support to

in renewable energy. It should make it a

long-term quality and sustainability.

Indian solar growth. He said- reaching

point to collaborate more effectively with

• Focus should be on Rooftop business:

the private sector so as to build the T&D

There is also merit in a concerted effort to

a country like India, which lack industrial

infrastructure for solar projects on a war

build higher awareness among end-users as

infrastructure like China, US and other

footing. In order to increase participation of

universal acceptance of solar is critical for it

dominant countries in the solar sector.

the private sector, the government should

to transform into a more robust industry that

However, as an Indian module manufacturer

come up with sustainable energy policies,

is not dependent on subsidies and grants.

we would implore Government of India to

backed by financial support. To boost the

We should develop a model for developers

look at the benefits of focusing on increasing

morale of private players, state utilities should

as well as DISCOMs and considering the

domestic manufacturing. Policies bringing

make timely and assured payments to them.

quality imperatives which are difficult to be

more projects, better financing options,

Rooftop solar in India has a bright future

checked by individuals, this sector should be

and subsidies for domestic manufacturing

in view of favorable government policies,

reserved for Indian manufactured products.

would create more employment, reduce

streamlined processes, an efficient regulatory

• Boost to manufacturing: We are very

mechanism and an investor-friendly business

committed to ‘Make in India’ initiative and

socio-economic growth of the country.

environment. The government must also

anticipate more focus on developing strong

On the other hand Dharmesh Tanti notes

realize that net metering offers the biggest

and robust manufacturing sector. Not only

that the policy impetus was timely, however

opportunity, but net metering policies are not

can manufacturing help us in becoming self-

unclear Open Access policy and Net Met-

being implemented at the ground level. Most

reliant from energy, but it has the potential

ering policy in certain states is holding

of the installations till date have come from

to generate employment, boost exports and

back business growth potential and wider

schemes for government-based projects.

thus bring Forex and therefore contribute to

adoption of Solar Energy.

Commercial and industrial installations have

the overall growth of the economy.

Sachin Jain said, the minimum project size

gained momentum in only the last two years,

• Investment in Technology: Indian gov-

said Singh. He further stated, residential

ernment has been instrumental in giving

increasing in the last 4 to 5 years. Now

rooftop is still in its nascent stage. A lot of

the much needed aggressive push to the

average project size has reached minimum

effort is required in terms of policies and

sector in the initial phase. Now the need is

size of 50 MW, said Jain. He added, this

business models for this particular segment

to focus on building and strengthening the

typically results in only 3 to 4 developers

to pick up growth. Residential market is

domestic solar ecosystem and technology

winning the project and very few companies

expected to pick up in the coming years

which is best suited for Indian requirements.

in the value chain get the benefit. It would

on account of better policy support and

There should also be a level-playing field

lowering of solar capital costs.

Open access policies should be redesigned

13 GW in 2017 is an incredible feat for

import expenses, and allow independent

of a solar project has been continuously

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Current Trends

Sharing his perspective on the current trends in solar PV industry on a global scaleAnupam Dhimansaid, global solar industry will see increase in new procurement methods like tendering and auctions. India, Latin America and other new and emerging markets will show incredible growth this year, leading world solar capacity up to more than 8 % from the previous year. Unlike 2016, demand in 2017 will increase bring stability to module prices. Last quarter of 2017 is expected to raise the demand for not just countries like India and Japan (enjoy moderate to high demand all year), but also for China, and Europe.

O&M market is suspected to see considerable increase, highlighting global urgency to establish solar energy as a stable mainstream energy. Although, the expectancy of witnessing ground breaking technology in solar industry this year is slim, 1,500V PV system will become the new trend globally, said Dhiman. He no-ted, US abandoning its commitment to the Paris Agreement did create a few swirls in the industry, but the market has revived from the shock and moving forward, which is what it is expected to do rest of the year, with global acceptance and eagerness backing the growth.

Manish Chaurasi expects the total global solar PV installed capacity to continue its growth trajectory with China still leading the pack and India at number four in installed capacity by the end of 2016. He said, tough there is stagnation due to policy pullbacks across major markets including China, Japan, the USA and most parts of Europe, the demand is picking up and is expected to get back on track by the end of the year. We see that the auction route of tariff determination is gaining universal acceptance. Bridge to India estimates that the number of countries using auctions to allocate solar capacity has increased from 14 in 2014 to 22 in 2016.

While solar module prices fell at unpr-

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ecedented rates in FY17, the rate of fall has decelerated over the last couple of months on account of increasing global demand and oligopoly in the Chinese market. In fact, certain Chinese module manufacturers are attempting to negotiate increase in module prices even for executed module supply agreements, said Chaurasia. He further added; while developed countries are shifting towards utility scale projects, emerging markets see their governments trying to encourage more rooftop solar growth. In India, rooftop solar has maintained a 10-12% share of overall solar capacity, which is much lower than other key markets such as US, Germany, China, Spain and Australia.

According to Dharmesh Tanti technically two aspects will play a major role in exploding the Solar PV market. First, solar module efficiency is projected to improve further with technological advancements in cell structure and module design. This will lead to better Solar PV project economics and better land utilization, which is a key resource.

Second, Energy storage, specifically battery, is a synergistic solution.

Cost effectiveness of PV coupled with controlled

power dispatch ability of battery can provide firm power, and can replace conventional energy sources. This will also open up the micro-grid potential globally. He further stated, within the next decade, Solar PV hybrid energy systems will revolutionize the way we experience energy, it will be both clean and abundant.

Talking about the current trends in solar PV industry on a global scale Ashish Khannasaid Solar is a sunrise industry globally and the world is moving towards increasing solarization. The future of solar is bright. PV + storage will dominate the energy supply in most locations in the world. Solar with

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storage together constitute the parallel and intertwined revolutions that are set to transform our energy system worldwide.

He further stated, attaining energy security while balancing energy demand is a critical aspect. India has always been an enthusiastic supporter of renewable energy and the national target to generate 53% of power from non-fossil fuel sources by 2027 and targets under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission is testimony to our leadership conviction in working towards clean energy.

There is an increasing competition in the solar PV market both in terms of expanse and penetration, impacted by low cost of panels.

The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) has dropped down by almost 60%. According to some reports, the share of renewable energy in the global energy basket stands at 40% and going by the current wave, it should increase further with China becoming the biggest contributor to this growth by 2035, said Khanna.

Sachin Jain notes that Oriano is seeing increased adoption by Commercial & Industrial (C&I) consumers as solar power is helping them reduce their electricity bills by 20% to 30%. Solar power has now reached a level where it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need any subsidy support and is comparatively cheaper than existing electricity tariffs which the industries pay for. Hence, we are seeing the C&I market is opening up rapidly where end-consumers can put the project either on their Rooftop, or on their own ground premises or through open access through transmission networks and get solar power which is cheaper than their electricity bills.

Simarpreet Singh pointing out at the new trend in module efficiency and storage said, a lot of R&D is taking place the world over to come up with more efficient solar modules, and the results have been quite encouraging. As for energy storage, lithium ion batteries are still the most preferred. He added, the concentrated solar power (CSP) technology is also gaining acceptance in view of its remarkable efficiency.

Make in India Success Make in India is obviously announced with the idea of building industrial infrastructure in India which will in turn drive socio-economic growth. And Indian solar industry’s leap from 5 GW in 2015 to 13 GW in 2017 shows Government’s support behind the growth.

However, to be truly successful, Make in India venture has to be more focused on solar domestic manufacturing said Anupam Dhiman. He noted, as Indian solar industry is rapidly becoming a considerable job creator, the industry has the potential to help solve the employment problems in the country, which is what Make in India’s true purpose is.

Dhiman further

stated, allowing domestic manufacturing to grow in Indian solar industry can improve Indian energy scene, provide employment and save huge amounts of money from going to import expenses.

So, although successful, India needs to use Make in India to develop domestic manufacturing strength to make the venture a true success.

Speaking about the success of government’s “Make in India” initiative Ashish Khanna noted, India has sturdy manufacturing base that should be able to propel ‘Make in India’ campaign to its fruition. In this context government’s impetus in terms of tax incentives, land acquisition and building of favorable ecosystem for the sector can play significant dividends. He added, it is ironical that while Indian solar sector is seeing explosive growth, the domestic manufacturing sector has not been able to grow with the similar trajectory. Some views that the Indian solar growth is being fueled by cheap imported solar modules

while the Indian units are closing down due to falling customer base. Solar has long way to go and if certain fundamentals can be rectified to enable a level playing field for the domestic sector, it can surely be a game changer for increasing deployment of made in India products.

Khanna further said, rooftops will be cri-tical for bridging the current energy divide and also ensure larger adoption of solar at a consumer level. Rooftops also have the highest capacity to generate employment and make the industry

increasingly independent of policy support.

While policies like net metering have been employed across most states, there is a need for effective implementation and roll-out to encourage the end-customer to adopt clean energy.

• High Quality: We need better checks and balances to ensure quality for long term viability of the plant. The need for quality standardization is critical, to ensure there is no compromise on the output, given that most solar modules have a 25 years’ warranty. With low entry barriers, there is scope for inexperienced players to enter the market, and dilute the long term impact of solar by focusing on short-term gains.

• Focus on distributed generation: Prominence on large grid connected solar projects has helped in achieving our solar growth numbers. However, true impact of solar will be visible by driving distributed

generation like solar rooftops. While policies like net metering have been employed across most states, their implementation and roll-out needs that the end-customer is encouraged to adopt clean energy.

• Building awareness: There is also merit in a concerted effort to build higher awareness among end-users as universal acceptance of solar is critical for it to transform into a more robust industry that is not dependant on subsidies and grants.

• Operations & Maintenance Needs: Once the rooftops will grow the requirement of O&M will also witness exponential; growth and hence a reliable O&M system needs to be in place.

• Skill development: We must invest in skill development and trainings to brush up industry new technologies.

For the domestic sector technology hasn’t been the major problem, it is the drying up of pipeline that has hit the business in its budding stage. Consequently, lack of ramping up of capacity further results in short supply of domestic modules in the market. This is a vicious circle.

Domestic cell manufacturing is also dependent on external forces and import wafers and in that sense we need to holistically develop domestic ecosystem to take full advantage of this unprecedented business opportunity said Khanna.

- Santanu@saurenergy.com

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NATIONAL EVENTS

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

RENEWABLE ENERGY INDIA EXPO 2017

NEW ENERGY HUSUM 2017

website : www.renewableenergyindiaexpo.com

website : www.new-energy.de START DATE : 12-Sep-2017 END DATE : 15-Sep-2017 E-mail : freese@messehusum.de

START DATE : 20-Sep-2017 END DATE : 22-Sep-2017

Location : Greater Noida, India Phone : +919990962410 E-mail : Pankaj.sharma@ubm.com

SOLAR INDIA 2017 EXPO website : www.essentialtradefairs.com START DATE : 03-Nov-2017 END DATE : 05-Nov-2017

Location : Jaipur, India Phone : +91-9324077881 E-mail : mktg.essential@gmail.com

ASIA ENERGY TECH EXPO website : www.energyexpo.in START DATE : 03-Nov-2017 END DATE : 05-Nov-2017

Location : Chhattisgarh, India Phone : +91- 98736 09092

E-mail : info@energyexpo.in

Phone :

+49 4841 902498

INTERSOLAR MIDDLE EAST 2017 website : www.intersolar.ae START DATE : 26-Sep-2017 END DATE : 27-Sep-2017 E-mail : info@intersolar.ae

Location : Dubai, UAE Phone :

+49 761 38813800

2ND ANNUAL ARGENTINIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY CONGRESS Location : Argentina website : www.airecweek.com START DATE : 2-Oct-2017 Phone : +44 20 70990600 END DATE : 5-Oct-2017 E-mail : nick.wilkins@greenpowerglobal.com

SOLAR & STORAGE LIVE 2017 website : uk.solarenergyevents.com START DATE : 3-Oct-2017 Location : Dubai, UAE END DATE : 4-Oct-2017 Phone : +44 207 8710122 E-mail : mmanthena@solarmedia.co.uk

INTERSOLAR INDIA 2017 website : www.intersolar.in START DATE : 05-Dec-2017 END DATE : 07-Dec-2017

Location : Mumbai, India Phone : +49 7231 585980 E-mail : intersolar@intersolarglobal.com

ALL INDIA SOLAR SUMMIT 2018 website : www.aiss.org.in START DATE : 23-Feb-2018 END DATE : 25-Feb-2018

Location : Husum, Germany

THE 3RD ANNUAL SOLAR PROJECTS EGYPT website : solarprojectsegypt.com START DATE : 9-Oct-2017 Location : Cairo, Egypt END DATE : 10-Oct-2017 Phone : +971 4 5631555 E-mail : opportunities@acm-events.com

SAUDI RENEWABLE ENERGY CONFERENCE Location : Lucknow, India Phone : +91 522 2720090

E-mail : info@niss.org.in

website : renewableenergyksa.com START DATE : 11-Oct-2017 Location : Saudi Arabia END DATE : 12-Oct-2017 Phone : +966 59 7598677 E-mail : jaisimha.das@nispana.com

ALL-ENERGY AUSTRALIA 2017

RENEWX 2018

website : www.renewx.in START DATE : 06-Apr-2018 END DATE : 07-Apr-2018

Location : Hyderabad, India Phone : +919990962410 E-mail : Pankaj.sharma@ubm.com

website : www.all-energy.com.au START DATE : 11-Oct-2017 Location : Melbourne, Australia END DATE : 12-Oct-2017 Phone : +61 2 94222568 E-mail : desire.wilton@reedexhibitions.com.au

THE 9TH CHINESE RENEWABLE ENERGY CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION

2ND SOLAR TODAY EXPO

website : www.solartodayexpo.com START DATE : 10-Apr-2018 END DATE : 12-Apr-2018

Location : Bengaluru, India Phone : +91 9930959799 E-mail : zakir@solartodayexpo.com

website : www.crecexpo.com START DATE : 2-Nov-2017 END DATE : 4-Nov-2017 E-mail : liuyang@crecexpo.com

Location : Wuxi, China Phone :

+86 510 81827276

SNEC 12TH (2018) 3RD SOLAR INDIA 2018 EXPO

website : www.solarindiaexpo.com START DATE : 23-May-2018 END DATE : 25-May-2018

Location : New Delhi, India Phone : +91 11 42795011

website : www.snec.org.cn START DATE : 28-May-2018 END DATE : 30-May-2018 E-mail : info@snec.org.cn

E-mail : praveens@eigroup.in

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Location : Shanghai, China Phone :

+86 21 53893020

The solar industry has been a strong contender amid the fallout of many global market shares. The solar industry has successfully challenged the reports of weak demand of solar installations. Not just withstanding a handsome market share, The solar industry is striving forefront to embed newer technologies and bid on high-efficiency and lucrative regulations. 2017 global demand for solar PV will exceed 80 GW for the first time, despite the fact that year-on-year growth will actually fall from 2016â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impressive 55% to a more sustainable 4%. GTM predicts global solar PV demand to reach 112.5 GW in 2022, with a cumulative forecast between 2017 and 2022 of 570 GW at a compound annual growth rate of 6.7%, bringing the global solar PV install base up to 871 GW. Specifically, GTM predicts 2017 will install 81.1 GW of solar, up from 2016â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 77.8 GW. Slowing demand in East Asia will be compensated by strong growth in emerging markets.

TRENDS

Era of Smart Meters Smart meters are used to provide real-time monitoring of the electricity usage to the customer as well as electricity providers. Deployment of smart meters is an inseparable part of power distribution automation com-ponents to extend the benefits for the customers. Thus, it is a big trend present in power distribution automation components. Benefits offered by smart meters are not only restricted to customers and utility providers, rather, the government also benefitted as the real-time information of electricity usage makes the customers conscious about their energy utilization and thus reduces the power wastage and optimum utilization of power generating capacity.

Utility-Scale Projects on the Ramp Utility-scale solar projects comprise nearly two-thirds of the total solar energy market in the past few years, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Understanding the recent solar power boom requires examining this market. Although the residential solar energy market has experienced steady and consistent growth over the past decade, the utility-scale solar market growth has been nearly exponential. This solar power boom is anticipated to continue through 2017, as there are more than 20 gigawatts of contracted solar projects in the pipeline.

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TRENDS

Smart Solar Panels Smart solar panels, controls and monitoring momentum has increased sharply. PV panels with integrated electronics addressed a wide range of applications from optimization, to monitor, to rapid shut down compliance.

Smart solar junction boxes for OEM panels and modular plug-and-play solutions could be seen throughout the event. Industry standards need to be addressed to ensure interoperability and mechanical intermateability among the variety of application opportunities. Smart solar products will be a vital link in the convergence of smart buildings and home automation systems. These systems will now link self-generation and energy storage with demand consumption enabling the owner occupier to have greater independence.

Coupling Energy Storage and Renewables Intelligent energy storage integrates Internet of Things (IoT) technology with energy storage technology to increase its effectiveness and efficiency. One of the benefits it offers is increasing the feasibility and utility of integrating renewable energy with energy storage.

This leads to numerous energy saving benefits that can be especially attractive to businesses as they pursue renewable energy goals. For example, Google parent Alphabet plans to reach its goal of using 100 percent renewable energy by the end of 2017; Apple says that 96 percent of the electricity it uses already comes from renewable energy; and Facebook is positioning itself to hit the 50 percent mark by 2018. In addition, the prices of renewables such as solar and wind have fallen about 80 percent in the last 10 years according to reports. Energy storage is becoming a major player in the global energy market and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. As component prices decline, the benefits of energy storage will become both more attainable and attractive. Integration with the IoT will create additional advantages through intelligent energy storage to facilitate integration of energy storage and renewables as well.

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TRENDS

Mini Grid and Off-Grid – Determining the LastMile of Rural India

India has huge and diverse geographical and economic diversity. The toiling rural electrification is on the provision by the current government exercise. Reaching the lastmile means that small, off-grid projects will become the most effective way to expand access to electricity.

Micro grids provide an immediate solution for rural India to gain access to electricity and as these offgrid projects incorporate renewable energy sources to generate electricity, they are a sustainable and ultimately more reliable solution than the large national grids. The introduction of small-scale mini or micro grids with distributed generation can provide them with a more manageable option of electrification.

It’s more affordable. There is no need for expensive specialist resources and there is a reduction of OPEX (less manpower needed). It is more reliable because it is decentralized (and the supply is not reliant of large power plants) and it is a lot more environmentally friendly.

Perovskites – A Research to Reality Most of the solar panels commercially deployed are made from the silicon cells. But research into other materials and strategies is underway in laboratories around the world. Some of the most promising recent research for silicon alternatives has involved materials called perovskites. The word “perovskite” is also used for synthetic compounds that have the same orthorhombic crystal structure as the naturally occurring mineral (or a closely related one) and share a structurally similar chemical formula.

Depending on which elements are used, perovskites can display a wide variety of useful properties, such as superconductivity, giant magnetoresistance and photovoltaic activity. Their use in PV cells has generated a great deal of optimism, as they have shown an unprecedented increase in efficiency from 3.8 percent to 20.1 percent in the past seven years of laboratory research. This rapid rate of progress inspires confidence that further gains are likely, especially as the factors limiting efficiency are becoming clearer.

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TRENDS

Blockchain – from Nowhere to Everywhere One day, the energy grid could look completely different than it does today. Instead of big power plants sending electrons over long distances to people’s homes, we might generate more power locally using solar panels, and homeowners might become makers and traders of power as well as passive consumers. If so, blockchain technology could help keep track of electrons flowing through the system, energy futurists say. Just as the blockchain has allowed people to track and authenticate Bitcoin transactions, it could help mediate transactions of energy units through a cooperative, decentralized network, they believe. Although there’s a lot interest in using blockchain for energy trading, it may be some time before we see the technology at scale. The energy market is highly regulated and change is slow. However, it seems like all the building blocks are in place for a completely different sort of power system to emerge.

In the future, we could really be transacting electrons with our neighbors.

Trackers Europe is expected to show a decline in demand for solar trackers. China, the U.S., India and Japan are expected to be the major driving forces for generating the demand for solar trackers.

Going beyond the local market is the current trend in the industry and hence, the market is becoming truly global. Solar trackers have unique functionalities in each application such as minimizing the angle of incidence between the photovoltaic panel and the incoming sunlight in PV applications and orienting the optics in CPV and CSP systems. At present CPV is an emerging technology in the solar energy industry. The CPV system produces low cost solar power due to low manufacturing cost and fewer raw material requirements. Around 85% to 90% solar panels can be recycled due to usage of glass and aluminum as raw materials.

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TRENDS

Semiconductor and Solar – A Consolidated Future The electronics and semiconductor industry has launched various semiconductor solutions such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) for solar power systems. Various semiconductor products used in solar PV market include PV cells, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), metal oxide field effect transistors (MOSFETs), diodes, couplers, analog IC, logic IC, micro components and optical semiconductors, among others. Factors driving the growth of the solar power market include volatility in fossil fuel prices, environmental concerns, government incentives, and technological developments. The demand for semiconductor power devices in solar PV is spurred by rising concerns over efficiency in performance to reduce power losses. Continued focus on design improvements across the electrical and electronics industry has been driving the growth in demand of semiconductors in solar power industry. Developments in GaN (gallium nitride) and SiC (silicon carbide) technologies represent an emerging opportunity in solar power market for semiconductor industry players as these technologies offer better features such as better power efficiency. Competition from conventional energy sources which are offered at a subsidy across different countries represents a challenge to the growth of solar power market owing to cost issues. This in turn affects the growth of semiconductors for renewable energy including solar PV.

Solar PV Market – The Frontiers Leading solar photovoltaic (PV) market researchers are predicting a growth in global PV demand in the next 4 years along with rapid technological change after a 7% slow down predicted in 2017 in global PV demand, market researchers forecast that solar power will be back on a path of growth in the following 4 years. A cumulative forecast 2016 – 2021 of 506 GW with a 9% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) leaves space for optimism in the industry’s future. Global PV demand registered a 20% growth in 2015 and a 34% growth in 2016, with the global utility–scale market being the primary driver in the last year, with residential growth mainly concentrated in Japan, US, Germany, Australia and the UK. In 2016 China, US and Japan made up 66% of the 66GW market, with China being the number one market in the world, the US number two and India looking set to become one of the more interesting markets in the future, forecast to overtake Japan to become the third biggest market by 2018.

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TRENDS

Freefall of Solar Bids The lowest bids can be undermined or loosefit for Indian solar players in front of Chinese majors. Let’s keep it debatable. But the fact not to deny is, solar power tariffs in India are falling at a quantum rate which includes the recent Rs 2.44 per unit bidding for Bhadla Phase-III Solar Park in Rajasthan. The previous low solar tariffs of Rs 3.15 per unit had been witnessed on April 13 for the Kadapa Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh for NTPC’s auction of 250 MW. It can be noted commendable. 2017 and early 2018 might witness more astounding solar bids as India will be pivotal on determining the low-bid cult.

India PV Inverter Market is Trending

Solar Power Feeding the Grids of Future?

According to "India PV Inverter Market Outlook, 2021", the

It’s impossible to say how supply and technology might

market for PV inverters in India is expected to grow with a

impact the price and accessibility of other traditional or

continuously increasing CAGR of 4.74% from 2015 to 2021.

Central Inverters are the major market share acquirers of the inverter market. Micro-inverters are also forecasted to increase its share technology wise. Residential segment is the new target of the inverter industry. The unorganized

alternative fuel sources. However, it’s important to look at the way that solar capacity has grown, despite some obstacles. In addition, solar panel cost should decline while the technology and appearance of these systems improve.

Once, the industry can reduce storage costs that might remove the last barrier that prevents general adaption of

sector which was leading the market till 2012 is forecasted

solar power as a means for generating electricity. Once

to shrink in the coming years. New entrants are also

the solar industry can consistently offer consumers the

increasing and their revenue share is expected to grow over the forecasted period, owing to their expansion plans and widening of dealership networks.

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advantages of power that is renewable, clean, and cheap to generate and store, consumers and utilities are likely to demand more solar systems.

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- Niloy@saurenergy.com

INNOVATIONS

Cyborg Bacteria Can Harvest Solar Energy to Produce Fuel Scientists have created cyborg bacteria microbes covered with tiny, highly efficient solar panels - that are better than plants at harvesting the Sun's energy to produce fuel from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis provides energy for the vast majority of life on Earth. However, chlorophyll, the green pigment that plants use to harvest sunlight, is relatively inefficient. To enable humans to capture more of the Sun's energy than natural photosynthesis do, scientists have taught bacteria to cover themselves in tiny, highly efficient solar panels to produce useful compounds. "Rather than rely on inefficient chlorophyll to harvest sunlight, I have taught bacteria how to grow and cover their bodies with tiny semiconductor nanocrystals," said Kelsey K Sakimoto, from University of California, Berkeley in the US. "These nanocrystals are much more efficient than chlorophyll and can be grown at a fraction of the cost of manufactured solar panels," said Sakimoto. Humans increasingly

are looking to find alternatives to fossil fuels as sources of energy and feedstocks for chemical production. Many scientists have worked to create artificial photosynthetic systems to generate renewable energy and simple organic chemicals using sunlight.

Progress has been made, but the systems are not efficient enough for commercial production of fuels and feedstocks. The new research focuses on harnessing inorganic semiconductors that can capture sunlight to organisms such as bacteria that can then use the energy to produce useful chemicals from carbon dioxide and water. The scientists worked with a naturally occurring, nonphotosynthetic bacterium, Moorella thermoacetica, which, as part of its normal respiration, produces acetic acid from carbon dioxide (CO2). Acetic acid is a versatile chemical that can be readily upgraded to a number of fuels, polymers, pharmaceuticals and commodity chemicals through complementary, genetically engineered bacteria.

Researchers fed cadmium and the amino acid cysteine, which contains a sulfur atom, to the bacteria, they synthesized cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles, which function as solar panels on their surfaces. The hybrid organism, M thermoacetica-CdS, produces acetic acid from CO2, water and light. "Once covered with these tiny solar panels, the bacteria can synthesize food, fuels and plastics, all using solar energy," Sakimoto said. "These bacteria outperform natural photosynthesis," he said. The bacteria operate at an efficiency of more than 80 per cent, and the process is self-replicating and self- regenerating, making this a zerowaste technology. "Synthetic biology and the ability to expand the product scope of CO2 reduction will be crucial to poising this technology as a replacement, or one of many replacements, for the petrochemical industry," said Sakimoto.

TOUR UNFOLDS MANY STORIES IN ONE BOOK India has been the soil of many revolutions, today India is marking its socio-economic disposition across the globe. It is worth to mention that India’s is the protagonist in playing the successful lead green role for the world. India can be called as a collective name which has many copious home-grown companies who are propelling the Solar Dream of this country. Today, the forename which comes in India’s solar league is ‘RelyOn Solar’. Containing a sprawling headquarter in Pune (India), RelyOn Solar has an extensive installation base of 16 states across India and installation in Middle East. The company with his in-house R&D facilities in Pune, Bangalore and Vijaywada up shoots a strong stem of innovation in the country.

We travelled towards their facility with the zeal to unfold the company’s business.

The team of Saur Energy – International enthusiasm was amplified through RelyOn Solar’s warm greetings.

Settling down after a long orbital alternation in the flight, we kept our perennial acquaintance to know further about RelyOn Solar.

Accompanied by Dr. Gundu Sabde, CMD, RelyOn Solar Pvt. Ltd, a person who carries more than 29 patents to his name and often known for his acolyte for innovations.

Advancing equal steps to twig with their success stream in the solar industry, Sabde readily said, solar companies mainly focus on specific verticals and cater set customer base. But over the years, RelyOn Solar has developed and commercialized unique solar power solutions customized for each application and empowering solar for

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diverse nature of businesses. Given hands on various verticals of solar business, RelyOn solar focus includes rooftop systems for different types of roofs (RCC floor, industrial metal roof), solarized petrol pumps, DC water pumps for agriculture and domestic requirement. In no second it was a well diction that RelyOn Solar flaunts an emphatic portfolio.

Asserting on their prime principles, he noted that RelyOn Solar has a strong focus towards improving continuous efficiency and reducing in Rs./watt through innovative solutions & vertical integration. With our knowledge of the photovoltaic domain, we are able to leverage global sourcing of high quality, reliable and cost effective solar panels and other components.

Instantaneously phrasing, ‘Filling the house with Dreams’ as the aura quite resembled to it, chairing over with rich tea.

We asked Sabde to share an anecdote on the brick to brick development of the company. Sharing a glimpsing smile, he said, RelyOn Solar was established in 2010 as a distributed power generation solar company to address power cuts when solar had become an economically viable option against diesel generators. Emphasizing on innovations with integrity, he added, we specialize in design, engineering, supply, installation, commissioning, operations and maintenance of solar power systems, ranging from KW to MW capacities. RelyOn Solar leadership team brings wealth of business experience of working in global, professional environment.

Traversing across to feast our eyes across their vast portfolio and the processes,

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it surely had to be a mile to reach and decisively quote their portfolio as it was immense and lustrous. We asked on their services and how they carry off their end-customers’ goal, he was in all smiles saying that upcoming decade is about renewable and sustainable development. The current state of this industry is analogues to where the internet was in the late 1990s. The future will bring many exciting possibilities to many of us who are contributing to this field today and we are not only exploring but also successfully catering the demand. He said, currently our services focuses on rooftop installations, ground mounted, utility-scale, off-grid and grid tied, solution for petrol pumps, solar powered water pumps, solution for solar park roof, raised structure installations, leak proof structures, OPEX model and open access.

We can all achieve it through our hightrained professionals and the collective zeal to empower the country with clean energy.

RelyOn Solar has many success stories to share, as the company has given many stories to back this word. When asked about their unique installations, Sabde illustrated successful implementation in Cybage, solar park roof at Gabriel car park, Rooftop at Pune IT park, solar panels at railway coaches which he claims as ground-breaking and the future of power-efficient Indian railways and also Railway Training Center using BIPV. Sabde envisioned that the company is also on a trail to supervise and augment many more successful green stories in India and globe in coming time.

Emphasizing on self-reliance for power, Sabde continued, In India, Solar energy industry has provided ample opportunities to startups as well as multinationals.

RelyOn Solar helps every step of the way you can start and run your own solar generation business in no time. It is known for its expertise, experience and innovations in variety of installations, also known for exclusive solutions for petrol

pumps, banks, hospitals, hotels, small businesses, bungalows, farm houses, housing societies, poultry farms, fisheries, solar water pumps. RelyOn Solar has a proven track record of implementation of solar rooftops in various sectors including industrial and commercial rooftops with most innovative approach towards space saving and maximization of solar power generation. It has installations across India and has started its business expansion in Middle East and Africa.

Noting on its franchise base, he asserted that RelyOn Solar has planned expansion of its network and reach by appointing franchisee across India. This is an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs who are looking for business opportunities in the solar industry, one of the fastest growing industry in India.

Coming to the end of the visionary journey, we were more intrigued to know about their solar trackers, and it seem the bowl has finally filled with soup as it brought a spark on his face while educating us on their tracker technology. Sabde prudently described, “Robust, Maintenance Free, Smart & Accurate Algorithm, Frictionless Bearing and Completely Indigenous”.

He added, their trackers enhance project viability as it increases 18-25% higher power generation. It also Improved project IRR and reduced LCOE (Levelised Cost of Energy) and the tracker investment payback is in less than 4 years.

Talking on tracker’s technology and technicality front, he said that it is the most flexible tracking solution. Each row individually powered by a motor, installation possible up to 15% field slope, high power density per acre, up to 32KWp in just 50m length. He touts that their trackers are the highest performance tracking solution, in fact, it looked more than just satisfactory. It embeds an accurate & smart algorithm for tracking true solar position, adaptive backtracking and a large tilt angle (-55 deg to +55 Deg). Finally noting about its maintenance system, Sabde prompted that has the

Dr. Gundu Sabde CMD|RelyOn Solar Pvt. Ltd most easy maintenance system. It has no mechanical links, each row is independent, robust design, comprises a maintenance free gearbox and motor, nextgen frictionless bearing, quick installation, stowage mode for wind, quick reset to stowage position and a cleaning mode available for routine cleaning.

Coming to the verge of our erudite journey, we concluded asking him on the company’s role for a visionary future of this industry. He culminated; solar community is very excited about recent net metering regulations in multiple states.

However, net metering alone cannot take solar power content beyond 20 to 30 percent of total electricity demand. If the renewable content has to increase to 50%, we will have to supply solar power 24 hours for which advanced batteries will become the necessity. Our off-grid experience will become a key advantage in providing 24-hour solar solution. It is clear that Renewables in general and solar power, in particular, are here to stay. The future will bring many exciting possibilities to many of us who are contributing to this field today. ‘It will be a green future’.

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Date 3 to 5 Nov. 2017 Venue : Amroodon Ka Bagh, Vidhan Sabha Marg, Jaipur ( Raj.)

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Contact for participation

I

Mumbai - Rajesh Sinha : +919324077881 Delhi & NCR : Ankita Rathee : +918800776526 Gagan Sharma: +919999928252 South India - Anil Nalvade : +919916686615 Jaipur : Ashok Pareek :+918290099995

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