SolarQuarter April Issue 2020

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CONTENTS IN CONVERSATION

NEWS 04 INDIA NEWS 06 ASIA NEWS 07 MONTHLY TENDER OUTLOOK

INSIGHTS 14 PROTECTING THE SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRY IN INDIA DURING A PANDEMIC OUTBREAK OVERVIEW: Impact of COVID-19 on the solar energy industry in India Will it happen again?

Alternative risk transfer solutions for solar energy companies Protecting the solar energy industry in India

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MR. PRADEEP KUMAR

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DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS, LONGI SOLAR TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD.

30 MINIMIZING THE IMPACT DURING COVID-19: SUNGROW, HOW IT MANAGED SO FAR

CHAIRMAN, AVAADA "We are adept at leveraging people, process, and technology framework for ensuring continuous improvement."

"Middle East and Africa are the new focus areas for LONGi and a lot of manpower is being recruited for conducting business in this region."

23 SOLAR AFTER THE BLACK SWAN

MR. VINEET MITTAL

PERSPECTIVE 13 THE MOST COMMON ERROR IN A SOLAR OR BATTERY INSTALLATION 16 HOW CAN GUJARAT MAINTAIN IT'S LEADERSHIP POSITION IN SOLAR ROOFTOP SEGMENT? 18 WILL RESIDENTIAL ROOFTOP SOLAR SECTOR CONTINUE TO GROW WITH ITS EXISTING MOMENTUM IN INDIA?

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22 WHAT'S THE EASIEST WAY TO SPEED UP INSTALLATION OF SOLAR ENERGY?

MR. MANOJ GUPTA VP-SOLAR AND WASTE TO ENERGY BUSINESS, FORTUM INDIA PVT LTD. "Our role is to accelerate the shift towards sustainability by reshaping the energy system, improving resource efficiency and providing smart solutions."

PRODUCT FEATURE

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MR. RUCAS WANG REGIONAL DIRECTOR, GROWATT "Our advanced PV technologies and product reliability are very well recognized by clients and end-users around the world."

20 SOLIS

COMPANY FEATURE 24-27 24 SOFAR SOLAR 26 GROWATT 27 GOODWE

TECH 28 THE TRANSITION FROM LEAD ACID BATTERY TO LITHIUM ION BATTERY: WHY IS THE SHIFT NECESSARY? – PART 2 PUBLISHING

EDITING

CONTENT

DESIGNING

Firstview Media

Varun Gulati

Megha Kottapalli

Neha Barangali

Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

Ekta Pujari

Parleen Kaur Arora

ADVERTISING

CIRCULATION

Smriti Singh

Kunal Verma

Meghna Sharma

Chandan Gupta

Samah Rumani

W W W . S O L A R Q U A R T E R . C O M

PRINTING Vaibhav Enterprises

I N D I A

N E W S INSIGHTS >

BUZZ >

INDIA’S MNRE SEEKS INNOVATION IN SOLAR PUMPS DESIGN AND COSTS The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had issued updated specifications for stand-alone solar pumps on 17.07.2019 and since then the Ministry states that it has received representations from innovators claiming that by using different design/software for the stand-alone solar pump they can achieve performance better than specified by the Ministry in a cost effective manner. At present under MNRE Scheme stand-alone solar pumps fulfilling MNRE specifications can be installed, however, in order to promote innovation in technology, the Ministry has decided to permit installation of innovative stand-alone solar pumps in test mode.

LATEST >

YINSON ACQUIRES 37.5% STAKE IN INDIAN POWER PRODUCER Yinson Holding Bhd signed up multiple agreements in order to acquire 37.5% equity interest in Rising Sun Energy Pte Ltd which currently owns two operational solar plants in the Bhadla Solar Park, Rajasthan. The agreements were entered through Yinson’s unit, Yinson Renewables (S) Pte Ltd. “The group will pay 554 million rupees (RM32 million) for the stake, subject to closing conditions, while also providing funding of 600 million rupees (RM35 million) to repay certain outstanding liabilities of Rising Sun Energy,” the energy solutions provider said in a statement today. The two adjoining solar plants have a combined generation capacity of 140MW (AC rated) and achieved their scheduled commissioning dates in 2017. Rising Sun Energy has signed 25-year power purchase agreements, expiring in 2042, with India’s largest power utility, NTPC Limited, which is majority owned by the Indian government.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS MUST-RUN SAYS INDIAN MNRE The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued a notice to Discoms stating to clear their dues regularly as was being done before the lock down and the notice also states that they should continue to buy power from renewable energy producers. According to the notice, the power ministry has recently issued instructions providing a moratorium to Discoms for making payments to electricity generating companies in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Some state Discoms, however, used that order to start curtailing renewable energy power(Partially or completely) terming the prevailing situation a ‘force majeure’ condition.

DETAILS >

RAJASTHAN’S 2.2 GW SOLAR PARK IS NOW FULLY OPERATIONAL India has completed its largest solar power park after the completion of the 300 megawatt solar power project. A 300 megawatt solar power project at Bhadla solar power was recently commissioned by Hero Future Energies. The solar park is now complete with installed capacity of 2,245 megawatts, with this project. The park hosts 260 megawatts owned by India’s largest power generation company — the state-owned NTPC Limited. State government itself developed 745 megawatts of capacity, a joint venture company of IL&FS and Rajasthan government developed 1 gigawatt of capacity, while another joint venture between Adani Enterprises and Rajasthan government developed 500 megawatts.

INDUSTRY >

SECI INVITES QUERIES ONLINE AS PRE-BID MEETINGS GET CANCELLED The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has requested all prospective bidders to 34 MW Singareni Collieries Company Ltd project in Telangana and 14 MW solar plus storage project in Ladakh to submit their pre-bid queries online so as to save on overall tendering time. Global bids were invited in March to set up 34 MW (AC) grid-connected solar power plant for the SCCL at its two different sites in Telangana. The 14 MW solar power plant with 42 MWh battery energy storage system in Union Territory of Ladakh shall come up at Leh and Kargil districts (7 MW with 21 MWh each) and is to be developed on “build own operate” basis.

INDUSTRY >

ROOFTOP SOLAR CAPACITY INSTALLED IN INDIA REACHED 1922 MW SAYS RK SINGH India’s rooftop solar project capacity has reached 1922 MW and an amount of about Rs 1,874 crore has been released as central financial assistance towards installation of capacities in the sector. Out of the aggregate capacity of 1922 MW, 346MW has been installed in the residential sector said RK Singh, MNRE in the Rajya Sabha. In order to increase the installation of the residential solar rooftop system government is taking several steps, which also involves providing the DISCOMs with incentives for achievement of additional capacity, hel[ in developing an online portal and aggregation of demand related to rooftop solar projects.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

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SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

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ASIANEWS CAMBODIA: NEW SOLAR FARM HOOKS INTO NATIONAL GRID A 60MW solar power farm i n Kampong Chhnang provi nce was connected to the nati onal gri d last weekend, bri ngi ng the Ki ngdom’ s total solar-power generati on to 150MW, Mi ni stry of Mi nes and Energy spokesman Vi ctor Jona sai d on Sunday.

The proj ect, located i n Tai ng Krasai ng commune’ s Romeas vi llage i n Teuk Phos di stri ct, i s developed by Schnei Tec Renewable Co Ltd, a j oi nt venture between Chi nese and local partners.

There are two other operati onal solar power farms i n the Ki ngdom – one i n Svay Ri eng provi nce’ s Bavet town wi th a 10MW capaci ty, and another in Kampong Speu provi nce poweri ng 80MW.

Stuck i n a 14-day home quaranti ne, rural empowerment acti vi st Adri an Bani e Lasi mbang deci ded to take advantage of the enforced i solati on and come up wi th a worki ng prototype of a solar-powered, electri c buggy i n the past two weeks. Hardware stores were i ni ti ally closed duri ng the MCO, but Mr Lasi mbang has a stockpi le of leftover materi als i n the workshop, from solar panels to steel tubi ng for the vehi cle frame. Bui ldi ng the frame was not di ffi cult, he sai d. Installi ng the solar panels, i ntegrati ng the electri cal power system wi th the dri ve system, a 5. 3 horsepower di rect current (DC) motor, and maki ng sure everythi ng ran, took up most of the quaranti ne peri od. The steeri ng system was salvaged from an old Proton Wi ra, although Mr Lasi mbang had to customi se i t to fi t the much shorter buggy frame.

VIETNAM FINALLY UNVEILS NEW FITS FOR LARGESCALE, ROOFTOP, FLOATING PV The Vi etnamese government has set new feedi n tari ff (FIT) rates for uti li ty-scale, rooftop and floati ng solar i nstallati ons. The new purchase pri ce for electri ci ty generated by groundmounted PV plants i s $0. 0709/kWh over a peri od of 20 years, and $0. 0838/kWh for rooftop PV arrays. The government wi ll also offer a FIT rate of $0. 0769/kWh for floati ng solar proj ects, accordi ng to Deci si on 13/2020/QD-TTg, whi ch was i ssued by Vi etnamese Pri me Mi ni ster Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday. PV developers wi ll only quali fy for the new rates i f they put thei r proj ects i nto commerci al operati on by Dec. 31, 2020. All other proj ects wi ll be subj ect to pri ce determi nati on through a competi ti ve bi ddi ng process, state-run uti li ty EVN sai d i n an onli ne statement.

MAJUPERAK SIGNS JV FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT Maj uperak Holdi ngs Bhd’ s uni t Maj uperak Energy Resources Sdn Bhd i s teami ng up wi th Uni ted Solar Energy (Malaysi a) Sdn Bhd to venture i nto the solar photovoltai c generati ng system proj ect usi ng the net energy meteri ng scheme i n Perak. Accordi ng to the group, the parti es have agreed that upon securi ng i ts fi rst supply agreement of renewable energy contract, a speci al purpose vehi cle wi ll be i ncorporated to execute the contract as well as any others i n the future.

MALAYSIAN SENATOR BUILDS SOLARPOWERED BUGGY WHILE UNDER HOME QUARANTINE FOR COVID-19

SUPER ENERGY CORP ALL SET TO BUY 750 MW OF VIETNAMESE SOLAR Thai land-based Super Energy Corporati on’ s board of di rectors has gi ven i ts nod to a plan entai li ng i nvestment i n 750 MW of solar proj ects i n Vi etnam. The value of the proposed i nvestment wi ll not exceed USD 456. 7 mi lli on (EUR 414. 2m), the energy group sai d i n a bourse fi li ng last week. Under the plan, the energy group wi ll pay USD 72. 9 mi lli on to get maj ori ty stakes i n four photovoltai c (PV) assets that are under constructi on i n the southern provi nce of Bi nh Phoc. The balance amount of USD 383. 8 mi lli on wi ll be allocated to complete the power plants’ constructi on.

TRENDING GPSC TO BUY 39.5 MW OF SOLAR POWER CAPACITY IN THAILAND Thai energy producer Global Power Synergy PCL has si gned a deal to acqui re the holdi ng compani es for ni ne solar power faci li ti es wi th a combi ned capaci ty of 39. 5 MW. Speci fi cally, the company has agreed to take over NPS Star Group Co Ltd, World X Change Asi a Co Ltd, PP Solar Co Ltd and TerraForm Operati ng (Thai land) Co Ltd. These fi rms hold plants located i n Phi chi t, Suphanburi , Lopburi and Khon Kaen provi nce that sell electri ci ty under a 25year contract wi th Provi nci al Electri ci ty Authori ty (PEA). The exi sti ng power purchase agreement (PPA) wi ll run unti l 2039-2040, accordi ng to the announcement.

MALAYSIAN INVESTOR BUYS INTO INDIA PV PLAYER

MALAYSIAN INVESTOR BUYS INTO INDIA PV PLAYER Malaysi a’ s Yi nson Holdi ngs Berhad has reached agreements to acqui re a stake i n a 140MW photovoltai c portfoli o i n Indi a. Under the terms of the agreements Yi nson has acqui red a 37. 5% equi ty i nterest i n Ri si ng Sun Energy, an Indi ai ncorporated company that owns two operati onal and adj acent solar parks i n Raj asthan. Yi nson wi ll pay INR554m (€6. 6m) for the stake, subj ect to closi ng condi ti ons, whi le also provi di ng fundi ng of INR600m to repay certai n outstandi ng li abi li ti es of RSE.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

Malaysi a’ s Yi nson Holdi ngs Berhad has reached agreements to acqui re a stake i n a 140MW photovoltai c portfoli o i n Indi a. Under the terms of the agreements Yi nson has acqui red a 37. 5% equi ty i nterest i n Ri si ng Sun Energy, an Indi a-i ncorporated company that owns two operati onal and adj acent solar parks i n Raj asthan.

Yi nson wi ll pay INR554m (€6. 6m) for the stake, subj ect to closi ng condi ti ons, whi le also provi di ng fundi ng of INR600m to repay certai n outstandi ng li abi li ti es of RSE.

SUPER ENERGY CORP ALL SET TO BUY 750 MW OF VIETNAMESE SOLAR Thai land-based Super Energy Corporati on’ s board of di rectors has gi ven i ts nod to a plan entai li ng i nvestment i n 750 MW of solar proj ects i n Vi etnam. The value of the proposed i nvestment wi ll not exceed USD 456. 7 mi lli on (EUR 414. 2m), the energy group sai d i n a bourse fi li ng last week. Under the plan, the energy group wi ll pay USD 72. 9 mi lli on to get maj ori ty stakes i n four photovoltai c (PV) assets that are under constructi on i n the southern provi nce of Bi nh Phoc. The balance amount of USD 383. 8 mi lli on wi ll be allocated to complete the power plants’ constructi on.

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MONTHLY TENDER OUTLOOK

SECI TENDERS 34 MW SOLAR PV POWER PLANT IN TELANGANA

SECI INVITES POWER DEVELOPERS FOR 5000 MW RTC RE + COAL PROJECT BID Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) has floated a tender of 5000 MW of Round-the-Clock (RTC) Power from Grid-Connected Renewable Energy (RE) Power Projects, complemented with Power from Coal based Thermal Power Projects in India under Tariff-based Competitive Bidding (RTC-II) for Selection of RE Power Developers. Developers should work for Land, Connectivity and Long Term Open Access of the project. The Projects can be located anywhere in India and for better grid balancing, different components of RTC power i. e. solar, wind, small hydro, and thermal can be connected with the CTU network at multiple injection points, but within the same RLDC region.

SECI ISSUES NIT FOR 1200 MW ISTS CONNECTED RE POWER SUPPLY IN INDIA Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) has issued Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) for setting up 1200 MW Inter-State Transmission System(ISTS)-connected RE Projects with assured Peak Power supply in India, through a global tariff-based competitive bidding process. SECI has only issued the notice about the tender and no further details about the projects are available as of now. SECI has intimated in the notice that the RfS document will be issued shortly on the website.

KSPCB FLOATS TENDER FOR INR 4.85 CR SOLAR ROOFTOP POWER PROJECTS The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) invites tenders following two cover tender procedures from eligible tenderers For 26 Nos solar PV power plants along with five years of operations and maintenance contract for the rooftop works. The last date & time for tender queries is 15/05/2020 at 11: 00 am. Last date & time for receipt of tenders is 22/05/2020 at 16: 00 pm. The date & time for the opening of the technical bid is 23/05/2020 at 17: 00 pm. The time and date of opening of the financial bid is 28/05 /2020 at 11. 00 am. The pre-bid meeting for the same is scheduled on 15/05 /2020 at 11. 00 am.

TATA POWER SOLAR RECEIVES LOA FROM NTPC FOR 300MW SOLAR PROJECT WORTH INR 1730 CR Tata Power Solar, an integrated solar company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power said it has received the Letter of Award (LoA) to build the 300 MW under the CPSU-II scheme for NTPC at an all-inclusive price of Rs 1, 730. 16 crore. The company had bagged the order in a post reverse auction held on February 21. The Commercial Operation Date (COD) for this grid-connected solar photovoltaic project is set for September 2021 (18 months). It claims that with this order, the order book of Tata Power Solar stands at approximately Rs. 8541 crore including external and internal orders.

NTPC’S REACHES 58,816 MW CAPACITY, 11 SOLAR PROJECTS PORTFOLIO National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC), State-run power producer announced on Wednesday about the commissioning of the 2nd Unit of 660 MW at Khargone Super Thermal Power Project in Madhya Pradesh. With this total installed capacity of Khargone Super Thermal Power Project has reached to 58, 816 MW. An official statement declares that “With the present installation total installed capacity of Khargone Super Thermal Power Project, NTPC and NTPC group has become 1, 320 MW, 50, 355 MW, and 58, 816 MW respectively”

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a tender for installing a 34 MW solar PV power plant at the Singareni Collieries Company Limited in Telangana(SCCL). 20 April 2020 is the last date for bid submission and the techno-commercial bids will be opened on the same date. To address the concerns raised by the prospective bidders, a pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for 30 March 2020. The date and time of opening of the financial bids will be intimated after the shortlisting of techno-commercial bids. Earnest Money Deposit(EMD) of Rs 3. 08 crore should be submitted by the bidder along with their bids. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 154. 36 crores.

GPCL RELEASED TWO DRAFTS FOR 5000MW DHOLERA SIR ULTRA MEGA SOLAR PARK GPCL (Gujarat Power Corporation Limited ) has drafted an Implementation and Support Agreement for Grid Connected Solar Photovoltaic Projects for Dholera SIR Ultra Mega Solar Park ( Phase – I) 1000 MW. Along with this, it has also drafted a Land Lease Agreement for the same solar park. This project is under the National Solar Mission and is located in Gujarat. The Agreement for this project is valid for 25 years from the SCOD of the project and it may be extended for a further period on mutually agreed terms and conditions at least 180 days before the expiry date. It highlighted that “Inter-connection point or Delivery point” shall mean the point at 220 kV side of 400/220 kV Sub-Station of GETCO(STU). For the year 2019-20, 10, 000 Rupees per Hectare per Year Lease rent has been decided to be levied and there will be an increment of 15% every three years.

ASSAM RIFLES INVITES BIDS FOR AMC OF 100 KWP OFF-GRID SOLAR POWER PLANT The Directorate General Assam Rifles, Shillong has invited online tenders under two bid systems for Annual Maintenance Contract(AMC) of 01 x 100 kwp off-grid solar power plant from eligible MNRE channel partners/MNRE program implementer (PSUs). The last date and time of receipt of the online tender are 23 April 2020 at 11: 00 hrs and the opening date of online tender is 24 April 2020 at 11: 30 hrs. Earnest Money Deposit of Rs. 79, 000. 00 must be submitted by each bidder along with the bid. Bidders should also submit tender fees of Rs. 1500/-. 5% of the contract amount should be submitted as a security deposit. The total tender value is Rs. 39, 36, 979. The period of work is for one year and the location is Shillong at AR Bn Wokha, HQ 5, HQ 26 Sector AR.

SECI TENDERS 2000 MW ITS-CONNECTED SOLAR PV POWER PROJECTS IN INDIA Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) has invited tender for 2000 MW ITS-connected solar PV power projects in India under tariff-based competitive bidding on the “Build Own Operate” (B-O-O) basis for 25 years.

A pre-bid meeting is scheduled on 08. 04. 2020 at 14: 30 hrs in the office of SECI. The last date of bid submission is 05. 05. 2020 at 18: 00 hrs. To participate in this bid Tender Fee of Rs. 29, 500/- should be paid by the bidder and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of INR 4 Lakh/ MW per Project should be submitted in the form of Bank Guarantee which should be valid for 09 months from the last date of bid submission.

KSPCB FLOATS TENDER FOR INR 4.85 CR SOLAR ROOFTOP POWER PROJECTS The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) invites tenders following two cover tender procedures from eligible tenderers For 26 Nos solar PV power plants along with five years of operations and maintenance contract for the rooftop works. The last date & time for tender queries is 15/05/2020 at 11: 00 am. Last date & time for receipt of tenders is 22/05/2020 at 16: 00 pm. The date & time for the opening of the technical bid is 23/05/2020 at 17: 00 pm. The time and date of opening of the financial bid is 28/05 /2020 at 11. 00 am. The pre-bid meeting for the same is scheduled on 15/05 /2020 at 11. 00 am and tenders shall remain valid for 90 days.

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NOITASREVNOC NI

"MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA ARE THE NEW FOCUS AREAS FOR LONGI AND A LOT OF MANPOWER IS BEING RECRUITED FOR CONDUCTING BUSINESS IN THIS REGION." Mr. Pradeep Kumar, Director of Business, Longi Solar Technology Co. Ltd. WHAT IS THE MODULE PRICE GUIDELINE FOR THE NEXT FEW QUARTERS? HOW HAS BEEN LONGI’S JOURNEY IN THE INDIAN SOLAR MARKET? Longi has been in the Indian solar industry for the past four years. In the early years we did not have a big team in the country. The situation has now changed and the solar market in general has shown a growing preference for the LONGi Hi-MO 4 module with M6 wafer (166mm).

We have a full-fledged team now to handle a large portfolio of projects. The total deployment of our modules so far has been around 1.25 GW. This capacity is already operational and all our customers are extremely happy with the performance and service of our products. Now we are signing up for larger contracts. We aim to be number one in India by end of year 2020, targeting atleast 4 GW of business by catering to most of the module requirements for esteemed projects to be executed by top project developers in India. We have already booked orders for 2.6 GW in the initial two months of calender year 2020, primarily for dispatches in Q3 and Q4. India is a very strategic and promising market for us and we hope to do good business here in coming years.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE PENETRATION OF MONOCRYSTALLINE TECHNOLOGY IN THIS MARKET? Indian EPCs and developers have started deploying modules made using monocystalline technology for most of their upcoming projects. Higher efficiency with lower degradation levels, combined with other advantages have made this technology the most reliable and feasible solution for all big projects in India and across the globe. We are now signing contracts for the supply of mono PERC modules for very large projects with top developers and EPCs in India. The market size for this technology can be gauged from the fact that if 10 GW of solar capacity will be deployed in India in the year 2020, we feel around 7-8 GW will be based on monocrystalline technology. In reality, it might be even more.

WHAT IS LONGI’S PLAN TO MANUFACTURE MODULES IN INDIA? Longi has a strong manufacturing presence in China across the PV manufacturing value chain, right from ingots and wafers to cells and modules. We also have very aggressive plans for manufacturing modules in India and have been exploring all possible business models to do so. We have short listed two strategies so far and will soon decide which one is the most feasible option for us. So, you may hear a big announcement from LONGi shortly once we finalize the right option.

The intention is clear that we want to set up a factory in India, be it directly or through a joint venture. As we see that the future for solar is very bright for India, setting up a factory here will definitely help us to diversify capacities and help us in catering to the module requirements of India and other potential regions across the globe.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

There are two major PV technologies in India currently.

Polycrystalline - which is the most widely adopted, and monocrystalline- which is fast gaining traction. There exists a price difference between the two technologies.

Monocrystalline technology continues to charge a premium over polycrystalline due to higher generation and better reliability offered by the former. We will continue to have a competitive pricing strategy for India.

BEYOND MONOCRYSTALLINE, WHAT IS THE PV TECHNOLOGY OUTLOOK IN INDIA? Technology outlook depends a lot on its acceptance in the Indian market. Bifacial, by all standards is a better product compared to monofacial modules. The only challenge for bifacial pertains to economies of scale – the more the volume, the better will be its pricing and suitability for a project. In the initial stage, a few developers are accepting a small risk of taking a trial of this technology which we have already been discussing with them. Some developers are already deploying our bifacial modules for a smaller volume of their projects, which is a positive sign. Once these trials are completed, the difference between mono and bifacial will be evident. In markets like Middle East, the sector has already shifted to bifacial as it is highly successful in their natural conditions. We are hopeful that Indian solar market will also shift to bifacial technology on a large scale by 2021.

Longi has been in the Indian solar industry for the past four years. In the early years we did not have a big team in the country. The situation has now changed and the solar market in general has shown a growing p r e f e r e n c e f o r t h e L O N G i H i - MO 4 m o d u l e w i t h M6 w a f e r (166mm).

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON CUSTOMS DUTY AND SAFEGUARD DUTIES IMPOSED

BY THE GOVERNMENT? There is not much clarity on what has been the government’s intent – whether it is about imposing Basic customs duty (BCD) or about the continuation of safeguard duties after August 1, 2020. We expect clarity as well as uniformity on these from the government. We are hoping for fair play – if basic customs duty is imposed on any manufacturer, it should be uniform across Indian and foreign manufacturers. This will promote healthy competition in the market -purely based on the capacities and capabilities of the manufacturers.

It has to be a strategic call by the government. As far as safeguard duties are concerned, they will most likely be removed this year.

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WHAT ARE THE OTHER KEY ISSUES FACED

BY SOLAR MANUFACTURERS? There are not many significant hurdles but we certainly need clarity regarding BIS certification norms and MNRE’s decision to enlist models and manufacturers on the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM).

We are happy to be a part of such processes that is being implemented; the only expectation is to have early clarity on these processes because it has a direct impact on the pace of project implementation. This in turn will not just affect solar revenue generation but also the orderbook of manufacturers as developers will need to postpone the contracts to comply with the new regulations. Another challenge pertains to the sudden increase in modules demand for projects that got postponed due to PPA issues in states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well as those that were lined up for commissioning in the quarters ended September and December. It is estimated that atleast 5-6 GW of modules will be coming to Indian ports between June December 2020. This will create a big rush for clearances at the ports and inland logistics, which we feel is going to pose a challenge for the manufacturers as few developers might decide to delay the shipments to avoid this congestion. If there exists such delay, it will hit the revenues of module manufacturers and also create an imbalance in demand and supply forecasts.

WHAT IS LONGI’S SHARE IN THE UTILITY AND ROOFTOP SOLAR SEGMENTS IN INDIA? LONGi has been strategically growing its base in India.

Until last year, we were not very aggressive as polycrystalline was a dominant technology. Acceptance of monocrystalline technology has picked up tremendously this year and we are set to scale up our market share. In 2020, we expect to have 30 per cent market share in the utility-scale segment and between 10-15 per cent in the distributed solar space (including rooftop).

HOW HAS THE COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE FOR MONO PERC EMERGED IN INDIA? In India, our key competitors for monocrystalline technology are Jinko Solar, Ja Solar and Trina Solar. A few domestic manufacturers are also producing monocrystalline modules but their scale of production is too small in comparison. As of now, there exists a healthy competition for mono PERC in India.

WHAT OPPORTUNITY DO YOU SEE IN NICHE SEGMENTS SUCH AS FLOATING AND HYBRID SOLAR? We have been in discussions for a 70 MW floating solar project coming up in India. The potential for such projects is big in India but their implementation is not so easy. The technology for floating solar projects is mostly imported from countries like China or Spain and the onground issues in India are different from those countries.

It is just the initial phase and the technology might get proven by next year. Once that happens, the floating market is likely to pick up as the potential is huge and issues like land constraints do not apply to this segment.

As far as modules are concerned, we have a substantial advantage in this space as LONGi has worked on a number of floating solar projects globally. We have supplied modules for the biggest floating solar project (150 MW) in China which was developed by Sungrow.

We can bring in that experience on board and share it with local developers in India.

In the hybrid projects space, there seems to be a lot of development. Many large-scale developers are working in this space on solar-wind projects as well as storagebased set ups. The government is pushing this segment and hence we see a significant opportunity in this market in the coming days. We will be supporting such projects both technically as well as in terms of high quality equipment supply and good service.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

WHAT ARE THE NEW MARKETS THAT LONGI IS FOCUSING ON BESIDES INDIA? Middle East and Africa are the new focus areas for LONGi and a lot of manpower is being recruited for conducting business in this region. Middle East is emerging as a promising market with some very largescale tenders coming up in the region. LONGi is already working closely with the key developers in the region.

LONGi has a strong manufacturing presence in China across the PV manufacturing value chain, right from ingots and w a f e r s t o c e l l s a n d m o d u l e s . We also have very aggressive plans for manufacturing modules in India and have been exploring all possible business models to do s o . We h a v e s h o r t l i s t e d t w o strategies so far and will soon decide which one is the most feasible option for us. So, you may hear a big announcement from LONGi shortly once we finalise the right option.

WHAT IS LONGI’S OUTLOOK FOR THE INDIAN SOLAR MARKET? Indian solar market is very promising for a manufacturer like us and will remain a key focus area. We have a clear intent of being invested in this market and are thus exploring the opportunity of setting up a manufacturing base here. We are here in this market for the long run and would be very happy to contribute to the renewable energy mission set by the Indian government.

Technology outlook depends a lot on its acceptance in the Indian market. Bifacial, by all standards is a better product compared to monofacial modules. The only challenge for bifacial pertains to economies of scale – the more the volume, the better will be its pricing and suitability for a project.

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NOITASREVNOC NI

"WE ARE ADEPT AT LEVERAGING PEOPLE, PROCESS, AND TECHNOLOGY FRAMEWORK FOR ENSURING CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT." Mr. Vineet Mittal, Chairman, Avaada

WITH AWARDED PORTFOLIO OF MORE THAN 4000 MW IN INDIA AND AFRICA, WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?

WHAT YOU SEE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE INDIAN PV MARKET?

Avaada Energy has scaled up rapidly and within 2 years of establishment, it has ~1000 MW of capacity under operation. The firm has created a solid pipeline of another 3000+ MW which shall be implemented over next few year. We plan to have installed base of 5 GW by 2022 and 11 GW by 2025.

I strongly believe that future of energy is renewables. The world is going through energy transition and India is at forefront and is one of the leaders. It is presently 3rd largest market for Solar PV plants globally. The long- term prospects look promising. With 34 GW of operational capacity, solar is poised for further expansion. Decline in tariffs has made solar competitive and is one of the fundamental drivers for acceleration in adoption of solar. Amid climate concerns, there is no coal-based capacity planned in last 5 years.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE USP OF YOUR ORGANIZATION? WHAT ARE THE BEST PRACTICES ADOPTED BY YOU? We don’t believe in USP. We believe in nurturing family culture in organisation – thus every member of organisation believes in shared ethos and value system which is being practiced earnestly. This has been one of the basic reasons that a highly competent and experienced team is working together for last 10 years. There has been negligible attrition over some many years. we strongly believe in 3 principle as mentioned below: What gets measured, gets managed, gets delivered Inspect what you expect What get rewarded get repeated We are adept at leveraging people, process, and technology framework for ensuring continuous improvement. With strong foundation of family culture, strict adherence to governance principles, and dynamic framework for evaluation for performance improvement we have managed to build a strong organisation which has exceptional expertise in Engineering, Procurement, Construction and O&M.

We expect trend to continue as people collectively are realising importance of sustainable development. Govt. of India has also shown its intent and commitment as they plan to achieve 100 GW solar capacity by 2022 and 300 GW by 2030. Further, going by trends in technology, hybrid solutions comprising of solar, wind and storage will become cost competitive and would be able to meet base load which will obviate need for coal completely.

We also foresee domestic manufacturing of modules to scale up in future.

Govt. is quite serious in the matter and some breakthrough measures are expected soon in the direction.

IS FINANCING STILL A MAJOR ISSUE IN THE SECTOR. IN TODAY'S TIMES HOW DIFFICULT IS RAISING FINANCE FOR SOLAR PROJECTS? Financing infrastructure projects has been quite challenging for the past few years. Saddled with high NPAs, banks have become extremely cautious. In the appraisal process, banks are evaluating risk quite closely and are looking for projects which have adequate risk mitigants like land availability, proper radiation assessment, team capability etc.

Inspite of stringent due diligence, I would like to tell you that we have a strong project selection framework that we follow internally/ This has helped us immensely. I’m happy to inform you that banks have found our projects quite attractive and in fact our projects planned in Gujarat and Rajasthan have been oversubscribed.

PLEASE BRIEF US ABOUT YOUR WIND ENERGY SECTOR EXPANSION PLANS? We have developed 2 large scale wind energy projects in past and we have the required capability. There are 10 wind sites that we are monitoring continually through our won wind masts. Also, we are keeping a close eye on wind bids. , but we feel that tariffs quoted by bidders are too aggressive as there is lot of variation in wind intensity across India and should be factored suitably. Considering this, we are focussing primarily on solar, but we are evaluating wind on case to case basis. If we find an attractive opportunity that is financially feasible and meets our hurdle rate for returns, we are open to expanding into wind space.

We a l s o f o r e s e e d o m e s t i c m a n u f a c t u r i n g of modules to scale up in future. Govt. is quite serious in the matter and some breakthrough measures are expected soon in the direction.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

AVAADA ENERGY - PAVAGADA SOLAR PARK

HOW WILL COVID-19 OUTBREAK IMPACT THE SOLAR SECTOR IN INDIA? COVID-19 has impacted electricity demand in the country. There is reduction of demand is by 30-35% at all India level. Solar plants have not been curtailed since tariff are lower than variable cost of coal-based power. MNRE has been extremely supportive – directions issued by Ministry to Discoms for not curtailing solar power has also helped. Thus, impact has been limited as far as generation is concerned However, there is apprehension that Discoms may delay payments which may result in increased receivables and higher working capital requirements. For alleviating the worries, MNRE has proactively taken up the matter and has issued orders to Discoms to pay promptly to RE generators. Thus, we feel RE sector will be able to tide over the present crisis smoothly.

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NOITASREVNOC NI

"OUR ROLE IS TO ACCELERATE THE SHIFT TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY BY RESHAPING THE ENERGY SYSTEM, IMPROVING RESOURCE EFFICIENCY AND PROVIDING SMART SOLUTIONS." Mr. Manoj Gupta, VP-Solar and Waste to Energy Business, Fortum India Pvt Ltd.

GLIMPSE OF FORTUM’S PRESENCE IN INDIA’S RE SECTOR? Fortum is a leading clean energy company that provides its customers with electricity, heating and cooling; as well as smart solutions to improve resource efficiency. Our role is to accelerate the shift towards sustainability by reshaping the energy system, improving resource efficiency and providing smart solutions.

In India, we started our activities in 2012 with an acquisition of an operating 5 MW solar plant in Rajasthan, and with this, Fortum has created a portfolio of 685 MW (435 operating and 250 under development) solar assets in India. We have formed a Joint Venture with Numaligarh Refinery Limited along with Chempolis for setting up a bamboo-based Bio- Refinery Plant. Apart from solar energy, we are also in the business of EV charging stations, with the vertical being named ‘Fortum Charge & Drive’. As a Charge Point Operator, it has a network of more than 3000 smart chargers in the Nordic countries, out of which more than 30% are DC quick chargers. Coming to a key concern, many countries along with India already have a strict limit on the emission of nitrogen oxides; thus, NOx reduction technologies are being widely deployed. Keeping this in mind, Fortum would like to bring its own advanced time and cost saving Primary NOx reduction technology to India, which will help India in reaching its sustainability goals.

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRY IN INDIA POISED FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS? In the long run, I believe that there is immense scope of solar power in India and it will inevitably take center stage in the power sector in 10 years' time. So far, India has contributed considerably to the energy mix when it comes to solar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s energy agenda has set an ambitious target for renewables. The aim is to increase renewable capacity on the grid to 175GW by the end of 2022 and 450 GW by 2030.

Around 100GW of that capacity is expected to come from solar photovoltaics (PV) by 2020 and 300 GW by 2030. The COVID -19 outbreak has slowed the execution of ongoing projects however the long-term growth of the industry looks intact. Currently, the industry is facing challenges of logistics and liquidity, which will affect the renewable energy targets for this year.

Owing to the plunging cost associated with solar and wind technologies as well as the anticipation of a more carbon-constrained future, the Indian renewable energy space is increasingly growing. The resource potential of India has also been recognised as substantially higher than earlier.

Initiatives such as provision of solar parks, off-grid solar rooftop solutions and solar development in rural areas under KUSUM scheme can also help support rapid market development in India. India’s renewable energy growth is primarily propelled by a few driving factors such as considerations to meet energy demands, sustainability, energy security and lower costs.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT INDIA'S SOLAR POLICIES FROM A HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE AND WHAT ACCORDING TO YOU ARE THE CURRENT BOTTLENECKS WHICH MAY IMPEDE GROWTH FOR THIS SECTOR? The Government of India has ambitious plans of generating 100 GW of solar energy capacity by 2022, but the momentum has been severely eroded in the last few months. Issues such as uncertainty around import duties and future tax rates on existing power purchase agreements have dampened investor sentiment. With the imposition of safeguard duty on solar cells, I believe it makes the situation all the more difficult. The safeguard duty will only be justified, and the country can achieve this target, if the domestic industry is able to match cheap imports within two years. We hope that soon the domestic industry will scale up and bring down the cost differential. The disruption caused by the COVID-19 crisis has posed further challenges to the industry.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

The recently announced draft Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill 2020 by the Ministry of Power to address structural issues and bring in fundamental reforms in the sector is a step in the right direction. Cost reflective tariff, simplification of tariff structure and reduction of cross subsidies is another positive move for the sector. The amendment proposes a contract enforcement authority for adjudicating in matters pertaining to contracts, except tariff related matters while the existing. In the proposed amendment, a payment security instrument is made mandatory for scheduling of power. While there is a clear attempt to address the fundamental issues, more clarity is needed in various aspects viz., jurisdictional clarity between regulatory commissions and contract enforcement authority, penalty payments for non fulfilment of RPO obligation, strict implementation of open access, distinction between distribution franchisee and distribution sub licensee, along with mandating payment security. We are confident that with stakeholder consultation, the draft bill will evolve, incorporating the necessary changes, especially as it is going to shape the future of electricity markets of the coming decade.

WHAT ARE YOUR GROWTH PLANS FOR THE INDIAN MARKET, AND DO YOU FEEL INDIA WOULD BE YOUR MOST FAVOURED DESTINATION FOR RE INVESTMENTS? In terms of our growth plans for the Indian market, our ambition and vision is clear. Along with our financial partners, we presently plan to execute around 250-300 MW of solar power capacity per year. We were initially bidding projects only in Solar park but our current ongoing 250 MW solar project in Rajasthan will be on Private land Consistency and clarity of regulation from the Government will play a vital role in paving the path for our growth in India. We are happy to be part of the Solar growth journey of the country and committed for future growth here. India is now part of Fortum’s home country of business and will continue to grow in Solar as well as in other businesses of Fortum in India. As declared earlier, we would invest between Euro 200 million and Euro 400 million in India in the solar power sector along with financial partners.

WHAT ACCORDING TO YOU IS THE BIGGEST STRENGTH OF YOUR COMPANY IN THE SOLAR INDUSTRY AND HOW DO YOU PLAN TO LEVERAGE THIS STRENGTH IN THE INDIAN SOLAR SECTOR? Fortum is a leading clean energy company that employs some 8,300 professionals in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, Poland and India, and 57% of our electricity generation is CO2 free. The focus on reducing CO2 emissions has been in Fortum’s DNA for decades. Our carbon exposure is already one of the lowest within the European power generation industry.

Fortum, being a utility company, always looks at every project from the long-term perspective. Quality is the key parameter always in focus while we design and construct the plant. During O & M also, we would like to use the natural resources in a very effective manner. This is one of the reasons that for all our solar plants, we are using waterless, Robotic technology so that the consumption of water for cleaning the panel is minimized and brought to almost Zero. Fortum’s 250 MW solar plant in Pavagada is one of the largest in India, having waterless technology.

Going forward also, we planned to use the advanced module and inverter technology so that the plant can be built up with the minimum land area requirement. Fortum is happy to take the new challenges to showcase them in our upcoming plants.

The aim is to increase renewable capacity on the grid to 175GW by the end of 2022 and 450 GW by 2030.

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NOITASREVNOC NI

"OUR ADVANCED PV TECHNOLOGIES AND PRODUCT RELIABILITY ARE VERY WELL RECOGNIZED BY CLIENTS AND END-USERS AROUND THE WORLD." Mr. Rucas Wang, Regional Director, Growatt

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. WHAT EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU SEE IN THE INDIAN MARKETS?

Growatt is a global leading supplier of PV inverters, storage and smart energy solutions. We provides PV solutions for on-grid, off-grid, and solar storage applications as well as smart energy management. The power capacity of Growatt on-grid inverters ranges from 750W to 250 kW, and our off-grid and storage inverters cover a power range from 1 kW to 630 kW. Growatt provides a variety of training courses for customers, including face-to-face training workshops and online webinars. By far Growatt has established an extensive service network with 14 branch offices and 14 warehouses around the world.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT THE RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES? Growatt has been dedicated to R&D of PV technologies and product innovations since foundation. Our new X inverter series have a number of features that’ll make O&M easier and less costly. OLED display, touch button, all film type capacitors and patented IGBT technology will increase the lifespan of our X inverter series.

The quad core architecture in the inverter enables the inverter to gather , exchange and process information more quickly so as to provide better protection, more reliable operation and smarter O&M. Smart string monitoring, I-V curve diagnosis, smart waveform recording, one-click automatic diagnosis. All these smart functions will increase service efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.

PLEASE SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE GROWTH PLANS FOR INDIA. WHICH ARE THE KEY MARKET SEGMENTS THAT YOU ARE TO TARGET THIS YEAR? In 2019, we have doubled our sales in India. According to Annual India Solar Report Card released recently by JMK Research & Analytics, Growatt took 18% of the market share of India’s solar rooftop market and ranked No.1 among the inverter suppliers.

In 2020, we’ll continue to provide advanced and reliable PV solutions and consolidate our strong position in the rooftop sector. For C&I rooftop segment, we have introduced a range of competitive new solutions in India. Our team are actively exploring collaboration opportunities and we expect significant growth for the segment. In addition to that, we are introducing 1500V string inverter for ground-mounted solar plants. This year, we are also looking for breakthrough in that sector and targeting 300MW for 2020.

OVER 2.2GW ROOFTOP SOLAR CAPACITY WAS ADDED IN INDIA, AND GROWATT TOOK THE LARGEST MARKET SHARE. HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE THIS TARGET? Growatt entered the Indian solar market around eight years ago, and has built strong foundation built upon product reliability and professional service, which contribute to our success in Indian rooftop solar. Growatt is a global leading inverter brand in the solar rooftop sector, and our advanced PV technologies and product reliability are very well recognized by clients and end-users around the world.

Growatt also pursues a strategy of localization and has established service center and warehouse in Hyderabad. Additionally, we have hired local Indian sales representatives and now has more than 20 Indian service engineers in 8 major cities to provide on-site services and training workshops across India.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

India has huge irradiation resources and potential for solar application and is the world’s No.3 market after China and the US. Up until 29 February, India has installed a capacity of 35.07GW according to MNRE, and the country’s target is to install 100GW capacity with 38GW being rooftop solar. Such huge potentials are exciting opportunities for our company.

HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR COMPANY EVOLVING OVER THE YEARS? Since foundation in 2010, Growatt has been growing fast with our competitive and advanced PV solutions for the rooftop sector. Over the years, we have been advancing PV techonologies and bringing innovations to the products. Additionally, we have extended our product lines. By far we provide a comprehensive PV solutions for residential, commercial and ground-mounted solar plants. In the future, we’ll increase our investments and strengthen our global leading position in the rooftop sector. Apart from that, we’ll continue our development of string inverters for ground-mounted solar plants.

ANY TOP FEW DISTINGUISHING FACTORS YOU WOULD GIVE TO A PROJECT DEVELOPER IN INDIA WHILE CHOOSING YOUR PRODUCTS/ SERVICES FOR ITS SOLAR PV PLANT? Quality is best business plan and in case of PV system whole investment of PV plants is on Mounting systems so they must choose the system who can stand there and handle extreme weather conditions for 25 years and we are providing 20 year warranty for our products.

Our calculator is designed as per IS code and tested wind tunnel test in Hollands and our product portfolio management calculator tools will keep all their present and future projects in common database.

We suggest project developers look at turnkey solutions like engineering supports, Ballast calculations, cost of ballast, quality, warranty of products, financial strength of company, wind tunnel certifications, design as per Indian code, quick, fast, easy and innovative mounting system which will last for 25 years so that your investment is in safe hands.

Growatt has been growing fast with our competitive and advanced PV solutions for the rooftop sector. Over the years, we have been advancing PV techonologies and bringing innovations to the products.

Additionally, we have extended our product lines. By far we provide a comprehensive PV solutions for residential, commercial and groundmounted solar plants.

PG 12

PV panels improving in efficiency and cost-effective solar power combined with wind is now the cheapest electricity in the world.Solar PV installations are now being installed for a variety of applications on a largescale to provide electricity on a commercial scale as well as mini-grids and personal use. Using solar PV to power mini-grids is a superlative way to bring power access where power transmission lines are far-reaching.

Solar panels have a lifespan of around 30 years and it comes in a variety of shades depending on the type of material used in manufacturing. Many industrialized nations have installed significant solar power capacity into their grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources while an increasing number of less developed nations have turned to solar to reduce dependence on expensive imported fuels. The

EVITCEPSREP

In recent years solar power has evolved rapidly. With

THE MOST COMMON ERROR IN A SOLAR OR BATTERY INSTALLATION

popularity of solar power has led to the rise of another renewable technology: solar batteries that can store extra solar power for later use. PV is the source that charges the batteries. The batteries are used to store the electrical energy generated by the photovoltaic generator as the solar radiation is not continuous. It is completely interrupted at night and therefore to supply night

loads

one

has

to

store

the

PV

energy

MR. MANJESH NAYAK

in

Director / COO

batteries. Batteries are now also used for grid-storage

Oorjan Cleantech Private Limited

and stabilize the electrical grid by leveling out peak loads, and play an important role in a smart grid, as they can charge during periods of low demand and feed their stored energy into the grid when demand is high.The major steps involved to install a solar panel are

Mount

Installation,

Install

the

Solar

Panels,

A common installation issue in the Solar Industry is the tendency of installers to design the system hardware with the primary aim to meet certain price benchmark or to beat competition rather than to meet the customer’ s electricity requirements with focus on quality. This ultimately leads to lower asset life and bad customer experience. When this

Electrical Wiring, Connect the System to Solar Inverter,

tendency becomes prominent in any growing industry, it shrinks the

Connect Solar Inverter to the Grid, and Start Solar

growth prospects of the entire market.

Inverter. The installation process may sound tricky due to which there is a possibility of errors that may occur while installing solar panels or batteries.We spoke to

Another common flaw in solar installation is the lack of required focus on the system design. This includes both errors in the electrical design as well as inaccuracy in designing the module layout. Failure to accurately

several Indian Business leaders for their insights on The

design the electrical layout of the system leads to suboptimal power

Most Common Errors In a Solar Or Battery Installation,

generation or suboptimal battery sizing. Similarly, inaccuracy in designing

here’ s what they said.

the panel layout or improper shadow analysis also adversely affects the power generation. However, these days there are simple assistance tools available like the site survey app developed by Oorjan, which help in designing the system requirement and layout more scientifically. More of such efforts will help deliver quality solar solutions to the end consumers.

MR. SIMARPREET SINGH

Director, Hartek Group

The most common problem witnessed in solar installations is improper solar module racking. If the mounting system is not fixed properly so as to keep the solar panels in place, it could make the panels more vulnerable to damage. All solar panels should be in track with each other or it will have a bearing on their efficiency as well. Solar installations will also be prone to malfunctioning if the panels are not sufficiently anchored or if all the bolts are not tightened securely. Besides, insufficient insulation and poor wiring can increase the risk of fire. Faulty wiring, along with loose connections and associated factors like corrosion and oxidation, affects the

performance

of

solar

panels,

thus

interfering

with

electricity

generation.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

PG 13

STHGISNI

PROTECTING THE SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRY IN INDIA DURING A PANDEMIC OUTBREAK

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRY IN INDIA Solar power is a fast-developing industry in India. As of end February this year, the country' s solar i nstalled capaci ty reached 34. 404 GW. Indi a has set an ambitious target of installing 100 GW solar energy capacity by 2022.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has heavily affected the industry, impacting solar power proj ects i n vari ous aspects. These i nclude:

GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN The most significant near-term impacts on renewable plants that are already contracted or under construction may be felt through supply chains. While China, which is India’ s main supplier of PV panels, is limping back to normalcy, the road is very arduous and time-taking. There will be delays in projects and provisions around cessation of work that need to be incorporated in on-going projects. Chinese firms supply about 80% of solar cells and modules, which form up to 60% cost of a total project, to India.

POWER DEMAND

The electricity demand in India dropped from 163. 73 GW on 20 March to 127. 96 GW on 25 March when the country started its lockdown. As the government extends the lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak further, it is expected that there could be business losses. Unfortunately, these losses will have to be absorbed by companies in the absence of a pandemic insurance cover (which is excluded in almost all Indian insurance policies).

DELAY IN PROJECT The lockdown on all non-essential businesses, which cover solar construction projects has resulted in projects delay. Material needed are stuck on roads. These will lead to delay in the commercial operation date.

While the project insurance policies exclude pandemics, this could become a new request from the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

LABOUR SHORTAGE

Even as some relaxations in the lockdown and restart of some economic activities are expected, project developers continue to be wary and cautious of the labour shortage. Workmen who have gone back to their homes across the country are not expected to return soon. Most solar projects are in villages and local authorities may be reluctant to allow the migrant workers to travel out. The bigger concern is the roof-top projects in factories and plants where commissioning will be slowed over the next few quarters.

MITIGATING THE RISK

Project delays on the solar construction projects can significantly impact India’ s flagship target to generate 100GW of solar energy by 2022. To mitigate this impact and risks from the COVID-19 outbreak, various actions are undertaken to support India’ s solar energy industry. As of end March, the Indian government has allowed solar energy companies to cite force majeure clause over coronavirus disruption. This move could be a relief to project developers as otherwise they would face fines through no fault of their own.

To overcome this challenge, a unique risk t r a n s f e r s o l u t i o n , c a l l e d e p i d e mi c r i s k transfer solution, is recently developed.

Unlike traditional insurance, this solution does not take property damage as the trigger of insurance indemnity.

PG 14

STHGISNI

WILL IT HAPPEN AGAIN? Experts with diverse backgrounds all over the world are working towards faster development of vaccines against COVID-19, including six Indian companies. Nevertheless, epidemics of infectious diseases are occurring more often, and spreading faster and further than ever, in many different regions of the world according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The background factors of this threat are biological, environmental and lifestyle changes, among others.

Although the healthcare and response system may improve after pandemic crisis, in terms of testing, reporting, communication intervention, epidemic should be included as one of the major risks solar energy industry needs to seriously consider and factor companies’ business continuity plan in the future.

the and the into

Alternative risk transfer solutions for solar energy companies

Normally, the conventional insurance programme does not cover loss of revenue due to insufficient labour or suppliers’ shutdowns. To trigger the business interruption coverage, property damage is a pre-condition for that to happen.

To overcome this challenge, a unique risk transfer solution, called epidemic risk transfer solution, is recently developed. Unlike traditional insurance, this solution does not take property damage as the trigger of insurance indemnity. Instead, it pays a claim based on the severity of an epidemic outbreak.

This provides an effective risk transfer for solar energy companies. It can help to cover some extra cost that may be incurred, for example workers’ quarantine cost and worksite cleaning cost, as well as the loss of revenue due to the delay in start-up because of an epidemic and/or pandemic outbreak of known or unknown origin. The solution can be tailor made depending on the project size, construction period and company’ s budget.

It can be offered as either a parametric or indemnity-based policy.

The capital market could also be another solution provider. A very wellknown insurance-linked securities (ILS) related to epidemic outbreak is the pandemic catastrophe bonds sponsored by the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) established by the World Bank. The mechanism of the pandemic catastrophe bond is similar with the traditional catastrophe bond.

If there is a pandemic outbreak in the world before the maturity of the bond and payout triggers are met, the bond issuer will not return the principal and interest to the bondholder. The bond principal amount will then be converted into an anti-epidemic fund. If the triggers are not met, the bond issuer will return the principal and interest amount to the investor as agreed. The interest rate of the pandemic catastrophe bond is higher than that of other bonds in the market.

Protecting the solar energy industry in India

It would still take months or longer for us to know the full economic impact from the COVID-19 crisis. However, we have already seen its massive impact on solar energy industry in India. The government, India solar energy industry and global community are taking constructive and preventive measures to mitigate the losses and risks, especially in the post-pandemic recovery phase, ensuring that India stays on its path to pursue clean energy.

Going forward, there are unique risk transfer solutions available to protect the investment interest of the industry. It is impossible to predict when the next ‘ black swan’ event can happen and impact the industry. Being ready for the unknown risk can always save vulnerable entities in difficult times while waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel to come.

Authors :

Lynn Li, Lead Associate, Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions, Asia, Willis Towers Watson

Saurabh Verma, Executive VicePresident – Property and Casualty, Willis Towers Watson India Insurance Brokers)

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

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EVITCEPSREP

HOW CAN GUJARAT MAINTAIN IT'S LEADERSHIP POSITION IN SOLAR ROOFTOP SEGMENT?

MR ANIMESH DAMANI

MR. ESHAN CHOLIA

Partner

Managing Partner

Artha Energy Resources.

Sunfraa Renewables LLP

Gujarat is amongst the top 3 most industrialized states in the country with a total installed roof-top capacity of 264MW. This capacity puts Gujarat as the state with the fifth-highest installation after Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan. Being the first state in the country to adopt netmetering, Gujarat has been the thought leader for the renewable energy industry. Despite its progressive approach and thought leadership, Gujarat lags other states in terms of the Solar Roof-top Segment.

The Hon. Minister of Power, Mr. RK Singh, revealed in the Parliament that Gujarat has the highest roof-top installations in the country with 264MW. There were 50, 915 subsidized solar plants installed in the state against 79, 950 for the country. It represents a market share of 63%, which is an impressive achievement.

Furthermore, the Gujarat government recently announced a scheme to install 600MW across 2 lakh households in the state and provided a budget of Rs 1000 crore for the same. It will further cement the leadership of the state in the residential roof-top segment. Subsidy of 20-40 percent is available depending on the size of the system. Excess power would be sold to the DISCOM at Rs 2. 25 per unit (Kwh). A benchmark installation price will be identified through a bidding process. The state had previously empaneled 450 firms from which consumers could choose for installation and is repeating the same procedure.

All the above measures will ensure Gujarat will retain its leadership position in the residential roof-top segment. However, there is a longstanding demand for installers to have the subsidy released from the government on time. In many instances, the subsidies delayed by a few months, which increases the working capital stress for the installers. Apart from this, we believe Gujarat is doing a fantastic job, and continued support of the administration in ensuring timely sanctions, net-metering approvals, and faster subsidy release will ensure Gujarat maintains its lead in the segment.

Lastly, an important fact being missed by all is that Gujarat is not the state with the highest roof-top installation in the country. It is due to poor penetration in the commercial and industrial sectors. Maharashtra has seen impressive growth in the roof-top segment due to higher power tariffs and, most importantly, the ability to install roof-top projects on the third-party ownership model. Currently, OPEX (third-party ownership) model is not allowed in Gujarat. Should the state re-look at allowing this model, it will ensure Gujarat on the fast track towards a pole position in the Solar Rooftop segment.

Gujarat is amongst the top 3 most industrialized states in the country with a total installed roof-top capacity of 264MW. This capacity puts Gujarat as the state with the fifth-highest installation after Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan. Being the first state in the country to adopt net-metering, Gujarat has been the thought leader for the renewable energy industry. Despite its progressive approach and thought leadership, Gujarat lags other states in terms of the Solar Roof-top Segment.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

Gujarat has always been a pioneer for solar energy since the inception of the Solar Power Policy 2015. There has been no looking back since then.

As per the data by MNRE 2/3rd of the total rooftop installations of India are in Gujarat. People of Gujarat are prone to adapt new technologies as per the need of the hour compared to any other state. Having said that, the leadership of Gujarat in adopting solar energy has inspired other states to follow the same route and there has been a healthy competition which I see as a catalyst to achieve the 100 GW target. The fulfillment of recent tender of 600 MW rooftop for residential within 5 months is the biggest proof of Gujarat’ s leadership in the segment. Measures taken by the government construction bodies like AUDA, GUDA etc. for mandatory installation of solar rooftop system in any new construction for BU permission shows the commitment of the Gujarat govt. to lead the segment. Also, Solar Rooftop system is the only entity which gives the beneficiary more than 20% annual return on investment and hence the business community of Gujarat needs no better reason than this to lead the path.

MR. YOGENDU JOSHI

Principal Associate Tatva Power Projects And Associates

With the vision of Charanka, Solar Park, Gujarat had taken leadership in ground mounted solar projects. Gujarat is one of the most rapidly developing states in the country for renewable projects. Of late, the state has developed Rooftop Policy & the state has rapidly emerged number of Solar Rooftop Installation in residential segment like any other state of India. Aggregate 1. 1 Lakh+ Installation registered so far as per the confirmation by GUVNL and over all applications for 450+ MW capacity till February, 2020. To Maintain its leadership, followings are the key sectors where implementation on Policy required : Recent Policy Update for the SME Sector has not received much impact due to 15 Minutes Logging Interval & 1. 75 Rs. / Unit rate for the purchase of power.

The growth of the SME Sector in Gujarat is very important. Hence for new Industrial Development, implemented Solar Policy for the same required with proper incentives.

Revised policy for Residential Project required.

Government had already declared incentives on the achievement of installing additional grid-connected rooftop capacity in all sectors over and above the base level, with the incentives being limited to the first additional 18 GW of rooftop capacity added in India. GoG Discoms to take maximum benefits of this Scheme.

MNRE has announced a scheme that aims at 100 per cent Solarization of Village Modhera in Gujarat. Under the scheme the domestic and agricultural electricity needs of all the households of Modhera are planned to be fulfilled with solar energy. Gujarat can take leadership for adding more villages as per Modhera Model.

As per visionary approach with correct policy the state’ s rise in promoting solar rooftop installations is a testament to the government. And with above Gujarat will become leader of residential solar rooftop systems in India.

PG 16

MANAN THAKKAR

Managing Director

Director

Grace Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd.

Prozeal Infra Engineering (P) Ltd

Gujarat has emerged as a market leader in the Solar Rooftop segment in the country. As of Mar 2020, Gujarat state is leading the rooftop installations as it has installed approx 60% of total solar projects installed across the country.

Gujarat state government has adopted the Surya- Gujarat rooftop scheme for 600 MW residential solar projects. Under this scheme quality of challenges were overcome by the empanelled agencies and more than 1 lakh applications were received.

Of the 600 MW offer to bid, the state has registered applications for 490 MW capacity as of February 29, 2020. As the scheme remains unsubscribed for 110 MW, new tender has been facilitated by the Gujarat govt. to augment the use of solar energy in the state.

This tender initiated by the Gujarat govt can surely be a welcome move as the customers are very well aware of solar energy benefits and consciously taking decision to switch towards clean energy.

Incorporating Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) policy could give Gujarat a competitive edge from other states in terms of state attractiveness of installing rooftop solar. DBT mechanism allows state to transfer direct subsidies to the beneficiary through their bank accounts, considerably reducing the financial risk involved for the solar developer and definitely create a win-win situation for consumer as well as developer.

GEDA registration charges of Rs. 11, 800 is levied on commercial industrial customers irrespective of their plant capacity. This hefty cost demotivate small factory owners from installing solar plants. In suggestion charges fixed should be reasonable and based on registered solar capacity.

and can my the

In Gujarat State, commercial and industrial customers are allowed to installed solar rooftops only 50% of sanctioned load. This implies that companies are required to arrange upfront capital for the rooftops which would cater to only part loads and are unable to realize complete savings.

On top of that the plant load factor (PLF) of solar is around 17-18% which again affects the commercial viability of the project. For rooftop solar to completely take off in Gujarat, relaxation on sanctioned load should be given to resolve difficulties faced by people in optimum utilization of solar plants.

Further, RESCO model has gained traction in different parts of the country.

This has largely solved the challenge associated towards the upfront capital cost. Currently, Government of Gujarat only allows the CAPEX model and is yet to take a call on pushing the RESCO model in the State.

Many small and medium scale industries are reluctant to invest upfront capital for rooftop Solar and also face challenges in raising financial capital for the same owing to their poor credit rating. Promoting RESCO model in Gujarat can see a rise in demand for Solar Rooftops for the Industrial & Commercial segment.

Another challenge that the commercial and residential segment faces for installing of rooftop is space availability. Due to limited space and a common terrace in many multi-story buildings, individual unit owners/ residents are incapable of installing rooftops. This challenge can be addressed if the Government of Gujarat can initiate a scheme to set up small ground mounted solar parks of 5 to 10 MW where a pool of interested commercial/ residential owners can buy their specified quantum. This would not only ensure better solar generation but also solve the space constraint. Shifting this to the RESCO route would solve all the constraints of space and capital.

EVITCEPSREP

MR. MANISH BAGADIA.

Gujarat has introduced the Solar Policy in September 2015 with the objective to promote green power and reduce the carbon emission in the state. In the “Gujarat Solar Policy 2015” total of approximately 500 MWp of rooftop installation is done with approximately 200 MWp of installation in Industrial and Commercial Rooftops while approximately 300 MWp of installation in Residential Rooftops. Gujarat presently is one of the leader in the Solar Rooftop Installation in the country. All the stakeholders GEDA, DISCOMS, GETCO, GUVNL, CEIG Office has designed an efficient policy and approval system for the Solar Rooftop Installation. To continue to be one of the leader in Solar Rooftop Installation in the country following are the recommendations: Present Policy:

A. Non MSME Industrial a) Maximum Plant Size: 50% of the sanctioned load in KW for the non MSME industry consumer b) Net Metering: Net Metering is allowed for plant size of less than 1 MWp Units settlement in the same month of billing No RPO or REC benefit can be taken by Industry Consumer c) Without Metering: With RPO Benefit taken by Industry Consumer: Excess units will be set off in the same month of billing at APPC Rates With REC Benefit taken by Industry Consumer: Excess units will be set off in the same month of billing at 85% of APPC Rates. d) Electricity Duty: Electricity Duty is exempted on Solar B. MSME Industrial a) Maximum Plant Size: More than 100% of the sanctioned load in KW for the MSME industry consumer b) Net Metering: Unit settlement will be done every 15 minutes c) Electricity Duty: Electricity Duty is not exempted on Solar C. Residential a) Maximum Plant Size: More than 100% of the sanctioned load in KW b) Net Metering: Net Metering is allowed c) Electricity Duty: Electricity Duty is exempted on Solar

Improvement in Rooftop Policy: Maximum plant size allowed can be increased to atleast 80% of the sanctioned load in KW. This will motivate the consumers to put the additional solar rooftop system.

Electricity duty benefit is recommended be continued as per the exiting policy Excess units settlement is recommended to be done in the financial year instead of the same month It is recommended that Solar Rooftop installation on the OPEX (Pay per use) model should be allowed.

It is recommended that MSME consumer should be allowed with the benefit of the Electricity Duty It is recommended that Transmission Charge, Transmission Loss, Wheeling Charge, Wheeling Loss, Cross Subsidy Surcharge, Additional Surcharge exemption should be continued as per the existing policy.

The state of Gujarat has so far been a pioneer in the rooftop solar segment.

Taking the above new ideas and schemes into consideration it can not only maintain its leadership in solar rooftop segment in the country but also create a benchmark that serve as a guide to other states. By taking path breaking efforts it will bolster stakeholder’ s confidence and definitely help in achieving India’ s 2022 target.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

PG 17

EVITCEPSREP

The solar sector is progressing and has evolved rapidly. Solar power in India is a fast developing industry. The country's solar installed capacity reached 34.404 GW as of 29 February 2020. Talking about consumption, a new demand segment for solar power is picking up the trend i.e. solar rooftops.

Photovoltaic systems are generally categorized into three

distinct

market

segments:

residential

rooftop, commercial rooftop, and ground-mount utility-scale systems and their capacities range from a few kilowatts to hundreds of megawatts. As of July 2019 by far the second largest segment of solar PV installed in India was rooftop solar at 2,141 MW which can be divided into residential solar, commercial, and industrial solar roofs as well as a range

of

installations

including

agricultural

buildings, community and cultural centers.A rough calculation would imply that India had around just 430

MW

of

residential

rooftop

solar.

WILL RESIDENTIAL ROOFTOP SOLAR SECTOR CONTINUE TO GROW WITH ITS EXISTING MOMENTUM IN INDIA?

The

government of India has set a target of 40 GW for the installation of Rooftop Solar Projects(RTP) by 2022

including

installation

on

the

rooftop

of

houses. The government of India is projected to

MR. ASHISH KHANNA

invest by giving subsidies to the amount of USD 3.3

President

Billion for scaling up the solar rooftop installations

TATA Power

in

the

country

under

“Sustainable

Rooftop

Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India” (Sristi) Scheme.

According

to

researchandmarkets.com,

“A

good

number of companies especially the PSUs with large physical footprints and high power costs are switching rooftop

towards

solar

installing

systems,

often

commercial-scale at

less

than

the

current price of buying power from a discom. Also, for the industrial belts where power requirement is massive and congestion in the transmission lines is also high, rooftop systems can be utilized to get some respite.”

According to a recent mention by IEEFA, the top five states account for 54% of total rooftop solar capacity in India - Maharashtra with the highest installed

capacity

of

rooftop

solar

(473

MW)

followed by Tamil Nadu (312 MW), Karnataka (273

According to the Government data, as of mid-March 2020, the total Rooftop Solar (RTS) installation in the country was 1, 922 MW, of which 346 MW have been installed in the residential sector or around a fifth of the total. If we look at the big numbers of the Renewable energy (RE) capacity target of 175 GW we hope to achieve by 2022, 40 GW is expected from rooftop solar (out of the 100 GW from solar as a standalone category within RE). As recently as January this year, the Parliamentary standing committee on energy has said that the 40 GW target is unrealistic.

Further, given the current global situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that 80% of the hardware components for solar power come from China, it will be unreasonable to expect any major boost to the growth in the rooftop segment, particularly the residential sector.

From a mid to long term perspective, RTS is a great investment for consumers, but it is still not a high priority area. For utilities, including the EPCs that support them, the current priority is to ensure that we do everything within our capacity to ensure the essential energy needs of the country are met with little or no disruption. We will have to take stock once the nationwide lockdown is lifted and the economy gets back to normalcy.

MW), Rajasthan (270 MW) and Uttar Pradesh (223 MW). The increased adoption of rooftop solar in Indian states can be attributed to high retail tariffs for C&I consumers, favorable net metering policies, corporate

social

responsibility

programs,

and

increased consumer awareness. IEEFA estimates

MR. K. R. HARINARAYAN

CEO U Solar

that for the next three years, rooftop solar installs will grow at a CAGR of 50% suggesting a cumulative 13 GW of installed capacity by FY2021-22.

Various studies show that the residential rooftop solar sector is growing steadily to know more about this, we spoke to several Indian business leaders for their insights on growth of residential rooftop solar sector in India.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

The time for the growth of residential solar was right just before March as many state governments have introduced schemes and subsidies for the acceleration of the market for the coming year 2020-2021. The unforeseen circumstances have changed this and now it depends on how the economy recovers - if there is some growth path in a couple of months the market might be open, it also depends on the government' s reaction towards releasing subsidies once lockdown is lifted. A lot of things have been affected by the Covid-19 lockdown; due to the slowdown of the economy, there may be some downturn in the growth of the residential solar market immediately. However, depending on how the next few months proceed and each state government' s reaction towards keeping subsidies ongoing or pausing subsidy delivery - the opportunity for the growth of the residential solar market can still be tapped in 2020.

PG 18

MR. PRASHANT SHARMA

(RETD.)

Operations Manager

President Business Development

Avishakti Rooftop Solar Pvt. Ltd

EVITCEPSREP

COL SUDHANSHU KAMBOJ

Hinduja Renewables

The Solar Rooftop capacity in India’ s solar target of 100 GW by 2022 has been put at 40 GW. This Rooftop Solar target was initially met with a lot of pessimism but the capacity additions picked up pace and now finally it started showing a healthy growth. This has been possible mainly due to Solar rooftop tariff achieving grid parity for residential as well as rising corporate and industrial (C&I) market even without government subsidies.

The Solar Rooftop capacity of India will touch 6. 5 GW growing at a CAGR of more than 50 percent. Considering similar growth in the next three years it is expected that it will comfortably reach 16-17 GW by 2022 end. However, still it will not be able to meet the target of 40 GW.

In 2019, 7. 3 MW of solar power plants were added in India. Out of which, 1104 MW came from rooftop solar power plants. The rooftop solar power plants capacity addition decreased by 33% YoY. Multiple reasons are being cited for this decline such as election year, economic slowdown, govt policy flip flops etc.

2020 didn’ t start on a positive note either. With the coronavirus pandemic bringing the economy to a halt, the near future is not looking very strong for solar power plant projects in general and rooftop solar power plant projects in particular. Financing rooftop solar power plants has always been a bone of contention for consumers. As this pandemic will be followed by a liquidity crunch in the market, the stalled projects will take time to restart and new projects will be harder to come by.

Within the Rooftop Solar market C&I segment have led the growth till now capturing more than 80 percent of the market while the residential segment has been lagging at around 10 percent. The main reason for early adoption of rooftop solar and high growth by the C & I segment was higher grid tariff differential and thus achieving grid parity quite early. In India the residential and agricultural consumers enjoy a subsidized tariff which is compensated by making the tariff higher for the C&I segment. The residential consumers were initially attracted towards the subsidies provided for rooftop solar but later due to the painful claim process subsidies died out and they started going for solar without any subsidies. Lowering of solar system costs and aggressive marketing by many rooftop EPC players have been the reason for increase in rooftop solar installations among the residential sector in recent past which is a free market now. Such a market is now creating thousands of entrepreneurs eager to find a way to differentiate their offerings and respond faster to market needs with innovation.

The policy paralysis of the government regarding the subsidy of the solar power plants is creating an atmosphere of uncertainty. The consumers are also stalling the projects until there is a clear policy on grid support charges from the government.

As per MNRE a Rooftop solar system will make a good business proposition for any residential consumer whose monthly bill is more than INR 8000. The amount invested in such a solar system is recovered within 5 years whereas the system life is 25 years. The cost economics will be the dominant reason for the rise of residential consumers based in a price sensitive Indian mindset.

The continued growth of the rooftop solar plant sector will depend on a variety of factors such as ease of net metering procedure, clarity on the subsidy policy, quick disbursal of pending subsidy and availability of easy financing for solar power plants.

The supply chain is also going to take a severe hit because of the pandemic. The prices of the solar modules are going to rise in the immediate future until the production lines and supply chains in China come back to their full potential. The increase in rates of the solar power plant, in addition to the liquidity crunch in the market and policy flip flops, will result in further slowdown in the YoY growth of the rooftop solar plant installation in 2020.

With the declining rate of growth, it is clear the target of achieving 40 GW through rooftop solar power plants will be missed by a huge margin. Until December 2019, only 4. 4 GW of rooftop solar power plants have been installed.

The residential rooftop market will not only maintain its existing momentum of growth but will find ways to surpass it due to many reasons. The improvement in the module efficiencies over the last 10-11 years have been significant in ensuring that the solar power generated per square meter keeps improving. Solar module manufacturing companies have come a long way today with 400 Wp becoming the new normal now. This is a direct four times jump on the roof area use efficiency in 10 years. With commercially viable bifacial technologies around the corner, this number will jump to 500 Wp within one to two years. A higher Wp per Square meter has an added advantage of reduced Balance of System (BoS) costs, which will push the industry and will help to grow the market. This year we are likely to see an increasing number of projects utilizing PERC cells as the supply ramps up and the prices slide consequently. It is expected that shift to mono-PERC modules will be rapid as they are more efficient and can help reduce roof area and other BoS costs for consumers, leading to shorter period in return of investment. The next revolution of the storage segment will also help in pushing the momentum of growth for distributed generation. Storage will change the way people depend on the grid for their everyday power needs.

Energy independence will become a new norm. It is due to this result that even common people are also acknowledging rooftop solar power. EVs starting from two wheelers are going to enter Indian market this year. Electrical energy will be the new fuel and a rural India with large roof space is expected to grow the market like never before.

COVID-19 pandemic is taking the residential consumers' realism towards becoming independent energy generators to save their households from power shortages in such situations. This will be a great marketing point coupled with power for consumption of EVs which can drive the unorganized rooftop solar sector to a new height.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

PG 19

PRODUCT FEATURE

SOLIS

110KW

STRING

COMMERCIAL Solis 110kW is designed to achieve low LCOE in commercial installations, increasing system returns through a more intelligent, reliable, efficient and secure string inverter technology solution. Solis is making full use of its fifth-generation technology platform in its new 110kW string inverter designed for commercial rooftop applications. The fifth-generation platform incorporates industry-leading electronic components resulting in the highest efficiency on the market. At 98. 7%, this maximum efficiency rating is at the top of its class.

As part of its fifth generation, Solis also provides onboard diagnostic tools that can be used on-site or remotely, greatly reducing O&M time and cost.

Further setting Solis apart from its competition, our conservative engineering design margin ensures reliable operation in the most challenging grid conditions.

The Solis cost and energy yield advantages are unique in the industry. In combining our high cost-performance ratio, low installation and O&M costs with market-leading conversion efficiency and energy harvest advantages, the Solis 110kW technology boosts energy yield and ROI for PV power plants.

INVERTER

ROOFTOP

FOR

APPLICATIONS

MTBF component performance equates to long life Full in-house production ensures quality along with 100% burn-in (full power @45C) for higher confidence of field performance

Designed for Flexibility & Higher Energy Yield The Solis 110kW has a flexible design that allows for shorter strings where needed and multi-orientation designs. Our multiple MPPTs are 100% fully independent, offering a wide DC operating voltage range. This means we have a higher production yield for greater roof utility and energy density.

Furthermore, the operating mode of Solis 110kW allows the inverter to ride through grid disturbances to increase the overall system yield. Its operation-through-voltage fluctuations provide grid stability and reliability.

Higher System Returns At 13 amps per string, the Solis 110kW offers one of the highest input current ratings on the market. This design allows the use of higher current bi-facial modules and can be combined with a whole column of tracking motors, which delivers more yield than current inverter designs based on lower input current.

Reduced O&M - Running Advanced Diagnostics On or Offsite Inverters are becoming increasingly more intelligent to better respond to system performance issues. As such, Solis 110kW offers advanced I-V curve diagnostic technology and string-level monitoring capabilities to improve O&M efficiency and lower O&M costs.

Solis 110kW incorporates on-board diagnostic tools to decrease O&M time and available web-based, remote data monitoring to respond and resolve issues more quickly. Our string-level monitoring and intelligent IV curve diagnosis functions are integrated into Ginong’ s intelligent cloud monitoring platform, allowing O&M diagnostics to be completed within just 5 minutes. This allows plant managers to quickly monitor, locate and report on system faults, making O&M more digital, more efficient, and less costly.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT Industry-Leading Efficiency Delivers Lower LCOE Over The Life of The Project

Because our DC connectors are integrated into the inverter, Solis 110kW substantially reduces installation time. Furthermore, our fuse-less design means less maintenance, while our high current inputs allow the combination of two strings using Y connectors. Solis 110kW gives contractors more for less: less manpower; less hassle; less cost. Our swapout replacement process is fast and efficient for simple better O&M.

Solis 110kW boasts a staggering efficiency of 98. 7%, making it one of the most efficient on the market. thanks to the Solis 110kW uses advanced insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), and new technologies such as adaptive parallel technology and wave-by-wave current limiting protection, Making it achieves low “on resistance�, resulting in the highest efficiency and the lowest minimal losses.

Moreover, Solis 110kW also combines 90 MPPTs / MW, resulting in high power tracking density. With a 150% DC/AC ratio, Solis 110kW boosts energy density to ensure higher earnings and lower LCOE design. The system can produce more stable power output under irradiation, these characteristics bring nearly 3. 5% power generation increase during the whole life cycle of the project.

Superior Reliability with Top-of-Range Lifespan Results Mean Better Bankability Solis string inverter technologies have achieved top-of-range lifespan that have been validated by independent labs. This means solid returns you can bank on: End-to-end manufacturing since 2008 with 4GW capacity in the field World-class R&D facility with state-of-the-art automation verified through rigorous testing Industry-first in-house SMT circuit board production self-inspection process line ensures guarantees quality and seamless product innovation.

Superior QC with end-to-end control across the entire value chain

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

PG 20

PRODUCT FEATURE

TECHNOLOGICAL CREATIVITY AND QUALITY Powerline Communications Capabilities The 110kW inverter communication supports optional PLC. This means an additional communication cable is not required, which saves both time and money for installers.

Reduced Self-Generated Errors Large PV systems are built with numerous panels, and each panel has its own set of unique characteristics. As a result, working with different panel manufacturers increases the risks of errors. Solis created a unique leakage current suppression technology through long-term PV power station data collection and technology development. This technology not only suppresses the impact of the PV system leakage current, it also reduces the number of erroneous errors, or “false alarms”, and significantly improves the stability of PV systems.

Reduced Effects of Inverter Output Resonance Solis uses the "intelligent reconstruction" algorithm technology, which reduces the effect of high capacitive or inductive hardware to achieve a large-capacity square matrix resonance suppression function. Our advanced anti-resonance technology helps to increase more accurate readings and reduce inter-plant inverter interface, reducing downtime and increasing yield.

The Solis 110kW has a flexible design that allows for shorter strings where needed and multi-orientation designs.

O u r m u l t i p l e MP P T s a r e 1 0 0 % f u l l y independent, offering a wide DC o p e r a t i n g v o l t a g e r a n g e . T h i s me a n s w e have a higher production yield for greater roof utility and energy density.

Furthermore, the operating mode of Solis 110kW allows the inverter to ride through grid disturbances to increase the overall system yield.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

Solis 110kW boasts a staggering efficiency o f 9 8 . 7 % , m a k i n g i t o n e o f t h e mo s t efficient on the market. thanks to the Solis 110kW uses advanced insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), and new technologies such as adaptive parallel technology and wave-by-wave current l i m i t i n g p r o t e c t i o n , Ma k i n g i t a c h i e v e s l o w “on resistance”, resulting in the highest efficiency and the lowest minimal losses.

TECHNOLOGICAL BENEFITS In addition to Ginlong’ s efficiency and reliability leadership, and the technological advantages described in previous sections, Solis 110kW offers these benefits: Safety - In the PV industry, fire is one of the most considerable - yet least discussed risks, particularly for rooftop applications. The Solis 110kW can identify faults in the arc current while monitoring the PV model to inverse a fire at the input of the transformer. In the event of an arc fire, Solis 110kW will cut off the circuit immediately to avoid nearly 99% of the fire risk.

Solis110kW has a “Class I” AC lightning protection rating, which means it discharges current when it reaches 100 ~ 200k. This allows Solis to provide superior protection to C&I roofs, large wastelands, coastal and mountainous regions, and others environments that experience with frequent lightning.

Reliability - Solis’ fifth generation technology platform has a replaceable AC/DC Type II surge protection device. This design provides a Level-1 lightning protection feature for surge-prone areas to protect the inverter from force majeure incidents, increasing system reliability in areas prone to thunderstorms and other climatic events.

Reliability and Efficiency - the Solis 110kW adopts intelligent redundant air cooling, which not only improves the inverter' s cooling efficiency, but also greatly extends the life of the cooling fan, lowering O&M costs.

PG 21

EVITCEPSREP

WHAT'S THE EASIEST WAY TO SPEED UP INSTALLATION OF SOLAR ENERGY? Solar energy is used worldwide and is increasingly popular for generating electri ci ty or heati ng and desali nati ng water. It i s an essenti al source of renewable energy and its technologies which are broadly characterized as ei ther passi ve solar or acti ve solar dependi ng on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power. It is the easiest and reli able method to generate energy and power. Acti ve solar techni ques include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power, and solar water heati ng to harness the energy. Passi ve solar techni ques i nclude orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or li ght-di spersi ng properti es, and desi gni ng spaces that naturally circulate air. In the last two decades, photovoltaics (PV), also known as solar PV, has evolved from a pure ni che market of small scale appli cati ons towards becoming a mainstream electricity source. Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as "concentrated solar thermal") plants use solar thermal energy to make steam which is converted into electricity by a turbine.

Solar PV installations can be combined to provide electricity on a commerci al scale, For mi ni -gri ds, or personal use. Usi ng solar PV to power mi ni -gri ds is a superlative way to bring power access where power transmission lines are far-reachi ng. Solar panels have a li fespan of around 30 years and i t comes in a variety of shades depending on the type of material used in manufacturi ng.

Many industrialized nations have installed significant solar power capacity i nto thei r gri ds to supplement or provi de an alternati ve to conventi onal energy sources while an increasing number of less developed nations have turned to solar to reduce dependence on expensi ve i mported fuels.

We also spoke to a number of Indian Business leaders for their insights on Easi est way to i nstall Solar System. Here’ s what they sai d.

MR. MANOJ GUPTA VP-Solar and Waste to Energy Business, Fortum India Pvt Ltd

The initial steps towards cost-effective ways to speed up the installation of solar systems is choosing the best quality products with latest technologies like Bifacial, Mono PERC etc. and also an efficient workforce. Use of Drone technologies will bring the added advantage.

For long term success of the project we need to design the project from a water availability perspective also. It will be good to have a waterless cleaning system to solve the lifelong water problem at the site. It is imperative to have all the settings and pre- assemble plans worked out as much as possible before arriving on site. As the current use cases of solar and solar storage become more convoluted, it is of utmost importance to lay emphasis on the role of teamwork and communication within the crew members. Also, the use of modern design software in both the design storage and operation of the systems has become much more important than ever. This further helps in creating a virtual twin of the system, simulates a year (or more) of operation, and allows iterations of variables to zero-in on an improved system leading to better efficiency and control.

Use of Drone technologies will bring the added advantage. For long term success of the project we need to design the project from a water availability perspective also. It will be good to have a waterless cleaning system to solve the lifelong water problem at the site.

DR. SOMESHWAR DUTT SHARMA CTO & Head – Solar Projects Sun Renewables

Following are the few ways to speed up solar installation of solar system:

Standardization Design of Module Mounting Structure (MMS) MMS majorly comprise of columns, rafter & purlin. To become competitive EPC’ s currently design and manufacture components of various shapes and sizes, which eventually converts into different numbers at component level. Like purlins of different sizes are used for same row which in turn increases the process of segregation, storage, and installation. Also, it increases the probability of mismatched installation leading to rework at site. Keeping in view if the components are standardized for the complete MMS, it will help in many fronts like appointing multiple manufacturers, fast production, easy logistics, minimal segregation at site and thus faster installation.

Optimized and Standardized Block Size Engineering team should implement best design practice to optimize & standardize solar block size, which will be helpful to speed up ordering process of major equipment. This entire process is useful to ensure sequential material supply chain as per the installation process and speed up solar module installation at site.

Utilization of robotic system at site helps faster module installation & other repeated work packages

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

PG 22

STHGISNI

SOLAR AFTER THE BLACK SWAN

Wikipedia defines a Black Swan event as a metaphor that describes a happening that comes as a surprise, has a major global impact, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the occurence. The phrase "black swan" gained currency a decade ago during the Great Recession after 2008 financial crisis. It was coined by a mathematician & economist named Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

The Corona virus, is a perfect fit for Taleb' s definition. The extreme worldwide impact, in terms of human lives, dislocation, and economic losses at this point of time cannot even be imagined, forget estimated.

“Was the emergence of such a dangerous virus really unpredictable ?" A whole host of Hollywood movies like World War Z, 28 Days Later and almost the blueprint of COVID-19, Contagion have all the time pointed at the bio-bomb mankind was sitting on. Nonetheless, the impact of such viral outbreak was certainly unprecedented and unimagined.

Black Swan or not, the COVID-19 event will also have a profound impact on the Indian Solar industry. Firstly, let’ s look at the electricity generation and transmission industry of India in the recent past. Our PM Modi’ s ambition to electrify every village in the country has led to surging demand for grid power. Published data shows that over the five years through 2018, India added output both renewable as well as nonrenewable, equivalent to 50 small nuclear power stations. This booming market hasn’ t translated into good times for the industry. Less than 5% of these large electricity Companies are barely covering their costs (Bloomberg). The problem has seeds in the success of masselectrification campaigns like Modi’ s. While he drove the march to power outreach to every corner of the country, the distribution networks that are owned by state governments are run more with political objectives than commercial profits. Cheap electricity is a clear vote-winner. Thanks to regulated prices and the general mismanagement of the network, India’ s distribution companies (Discoms) lose around Rs. 0. 35 plus on every watthour of electricity they deliver. Topping that with transmission losses and theft, their independent survival looks impossible. With the advent of COVID-19 event Discoms are permitted to extend settlement of their dues to power generators by 3 months and that itself will weigh heavily on the bottomlines of all power generators including RESCOs. Most of these will see their mountain of debt rising to prohibitive extents and thus impacting credit ratings. RESCOs will find more and more difficult to offer packages against these depleted Credit ratings. Most large Solar Companies in the country are staring at this grey-dyed future.

Cut back to mid-sized Solar equipment Companies and EPCs. The enduser client of such Companies is India’ s industry, corporates and entrepreneurs. It will require zilst Rocket Science to understand that most Corporate balance sheets this year will be stretched. Room for capital asset procurement will be squeezed to say the least. And then amongst the basket of capital assets for any manufacturing industry, Solar system might not figure on the top.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

For Solar system component manufacturers, let us divide these into 3 groups : 1) Cell & Module manufacturers , 2) Inverter manufacturers and 3) BOS manufacturers.

A major chunk of raw material of Cell & Module manufacturers was imported and mainly from China and the Far-East. With overseas air and sea movement blocked / restricted, this channel will take some time to reach it’ s earlier efficiency levels. Local manufacturers of similar items have a splendid opportunity if they are able to deliver quality.

Next are the Inverter manufacturers. Almost entire ongrid requirement of Solar inverters in India is imported, leave a bit and hence immediate shortage is impending. Also how much import from China will be permitted by the Government will decide the availability of such equipment. Indian manufacturers of Ongrid inverters have not been able to deliver reliable products at competitive prices, though the technology is available. This is their big opportunity ! Offgrid inverter manufacturers in the country are already having a good chunk of the pie having mastered indigenousization.

They are the least affected barring few imported components.

The third subset are the BOS component manufacturers including the structure, cable and minor items. All these are least affected since their import component was minimal.

Hence we could deduce that in the medium term cost of a Solar Plants will slightly inflate with major components, panels and inverters heading for short supply. But this will also be offset by low industrial demand envisaged in this financial year. The EPC guys will have to take a shave to survive the low-tide.

Next is the bunch of medium-small EPC contractors. They will do themselves a world of good by focusing on Government residential Schemes, water pumping Schemes as well as Solar Homelighting. Survival of the fittest will be the mantra.

The Government on it’ s part can offer 2-pronged assistance to the industry.

One is obviously step on the pedal of Solar Schemes and disbursements especially residential / homelighting and minigrids. Secondly, it can create an additional push for the Solar industry without directly investing, by increasing the depreciation rate of Solar Systems for Corporates, thus improving their ROI on Solar investments. Many Companies including PV Power Technologies have written to the Commerce Ministry as well as Finance Ministry with the upcoming woes of Solar industry and hope to see some positive action.

Author : AMISH GOSAR The writer is heading the Solar Projects division at PV Power Technologies, Mumbai.

PG 23

COMPANY FEATURE

OUR

AIM

IS

PRODUCTS, WITH

TO

PROVIDE

PROMPT

LONGVISION

Sofarsolar is part of the Sofar Group, a highly diversified company who are No. 1 in the GPS business. They have been involved in the communications and renewable energy fields since 2007 and entered the PV inverter business in 2012 with the establishment of Sofarsolar, specializing in R&D, production, sales and service of grid-tied inverters.

SOFAR is a very pioneer group in the GPS sector in China & we would like to accept new challenges in the market. So we have started PV market business & doing successful business globally. In order to support the current growth of the Indian PV market, SOFARSOLAR has recently taken steps to strengthen its business position in the country with a new office and leadership.

10GW Manufacturing capacity.

Looking to expand its footprint in the Indian PV market, SOFARSOLAR, added an office, warehouse, Service Staff and expanding team.

New versions of Inverters which are very compact in size make SOFARSOLAR differentiate from others.

SOFARSOLAR is positioned to play an important and leading role in the Indian solar industry.

As a high – tech international corporation, SOFARSOLAR is equipped with leading technology of grid tied inverters. The R&D team of SOFARSOLAR has strong development capability. Around 100 experienced engineers are working with more than nine series products. And around 400 employees in the factory increased our production capacity to 10GW annually.

From day one our company has put quality as the most important criteria in our design, production and daily operations. Our international R&D team designed the product from bottom up. We hand-picked each component and we drew every bit of the circuitry. Therefore we understand exactly how the device shall perform in every situation. We sourced all our electronic materials from U. S. , Germany and Japan, such as Fairchild, Infineon, Texas instruments, Panasonic, Nichicon, Tamura, Microsemi, Amphenol, Sanyo. We are certainly not the cheapest inverters you can find in China. But if you consider quality is important, you will not regret working with us. .

New versions of Inverters which are very compact in size make SOFARSOLAR differentiate from others.

SOFARSOLAR is positioned to play an important and leading role in the Indian solar industry. Having global experience, innovative solutions, and dedication to developing a local presence, SOFARSOLAR is well poised to support the Indian PV market in its rapid growth. SOFARSOLAR recent move to strengthen its position in the Indian PV market with a local team signifies our commitment to the solar sector in India.

We are a continuous growing company and we have a variety of products like NEW ENERGY AUTOMOBILE (Supercharger) products & HYBRID INVERTER, STORAGE INVERTER & ON GRID string inverter developments in our basket.

Quality Policy Of The Company: For BIS Certification our products testing process in the Laboratory.

GOOD

SERVICE

RELIABLE

QUALITY

SUPPORT

PRODUCTS

A snapshot of the company’s business and service market sectors Company own warehouse so we are not dependent on third-party warehouse/bounded type warehouse & Indian registered Company.

To cater to the Indian Market we have established ‘ ’ Sofarsolar India Pvt. Ltd’ ’ our Marketing and Service Center in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

We are not offering a third party service contract or Salary contract.

Own service setup, Prompt service response.

We have an online service platform to give our customers quick and good after-sales services.

They can get inverter’ s warranty info just by inputting SN online.

They can purchase warranty extension service online.

And they can submit inverter problems online and real-time service processing information online.

MISSION STATEMENT

WE ARE PERFORMING VERY WELL IN THE INDIA RENEWABLE MARKET .

SOFARSOLAR IS A FASTEST GROWING PRODUCT WITH GOOD QUALITIES, LESSER SERVICE COMPLAINTS & PROMPT SERVICE SOLUTIONS. NO COMPROMISE IN QUALITY TO MAKE A CHEAP PRODUCT , NO COMPROMISE IN PRODUCT COMPONENT MATERIAL, WIDE DISPLAY IS OUR KEY FEATURES. SOFARSOLAR HAS A GOOD STRONG MARKET IN ROOFTOP SOLAR BUSINESS & ALSO IN THE EPC SECTOR.

VISION STATEMENT

WE ARE BELIEVING IN PROMPT SERVICE SUPPORT WITH LONGVISION RELIABLE PRODUCT BUSINESS POLICY. GROW TOGETHER WITH A LESSER COMPLAINT RATIO.

SNOITACIFITREC SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

PG 24

COMPANY FEATURE

Service Pledge: If manufacturers compromise in quality to make cheap rate products then it’ s very difficult to take a stand in the market with long vision work & warranty duration. Nowadays it’ s very difficult to get proper products at a cheap rate. For good product manufacturers focusing on control on lower marginal game, no extra expenses & how can save an extra cost and not impact on business strategy. For manufacturers in india market also need to invest higher cost in BIS certification & also invest in another product generation, also another side to compete with cheap rate brand products. “Serving good quality products on a lower margin with prompt service support” tagline will give good business in tough competition.

Our aim is to provide GOOD QUALITY Products, PROMPT SERVICE SUPPORT with LONGVISION Reliable Products . Grow together with a lesser complaint ratio.

SOFARSOLAR is positioned to play an important and leading role in the Indian solar industry.Having global experience, innovative solutions, and dedication to developing a local presence, SOFARSOLAR is well poised to support the Indian PV market in its rapid growth.

SOFARSOLAR recent move to strengthen its position in the Indian PV market with a local team signifies our commitment to the solar sector in India.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

AMBITIOUS PROJECTS THE INDIAN SOLAR ENERGY SEGMENT IS CONSIDERED TO BE A MARKET WITH ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWTH POTENTIALS IN THE WORLD DUE THE COUNTRY’S EVERINCREASING DEMAND FOR ENERGY.WE ARE IN “TOP POSITIONING” MARKET IN GUJARAT, PUNJAB-HARYANA, MAHARASHTRA AND CHENNAI-KERALA. EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE GOOD INSTALLATIONS BASED IN THE NORTH-EAST REGION. SOFARSOLAR IS CONTINUOUSLY WINNING MOST SELLING INVERTERS IN GUJARAT UNDER GEDA ROOFTOP POLICY & OTHER STATES ALSO HAVE A GOOD QUANTUM INSTALLATION DATABASE WITH PROMPT SERVICE SUPPORT. SOFARSOLAR IS WELL POSITIONED TO BECOME A MAJOR PLAYER IN COMMERCIAL ROOF-TOP & UTILITY-SCALE PV INSTALLATIONS. SOFARSOLAR :- LARGEST INSTALLATION WITH TOP POSITION IN SKY PROJECT(KUSUM YOJANA ) SCHEME IN GUJARAT, HIGHER INSTALLATION IN ROOFTOP PROJECTS.

MR. BRIJESH PRAJAPATI Managing Director, Sofarsolar

PG 25

COMPANY FEATURE

INDIA

ADDED

SOLAR THE

OVER

CAPACITY

NO.1

WITH

INVERTER

2. 2 GW of solar capacity was added to the Indian rooftop sector in 2019 according to Annual India Solar Report Card released recently by JMK Research & Analytics. The research company has lowered its expectation of rooftop solar installation capacity in 2020 to 2GW amid the lockdown situation in India due to coronavirus pandemic. For the rooftop sector, Growatt took 18% of the market share, ranking first among India’ s inverter suppliers according to the report. Earlier last year, Growatt was among the TOP 3 suppliers of string inverter in India according to Mercom’ s India Solar Market Leaderboard. It was also the NO. 1 solar rooftop inverter supplier in India solar rooftop map released by BRIDGE TO INDIA.

2.2GW

ROOFTOP

GROWATT

BEING

SUPPLIER

Growatt entered Indian market eight years ago and its growth momentum has been very strong ever since. Along with its competitive and reliable products, the company has built an extensive service network to provide efficient onsite and remote services across India. Its service team has also been actively providing product and technical training for clients. “We’ d like to thank our clients and customers for trusting Growatt. Looking ahead this year, we’ ll continue to work closely with them to overcome the difficulties caused by COVID19 pandemic. In the long run, we have unwavering confidence in the potential of Indian solar market, ” commented Rucas Wang, Growatt Regional Director.

The research company has lowered its expectation of rooftop solar installation capacity in 2020 to 2GW amid the lockdown situation in India due to coronavirus pandemic.For the rooftop sector, Growatt took 18% of the market share, ranking first among India’s inverter suppliers according to the report.

GROWATT

RANKED

SHIPMENTS

IN

NO.8

OF

GLOBAL

PV

INVERTER

2019

In 2019, global PV inverter shipments increased by 18% on a YOY basis with total shipments reaching 126, 735 MW according to the report released by Wood Mackenzie. Growatt shipped a total capacity of over 5GW for the year and ranked No. 8 among the inverter suppliers. The company has been pursuing a global strategy of localization in recent years and has gained strong growth momentum across the world.

“Over the years, we’ ve established 13 offices and warehouses worldwide, and we’ ve also built strong and experienced local teams in key markets, ” said Lisa Zhang, Growatt Marketing Director. “Besides our extensive service network, we’ ve developed the X generation inverters, which feature high efficiency, safety, intelligence as well as elegant design. These advanced PV solutions have brought us additional advantages over other suppliers in the market. ” Growatt has its presence in Europe for 10 years and its products are well received in the region for its high efficiency, superior quality and enhanced safety. In addition to that, Zhang attributed the company’ s popularity to its extraordinary local service capability.

In APAC according to the report, Growatt was the No. 4 PV inverter supplier in the region, and was top of inverter suppliers that focus on the manufacturing of string inverters. Earlier this month, the company was also ranked the No. 1 inverter supplier of rooftop solar sector in India according to the report by JMK Research & Analytics.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

“We have also built strong foundation in the Americas. In Brazil, we founded a servi ce center last year and we have established partnership with Aldo Solar, the largest di stri butor i n the market, ” Zhang added. In the Americas, Growatt has launched intensive marketi ng campai gns and its sales are going up substantially.

PG 26

COMPANY FEATURE

GOODWE

GRANTED

LICENSING

EXCLUSIVE

CONTRACT

FOR

GLOBAL

SALES

Following a rigid and thorough selection process, GoodWe has been selected as the exclusive licensing partner of solar inverters for GE’ s global sales. It was with great enthusiasm and determination that GoodWe agreed to this collaboration, which is a true recognition of the quality and reliability, as well as the technology advancement of GoodWe inverters.

The powerful combination of GoodWe’ s product quality and reputation, and GE’ s iconic brand is a recipe for success that has the potential to replicate European success stories in the US and the world beyond.

GoodWe is proud to celebrate this achievement, especially in the context of the rigid selection criteria that GE applied throughout the entire selection process. A large number of solar inverter manufacturers were carefully studied, examined, analyzed, scrutinized in every minute detail and assessed against a rigid and thorough list of carefully drafted selection criteria put together by a group of elite researchers and scientist working at GE’ s extensive global research facilities that constitute the firm’ s R&D capabilities. Approximately 32 manufacturers were then shortlisted and went through an even more comprehensive assessment that included everything from technical capabilities of key components, to firm’ s financial stability and extent of global service coverage, as well as aesthetic design, brand awareness and overall reputation, among countless other criteria.

G o o d We h a s b e e n o n e o f t h e f a s t e s t growing companies in the industry and its recent successes, together with its partnership with General Electric truly mark its entry into the top-tier of the solar inverter world. “After years of hard-work and continuous improvement, this is the true recognition that the brand and the company truly deserve” said Daniel H u a n g , F o u n d e r a n d C E O o f G o o d We .

Asked about their choice, Mr. Thomas Buccellato, Senior Managing Director – GE Licensing stated: “Our analysts knew we needed world-class products, as we will be targeting the high end of the market where enduser loyalty to the brand also comes with high expectations. GoodWe is the right choice. ”

G o o d We i s p r o u d t o c e l e b r a t e t h i s achievement, especially in the context of the rigid selection criteria that GE applied throughout the entire selection process. A large number of solar inverter manufacturers were carefully studied, examined, analyzed, scrutinized in every minute detail and assessed against a rigid and thorough list of carefully drafted selection criteria put together by a group of elite researchers and scientist working at GE’s extensive global research facilities that constitute the firm’s R&D capabilities.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

Ranked by Wood Mackenzie and Bloomberg as one of the world' s top 10 manufacturers of solar inverters in 2019, GoodWe has come a long way in a relatively short time, making the headlines earlier this year when it became the first non-European PV inverter manufacturer to receive an official certification from TÜV Rheinland Industrie Service GmbH from Germany validating that it had met the technical requirements for the prestigious VDE-AR-N 4110-2018 certification. GoodWe has been one of the fastest growing companies in the industry and its recent successes, together with its partnership with General Electric truly mark its entry into the top-tier of the solar inverter world. “After years of hard-work and continuous improvement, this is the true recognition that the brand and the company truly deserve” said Daniel Huang, Founder and CEO of GoodWe. GoodWe is ready to embark on this journey and shall always move forward towards its mission and path to continued success in years to come, added GoodWe’ s International Sales & Service VP, Ron Shen.

GoodWe is a leading, strategically-thinking enterprise which focuses on research and manufacturing of PV inverters and energy storage solutions.

PG 27

TECH TRENDS

THE

TRANSITION

BATTERY IS

THE

TO

SHIFT

The first part of the article “The transition from Lead Acid battery to Lithium Ion battery: Why is the shift necessary?” introduced the need of storage and further detailed about the lead acid battery. It also discussed major disadvantages which were associated with the lead acid battery. This part of the article shall educate its readers about Lithium Ion battery, its working and its advantages over lead acid battery. Further it shall also detail the market dynamics of Lithium ion battery and its applicability in the Indian sub-continent.

While considered to be one of the most emerging technologies in the storage industry, lithium ion is just 50 years old. Similar to most of the battery technologies, the lithium ion battery has cathode, anode, electrolyte and a separator. The cathode of the battery is usually made up of combination of lithium & oxygen (known as the “active material”), a conductive additive and a binder. The anode of the battery is usually made up of graphite which is known for good structural stability, low electrochemical reactivity, better affinity to lithium ions and lower price.

The most common electrolyte used in the battery is a lithium salt, such as LiPF6 in an organic solution. The separator in the battery is usually made up of polyolefin as it has excellent mechanical properties, good chemical stability and lower costs.

FROM

LITHIUM

LEAD

ION

ACID

BATTERY:

NECESSARY?

–

PART

WHY

2

However these batteries had higher thermal runaway, meaning that there was a fair chance that the battery possessed risk of exploding if it were damaged or overcharged. This directly led to compromised safety and life span of the battery.

Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP): Discovered in 1996, LFP batteries offered good electrochemical performance with reduced resistance, excellent safety and long life span but moderate specific energy and a lower voltage than other lithium-based batteries. Its excellent thermal stability and enhanced safety enabled it to be utilized in applications which needed higher load currents and endurance, for ex: EVs, solar PV plants, UPS. Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC): One of the most balanced performing lithium ion batteries is NMC. The cathode combination ratio which is usually one-third nickel, one-third manganese and one-third cobalt means that the raw material cost is lower than other types of batteries. Such combination further also allows NMC battery to be either utilized as a high energy battery or a high power battery. The battery found its application in EVs, medical devices, industrial applications, etc.

Figure 2: Comparison of various lithium battery technologies (Source: Battery University) Let us now understand the advantages of Lithium ion battery over lead acid battery:

Figure 1: A typical Lithium Ion battery (Source: Samsung SDI)

Light weight and easily portable: The lower weight of the lithium ion battery (compared to other commercial battery technologies) is probably one of its primary advantages. This is primarily because the battery utilizes lithium as its main components, which has both lower density and highest electrochemical potential. This further means that the battery has both higher energy density (3~4 times higher) and power density (3~6 times higher) which makes the battery even lighter when compared to lead acid battery. Additionally with the lithium battery utilizing dry electrolyte & electrodes, its installation and transportation becomes stress-free.

The Li-ion battery works on the principle of electron-ion exchange, similar to most of the batteries. During discharging, the electrode with the high electron affinity will release electron (which is known as anode) and the electrode with the low electron affinity will gain electron (which is known as cathode). This electron would travel through the load and thus allowing the battery to supply energy. Each component however has a specific function to perform. Cathode primarily determines the battery capacity i. e. higher the amount of lithium at cathode, the higher is the battery’ s capacity. The anode enables exchange of lithium ion from/to cathode while charging/discharging. The electrolyte is one of the most important components of the battery. The salt present in the electrolyte allow only the passage of lithium ions and thus forcing the electron to be move via the external circuitry only thereby supplying the required energy to external load. The separator further facilitates such movement of lithium ion through its internal microscopic hole while also forming a physical barrier between the electrodes.

Shorter charging times and high energy delivery rates: With the application of storage now diversifying to in EVs, power plants, micro grids, etc. where the end application calls for the devices to be charged quickly and deliver high energy in a short span of time, lithium ion seems to be the perfect match. Compared to lead acid battery, the charging time of lithium ion battery could be reduced by 60% which makes it suitable for such applications.

Let us now understand the (few important) existing battery technologies of lithium ion:

Better performance in extreme climates: Considering a case of India where extreme ambient temperatures are normal, a battery is required to be operational in all such conditions. Comparing both the battery types, the available capacity of lithium ion battery is better compared to lead acid battery (refer Figure 4) at both the extreme temperatures. This directly points out that lithium ion battery could be utilized at much better levels at all the temperature ranges.

Lithium-Cobalt-Oxide (LCO): One of the earliest commercialized chemistry (in 1985) for Lithium ion batteries were the LCO batteries.

These batteries had high stable energy capacities which allowed them to be utilized in applications in laptop, mobile phones, etc.

SOLARQUARTER | MARCH ISSUE 2020 SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

Higher cycle life: One of the major concerns for storage is the duration up-till when it could be used. A battery is known to be rendered useless if its capacity reaches to 80% of its rated capacity. A typical lead acid battery runs for 300~500 cycles which means that it need to be replaced between every 1~2 years. A lithium ion battery on the other hand runs between 1, 500 to 2, 500 cycles which is almost 5 times more than the lead acid battery.

PG 34 PG 28

TECH TRENDS

This part of the article shall educate its readers about Lithium Ion battery, its working and its advantages over lead acid battery.

Figure 3: Capacity Available versus Temperature (Source: ALLCELL) The above factors make it clear that the Lithium Ion battery (and its variants) have a clear potential of covering almost all the applications which utilizes lead acid battery. The battery technology which has started seeing the light of the day is expected to have an exponential uptake, thanks to few specific applications like EVs, energy storage, consumer electronics, E bikes, etc. EVs are already creating a buzz in the automobile sector primarily due to the ill effects of traditional fossil based vehicle. The lithium-ion battery demand for EVs is known to grow from around 200 GWh in 2020 to 1, 748 GWh annually by 2030, showing a rise of 900%. Such rise is primarily known to fuel the growth of the battery technology is the next decade. Further with the increased electrification around the world, the need for 24x7 reliable supply of electricity is increasing. With the lifetime limitations of lead acid battery, it is much expected that the grid managers and the generators shift towards lithium battery. It is almost known that no technical breakthrough can make it to the market if it is not cost effective and the same is true for lithium ion as well.

The costs of the battery in 2019 have reduced drastically to around 83% when compared to that in 2010. This cost is further expected to reduce by 65% and stay at around 60 $/kWh by 2030. Such price drop would further fuel the growth and adoption of lithium ion battery.

Talking about the Indian scenario, the country has announced bold plans to adopt and integrate (directly and/or indirectly) storage or more appropriately lithium ion batteries in its energy mix. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) aims that the country starts manufacturing, adopting and utilizing electric vehicles. It is further also believed that all the vehicles sold after 2030 shall be electric in nature. The National Energy Storage Mission (NESM) adds on and supports the NEMMP in the country. It aims that to set up the entire supply chain for lithium ion battery thereby capturing the market opportunity between INR 2, 000 to 3, 000 billion. While the above two plans are still on papers, the scheduling and forecasting regulation (already passed in various states) for solar PV plants directs them to provide a forecast of their generation. A regulation like such demands the power plants to be equipped with adequate storage to ensure that they maintain steady and declared energy output.

We at Waaree Energies keep close look at the market trends and in order to facilitate the shift which Indian storage market is undergoing, we have started a new lithium ion battery manufacturing plant. Capable of producing battery packs of both NMC & LFP technology, our batteries could be used specifically for EVs, power backup at grid level/power plant level, solar street lights, etc. These batteries are tested in accordance with all the national and international standards ensuring that the end customers get more than desired returns on their projects.

Figure 5: Typical batteries offerings by Waaree energies

Let us all pledge to make solar energy the primary source of energy in the near future.

RAHE ROSHAN HAMARA NATION.

Mr. Sunil Rathi Director Sales & Marketing Waaree Energies

Figure 4: Annual Lithium Ion battery demand (Source: BloombergNEF, Avicenne)

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

PG 29

STHGISNI

MINIMIZING

THE

IMPACT

COVID-19: SUNGROW, MANAGED

SO

Sungrow, headquartered in Hefei, China, is one of the leading suppliers of solar inverters and battery energy storage systems in the world. The company’ s manufacturing capacity got affected by the impact of COVID19 in early Feb, 2020. This was the time when the Chinese New Year holiday was extended to contain the spread of the virus. Further, as a safety measure, people who returned from holiday travel were mandated to be in self-quarantine for 14 days before joining to their workplaces.

Since maximum of Chinese people travel to their hometowns during this period, many Sungrow employees also travelled during this Annual holiday for the celebration. As many factory personnel returned from hometown after the extended holiday, they also stayed in the self-quarantine as per the issued advisory. This initially had a short-term impact in the factory.

The employees from other departments could work from home unlike the workshop which needed manpower at shop floor.

As a tactical response to the newly developed challenging situation, Sungrow hired and trained hundreds of workers on temporary basis to get the manufacturing jobs that didn’ t require much technical know-how or expertise. Although Sungrow received approval to restart production in February, it ensured that the necessary safety measures were in place and protections were available for its workers. Employees were provided gloves and masks, and temperature measurement at the entrance were strictly followed to prevent them from getting infected.

Sungrow’ s 50-gigawatt capacity factory is equipped with high level of automation and state of the art technologies. This high level of automation and spacious workshop helped the workers to maintain social distancing within the factory while doing their job on the shop floor. Workers were also prohibited from gatherings during lunch time at cafeteria and the food were delivered to respective workstations as an alternate method.

Sungrow put together a task force to facilitate quick decision-making once it realized the severity of the COVID-19 impact. The company also took the cue from its earlier experience of crisis-management, due to the tariffs imposed on imported Chinese products as a result of the U. S. -China trade war. Sungrow had understood the importance of quickly reaching out to its suppliers to ensure the availability and access to the raw materials and components needed for inverter production and thereby minimizing the impact. Sungrow Indian team has also applied the same proactive approach to communicate and update timely to their customers.

SOLARQUARTER | APRIL ISSUE 2020

DURING

HOW

IT

FAR

The COVID-19 has had minimal impact on Sungrow’ s ability to deliver inverters, so far. Majority of the order bookings are still being completed on time, and those that are delayed are just a few weeks behind the original schedule. As per the data released by China Custom regarding Inverter export in Feb, 2020, Sungrow had the first place with export value exceeding $12 million (excluding the Indian factory segment).

The company shipped total 943 MW in February, with almost 50% coming from China and India factory each.

“For the first quarter, we were able to supply, in part, that is because the manufacturing was done prior to that period. We are in close touch with our customers regarding their order deliveries from China. Our India factory will also resume to production with necessary precautions and safety measures in line with our HQ strategy once we get the go ahead from Govt. ” said Mr. Sunil Badesra, Business Head of Sungrow India.

Sungrow’ s production at its Headquarter was back at full capacity by early of March, 2020. Also, the orders for Indian market for upcoming projects in 2020 and 2021 are healthy to indicate years of steady growth ahead.

Mr. Sunil also mentioned the caution about the recent development of COVID-19 across the globe and in India. “The severity of its impact is slowly starting to be seen in many parts of the world with lock downs, temporary shutdown of businesses in many countries as a preventive measure. Though we want to share the confidence, at the same time, we are living in a continuously evolving story with high level of uncertainty. The real impact is yet to be seen and hence communication with our customers is the key. ” said Mr. Sunil.

The COVID-19 has had minimal impact on Sungrow’s ability to deliver inverters, s o f a r . Ma j o r i t y o f t h e o r d e r b o o k i n g s a r e s t i l l b e i n g c o m p l e t e d o n t i me , a n d those that are delayed are just a few weeks behind the original schedule.

PG 30