SolarQuarter August Issue 2020 by SolarQuarter

Empowering, Insightful, Engaging

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S T H G I S N I

A ROAD MAP FOR

ONE SUN ONE WORLD ONE GRID

T R E N D I N G

HAS THE ERA OF VIRTUAL SOLAR POWER PLANTS ARRIVED? Y R O T S

HOW

R E V O C

DATA

IS TRANSFORMING THE SOLAR ENERGY SECTOR?

TALKS POLICIES TRENDS PERSPECTIVES NEWS W W W . S O L A R Q U A R T E R . C O M

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A U G U S T

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CONTENTS NEWS

CONVERSATION

ASIA NEWS

PROJECT MONTHLY

THINK TANK

TENDER TRACKER

POLICY DEBRIEF

PERSPECTIVE 18

HAS THE ERA OF SOLAR POWER PLANTS ARRIVED?

WILL CURRENT ECONOMIC DOWNTURN SPEED DECLINE IN SOLAR POWER COSTS?

THE 5 ‘IN’ TO BUILD SELF RELIANT SOLAR INDIA INTENT, INCLUSION, INVESTMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE & INNOVATION

HOW DATA IS TRANSFORMING THE SOLAR ENERGY SECTOR?

SUVOJYOTI PRAMANIK HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, ENERMAN

"At every stage of Evolution, Technology automates a lot of things and with Human involvement, it makes it to another level."

POLICY TALK 25

IS ULTRA-MEGA RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER PARKS (UMREPPS) A NEXT WAVE OF GROWTH IN RE?

OPINION 26

ENERGY STORAGE - BATTERY TECHNOLOGY, TECHNIQUES & ECONOMICS

USING CONCENTRATING SOLAR THERMAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR INDUSTRIAL PROCESS HEAT APPLICATION IN INDIA

ROOFTOP SOLAR GOES DIGITAL!

UNLEASHING A SOLAR ROOFTOP REVOLUTION IN INDIA

EMERGING TRENDS & TECHNOLOGY SOLAR STRUCTURE & TRACKING SYSTEMS

COMPANY FEATURE

A ROAD MAP FOR ONE SUN ONE WORLD ONE GRID

PRODUCT FEATURE 33

TRINA SOLAR

PUBLISHING

EDITING

Firstview Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

DHASH

FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN BULL POWER

"Today Bull Power is the leading turn-key solution provider for solar EPC systems. We design, engineer and install solar systems for Domestic, Industrial"

INSIGHTS 14

SHARAD D. ACHARYA

SOLIS

SUNGROW

ENERMAN

GROWATT

SINENG

LONGI

SOFARSOLAR

CONTENT

DESIGNING

ADVERTISING

Varun Gulati

Sangita Shetty

Neha Barangali

Smriti Singh

Kunal Verma

Ekta Pujari

Megha Kottapalli

Meghna Sharma

Chandan Gupta

Parleen Kaur Arora

Kishor Shetty

Samah Rumani

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

CIRCULATION

PRINTING Vaibhav Enterprises

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ASIANEWS MDBS’ CLIMATE FINANCE IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES REACHES $41.5 BILLION IN 2019 Cli mate financing by seven of the world’ s largest multilateral development banks (MDBs) accounted for $61. 6 billi on in 2019, of which $41. 5 billion (67%) was in low- and middle-income economies, according to the 2019 Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ Climate Finance. The study expands the scope of reporti ng for the first time to all countri es of operation. It now provides data on MDB climate finance commitments beyond those directed solely at developing and emerging economies, but with the focus remai ni ng on low- and middle-income countri es. The 2019 report shows that $46. 6 billion – or 76% of total financing for the year – was devoted to climate change mitigation investments that ai m to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emi ssi ons and slow down global warmi ng. Of this, 59% went to low- and middle-income economies. The remai ni ng $15 billion, or 24%, was i nvested in adaptation efforts to help countri es build resilience to the mounting impacts of climate change, i ncludi ng worsening droughts and more extreme weather events, such as extreme flooding and rising sea levels. 93% of this finance was directed at low- and middle-income economies.

HIGHER PRECEDENCE FOR SOLAR PV TO ACT AS CATALYST IN NEW ZEALAND’S CARBON MITIGATION PLAN TOWARDS ACHIEVING CARBON NEUTRALITY BY 2050 The New Zealand government announced solar installations across six of i ts i nstitutional campuses, utilizing the NZ$200m clean-powered public service fund. The ventures are to be introduced across selected universities, government and defense buildings, significantly di mi ni shing their carbon footprint. This acts as a predicted step to the broader obj ectives of accomplishing the 2050 net zero carbon emissions target, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Declining cost of solar modules, enhanced installation processes and economic incentives i ndi cate the distributed generation proj ects to take a serious leap over the large scale proj ects. With the residential segment taki ng up a considerable share of electricity consumption, the bulk of the proj ects planned to build a capacity of 6GW by 2050 is anticipated to be di stri buted not by grid but by roof-top, communi ty-based installati ons, etc.

SUNGROW DEBUTS THE 1500V LFP LITHIUM-ION ESS SOLUTIONS FOR A VARIETY OF INSTALLATIONS Sungrow, the global leadi ng i nverter soluti on suppli er for renewables, i ndi cates a robust growth momentum toward sustai nable development by showcasi ng flagshi p PV and energy storage i nnovati ons at SNEC 2020. In parti cular, the latest 1500V LFP energy storage system (ESS) soluti ons for a full range of appli cati ons was released onsi te. The global market sees a strong i mpetus of energy storage development as i t’ s a special dri ve of the local decarboni zati on and energy transiti on. As a pi oneer i n thi s segment, Sungrow has more than 1000 deployments of i ntegrated ESS soluti ons across the world. The Company unvei led the new 1500V LFP ESS soluti ons to meet growi ng demands across the globe. The ESS soluti ons allow the PCS capaci ty varyi ng from 1MW to 6. 9MW, and LFP (Li thi um Iron Phosphate) battery rated at 1500V which can be assembled to an i ntegrated volume of up to 4. 5MWh, sui table for a vari ety of commerci al and uti li ty-scale i nstallati ons.

RENESOLA & AVENSTON SIGN PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT IN UKRAINE ReneSola, one of the reputed Solar PV module manufacturer worldwi de and Avenston, a reputed & pi oneer player i n the Solar Industry i n Ukrai ne have si gned the long-term partnership agreement for the Ukrai ne and other nearby countri es. According to the Partnership, Avenston wi ll Market & Sell ReneSola’ s Hi gh Quality & Hi gh Effi ci ency Solar PV Modules in region exclusi vely and both the compani es also agreed to explore other proj ect development related opportuniti es in the Ukrai ne at a ri ght time. Ukrai nian Solar Market has been grown i mpressi vely i n the past couple of years. Despi te the momentari ly poli ti cal hurdles for the i nvestment of large scale of SPV proj ects and i mplementati on of Pre PPAs, i t is good to see such enthusiasm i n the people of Ukrai ne towards the promoti on of clean energy in the country.

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TECHNOLOGY TO GENERATE SOLAR ENERGY CONTINUES TO EVOLVE Innovati on i n photovoltaic equipment technology conti nues to grow and its rate of expansion has not stopped despite the strong pandemi c. On August 8th, 9th and 10th, the largest Solar Fai r i n the world SNEC 2020 was held in Shanghai, China. Duri ng the event, the latest innovati ons in equi pment for photovoltai c systems were presented and conferences were held where data and predi cti ons for the expansion of the solar sector in the world. China has become the leading country for the manufacture of photovoltaic equi pment, i ts hi gh quality and competi ti ve pri ces have led them to the forefront as the number 1 supplier globally. Gi nlong Soli s i s one of the largest and most experienced stri ng i nverter manufacturing companies i n the world, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Due to the situation the world i s goi ng through and the i mpossi bility for many people i n the photovoltai c sector to attend the exhi bition in Shanghai, Solis organi zed i ts vi rtual version of Solis SNEC to receive i ts clients from all over the world virtually. From August 6th to 15th, virtual visi tors to Soli s will be able to learn about i ts broad product portfoli o and i ts fami ly of inverters wi th a range from 700W to 255kW, for resi denti al, commercial i ndustrial and utili ty appli cati ons.

TRENDING NEDO AND SHARP CO., LTD UTILIZES WORLD'S HIGHEST LEVEL OF SOLAR BATTERY CELLS IN EV NEDO and Sharp Co. , Ltd. have manufactured solar cell panels for electri c vehicles by using cells equivalent to the world' s hi ghest effi ci ency solar cell module (conversi on effi ciency 31. 17%) developed in the NEDO busi ness. Thi s panel has achieved a rated power output of over 1 kW, and company have calculated that the number of ti mes of chargi ng from an external power supply can be reduced to zero depending on the usage pattern such as mi leage and runni ng time. In the future they will evaluate the crui si ng range and the number of times of charging, etc. , and utilize them i n the spread acti vities of in-vehicle solar cells, ai ming to create a new solar cell market and solve energy and envi ronmental problems.

ARIES AND RAIL PROMISE TO ADVANCE RENEWABLE ENERGY INNOVATION AND INTEGRATION Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette introduced two new acronyms to the Nati onal Renewable Energy Laboratory’ s (NREL’ s) lexi con on Aug. 12: RAIL and ARIES. RAIL stands for Research and Innovati on Laboratory, whi le ARIES is short for Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems. Martin Keller, director of NREL, sai d RAIL wi ll provi de “much needed” laboratory space for researchers looki ng i nto a gamut of efforts i ncludi ng plastics upcycli ng, nextgenerati on batteries, and advanced energy materials. “When i t’ s complete, ” Broui llette sai d. The RAIL building i s budgeted at between $15. 5 milli on and $16. 5 milli on. The design and bui ld contract for the proj ect i s expected to be awarded by the end of the year. The bui lding, esti mated to be from 15, 000–20, 000 square feet, i s targeted for completion i n the fall of 2022. Meanwhi le, the ARIES program builds upon existing capabiliti es at ESIF and the Integrated Energy Systems at Scale (IESS) capabi liti es at NREL’ s Flati rons Campus near Boulder, Colorado. Researchers are able to provi de real-ti me testing of equipment connected to the electri cal gri d. Equi pment at ESIF offers as much as 2 megawatts of power. Wi th ARIES, IESS wi ll allow for research requiring 10 ti mes that amount. A 100 Gbps fi ber-opti c link will connect the two campuses wi th external connections to other nati onal laboratori es and i ndustry partners.

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PROJECT MONTHLY APPOINTMENT OF M.S. UNNIKRISHNAN AS A DIRECTOR ON THE BOARD OF AZURE POWER GLOBAL LIMITED Azure Power a leading solar power producer in India, announced that M. S Unni krishnan, soon retiring-Managing Di rector and CEO of Thermax Ltd. , was appoi nted to Azure Power’ s Board of Di rectors as a non-executive and nomi nee Director of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), whi ch is a AAA debt rated, long-term i nsti tutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans i n Canada with over CA$300 bi lli on in assets under management and i s Azure Power’ s largest individual shareholder with 50. 7% ownership. Mr. Unni krishnan has over 30 years of experi ence in the energy and envi ronmental sector. In his most recent role as Managing Director and CEO of Thermax Ltd. , he led the i mplementation of a strategy to accelerate Thermax’ s growth and posi ti on it as one of the leading suppli ers of power systems and equi pment with a market capitalisation of over US$1 billion.

IHCL JOINS HANDS WITH TATA POWER FOR SOLAR ENERGY FOR MUMBAI HOTELS

NTPC GROUP ACHIEVES OVER 100 BUS OF CUMULATIVE GENERATION IN THE CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR

AZURE POWER POSTS 16% REVENUE INCREASE FOR FISCAL FIRST QUARTER 2021 Azure Power Global Li mi ted, a leadi ng independent solar power producer i n Indi a, announced its consoli dated results under Uni ted States Generally Accepted Accounting Pri nci ples (“GAAP”) for the fi scal first quarter 2021 ended June 30, 2020. Electri ci ty generati on duri ng the quarter ended June 30, 2020 was 883. 9 mi lli on kWh, an i ncrease of 183. 8 mi lli on kWh or 26%, over the quarter ended June 30, 2019. The i ncrease i n electri ci ty generati on was pri nci pally a result of addi ti onal operati ng capacity duri ng the peri od driven by the commi ssi oni ng of new proj ects. Plant Load Factor (“PLF”) for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, was 23. 1%, compared to 19. 4%, for the same comparable peri od in 2019, which i ncreased pri nci pally due to the additi on of DC capaci ty and i mproved performance by our plants.

Indi an Hotels Company (IHCL), South Asi a’ s largest hospitality company, announced the signing of a solar energy Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with TP Kirnali Solar Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Tata Power Company Limited. IHCL hotels i n Mumbai, namely The Taj Mahal Palace, Taj Lands End and Taj Welli ngton Mews, will get approximately 60% energy from Green Source and will reduce nearly 22. 9 mi lli on kg of CO2 emissions on an annual basis. This agreement is valid for a period of 25 years. The agreement further strengthens the Tata Group’ s firm commitment towards conserving natural resources for future generations. Through this i ni ti ati ve, IHCL hotels in Mumbai will be able to reduce nearly 22. 9 million kg of CO2 emissions on an annual basi s, which translates to a carbon reduction equivalent of approximately 7, 200 cars off the road.

TATA POWER ANNOUNCES Q1 FY 2020-21 RESULTS: RENEWABLE EBITDA STOOD AT ₹ 588 CRORE

NTPC Group has achi eved over 100 Bi llion Units (BUs) of cumulati ve generation i n the current fi nancial year, reinforcing group’ s commi tment towards excellence in operation across its plants. As per the data published by Central Electri city Authori ty (CEA), NTPC Korba (2600 MW) i n Chatti sgarh has emerged as the top performing thermal power plant i n India wi th 97. 42% Plant Load Factor (PLF) between April to July 2020. Exemplary performances were regi stered by five other flagship power plants of NTPC as well. NTPC Si pat i n Chatti sgarh (2980 MW), NTPC Rihand (3000 MW) i n Uttar Pradesh, NTPC Vi ndhyachal (4760 MW) in Madhya Pradesh, NTPC Talcher Kaniha (3000 MW) and NTPC Talcher Thermal (460 MW) i n Odisha featured among the top ten performi ng thermal power plants in the country based on PLF performance. Further, two 200 MW units, Unit 4 & Unit 1 of NTPC Singrauli in Uttar Pradesh commi ssioned way back in January 1984 & June 1982 respecti vely, achi eved the highest PLF i n the country wi th 99. 90% and 99. 87% respectively from April to July’ 20. Thi s demonstrates the expertise of NTPC in Operation and Mai ntenance of the power plants and the hi gh levels of operational excellence.

ACTIS ACQUIRES TWO SOLAR PROJECTS IN INDIA AGGREGATING 400 MW Acti s, a leadi ng investor of private capital into global emergi ng markets today announces that i ts Acti s Long Li fe Infrastructure Fund (“ALLIF”) has completed i ts acqui si ti on of two solar proj ects i n India totalli ng 400MW from Acme Solar Holdings Ltd, These proj ects are located in the Indi an states of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh respectively. Actis i s a leading investor i n Indi an renewables where it invests through ALLIF and Acti s Energy Funds. ALLIFs investment strategy targets large operati ng renewable assets for the long-term, maxi mi sing yield through value creati on. Actis’ recent i nvestments through i ts Energy Funds i nclude Ostro Energy which was sold i n 2018 in one of the largest renewable energy deals in Indi a and Sprng Energy whi ch currently has 648 MW of operating assets and a further pipeli ne of 1100 MW whi ch are in various stages of execution.

Tata Power Pat Up By 10% At ₹ 268 Crore; Strong Cash Generati on Despi te Covi d Related Pressure; Renewable Ebitda Stood At ₹ 588 Crore. Company Took Over Management Of Cesu To Supply Electricity In Odisha’ s Five Circles; Three Wholly Owned Subsi di ari es Includi ng Cgpl (Mundra Umpp) & Tpssl (Solar Epc Busi ness) To Be Merged Wi th Parent Company. On a consolidated basis, Tata Power Group’ s Q1 FY21 Revenue stood at ₹ 6, 671 crore as compared to ₹ 7, 567 crore in Q1 FY20. This is mainly due to lower power demand, delay i n Solar EPC busi nesses on account of COVID-19 and lower Coal FOB pri ces. Q1 FY21 Consoli dated PAT after exceptional items up 10% at ₹ 268 crore as compared to ₹ 243 crore i n Q1 FY20. The company maintained stable performance despi te lower profi ts from Solar EPC Busi nesses mai nly on account of lower financing cost and stable performance across clusters. The Company also reported strong cash generation due to strong collecti on and ti ghter control over working capital.

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IN CONVERSATION

"At every stage of Evolution, Technology automates a lot of things and with Human involvement, it makes it to another level." Suvojyoti Pramanik Head Of Business Development, Enerman

Please tell our readers about Enerman's products and services offered in India.

What are the initiatives taken by Enerman to support the 'Vocal for Local' in India?

EnerMAN is a global and leading provider of Energy Management Solution for Solar Power Plants. It has 3 Main Products:

EnerMAN is practicing this Moto “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” or “Vocal For Local” for a long time before this campaign officially launched by our Honourable PM Mr. Narendra Modi. We have our in-house development team to develop our Software Portal as well as our Hardware unit is developed in our Bangalore Head Quarter and we Proudly say that our Product is purely “MADE IN INDIA” and we are planning to take our Local Product in Global Market soon.

ETi-SOL: It has been developed to Suppress recurring Technical issues witnessed at Solar PV plant with Customized features at Affordable prices. It is a Basic Remote Monitoring Solution comes with Robust IOT Sensors (ETiLOG) and in-house developed Software Portal to Monitor Solar PV Plant at any time from anywhere. Some of the Basic features of ETi-SOL includes: Inverter Level Monitoring, String Level Monitoring, Monitoring of other electrical devices like Energy Meters, Transformers, Weather Sensors, etc ETi-CONNECT: This is an advanced version of ETi-SOL having Real-Time Advanced Analytics, AI & ML-driven insights, Defect Monitoring with various Colour Coding and, many more. It is a CMS (Central Monitoring System) where multiple Solar Plants can be monitored in a single platform which may have multiple distinct SCADA. ETi-SAM: This is a Solar Asset Management Solution mainly used for Operation and Maintenance, where Module Cleaning Cycles, Water usage, PM Activities and Forecasted Vs Actual Generation can be tracked along with DGR Report (i.e Daily Generation Report)

EnerMAN is practicing this Moto “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” or “Vocal For Local” for a long time before this campaign officially launched by our Honourable PM Mr. Narendra Modi. We have our inhouse development team to develop our Software Portal as well as our Hardware unit is developed in our Bangalore Head Quarter and we Proudly say that our Product is purely “MADE IN INDIA” | AUGUST ISSUE 2020

How has the journey of Enerman's been so far? How do you see it evolving post-covid? EnerMAN is a 2 years old company but our Parent Company Avi Solar Energy Private Limited is there in the market since 2010 having O&M experience of almost 2GW. So far with our O&M Experience, we have solved a lot of Customers problems by rectifying their non-functional SCADA and within 2 years we are monitoring almost 950MW of Solar projects across India and supplied our solution in some of the prominent places like Bhopal Airport Project, Mumbai Metro Project, Kochi Metro Project and many more. [2nd Part] Currently Because Of COVID Pandemic, Business all over the world is suffering but we are utilizing this time in making our Product more Robust and also we are focusing on the Training and Development of our Employees in this period. We have a lot of Projects in our Pipeline and we strongly believe that after this tough phase we are going to gain our momentum in Quick time. Our whole team is ready to fight back, We don’t see a major problem because of this Pandemic. Business is low at this moment but It’s just a matter of time.

As we have seen the on set of digital era in the covid times, how do you think the technology is going to evolve?

Technology is going to be the main point of Focus for Every Organization. From now onwards we have to adapt to a new normal situation where COVID-19 is a part of our life. IoT i. e Internet Of Things is going to play a maj or role here. It will transform the existing physical servers in the Workplace into the Cloud Servers, and thus Work from Office will not be mandatory after this Pandemic. We at EnerMAN Technologies already increased the use of Technology and started servicing our Clients online. We have started doing Remote Installation of our SCADA system instead of sending our Engineers at Site. At every stage of Evolution, Technology automates a lot of things and with Human involvement, it makes it to another level. The post COVID situation is not just going to focus on Employee Safety but also there will be a lot of changes in the existing Business Model, Supply Chain, and Organization Process Mechanism.

We at EnerMAN Technologies already increased the use of Technology and started servicing our Clients online."

Can you please brief us a little more about the IIOT Technology? The Theoretical definition of IIOT Technology is, it is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, that are provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. IIOT stands for "Industrial Internet Of Things". An IoT ecosystem consists of web-enabled devices that use embedded systems, such as processors, sensors, and communication sensors, to collect, send, and act on data they acquire from a specific Place. IIoT devices share the data they collect by connecting to an IoT gateway where data is sent to the cloud server. The devices perform most of the work without human intervention, although sometimes people can interact with the IIOT devices to set them up, give them instructions, or access the data. A simple example of IIOT Technology can be a Mobile App. In a Solar Plant, all the Inverters or breakers can be Controlled with just a click of a button in your Mobile Phone from any corner of the World.

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ONE ON ONE WITH

SHARAD D. ACHARYA Founder & Chairman Bull Power

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT BULL POWER SOLAR’S PRODUCT AND SERVICE OFFERED IN INDIA.

Bull Power Solar has set its goal to lead and promote the field of utilizing and preserving sources of renewable energy, particularly solar energy. Bull Power was founded by Sharad Dutta Acharya an entrepreneur and Stock and Commodities Market Expert and Blog writer, with Co-Partnership of Mr. Dinesh Kumar Bishnoi having 15 years of experience in Renewable Energy field. Bull Power introduced dependable solar solutions to cater the power needs of farmers, families, businesses and institutions. With our professional and experienced team, we are committed to providing the best products and services. As a leader in the field of solar energy, we see ourselves as an important part in the efforts of promoting the green revolution in India, by addressing the needs of the future, today! Today Bull Power is the leading turn-key solution provider for solar EPC systems. We design, engineer and install solar systems for Domestic, Industrial, Agricultural and utility scale projects. As a specialist in roof-top, and custom designed solar structures, we focus on providing best-in-class solar racking systems and project management capabilities to serve owners and integrators. Bull Power provides unique and reliable, high quality services which include all of the stages involved in planning, installing and up keeping solar energy production systems. We identify our customer’ s needs and provide them with efficient, better and cost-effective solar energy systems. After sales service is the main need of all Industries. Bull Power is obliged to provide highest quality of service. As a market leader of solar industry, we provide the quality highest products. In addition to fitting and installation, our services include taking care of all of the bureaucratic aspects that have to do with the installation as well as: Compatibility test held by an engineer Acquiring the necessary permits Electrician examination Representation facing the electric company Technical Support and consultancy Highest Value of Satisfaction Bull Power is a company where we care about our customers. In planning a project, we assist to identify the needs and offer several solutions according to the budgets and commitment. We are committed that our customer will save energy and funds right from the beginning. WHAT ARE THE INITIATIVES TAKEN BY BULL POWER TO SUPPORT THE 'VOCAL FOR LOCAL' IN INDIA?

Hon’ ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made an appeal in the context of supporting Indian economy at the grassroots level with steps towards selfreliance. He has appealed for buying local product and supporting local business, because during the lockdown the, products and services by local vendors has helped us survive. We always focus to make use of products made by local entrepreneurs and Indian Companies. This not only helps them sustain their livelihoods but also create jobs for people. We purchase goods from many such local producers, and these local really coming to our rescue with essential of good quality and timely delivery. Headed for Gloss “Vocal for Local” Bull Power, endeavour to provide best solutions to our esteemed clients, we have partnered with Kirloskar Brothers Limited, established in 1888 and incorporated in 1920, Kirloskar Brothers Limited (KBL) is the flagship company of the $ 2. 1 billion Kirloskar group. and Jakson Engineers Ltd, founded in 1947, a diversified group with multiple business interests in Power Solutions with more than 2600 Cr. of group turnover including turnover of 1200 Cr from Solar business HOW HAS THE JOURNEY OF BULL POWER 'S BEEN SO FAR? HOW DO YOU SEE IT EVOLVING POST-COVID?

Bull Power was previously organised by Bull Fighter Consultancy, the firm organized seminars and workshops for farmers, Millers and traders, time to time on the better business of agricultural commodities. At the same time when the net metering policy came in 2015, the company shifted its focus in this direction and keeping this in mind in 2017, Mr. Acharya founded Bull Power Energy Pvt.

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The company' s goal is to maximize benefits to customers maintaining the quality work with good solar products. And with this mission, the company appointed Mr. Dinesh Kumar Bishnoi, who has been working in the field of renewable energy for last 15 years, as its managing director. When we began working on rooftop and solar water pumping system the market was dominated by giant solar players, with such competition it was difficult to attract a big business. What started as a small off grid system, today Bull Power is ready to set up a large solar park in Rajasthan. The company has established its identity in Bikaner and in state of Rajasthan. Simultaneously as we worked on a solar rooftop, we witnessed, no solar EPC company focused on households which could not afford solar, with a pre-set format of solar structure. Bull Power made it its USP and took the challenge of installing solar plants at all such households where major solar players refused to set up plants. We immediately started looking for good fabricators for this, eventually our search was successful and we found the right fabricators who were passionate for Solar. In the meantime, few solar plants that we had in the beginning, the working conditions was a real challenge, but we overcame the rough patch and successfully executed the project and outcome that we witnessed from those plants convinced that we have overcome the obstacles. In Bikaner district, we installed solar plants in more than 250 homes where solar installation was a challenge in itself, if Bull Power wouldn’ t have taken this project with its team having extraordinary skills and innovation, then our goal would have not been possible. The company constantly steps forwards with the excellent after sales service. In order to grow further, the company appointed Mr. Mahesh Kumar Pareek, Senior Manager, ICICI Group, Mr. Sunil Joshi, Rajasthan In-charge of Square Yard Group and Mr, Manish Kumar Vyas, Senior Manager Angel Broking, as Director as the company' s vision. In 4 years, Bull power has successfully installed many solar plants for huge industries including Carpet & Woollen Industry, Bhujia & Papad Udyog, Textile Mills, Peanut and mustered oil processing units, Cartoon Industry, RO Plant, Schools, Hospitals and Jewellery Showrooms etc. During the COVID19 pandemic we noticed that the people who returned from the cities to the villages were very keen on the solar pump as agricultural products witnessed tremendous increase in demand, hence we reached out to such people through digital and social media. Bull Power benefited greatly with the Kirloskar Brothers and we reached out to those farmers. We believe that agriculture has a huge contribution in the development of India and parallelly Bull Power set up excellent solar water plant projects to encourage farmers and their development. Solar water pumps were provided at affordable rates in more than 100 villages of about 5 tehsils near Bikaner district, and information was also provided about the benefits of using it, which led to the development of improved varieties of crops and good irrigation by our company. AS WE HAVE SEEN THE ON SET OF DIGITAL ERA IN THE COVID TIMES, HOW DO YOU THINK THE TECHNOLOGY IS GOING TO EVOLVE?

Like other companies, Solar is affected by the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Solar has an agile business model and is fundamentally a digital business, which means that we are well positioned for the next normal. To stay one step ahead we focused on digitalization, and today solar business need this transformation. Being an innovative company Bull Power always works on new working concept. We want to serve our clients in better, so our investments in front-line digital businesses combine our deep industry knowledge and decades of digitalisation experience with their business innovation and new, scalable digital platforms. This means that we are able to deliver innovative industry solutions to the market at a higher pace. We are strategically striving to improve ourselves for better growth in industry transformation and digitization. We work constantly towards making Solar Energy an attractive business model for innovative and valuable users.

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INSIGHTS Any other industrial/commercial establishments currently using steam/hot water for process applications can also employ CST with a minimum tinkering to the existing setup. For industrial processes where lower temperature range less than 120°C is required, technologies such as the Scheffler dish and Compound Parabolic Concentrator or Non-imaging Concentrators are common and for higher temperature range applications, technologies such as Parabolic Trough, Linear Fresnel and Paraboloid dish with tracking are preferred. Financial Supports to promote CST

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing a programme on concentrated solar thermal aimed at peak shaving, conservation of electricity and fossil fuels and providing a clean, nonpolluting solution to meet the process heat requirement in community, commercial and industrial sectors. Various promotional incentives in the form of Central Finance Assistance (CFA) are available for concentrating solar thermal projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. This programme is implemented through multiple agencies for scaling up of CST projects. These agencies include SNAs, IREDA, SECI, Channel Partners, and other government agencies like PSUs, Institutions, NHB, NABARD etc. Ministry also has empaneled Channel Partners, Manufacturer/suppliers and Entrepreneurs for CST technology. UNIDO project on CST

USING CONCENTRATING SOLAR THERMAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR INDUSTRIAL PROCESS HEAT APPLICATION IN INDIA India is endowed with a vast solar energy potential. About 5, 000 trillion kWh per year of solar energy is incident over India’ s land area, with nearly all of India receiving an average sunshine hour of 5-7 kWh/m 2 /day. The abundant solar radiation, clean character of solar energy, high cost of fossil fuels and negative emission consequences, along with large requirements for process heat below 250°C are the key drivers of the strong focus on the development of solar thermal applications in India. UNIDO has identified a total market potential of 12. 5 GW for industrial applications, including low temperature applications, in India during preparation of CST Roadmap 2022. The Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) technologies, due to efforts of the indigenous technology providers, are making technical and economic sense today in many applications such as steam cooking, wastewater treatment, laundry services, dairy thermal applications and the automotive Sector. The heat requirement is met by burning conventional fuels such as coal, furnace oil, natural gas and electricity. Use of solar concentrator technology integrated with system process heat demand can help replace/ reduce conventional fuels which in turn will help reduce GHG emissions. Concentrating Solar Thermal Technology

CSTs are very well suited for industrial process heat applications in the medium or medium-high temperature ranges. They can be used effectively to supply energy in the form of heat, and therefore huge potential exists for the use of concentrated solar energy in the industrial sectors. Industrial heat is characterized by a wide diversity with respect to temperature levels, pressures and production processes to meet the many different industrial process demands. CST technologies track the sun’ s incoming radiation with mirror fields, which concentrate the energy towards absorbers, which then transfer it thermally to the working medium. The heated fluid or steam may reach high temperatures and may be used for various processes requiring heat. CST technologies can produce a range of temperatures, between 60°C and up to over 350°C, which can be used in a variety of industrial and commercial heat applications. The industries showing good potential for implementation of solar concentrators are food processing, dairy, paper and pulp, chemicals, textiles, fertilizer, breweries, electroplating, pharmaceutical, rubber, desalination and tobacco sectors.

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The GEF-UNIDO project on “Promoting Business Model for increasing penetration and scaling up of solar energy” was designed to complement Ministry (MNRE) support programme by helping to remove barriers associated with Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) technologies, its awareness, capacity building, market and financial barriers. The implementing partners of the CST project is the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), and National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE). The project was conceived with an aim to contribute to the GEF Climate Change Strategic Objective namely, promoting investment in Renewable Energy (RE) technologies by transforming the market for solar energy for industrial heat applications in India through investment, market demonstration, development of appropriate financial instruments, development of technical specifications, capacity building and contributions to establish a favorable policy and regulatory environment. Soft Loan Scheme under UNIDO-IREDA supported MNRE project UNIDO has partnered with IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency) to develop and implement an innovative finance/loan scheme to further promote the deployment of CST projects in India for heating and cooling applications in potential industries to reduce energy consumption and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The highlights of the currently available financial incentives are as follows. The beneficiary’ s or project developer’ s contribution would be 25%. The financial incentives provided for CST installation include CFA (Central Financial Assistance) from MNRE and accelerated depreciation benefit. Additional support is available from UNIDO project in terms of technical feasibility and soft loan from IREDA. Bridge loan against subsidy and at normal interest rate would be available. Support is available also for improving the manufacturing of CST system/components. Loan for the CST project would be provided at an interest subvention of 5% from the current rates using funds under the project. Both the loan and MNRE subsidy would be bundled in form a financial package by IREDA. The project is designed to complement MNRE’ s support programme by helping to remove barriers associated with Concentrating Solar technology, its awareness, capacity building, market and financial.

PANKAJ KUMAR National Technical Expert (Solar), United Nation IndustrialDevelopment Organization (UNIDO)

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INSIGHTS 18

ROOFTOP SOLAR GOES DIGITAL ! Despite 5. 5 GW and counting, Rooftop Solar (RTS) still lags in realization of its true potential. Policy &amp; regulations, financing and process streamlining issues continue to impact its accelerated deployment and some of these pitfalls have been accentuated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. RTS projects implementation is expected to have a short gestation period. However, given the pandemic situation, delays are inevitable. Thus, there lies a great opportunity to streamline and expedite RTS operations and implementation process. Digitization of RTS will significantly reduce these delays and improve overall performance. Digitisation – requirement and utility

Digitisation plays a vital role in every sphere of the RTS ecosystem, be it feasibility assessments, vendor and consumer on-boarding, DISCOM approvals, monitoring or financing. For instance, lack of data regarding the total capacity of RTS plants interconnected to a distribution transformer (DT) and the limits imposed by state net metering (NEM) regulations on NEM connections based on DT capacity, lead to data asymmetry and process inefficiencies. Online DT mapping for the entire DISCOM coverage area will assist DISCOMs to efficiently manage the distribution network and provide timely approvals. Secondly, for successful RTS tenders, if a potential pipeline is offered upfront through an online data room, true and competitive price discovery is undeniable. Thirdly, Unified Web Portal (UWP) enables DISCOMs to provide a seamless experience for consumers to apply for grid interconnection, to manage vendor activities and to claim subsidy, all on a single window digital platform. Fourthly, post vendors’ empanelment, the consumer on-boarding process can be digitised by floating online expressions of interests (EoI), thereby reducing the transaction costs and fostering RTS deployment. Finally, online performance monitoring of RTS projects will empower key stakeholders with competitive performance benchmarking, access to components’ performance ratings, overall visibility of the RTS plants’ performance including target environmental parameters, demand forecasting, planning and scheduling, RPO compliance, provision of generation-based incentives, participation in peer-to-peer energy markets (block chain enabled), certified and validated generation data -

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facilitating bankers in project yield assessment, reliable O&M information, performance rating for developers etc. For financiers, the entire loan process involving application, verification, approval, monitoring and closure can also be automated through online document submission systems, chatbots, digitised tracking systems by combining with the online performance monitoring. Current efforts on RTS digitisation

Several market players and DISCOMs have already implemented many of the above leading digital initiatives viz. , launch of UWPs &amp; online consumer aggregation, online monitoring, online DT mapping (e. g Telangana DISCOM), online loan processing by Banks (e. g IDBI) etc. SUPRABHA, the World Bank-SBI rooftop solar technical assistance program has already made a comprehensive digital impression in more than 10 states in developing UWPs. It has also established more than 12 online data rooms covering more than 4000 sites with 350 MW capacity across 12 States. Such data rooms have been a key contributor to the price discovery for tenders over 200 MW. SUPRABHA is currently working on a Vendor Management Portal to assist DISCOMs to manage the post-bid processes. SUPRABHA recently supported National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in establishing a remotely monitored RTS platform and has also initiated work on online site monitoring mechanism and an automated loan process mechanism for banks. Post COVID-19, SUPRABHA believes that RTS digitisation is the way forward to intensify the momentum towards achieving the desired targets.

NITHYANANDAM YUVARAJ DINESH BABU Team Leader, Sustainable Partnership for Rooftop Solar Acceleration,

Bharat (SUPRABHA-The World Bank SBI Initiative) Executive Director, Strategy & Transactions

Ernst & Young Services Private Limited

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PERSPECTIVE

HAS THE OF VIRTUAL SOLAR POWER PLANTS ARRIVED? AYUSH MAHAJAN Co-founder & CTO, PV

The Indian power sector has been undergoing transformation since the past few years, with growing contribution of renewable resources in the energy mix. The limited supply of fossil fuel has encouraged the penetration of distributed energy resources (DER) in the Indian power sector. Grid integration of DERs has allowed the shift from centralized to decentralized systems. The development of this newly designed flexible energy network can be achieved using virtual power plants (VPP). VPP allows numerous decentralized power plants to aggregate and operate as a single platform. It functions as a Cloud-based or SaaS-based platform which governs multiple decentralized power plants through various distribution routes and demand centers. Distributed plants can be remotely operated and controlled through VPP. Various functionalities of VPP like distributed asset monitoring, asset analytics, distributed asset control, renewable energy management, energy storage management, EV charging asset management, and demand response management are anticipated to influence the adoption of VPP in the Indian power sector. | AUGUST ISSUE 2020

Diagnostics

In the last 5 years, renewable energy generation has increased to 1516 TWh and 98. 37 TWh worldwide and in India, respectively. These incremental generation rates demand better storage solutions for reliable and secure penetration of renewable generators. These are also the most cost-competitive solutions compared to conventional sources. We are aware that these renewable generators and storage solutions are a part of the bigger picture â&#x20AC;&#x153;Decarbonization and reduction in Nonconventional energy sources dependenceâ&#x20AC;? along with electric vehicle adoption which has become a real thing now. The modular and stochastic nature of these non-conventional sources poses a big challenge for the grid. After a significant penetration, these stochastic nature can destabilize the grid and make it less reliable, limiting the contribution. This is where the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) comes into play. Conceptually, VPP aggregates different DERs and demands a response to act as one power plant withcharacteristics similar to the conventional power plant. The various participants in VPP are PV plants (residential and large scale), wind farms, electric vehicles, biogas CHP, hydropower plants, hydrogen storage, demand-side response, etc. VPP brings together operating

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curves of different DERs and aggregates the characteristics to generate one single operating profile which is reflected in the load dispatch center or the electricity market with more reliability, robustness, and predictability. Few benefits of VPP are:

DR. AKANKSHA TYAGI Research Analyst, Council on Energy,

Optimized utilization of available resources and improved efficiency and reliability of the overall system Better revenue opportunities Ancillary services from aggregated DERs and stacking of different revenue line Improved scheduling of renewable generators

There are a few challenges that need to be addressed before the implementation of VPP. One of the biggest challenges are different geographical locations of DERs and therefore different power inj ection points in the grid. To solve this, various network constraints and real-time network conditions have to be met. Additionally, relevant commercial and technical regulatory policies need to be in place for large-scale adoption of VPP. Current Advancements in VPP solutions North America, China, Australia, and Europe are the leaders in the deployment of “VPP as a solution”. Europe: Hosts leading VPP proj ects like FENIX, REstable, Regenerative Combined Power Plant proj ect, SolVer proj ect, etc. with focus on DER aggregation for providing various ancillary services. China: Claims to have the biggest operational VPP (owned by State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Co. ) and target to contain integrated controllable loads with a power of around 10 GW for 2020. Australia: Focusing on the residential sector and aiming to save costs for end consumers. North America: Focusing on energy management in the industrial and commercial sectors leading to cost-effective operation of integrated assets. There are various existing policies and regulation in India indirectly supporting the VPP adoptionIntroduction of 5minute scheduling, metering, accounting, and settlement in the Indian ElectricityMarket. Regulation by APERC on “Forecasting, Scheduling and Deviation Settlement of Solar and Wind Generation Regulation”, Andhra Pradesh, 2017. Net metering policy of Uttar Pradesh RTC tenders and KUSUM scheme which involves 0. 5 MW to 2 MW solar power plant installations across sub-stations in the country. These calculated and ambitious targets show that the era of VPP has arrived and we will be witnessing many such changes in the future.

Environment and Water (CEEW)

With the rapid expansion of distributed renewable energy (DRE) sources, virtual power plants (VPPs) would play a critical role in future electricity systems. These systems refer to an aggregated network of DRE sources – like rooftop solar PV systems – coupled with energy storage systems, which interact with grid operators in real time. By aggregating such small DRE capacities, these systems act as a single operating unit within the grid, similar to a conventional power plant. A central control unit monitors and manages the power generated by these distributed generators to meet the consumer demand and assist the grid operations. While the concept is still at a nascent stage in India, countries like Australia and the US have several VPP proj ects at different stages of completion. Tesla is empowering about 50, 000 houses in South Australia with rooftop solar systems and Tesla batteries. The total aggregated capacity under this programme would be 250 MW of solar and 650 MWh of storage. VPPs are gaining traction as they offer multiple benefits to the consumers and grid operators. Some of the main benefits for the consumers include access to reliable and clean energy supply, additional savings from increased self-consumption of solar electricity, and earnings from the export of stored power to the grid. Another critical benefit arises from the ability of these systems to disconnect from the primary electricity grid and operate in an islanding mode. Such autonomy ensures continuous power supply to the consumers, even in the events of grid failure. These virtual plants would assist the grid operations and power distribution companies (discoms) as well. Firstly, by aggregating the distributed generation, the discoms would have access to flexible and reliable power, at times comparable to a conventional power plant. This would allow discoms to reduce generation capacity and power procurement under the long-term power purchase agreements. Secondly, by redirecting the available solar electricity, they can manage demand and achieve load levelling. Finally, as these systems can relieve the network load, discoms can defer the augmentation of the existing network and construction of new elements. Overall, these services translate to reduced expenses for discoms with improved operational efficiency. The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) recently conducted an economic feasibility study of solar-storage microgrids with BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL), a Delhibased discom. Our research indicates that optimising the battery dispatch to improve availability during the discom peak hours can result in a significant profit of about INR 1. 08 for each unit of solar electricity generated by the PV system in the microgrid. BYPL benefits the most by reducing the procurement of expensive power from conventional power plants by ~54 per cent. However, interventions would be required to address regulatory and fiscal barriers to facilitate the scale-up of VPPs. Some of the central regulatory responses needed are favourable market designs to support the participation of VPPs in electricity trading, an ancillary market, and differential tariffs for all consumer categories. The sector also needs incentive mechanisms to promote electricity export to the grid, and innovative business models to share the financial burden and benefits equitably. Such focused actions would drive the uptake of these systems and revolutionise the Indian power sector. Dr Akanksha Tyagi is a researcher at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), one of Asia’ s leading independent not-for-profit policy research institutions.

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MANJESH NAYAK Director & COO, Oorjan Cleantech Private Limited

With an ambitious renewable energy (RE) target, increasing customer awareness and pro-RE policies, the Indian power sector has seen substantial change in its energy mix. Albeit challenges, we are seeing a steady shift of our power supply from centralised conventional sources to more decentralised renewable energy sources like rooftop solar power plants. While the shift is substantial, there is a lot more to be done to reach our ambitious RE target of 175 GW by 2022. Creating a robust power infrastructure is one of the many measures which will enable India to promote renewable energy amongst developers and the consumers alike. Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is an innovative way as well an important aspect in the creation of such an infrastructure. Moreover, increasingly visible impacts of global warming, the falling costs of renewable power plants and the pro-consumer net meter policies have encouraged the adoption of decentralised power systems popularly known as distributed energy resources (DER). A Virtual Solar Power Plant (VSPP) is a network of such decentralized, medium-scale solar power generating units as well as flexible power consumers and storage systems. These interconnected units are dispatched through the central control room of the Virtual Power Plant but nonetheless remain independent in their operation and ownership. Thus, it relieves the load on the grid by smartly distributing the power generated by the individual units during periods of peak load. VSPPs can also support trading of power on exchanges. In short, VSPP is a software as a service (SaaS) based platform which connects multiple decentralized power plants. Apart from the DERs, the DISCOMs, the TRANSCOMs, the power exchanges, the technical virtual power plant (TVPP), the commercial virtual power plant (CVPP), the aggregators comprise the Virtual Power Plant ecosystem. While the functions of most of the other parties are well known, TVPP, CVPP and aggregators are parties more specific to a VPP. A TVPP operates more at the Distribution and Transmission levels while the CVPP operates at the DER levels and the aggregators bring together the TVPPs, the CVPPs and the DERs. These participants of the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) are connected to the VPPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s central control system via a remote-control unit. This central control system uses a special algorithm to adjust to balancing reserve commands from transmission system operators, j ust as larger conventional power plants do. VPPs perform various critical functions including renewable energy management, asset analytics, DER management and control, demand response management and energy storage management. These functionalities would help create the infrastructure required for new government policies and plans such as the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan by enabling effective management of EV charging stations. All said, what India needs is a strong regulatory framework and work on addressing the security and privacy issues to support the implementation of VPPs on a large scale. Considering the current situation, the demands of the changing power mix and future power goals, the era of Virtual Solar Power Plants has clearly arrived and we have to create a conducive and secure ecosystem for VSPPs to grow and thrive.

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INSIGHTS

UNLEASHING

A SOLAR ROOFTOP REVOLUTION IN INDIA

India is pursuing an ambitious program for development of 175, 000 MW of renewable energy by 2022 comprising 40, 000 MW from rooftop solar panels. While about 50% of the overall target of 175, 000 MW is achieved by the end of 2019, performance of the rooftop segment is less than 10%. All the states and union territories in India had issued net-metering policies between 2013 and 2016. Theoretically every electricity consumer can be a “prosumer” – producer and consumer of electricity! Now, with the prices of the kilo-watt (kW) scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the range of INR 50, 000/kW (or US$ 700/kW) including installation charges, and many DISCOMs actively promoting rooftop PV, the time has come to unleash a solar rooftop revolution in the country. In most part of India 1kW panel could generate average 1200-1500 kWh or more of electricity in a year and at this price levels, the payback period for rooftop solar is about 4-5 years for commercial customers and 6-7 years for residential customers while the life of a PV system is 20-25 years with minimum annual maintenance and performance deterioration. The DISCOMs have been apprehensive of their revenue loss from rooftop solar as those installing such systems are high volume customers who pay much higher rate than the average power purchase cost for the DISCOM; and for buying the electricity from rooftop PV, DISCOMs have to regulated tariffs which are again higher than their average power purchase cost. Hence, DISCOMs have been viewing rooftop solar as a double-edged sword which has been the main hurdle in scaling up rooftop solar. It is time to have a relook at the new market dynamics to see how rooftop solar can help DISCOMs. Advantages to DISCOMs from Solar Rooftop Systems

In most urban areas the feeders are mixed use with commercial and residential customers and the electricity generated during the day by rooftop PV gets consumed in the same locality in the low voltage network itself. On such feeders, the peak demand is usually during the day while solar rooftop systems generate power. Typically every year as the load increases in each locality, DISCOMs need to upgrade their distribution infrastructure to meet the increased demand. This exercise DISCOMs do periodically. In certain cases, they need to build bigger substations and the transmission companies have to build high voltage lines to supply to the new substation. In urban India, space for locating new transformers and substations is not easily available. If the peak oad is partially met by local generation from rooftop PV, the distribution system upgrade can be delayed for years. A recent study by Council on Energy, Environment and Water and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd in Delhi have calculated a net benefit of INR 0. 22 per kWh generated from rooftop solar 1 . They considered following benefits: Avoided power purchase cost - fixed cost paid to generators for the power contracted through long term power purchase agreements Avoided transmission charges - fixed transmission charges paid to transmission companies based on the quantity of power contracted Avoided distribution capacity cost - capex avoided in enhancing the distribution network capacity to meet the additional load Avoided cost of renewable energy certificates to meet the renewable energy purchase obligation (RPO). Avoided working capital cost for the 4 items listed above

Several successful pilot projects have come up in different countries that have established the technology. The participants in P2P marketplaces could sell electricity from their rooftop PV to other participants at the best prices they can get almost in real-time; as well as participants with no rooftop PV could buy “green” electricity at the cheapest rate on the blockchain platform and schedule their consumption or even meet their RPO targets. ISGF along with our technology partner Power Ledger, Australia is implementing a blockchain pilot project in Lucknow City for P2P trading of power from rooftop solar which is expected to be live in September 2020. Steps to Scale Up of Solar Rooftop Systems

The primary obstacle in offtake of rooftop systems is the lack of awareness amongst the customers. They do not know what systems to buy, how to get it installed and how to get the net metering connections. Our recommendations are: Commoditized solar rooftop systems: We guess the market is ripe to launch commoditized rooftop PV systems that can be bought from local appliances stores. Government(s) shouldactively promote this. DISCOMs could empanel tested systems that may be made available in local appliance stores. Testing and Certifications for Installers: DISCOMs and other designated agencies may conduct training programs and certify skilled installers. This could generate millions of new jobs across the country. Government subsidies to DISCOMs: Rooftop PV systems are economically attractive to customers and they do not require any grant or subsidies. Government’ s support should go to DISCOMs who need to upgrade their distribution systems to accommodate increasing share of distributed renewable resources. ISGF modelling studies in 2019 estimated about 10 GWh of battery energy storage systems to integrate the targeted 40 GW solar power with medium voltage and low voltage grid. Promote P2P Trading: Frame appropriate regulations to promote P2P trading of rooftop solar power amongst customers; and the electricity produced and traded may be counted in the RPO target of the DISCOMs. In 2016, Government of Haryana issued an order mandating all new buildings in the state on a plot size of 500 Sq Yard or above to have solar rooftop of minimum 1 kW or 5% of the connected load. We propose to make this mandatory all over the country and the cost of rooftop solar systems may be included in the total cost of the house for home loans by financial institutions. Both rooftop solar and electric vehicles (EV) are typically connected to the low voltage grid. The AC charging points for EVs in new buildings may be equipped with vehicle–to–grid (V2G) functionalities. This would help store the solar generation in the EV batteries when local consumption is less than solar generation avoiding curtailment. The EV batteries could also help smoothen the intermittency of solar generation from the rooftop systems thereby improving the power quality in the low voltage grid. Various incentives schemes may be framed for the EV owners who participate in the V2G program. Many of them could buy electricity from the grid when price is low and sell back to the grid at higher prices during peak hours. Time has come to unleash a solar rooftop revolution in India!

On the cost side, the study considered revenue loss, program administration cost and added distribution services cost to the DISCOMs. BRPL is actively promoting rooftop solar in their service and have installed 59 MW till end of 2019. This study should be an eye opener for other DISCOMs discouraging rooftop solar. Peer to Peer Trading of Solar Rooftop Power

Mr. Reji Kumar Pillai, Presi dent - Indi a Smart Gri d Forum (a PPP i ni ti ati ve of Government of Indi a), Chai rman – Gl obal Smart Gri d Federati on

Peer-to-peer (P2) trading of electricity from rooftop PV executed through smart contracts on Blockchain is gaining momentum globally.

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PERSPECTIVE

FOCUS LCOE: WILL CURRENT ECONOMIC DOWNTURN SPEED DECLINE IN SOLAR POWER COSTS? According to a report from Wood Mackenzie, the cost of solar power is dropping faster than expected as the coronavirus stifles demand. Rooftop-scale prices will fall 17% over the next five years, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s steeper than the 14% it had expected before the coronavirus. Prices for commercial systems sliding 16%, and utility-scale installations will decline 20%, compared with the prior forecast of 13% and 16%, respectively, as per the report. Also with the demand destruction caused by Covid-19, the risk of oversupply is increased, and module suppliers have reduced prices. Already, solar power is among the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheapest electrical sources, falling system costs are boosting the competitiveness of solar against coal and natural gas.

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

There has been immense growth in solar power capacity during the last decade. Solar has now become the fastest-growing source of renewable energy in the world. Formerly, the swift installations were mainly due to policy support and a sharp reduction in technological cost heads and growing environmental concerns. However, with the economic decline induced by the outbreak of the ongoing pandemic, demand from various segments has seen a downturn due to the financial uncertainties faced by the customers. Commercial and industrial installations are likely to be negatively affected as discretionary spending will be deferred and maintaining short-term cash flow will assume primacy. Also, supply chain disruptions and declining investments has led to a delay in proj ect commissioning for the utility segment. However, all this impact may be seen during this year only and we may again see the fast pace development in the renewable sector from next year onwards along with the growth of the economy.

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With the economic decline induced by the outbreak of the ongoing pandemic, demand from various segments has seen a downturn due to the financial uncertainties faced by the customers." PG 22

SANDEEP UPADHYAY Managing Director Infrastructure Advisory, Centrum Capital Limited

It is i nevi table that the current econom i c downt ur n m ay r esult i n lower demand and hence a glut in supply acr oss t he m odule and cell manufactures. H owever the overall cost dynam i cs m ay be a bi t m ore complex than it appears prim a faci e. H ence i t needs t o be carefully deli berated before reaching a conclusi on. Put t i ng undue pressure on stakeholders under the pr et ext of encour agi ng competi ti ve tension am ongst bidders t o quot e unsust ai nable/low tariffs may i nvariably lead to a com pr om i sed and sub opt i m al solar asset. Thi s trend of aggressive bidding for ci ng t he m anufact ur er s t o reduce the cost is not sustainable and needs t o be di scour aged both by Authorities and IPPs. Rather t han chasi ng t he dr eam of becoming the country claim ing the “low est ” solar t ar i ff, we should focus on becom ing the “largest” and a “sust ai nable” solar ener gy m arket meeti ng the global quality standar ds. O ne should ut i li ze t he current opportunity to pause and recali br at e som e of t he sensi t i ve assumptions which have prim arily led t o aggr essi ve bi ddi ng i n t he near past. Pursuing the trend of free fall of t ar i ff ( based on som e of the assumpti ons which cannot be fundam ent ally j ust i fi ed) i s dr i ven by aggressi ve and highly speculative Capex, O pex and fi nanci ng assumptions. This has proven to be det r i m ent al for t he sect or and a recent testimony of this fall out has been t he m uch ant i ci pat ed and histori cally lowest bid tariff of Rs. 2.44 for a 600 MW Solar pr oj ect i n Raj asthan, endi ng up into an anti-clim ax wi t h t he bi dder event ually surrendering the project citing viabil i t y challenges. The current geo-political dynam ics unfoldi ng wi t h C hi na and i t s potenti al i mpact on sourcing solar m odules/cells shall have a di r ect implicati on on the policy front influenci ng t he deci si on t o replace/refresh the Safeguard D uty (SG D ) . H ence for t he t i m e bei ng, it is advi sable to have a conservative appr oach t owar ds cost i ng parameters, even if that m eans one has t o t one down t he aggr essi on and contai n the FO MO factor (fear of m i ssi ng out ) playi ng out on t he m inds of the new age IPPs backed by lar ge i nvest or s. W hi le SGD has been recently extended for one m or e year however w e w i ll have to wait for the conclusive st and t o be t aken up by t he Government on applying the Basic C ust om s Dut y ( alongsi de SG D ) to reconci le the overall im pact on the cost m at r i x.

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In the m i dst of large scale disruption i nfli cted by CO VID 19, the si lver li ni ng i s the ostensible support extended by G O I to st akeholders i n the renewable energy sector. A mid the CO VID lockdown, proj ect developers w ere allow ed extending comm issioni ng deadli nes of proj ects. In Spi t e of the drasti c decli ne in power dem and, G O I ensured t hat the buyers di d not go back on draw i ng power from renewable energy sources and ent i re generati on from these projects were procured and honored as contracted. The governm ent also ensured that renewable energy generators conti nued to receive payments for the power generat ed and i nj ect ed i nto the gri d w i th ti m ely intervention from Mi ni st ry of N ew and Renewable Energy. On debt fi nanci ng one can see som e encouragi ng trends em ergi ng. The Reserve Bank of India has taken a number of measures to ensure borrowers have easy access to liquidi t y. A part from speci fi c lendi ng and li qui di ty wi ndows, the Reserve Bank also announced moratori ums on exi sti ng loan faci lities and easier terms t o rai se m oney from bond m arkets. These m easures should lead to reducti on of the cost of debt, speci fi cally for long term proj ects including Solar power leadi ng to i m provement i n the overall costi ng assumptions. D espi te the aggression demonstrated by a wi de spectrum of establi shed IPPs backed by hi gh quality long term i nvest ors, Indi a shall be mi ssi ng the target of com m i ssioning 175 G W by 2022. However even i f we reach close to 3/4 th of thi s aspirational target set by t he PM i t should be consi dered as a feat that w ould make us all proud as a stakeholder i n t he Indi an solar and renew ables sector. Whi le the j ury i s still out on whether we have reached t he bot t om i n terms of solar tari ffs based on optim ized cost assum pt i ons, I beli eve the cost reducti on i n the solar sector in the short term shall be dri ven by t he current glut i n supply and in the long t erm due t o t he evolvi ng technology. H ow ever, what w e can’t afford i s cut t i ng dow n costs based on speculati ve trends and assumptions t hereby com pr omi si ng long term vi abi li ty aspects and exposing the sector t o unw arranted ri sks.

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DR. SANJAY VASHISHTHA

NISHEETH SRIVASTAVA

CEO,

Sector Specialist – Energy,

First Green Consulting Private

KfW Development Bank

Limited

The COVID-19 had significantly affected the energy sector value chain. The international price for oil and gas has come down to a record low which we have seen in early 1995. The electricity demand has also come down by 20 to 30% due to reduced economic activities during this pandemic period. As the solar PPAs are fixed priced long term PPAs, this has led to an increased share of the renewables in the grid. The reduced electricity demand and increasing share of renewables in the grid has led to a threat to the electricity companies to maintain the grid stability. The indo-chinese geopolitical face off has also led to the trade restrictions and the new capacity additions of solar proj ects have come down significantly. India imports almost 80% of its solar equipment from China and the trade war and imposition of safeguard duties and custom duties uncertainties has led to a halt in the new capacity additions in the nearterm. Now the challenge is to integrate the solar and wind with reduced electricity demand scenario. Though situations are getting normal and our energy requirement has reached t par with the daily energy requirement of the corresponding previous year (around 3700 Million Units per day). The Covid 19 will impact the solar LCOE in the short term, until things become new normal. The LCOE in solar is a function of proj ect cost as well as the interest on debt. Though the overall proj ect may get increased due to the Covid 19, but it will be nullified by the reduced interest on debt. Recently RBI has reduced the repo rate and the interest on debt may come down and will nullify the impact. The recent SECI solar tariff discovered has seen the new low in the solar tariffs to the tune of INR 2. 36/kWh, is a signal that the market has considered the Covid 19 as a short term event and now things are getting normal. Comparing the Indian tariff trends with global tariff trends we still believe that there is a significant headroom for further reduction in Indian solar tariffs. For example The tariff discovered in a recent UAE solar proj ect was US Cents 1. 69/ KWh Which is about 30% lower than the Indian solar tariffs. There are uncertainties regarding the safeguard duties on solar components imported from China and other countries which forces developers to keep a buffer to absorb these uncertainties. There are also urgent uncertainties to the developers in terms of renegotiating the tariffs by the taker. We have seen the examples in Guj arat and Andhra Pradesh where state governments initiated renegotiation of solar tariffs with the developers. These uncertainties are accounted for by the developers while quoting in the bids and we still get a higher price as compared to the global international price of solar tariff. The technological developments and reduced interest rates will still be the key factors to bring the solar tariffs down in the Indian market.

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I was privileged to start my career in 2010, during when the investment in generation through solar technologies was considered solely an opportunity to diversify. During that time, the maj ority of financiers and investors considered most of the renewable technologies to be unproven and too risky. I was also fortunate to be present in the NVVN’ s auction meeting where 150 MW of solar PV proj ects and 500 MW of solar concentrated power proj ects were won by IPPs through a reverse bidding route. 30 individual proj ects of 5 MW each were successfully offered to various IPPs where original feed in tariff was INR 17. 91 per kilowatt hour (kWh), but were offered to the bidders with an auctioning route, where lowest winning bid came out to be INR 10. 95 per kilowatt hour (kWh) and highest winning bid as INR 12. 76 per kilowatt hour (kWh). At that time, experienced power sector and industry experts were questioning the future of solar, challenges it would be posing to the grid and transmission infrastructure utilization with mere CUF of 15 to 20%. I still remember during one my client meeting, one of the consultants retired from thermal plant domain and was consulting that firm mentioned that solar is not a rocket science to install and would be like (Lego) building block toy which the power industry has started to play with. And talking about today, even with Covid-19 and the market downturn didn’ t hinder the solar scenario, the solar PV tariffs have reached a record low of INR 2. 36 per kilowatt hour (kWh). With technology advances, policy push by government, awareness about the environment and most importantly the economics is making more and more companies diversify their assets with green energy portfolios. At the end, it is the commercial viability of the solar industry which is deriving the path towards sustainable, affordable and clean power. As per Bloomberg (BNEF), the view on India’ s energy transition and green energy revolution mentions that India is the one of the largest renewable energy auction markets, having ambitious renewable energy targets and multi-billion dollar investment opportunities. With ongoing auctions being successful even at this pandemic time and Government of India is coming up with innovative models like peaking power requirements, hybrids systems and round the clock power through renewables are providing assurances to investors and market forces. Electricity through solar power these days are cheaper, cleaner and more sustainable than conventional generating units. The (lego) building block toys have matured now and are giving tough competition to the conventional power sector. With the growing economy and power consumption cost through solar is going down, it is making good commercial sense to the investors. With large solar parks already seeing tariff plunged enough, the average levelized cost of energy (LCOE) generated is expected to fall further. Enabling factors like the ongoing reforms mentioned in draft electricity amendments, extension in the waiver of interstate transmission charges and industrial growth expected to bounce back solar power would be fighting its place.

PG 24

GAIL CHEN General Manager, East Asia and India, Arctech Solar

2020 has been a very eventful year, t he end of t he turbulence is not in sight. The pandem i c and t he act i vi t y restri cti ons are having an accelerated and t r em endous impact on the econom y, contributing t o hi gh unemployment rates throughout the wor ld. Uncer t ai nt y of the recovery has been underm ining t he confi dence i n t he economy i n many countries. A ccordi ng t o IMF and Oxfor d Economi cs, the global GD P of 2020 wi ll decr ease bet ween 4.3% and 4.1%

。

Duri ng these unprecedented tough t i m es, we have t o st r i ve to stimulate the econom y in every way possi ble, and one w ay i s to i nvest in infrastructure and m or e affor dable energy sources. W e all know renewable power plant s ar e one of the cheapest energy sources, even cheaper t han fossil fuels in som e areas. A m ong all r enewable ener gy sources, solar i s the m ost com petitive ener gy vehi cle, as low as $39U SD / $50U SD MWh (tracker /fi x-t i lt ) , accor di ng t o Global LCOE Bench Mark by BNEF. The i ndust r y beli eves the economi c downturn w ill expedite t he decli ne i n cost s. Contracti on of solar business is no except i on dur i ng t hese unprecedented tim es. Many research fi rm s r ecent ly lowered the forecast of dem and in 2020. For exam ple, W ood M ackenzi e projects a decrease of 18% i n global m arket output, falling from 130.5GW t o 108.5G W. Unfortunately, the ram p-up supply chai n could not for esee this downw ard trend fast enough to m i t i gat e t hese losses, maki ng the current surplus of capaci t y t wo t i m es m ore than the dem and. In this case, t he i ncr eased pr essur e on the supply chain has driven the cost down t o fur t her impact LCOE. There is a question, can we further reduce m at er i al cost s? Theoreti cally yes, but ironically no, or at least not m uch for now. Everyone knows silicon prices domi nat e m odule

costs, and currently w e still heavily rely on enlargi ng t he cell si ze to i ncrease the panel efficiency. Wi t h no di srupt i ve technology on the horizon, it makes i t di ffi cult to reali ze cost reducti on on the m aterials. Wi th a strong headw ind, w hat else can we do to lower LC OE? Other than downw ard surplus pressure, some sm all i nnovati ons can also play a role, includi ng bi -faci al/hi gh effi ci ency m odules, tracker solutions and 1500V standardi zed i nverters. The optimizat i on of t hese t hree m aj or com ponents of the solar plant wi ll bri ng si gni fi cant benefi ts to pow er generation, especi ally because bi -faci al w i th si gn-axi s tracker technology is already a proven soluti on i n m any countries, and can boost the yi eld as m uch as 30% . Thi s results in up to 16% less on LCO E com pared to m ono-facial solutions wi t h fi xed-t i lt . Other prom i si ng technologies include the appli cati on of “sm art” or A I system s. We are seeing m ore and more i nverter and tracker suppliers promoti ng thi s solut i on t o t he m arket. W e can i ncrease pow er generati on by enhanci ng the effi ci ency of the system , especially t he self-learni ng characteri sti cs of the trackers. We can expect anot her 2-4% power generati on yield in the best scenari o wi t h a sm art/A I soluti on. We have talked about m any optimal soluti ons and trends for LC OE reducti on, all indicating one ult i mat e goal: cheaper, cleaner and safer energy. We believe the econom i c dow nturn w i ll affect the solar industry, but t hrough these i nnovati ons and optim izations, as w ell as wi despread support for renewable energy, the impact wi ll be far less than other areas of the economy. The pandemi c has forced us to accelerate i nnovation timelines, m eani ng we can potenti ally reach 20 dollars per m egawatt -hour sooner t han expected.

OPINION

ENERGY STORAGE - BATTERY TECHNOLOGY, TECHNIQUES & ECONOMICS B.MAGESH Solar – Design & Detailed Engineering, Avant-Garde

O ne key param eter that indicates the r eal gr ow t h of a country is Energy dem and. Increase i n Ener gy dem and of every country i s met by renewable resour ces. Solar PV and wi nd Technologies are at the heart of t r ansfor m at i ons t hat are taki ng place across the global ener gy syst em and i t could end the ri sing dem and for oil and coal. Incr easi ng deployment of renewable energy is cr uci al for effor t s t o tackle greenhouse gas em issions and r educe ai r pollut i on etc. Renewable energy generation is m ost ly dependent on t he environment and weather. D ue to fickle nat ur e of t he weather, it i s essential to balance ener gy dem and fr om renewable energy supply through reli able ener gy st or age systems. The com m on categories of Ener gy st or age system (ESS) technologies in the recent t i m e i nclude

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m echani cal, electrical and electrochemi cal energy storage system s. M ost of the technologies are not comm erci ally vi able at present due to som e of thei r li m i tat i ons. A s w e approach the sm art cities and electri c future, there i s a need for sm art storage technologies whi ch would be com m erci ally vi able and it also opens up t he new opportuni ti es for scaling up renewable generati on. Energy arbi trati on, peak demand reduction, support i ng t he st abi li ty of the gri d and backup power are the advant ages of energy storage system s. Battery Energy storage system (BESS) allow s t he elect ri ci t y i ndustry to becom e m ore transactional i n real ti m e wi t h less ri sk of reli abi lity im pacts. BESS cont ri butes t o a faster reali zati on of a sm art electric future and i s poi sed for hi gher growth. BESS are having increm ent al m arket ent ri es w i th m ore advancem ents and continual i mprovem ents. Wi th the w i de potential applicability, BESS i s used i n di fferent energy applications like hybri d renewable, transportati on, energy back up and sm art gri d etc.

PG 25

POLICY TALK

IS ULTRA-MEGA RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER PARKS (UMREPPS) A NEXT WAVE OF GROWTH IN RE?

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has recently announced Modi fi cati ons i n Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Proj ects. So far, there are seven modes under which the scheme i s i mplemented. The Mi ni stry has now i ntroduced another Mode-8 named ‘ Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks’ (UMREPP). The power proj ects inside the UMREPPs may be developed either under developer mode vi a tari ff-based competi ti ve bi ddi ng (TBCB) process or under EPC mode or any combination of both. The SPPD or any of its individual promoters cannot take part i n a tari ff based competi ti ve bi ddi ng process. Solar Power Park Developer (SPPD) under UMREPP includes CPSU/ State PSU/ State Government organi zati on or thei r subsi di ari es. A j oi nt venture company (JVC) between two or more of the above entities may also act as the SPPD. There has been a renewed interest in setting up Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPPs) wi th SECI, NTPC and other state governments making announcements to come up with huge capacity. The process is advanci ng to achi eve the 450 GW renewable energy target set for 2030 by the government.

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

We believe that the recent modifications to the pre-existing guidelines for ‘ Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects’ will help the country move towards achieving its long-term goal of 450 GW by 2030. The proposed scheme envisions to support States/Union Territories in setting up solar parks at various locations in the country, with the vision of creating the required infrastructure to set up solar power projects. The scheme recommends setting up at least 25 solar parks and ultra-mega solar power projects across various locations. The recent modification in the policy is now beneficial to the state also as they are also getting beneficial by having a share of the tariff. We currently

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operate power plants in two of those locations, i. e. Bhadla in Rajasthan and Pavagada in Karnataka, both of which are considered to have huge potential for energy generation and our experience of construction and operation in these solar parks are great. This scheme will be instrumental in driving economies of scale in these states and attract foreign capital to support existing power plants. These solar parks will, in return, provide suitable developed land with all allowances, transmission systems, water access, road connectivity, and communication network which will help in the growth of the sector. This will accelerate and the installation of grid-connected solar power proj ects for electricity generation on a large scale. Additionally, the government has ramped up its speed of taking various actions to enhance the development work in the renewable energy sector with various combinations like pure solar, wind-solar hybrid, solar hybrid, RTC power etc, this scheme will be a good support to achieve the commissioning on time otherwise the timely availability of land and Power Evacuation is the biggest hurdle in growth of this sector.

PG 26

SUSHEEM PANDEY Head Solar, CEO Solar Park, VishWind Infrastructures

With the fall in conventional energy demand due to pandemic Covid19 and lockdowns, renewable sources (mainly wind and solar) saw their share in electricity substantially increase at record levels in many countries. In less than 10 weeks, the USA increased its renewable energy consumption by nearly 40% and India by 45% (see graph). Italy, Germany, and Spain set new records for variable renewable energy integration to the grid. The Ministry of New Renewable Energy has been quick to respond to this radical shift in energy sources from fossil based RE. In order to give further boost to Solar Power and achieve its target of 40 GW through Parks MNRE introduced a new scheme for solar parks called Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power park (UMREPP) in June 2020. The move came in order to provide a further boost to the development of the renewable energy sector especially solar, which is facing slowdown since the lockdown implementation due to coronavirus pandemic. Under UMREPP Solar Power Park Developer (SPPD) will include CPSU/ State PSU/ State Government organization or their subsidiaries. Moreover, a j oint venture company (JVC) between two or more of the above entities may also act as the SPPD. The state government will provide necessary assistance to the SPPDs in identification &amp; acquisition of land for setting up of UMREPPs and also to facilitate all required statutory clearances. The state government may designate any state government organization for the purpose. land for UMREPP to be allotted with a condition that the development must be completed within 2 years (with a provision of extension for 1 year under extreme cases) failing which

the state government may take back the allotted land in consultation with this Ministry. a committee will be set up under the Chairmanship of Principal Secretary/ Secretary (power/energy/renewable energy) to : 1. facilitate setting up of the UMREPP 2. Monitor the progress and 3. Fix the one-time upfront charges and annual Operation &amp; Maintenance (O&amp; M) charges etc. to be charged from the power developers. For the above activities, the state government or any organization designated by the state government would be paid a facilitation charge of Rs 0. 05/unit of power being generated from the projects in the UMREPPs for the entire PPA period of the project. This facilitation charge may be paid to state governments only on the quantum of power that is exported outside the state from that UMREPP and only if no facilitation charge or similar charge is levied under the state government policy. Compensation to the SPPD: The SPPD will be entitled to the compensation for the development and management of the UMREPPs under Central Financial Assistance (CFA). Power Projects inside UMREPPs: The power projects inside the UMREPPs may be developed either under developer mode via tariffbased competitive bidding (TBCB) process or under EPC mode or any combination of both.

PRADEEP CHAUHAN Country Manager - India subcontinent, SolarPack

India has accomplished name for itself in development of Mega Solar Parks like REWA (750MW), Pavagada (2050MW), Bhadla (2245MW), Kurnool (1000MW), Kadapa (1000MW), Kamuthi (648MW) and many others, which are now fully operational. Further there are approx. 25 to 30 more such medium and large-scale Solar Parks are underway development and construction. The present plan to develop 40GW capacity Solar Parks itself is humongous, however the pace at which these solar parks are being developed and offered to Developers for setting up units is definitely faster than the complete green field development yet quite sluggish as compared to the growth traj ectory which is needed to achieve the Y-O-Y installation leading to 100GW installed capacity by 2022, which definitely is going to be missed looking at present pandemic effect that has halted the projects and overall industry growth including auctions, award process, development and construction, adding more to the concerns are issues of crimped supply chain due to SGD and BCD barriers. Ultra-Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPP) Policy provide much need guidelines to states for the development of large-scale solar parks, which should assist states to quickly conduct study and acquire land for creation of infrastructure. The solar parks already developed and under development clearly demonstrate the fact that foreign investors and investment funds prefers solar parks with lower risk in the development side, in a way, we can say that 20% of the existing installed capacity has been contributed by these solar parks. In December 2014, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) launched the “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra-Mega Solar Power Projects” scheme. to develop at least 25 Solar Parks to install cumulative capacity of over 20 GW. In 2017, the target for the number of solar parks

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was increased from 25 to 50 and the corresponding capacity addition target was enhanced from 20 GW to 40 GW by the year 2022. Since then announcement of seven modifications (modes) were notified in the policy to incentivize the targeted capacity addition. During the last 6 years only about 8 GW MW capacity has become operational. In the backdrop of achieving a target of 175 GW of RE by 2022 and slippages in achieving targeted capacity addition in 2019-20 and current FY, in June 2020, another modification (mode 8) in the scheme namely ‘ Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks’ (UMREPP)’ has been notified. In my opinion, States should follow the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model for faster Development of Solar Parks to catch up with the plans of capacity addition. Power Evacuation Infrastructure creation around these UMREPP is another challenge, where the progress is sluggish and certainly not allowing development as per the annual targets, needs to be ramped up drastically, many states have already started curtailing due to evacuation constraints in the absence of localized demand. Green Energy Corridor (GEC) slow development due to issues of funding support is another area, if expedited, that should make a very significant impact in tandem with UPREPP’ s to accomplish the goals. States Performance in development Solar Parks will be the key driver, which will fuel the next level of growth, this concept has already demonstrated the viability and results on lower discovered tariffs, faster developments due to land, transportations, transmission infrastructure availability. Indian PSU getting award of Solar Park Development assignments oversea in African Countries is an illustration of the concept potential.

PG 27

PERSPECTIVE

THE 5 ‘IN’ TO BUILD SELF RELIANT SOLAR INDIA INTENT, INCLUSION, INVESTMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE & INNOVATION

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aggressive push for ‘Make in India’ to bolster domestic manufacturing and make its economy ‘selfreliant’ in the post-pandemic era is a welcome opportunity for India’s solar energy sector. Supply disruptions and subsequent shortage of solar components and modules have impacted India’s ambitious energy target of achieving 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. There is an urgent need therefore, for India to devise a policy framework aimed at creating a diversified domestic manufacturing industry for solar modules as well as ancillary products, significant government reinvestment in public sector undertakings and R&D. Here’re some views and suggestions from the industry stakeholders on the scope for Self Reliant Solar India.

SUNIL BADESRA Business Head, Sungrow (India) Pvt. Ltd.

India has been one of the top growing solar markets in the world. The clarion call by Hon’ ble PM for an Atma Nirbhar Bharat or a Self Reliant India is a timely initiative towards increasing the manufacturing base in India’ s economy. Electricity being the essential service and solar being the cheapest & fastest growing source of power generation in the country, it is well suited to drive the local manufacturing in this sector. With the visionary step and long term commitment, Sungrow had already established a 3 GW manufacturing unit in India, in 2018, which has now been the supplier of PV inverters to many landmark Indian and Global solar projects. Now Sungrow is more prepared than ever to participate in this endeavour with the following five ‘ In’ s to build a self reliant solar India. 1) Intent: The Government has already set its intent clear, first to achieve 100 GW solar by 2022 and then to achieve 450 GW Renewable Energy by 2030. This clearly shows the intent of scale to be achieved by Indian solar industry in the next decade. Sungrow is well poised to play a major role in this huge opportunity set ahead. 2) Inclusion: At present, mandatory requirement of locally produced goods in various rooftop solar tenders will be a shot in the arm for local manufacturers. The inclusion of local content in a gradual way will be a positive way forward to create a robust supply chain for the industry. Sungrow has already been working closely with local suppliers to increase the local content for its PV Inverter manufacturing.

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3) Investment: Fiscal incentives such as less import duties on raw materials, components, liberal export policies along with state govt supportive measures for solar manufacturing industries are need of the hour to make the locally produced goods more competitive. Such timely and prudent steps will attract more investment in India. With more investment, as the volume increases, the economy of scale will further help the price competitiveness of locally manufactured products. 4) Infrastructure: Land acquisition, accessibility in terms of better road, rail or port connectivity, and cheaper power are three major basic infrastructures required to improve the ease of business in setting up a manufacturing unit. With this, the manufacturers can set up their plants and machineries in a time bound manner. We are glad that Sungrow got necessary support from various government agencies to build a world class factory in Bengaluru, India in 2018. 5) Innovation: Innovation is the key in building superior, reliable, technologically advanced products while reducing the overall cost of the system, in any industry. Innovation of any product will also propel further innovation in the supply chain towards better components, new materials etc. Sungrow’ s 40% of the manpower in the R & D department is a clear indicator of the company' s DNA of innovation. Sungrow has already set its Intent clear to stay Invested in India, with Inclusion of more local contents, R&D Innovation and Infrastructure expansion in coming times.

Sungrow is strongly committed to produce the indigenous products of global standards in India for the ever growing solar PV market and thereby joining hands to build a Self-Reliant INDIA. PG 30

BRIJESH PRAJAPATI Managing Director- India, SofarSolar

W hi le i t i s true that coronavirus has slow ed down t he gr ow t h of solar projects. To bring India on the path of r api d developm ent agai n, fi ve things are very i m portant to build a self-r eli ant Indi a-i nt ent , inclusion, investm ent, infrastructure and i nnovat i on. In Solar Reforms are not any random or scatt er ed deci si ons. For us, r efor m s are a systemic, planned, integrated, int er -connect ed and fut ur i st i c process.. Reform s m ean having the cour age t o m ake deci si ons, and taking them to a logical conclusion. Duri ng cor onavi r us, onli ne events and webinars are becom ing a new nor m al i n t he solar industry. Thi s i s m anâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest power t hat he fi nds new w ays t o come out of a di ffi cult situation. Indi a is finally catching up to rooftop solar as a r eli able sour ce of power for industries, offices, and homes acr oss t he count r y. The Government of India has set a target of 175 G W of i nst alled renewable energy by 2022 of which solar alone i s expected to be the single lar gest component at 100 G W. Two factors are driving a stronger adopt i on of solar power in India. First, the cost of solar power has been falling steeply over t he last couple of years to around less than Rs 2.40 a unit, thus consistently inching closer t o gr i d pari ty (as compared to therm al power produced from coal and gas) against Rs 17 a unit near. The second and perhaps a m or e important reason is the changing consum er behavi or that is increasingly m oving t owar ds cleaner sources of energy. N ew and younger consumers i n Indi a today expect util i t i es and other si mi lar service providers to raise t he standards not just in term s of price competi ti veness but also their sustainabi li t y from an ecology point of view. Self-reli ant Indi a is about -- Strong enterpri ses generating em ploym ent; empow eri ng people to com e out and fi nd soluti ons. Now , the need is that we m ake those products that are m ade in Indi a concept. The fi eld of solar energy is continuously undergoing i nnovation and discover i es. A s w e move tow ards a m ore eco-friendly fut ur e, the pi oneers i n this field are looking for m or e and more affordable solutions to har ness i t s potenti al to the hi ghest. In the past f ew year s itself, we have seen a lot of m ilestones i n solar energy storage, solar efficiency, and even solar design technology. The tw o pri mary technologies that dom inate solar power innovations include-photovol t ai c and concentrated solar pow er. To that effect , a lot of new changes have revolved ar ound the core concepts of these technologi es. A s solar power moves toward m ainstream , t he costs of products insolar are also bound t o come down. Som e innovative financi ng schemes are also available in the m ar ket t hat allows customi zation depending on t he t ype of user and what they can afford. The universal electrification project initiat ed by the government of India along with em er gi ng innovati ons i n rooftop solar products i s bri ngi ng more consum ers .

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PG 31

PRADEEP KUMAR KHERUKA

VIVEK JAYAKUMAR

Chairman,

CEO,

Borosil Renewables Ltd.

Arbutus Consultants Pvt Ltd

The Indian solar i ndustry, so far heavi ly dependent on i m por t s, now sees a new dawn: self-reliance. It is r eady t o r espond t o H on. Pr i m e Minister’ s clarion call for “Atm anirbhar Bhar at ” wi t h a fr esh annual capacity of 10 G W announced by leadi ng developer s/ m anufact ur es. The approach now is w idening on the developm ent of an i nt egr at ed solar eco-system as com pared to the pr evi ous m odel of focusi ng on installed generation capacity for m ar ket cr eat i on.

Blessed w i th natural resources, thousands of years of knowledge and resi li ent people, India, of all nations, can certai nly becom e selfreli ant i n all aspects of life including the solar PV domai n. W e, how ever, need to get our “In”s in place before we can m arch ahead on the ‘ atm a nirbhar’ path. We try to focus on self-reli ance i n solar m anufacturi ng in this article. INT E NT

Borosil group has pioneered specialty glass m anufact ur i ng i n Indi a si nce 1962. Borosil Renewables Lim i t ed i s a leadi ng global solar glass manufacturer with an annual m anufact ur i ng capaci t y equi valent to 2.5 G W. Having doubled its previous capacity only last year , Bor osi l i s now w orki ng on an expansion plan to further double i t s annual capaci t y to reach a 5 GW equivalent by FY22. Wi th a projected investm ent of U S$ 120 Bn i n 300 G W of solar projects by 2030, India sees a great oppor t uni t y t o gai n self-r eli ance by thi nking beyond m anufacturing just cells/m odules and focus instead on creating the entire ecosystem by m anufact ur i ng all components like Solar glass, EVA, etc. Government’s intent needs to be suppor t ed by sust ai ni ng dom est i c manufacturing by a long-term policy fr am ewor k. A n i ni t i at i ve li ke domestic manufacturing-linked tenders ensur es a sust ai nable demand i gni ti ng the interest of strategi c player s. H owever , i n or der to counter and negate the m arket dist or t i ng subsi di es gi ven by few countri es to thei r m anufacturers, the G over nm ent needs t o levy adequate tariff barriers like BCD, CVD et c. t o pr ovi de a level playi ng field to domesti c m anufacturers. Count r i es e.g. Tai wan, Vi et nam and Malaysia have attracted several m anufact ur er s backed by i nvest or s, to set up large m anufacturing facilities. Si nce Indi a i s now pr oj ect i ng itself as a manufacturing destination, necessar y poli cy suppor t wi t h financial i ncenti ves and capital subsi di es i s essent i al. Infrastructure: Energy required in m anufact ur i ng m ust be avai lable to manufacturers at international prices, whet her elect r i ci t y or fossi l fuel. Bringi ng Fuel oil and natural gas under t he G ST r egi m e would be one of the m easures to achieve cost com pet i t i veness. Recent studi es show that Solar energy creates m or e j obs ( 3.5 j obs/M W/year) as com pared to other ener gy t echnologi es and w ould create nearly 4 Lakh new jobs by 2030. Roof-t op and Di stri buted solar have the potential t o br i ng i nclusi ve st r uct ur al soci al change by creating em ploym ent and wealt h for ur ban and rural Indi a beyond the boundaries of gender , r eli gi on, cast e et c. providi ng many skilling and re-skilling oppor t uni t i es. Wi t h i t s customer centri c approach based on i nnovat i on, Bor osi l Renewables has pioneered m any achi evem ent s i n solar glass li ke w orld’ s 1 st com pany to fully tem per 2.1 m m glass, Ant i -glar e “Selene” glass, H igh efficiency “Shakt i ” glass, Ant i m ony-fr ee “NoSbEra” glass. The Indian Solar Indust r y i s at an i nflect i on poi nt and we are confident that w ith the necessar y poli cy suppor t , i t w ould reali ze its enorm ous potential and achi eve global r ecogni t i on. Indi a has already achieved this distinct i on i n t he aut om ot i ve industry, and thi s shall certainly happen i n solar m anufact ur i ng.

Solar PV has been the fastest growing form of energy globally over the last decade. The installed capaci ty t arget, for Indi a, was quadrupled from 20G W to 100G W by 2022. A n annual capaci ty addi ti on averaging 6+G W, one of the hi ghest i n t he world, i n the last few years has been possible due to ent husi asti c developers, reducti on i n costs, a slew of support measures from the government, and dem and pull from the m arket. The manufacturi ng capaci ty for PV m odules has increased to about 8G W . The Intent i s cert ai nly there. INC LU SION

Indi a’ s prosperity is driven by Bharat . Demand for solar PV can be boosted through rural electrification t hat provi des great benefi ts leadi ng to developm ent. While manufacturi ng across t he solar PV value chai n can be spearheaded by t he organi sed sect or, t he unorgani sed sector, if included, can play an i m port ant role t hrough anci llary support akin to the automot i ve i ndust ry. Thi s wi ll not only help spread the adoption of solar but wi ll also lead to developm ent of clusters driving economic prosperi ty. INV E ST M ENT

Uncertai nti es due to imposition of dut i es ( or lack of) , hi gh capi t al costs, lack of adequate debt financing, m assi ve fluctuat i ons i n order pi peli nes all have led to an inertia in t he solar PV m anufact uri ng sector to make further investments. The m anufact uri ng sect or probably needs to consolidate, concentrat e com petenci es, and bui ld scale to not just com pete globally but also att ract furt her i nvestm ent. Si gnificant investments are requi red for capaci t y enhancem ents, technology upgradat i on, developi ng human capi tal, research and developm ent, testing and di agnosti cs. Proj ect developm ent in solar PV has already wi tnessed healthy fundi ng through bonds, venture funding, corporat e and proj ect acqui si t i ons. INFR AST R UC TU R E

A holi sti c m anufacturing plan encompassi ng t he ent i re PV value chai n – from si licon to ingots to wafers to cells and modules – requi res excellent infrastructure in term s of land, power, transportati on, and w arehouses. The manufacturi ng sector has been cri ppled by i nadequacies in this area that i s now bei ng addressed w i th the i nfrastructure sector becomi ng the focus of the G overnm ent of India. India plans to spend IN R 100 Lakh Crores (U SD 1.4 Tri llion) in the period 2019-23 to have sust ai nable developm ent in the country. INN OV A T IO N

Borosil is now working on an expansion plan to further double its annual capacity to reach a 5 GW equivalent by FY22." | AUGUST ISSUE 2020

Oft repeated cliché but the country t hat i nvented t he zero and w holeheartedly adopts “jugaad” seem s t o be laggi ng i n i nnovat i ons. A lm ost all recent innovations in the PV sector ( bi -faci al, half-cut, floati ng solar) that have found an uptake i n Indi a, have ori gi nat ed i n other countries. Institutionalised innovati on wi t h the i ndust ry fundi ng i nnovations in academic centers, defi ni t i ve ti meli nes and m andatory com mercial application wi ll lead us t o redi scover our m oj o. By getti ng the “In”s in place, India becom i ng ‘ atma ni rbhar’ i s only a m atter of w hen and not if.

PG 32

PRODUCT FEATURE

TRINA SOLAR’S VERTEX MODULES DELIVER 600W+ POWER OUTPUT

Trina Solar Co. , Ltd (Trina Solar) has launched two next generation 600W Vertex modules, which are solar panels with higher efficiency, higher power output. The first is a bifacial module that can generate up to 600W from the front surface and additional power from the back-surface. The other panel is mono-facial with up to 605W power output. The next-generation Vertex modules incorporate many innovations like 210mm diameter silicon wafers, high-density packaging and multi-busbar technologies. The modules can deliver photoelectric conversion efficiency of more than 21 percent. Vertex aids in reducing balance-of-system (BOS) costs by virtue of lowvoltage and high-module string power output. The next-generation Vertex series modules deliver three key benefits: Higher power output Lower balance of system cost Great reliability thanks to proven technology Trina Solar, in collaboration with key players across the solar industry, asserts that the Vertex modules will help reduce the levelized cost of energy across various applications, and consequently, maximize customer value.

SIGNING THE 600W+ PHOTOVOLTAIC OPEN INNOVATION ECOLOGICAL ALLIANCE

TrinaPro Mega is ideal for utility-scale proj ects in India or commercial and industrial proj ects of 1MW or more. It delivers lower balance of system (BOS) costs thanks to the higher power output modules, the use of smart trackers and better systems integration. There is a new, longer Nclave tracker incorporated into TrinaPro Mega so you can have more modules per tracker - up to 120 modules per tracker as compared to around 90 previously. The ‘ smart tracking’ technology uses advanced algorithms to position the Vertex bifacial modules to maximize the amount of light harvested from the front and back side of the module. TrinaPro Mega also comes with TrinaPro SCADA, a real-time performance monitoring system to optimize operation and maintenance (O&M). There are various mounting systems for TrinaPro Mega so it can cope with India’ s challenging terrain, such as hilly ground. The mounting systems are quick to install, so your utility proj ect can come into revenue service sooner. A BRAND THAT YOU CAN TRUST

Industry leaders, including Trina Solar, recently formalized their industry-wide collaboration under the auspices of the 600W+ Photovoltaic Open Innovation Ecological Alliance. This is a formation of 39 industry leading firms that aim to establish an innovative ecosystem through open collaboration, synergizing the industry supply chain and reinforcing core processes such as R&D, manufacturing and applications. Members of the alliance have pledged to work together to build products, systems and standards that will support nextgeneration technology. Each company is committed to maximizing the customer value for 600W+ ultra high-power modules and other related solutions.

Trina Solar is a leader in the global solar industry and has been in business for more than 20 years. The company is publicly-listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’ s STAR Market, which is for innovative technology companies. Bloomberg New Energy Finance has rated Trina Solar as a ‘ top performer’ in terms of bankability for the past four consecutive years. Trina Solar creates greater value for customers through the reliability and high performance of its products and services as well as through continuous innovation. The company has a presence globally and has been quick to seize on new market opportunities and deliver value to customers.

The PV industry earlier this year embraced 500W+ modules. The ability to launch 600W+ modules in the same year, demonstrates Trina Solar and the industry’ s ability to work together and innovate.

UNVEILING THE TRINAPRO MEGA, AN ULTRA-HIGHPOWER SMART PV SOLUTION The company has also launched globally TrinaPro Mega, an integrated solar system that incorporates modules exceeding 500W. The ‘ all in one’ solution includes all the components and parts that make up the solar system: the modules, inverter, cabling, trackers, mounting system, etc. TRINAPRO MEGA IS IDEAL FOR UTILITY-SCALE PROJECTS IN INDIA OR COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS OF 1MW OR MORE.

| AUGUST ISSUE 2020

PG 33

COMPANY FEATURE

TECHNOLOGY TO GENERATE SOLAR ENERGY CONTINUES TO EVOLVE AND ITS GLOBAL REACH DOES NOT STOP

Innovation in photovoltaic equipment technology continues to grow and its rate of expansion has not stopped despite the strong pandemic. On August 8th, 9th and 10th, the largest Solar Fair in the world SNEC 2020 was held in Shanghai, China. During the event, the latest innovations in equipment for photovoltaic systems were presented and conferences were held where data and predictions for the expansion of the solar sector in the world. China has become the leading country for the manufacture of photovoltaic equipment, its high quality and competitive prices have led them to the forefront as the number 1 supplier globally. Ginlong Solis is one of the largest and most experienced string inverter manufacturing companies in the world, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 300763. SZ). Solis inverters are recognized for their high quality, optimization for each local market and the profitability they offer to their clients.

During the event, a 360 Â° virtual tour can be taken to see the exhibition of the Solis stand. There will also be data lectures on the latest smart energy innovations, training sessions, and the opportunity to have live online meetings with the Solis team. To attend the virtual event, you must register at the following link: https: //lnkd. in/g5KRpgD or through the social networks of solismexico on Facebook and LinkedIn. The world is embracing solar energy as one of the most efficient and competitively priced green solutions. Solis is always improving its products to offer, from homeowners to large utility companies, investors with the highest reliability and profitability.

Due to the situation the world is going through and the impossibility for many people in the photovoltaic sector to attend the exhibition in Shanghai, Solis organized its virtual version of Solis SNEC to receive its clients from all over the world virtually. From August 6th to 15th, virtual visitors to Solis will be able to learn about its broad product portfolio and its family of inverters with a range from 700W to 255kW, for residential, commercial industrial and utility applications.

| AUGUST ISSUE 2020

PG 34

COMPANY FEATURE

HOW TO SELECT A SAFE AND RELIABLE RESIDENTIAL INVERTER

During the global push to adopt clean energy and sustainable practices, more homeowners than ever are interested in photovoltaic (PV) system. Installing a PV system has become a common consideration for families seeking to save energy and explore investment opportunities. It is easy to set up a residential PV system, however, how to select the components for a PV system, especially how to select an inverter largely determines the safety and reliability of the system power generation. This paper will guide homeowners and start-up installers how to select a safe and reliable residential inverter when planning to “Go Solar”.

Sungrow residential inverters combine a sleek and modern look and feel with outstanding technical features such as IP65 level waterproof & dustproof and C5 level anti-corrosion, which directly contribute to prolonging the “life” of inverters. Additionally, Sungrow residential inverters characterize light weight and plug & play wiring design, making them easier for installation. The design of a leveling instrument on the mounting bracket of the inverter ensures a maximum heat-dissipation and mechanical safety when the inverter is installed horizontally

REQU I RE M EN T S FR OM US ER S Users of a typical residential PV system include end users, installers and Operations and Maintenance (“O&M”) teams. Their key requirements for a PV system, especially inverters, mainly focus on the following 3 issues. End users: Safe and reliable; supports robust applications; Installers: Complete solution; simple installation and commissioning; O&M teams: Sound maintenance system; Smart O&M tools for efficient servicing and response times. Therefore, an ideal inverter, which can meet the above needs, can be regarded as a safe and reliable residential PV inverter

I N V ER T ER S ELE C TI ON TI P 1 - C OMP LE TE P OR T FO LI O & SUP POR T R I CH AP P LI CATI O NS Sungrow owns a complete series of residential inverters, suitable for mainstream residential rooftops in various countries. In addition, Sungrow provides various residential products, supporting various applications, including PV Self-consumption, PV feeding into grid, Hybrid retrofit, AC coupling and TOU (Time of Use) utilizing.

I N V ER T ER S ELE C TI ON TI P 2 – O UT STAND I NG A P PEA RAN C E & F AN T AS TI C USAG E

| AUGUST ISSUE 2020

INVE RTE R SE LEC TI O N TI P 3 – 2 4 / 7 O N LI NE M AINT EN A N CE SY STEM A safe and reliable inverter, not limited to product quality, but also on how to optimize ease of maintenance. Sungrow provides a completely remote monitoring system iSolarCloud, which enables both end users and O&M teams to check the health of the inverters and even the PV system at anytime and anywhere via computer or mobile devices. In the case of a fault, iSolarCloud can automatically send the alarm and intelligent solution to its users, which makes the O&M operation seamless.

INVE RTE R SE LEC TI O N TI P 4 – SA F E & R EL I A BL E I N LIG HT N IN G & RC D P R OTEC TI O N Studies found that lightning & residual current protection is what concerns end users the most. Sungrow has launched a full protection design for its residential inverters and carefully selected lightning protection devices, including higher lightning-current-discharge-capacity varistors and gas discharge tubes with faster discharge speed and higher insulation between phase lines and the earth, which fully avoid the potential disasters caused by lightning Sungrow residential inverters have higher residual current protection level than the standard requirements, more accurate detection and faster protection so as to eliminate the possibility of electric shock accidents to end users at any time. In summary, the key factors which should be paid attention to when selecting a safe and reliable residential inverter are security, reliability and user-friendly settings. Sungrow stands out among many brands with its ever-evolving technology and comprehensive sales, service and technical deployment. As of June 2020, Sungrow global cumulative shipments of residential inverters have exceeded 2. 1GW, covering dozens of countries across 5 continents with over 360, 000 pcs of inverters supplied to tens of thousands of families. It is anticipant that the annual production of residential inverter will be over 250, 000 pcs, meeting the surging global market demand. This paper seeks to help these who are committed to clean energy lifestyle and are accelerating their step to enj oy safe and reliable Sungrow residential inverters.

PG 35

COMPANY FEATURE

YOUR ONE STOP SOLUTION FOR SOLAR PV ASSET MANAGEMENT

“With Solar industry expanding its horizon across the globe, management and monitoring of the solar plants are the need of the hour. The more we know, the better equipped we are” In this digital age, groceries to banking goes on in the internet. Then why not monitoring? Why set up large rooms with multiple displays and dedicated personnel when one can monitor and manage the solar plants, j ust about anywhere. With the same idea in mind and vast experience of operation and maintenance catering 2GW plants around the world, EnerMAN Technologies has channelled its expertise to provide management and monitoring solutions to the solar power plants. EnerMAN offers cloud-based remote monitoring solutions with real time analytics. One can maximize the solar PV asset performance to derive higher profits and lower carbon emissions. EnerMAN provides a wide range of solar PV monitoring and control management solutions to fit one’ s requirements. Setting up a new power plant, and want to maximise yields with j ust one screen and one personnel? We are there. Our ETi-SOL provides j ust that. Are there multiple plants in diverse locations and wanting that big picture to maximize the profit? Thanks to our ETi-CONNECT that helps you connect multiple plants with different SCADA systems. Do not have that space / personnel to set up a renewable operation centre? Our ETi-SAM and the mobile app ET-SPIDAR will be your great assistants. Wanting to upgrade the monitoring system, but already got existing local SCADA / PLC in place? Thanks to EnerMAN that provides Retrofit solutions. We integrate existing set up and convert it to precise information, notification, and alert driven solution with j ust a few clicks. EnerMAN products are highly compatible with Modbus RTU, TCP/IP, DI/DO protocols. We also provide indigenous compact SCADA Hardware ETi-LOG- wired and wireless, for a smooth and hassle-free monitoring. Got a plant that does not have high speed internet? No worries, our solutions work on 2G! Data is instantly pushed to server over 2G connection. No need of high-speed internet lease lines. With low annual Maintenance charge and reduced downtime and instant alerts, EnerMAN is the choice to maximize your yield and derive that profit.

ETi-CONNECT:

An IoT based platform to monitor multiple solar plants in diverse locations. Using this unified platform, one can slice and dice the data, and get insights on plant performance. It helps compare the performance of PV plants located in different regions and even the ones that are not equipped with weather monitoring sensors. One can generate reports from any timeframe, get live data in graphical view or tabular view and generate a comparison between any no. of parameters of all plants. Also equipped with calculated analytics, and monitoring multiple parameters at the same time, providing alerts that makes the j ob of an engineer hassle free. ETi-SAM:

ETi-SAM is a compact one-desk solution for the solar PV asset. ETi-SAM is the renewable operation centre on your fingertip. No need to setup a large monitoring room with multiple displays. Simply login and get information about your solar PV plant asset on the go. All devices can be monitored for healthiness. ETi-SAM not only keeps track of daily solar asset health management activities but also slices the data to provide meaningful insights. It takes data from both asset maintenance and asset management to provide insightful information to enhance profits and lower carbon footprints. ETi-SPIDAR:

ETi-SPIDAR is a mobile application for operation and maintenance of the PV plants. SPIDAR is an acronym for “Solar Plant Intelligent Data Acquisition & Reporting” ETi-spidar app helps the field personnel capturing operation and get data from the plants. One can get reports on daily generation, manual activities like module cleaning and schedule maintenance checklist. ET-spidar not only schedules present maintenance activities, but also stores all the old records on cloud to give weekly, monthly and yearly reports.

ETi-SOL:

An IoT based platform to collect data from a plant and monitor. One can monitor the data collected from various sensors in the PV plant with ETi-SOL. one can watch the plant generation and performance metrics in a snap, get alerts and notifications. ETi-SOL provides Geo-tagging that helps locating and fast identification of faulty SCB’ s in larger power plants reducing down-time and thereby minimizing generation loss. With a user-friendly dashboard and alert page, productivity of the plant can be maintained high always.

| AUGUST ISSUE 2020

PG 36

COMPANY FEATURE

GROWATT SHOWCASED NEW X GENERATION INVERTERS AND UNVEILED 1500V INVERTER

at SNEC 2020

August 2020 - The solar industry has managed to hold the SNEC exhibition in China. At the trade show, Growatt showcased a wide range of PV solutions for residential, commercial, storage and off-grid solar, and also unveiled the powerful 1500V string inverter at the event, attracting a large number of people from the industry. “This year we launch full product line of the X generation inverters, and we are very pleased to exhibit these advanced and appealing inverters at SNEC, ” said Lisa Zhang, Growatt marketing director. “The X generation inverters are smaller, lighter, smarter and safer. Its power capacity ranges from 750W to 253kW, catering for residential, commercial and ground-mounted solar. ” Growatt also unveiled the powerful 1500V string inverter for large scale solar plants at the event. “The MAX 1500V inverter aims to lower LCOE and achieve higher yields for clients. It’ s compatible with bifacial and high power modules, and its smart functions such as smart I-V diagnosis will make O&M easier and reduce the costs, ” Zhang pointed out. GroHome, Growatt’ s smart home solution was on display as well, painting the picture for PV home of the future. “The GroHome solution provides homeowners a combination of intelligent solar energy generation with energy efficiency. It reduces the household’ s overall energy consumption while increasing self-consumption of PV power, ” Zhang introduced.

| AUGUST ISSUE 2020

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COMPANY FEATURE

SINENG ELECTRIC PRESENTS LATEST PV INVERTERS AND ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS at the SNEC-2020 in Shanghai Sineng Electric, the global leading inverter supplier for solar, unveiled its the latest PV and energy storage innovations with the theme of â&#x20AC;&#x153;achieving grid parityâ&#x20AC;? in SNEC 2020. A variety of products had been exhibited aiming at addressing diversified applications ranging from utility-scale PV plants, C&I solar parks to energy storage systems and floating solar systems. Utilizing clean solar energy day and night is not a fiction anymore with the help of Sineng smart inverter and ESS solutions. Central & String Inverter and Turnkey solution for utilityscale PV plants Committed towards large utility-scale applications, Sineng showcased its hero product 3. 125MW central inverter- gigawatts of installations worldwide and turnkey solution which can be of 5MW, 6. 25MW and 6. 8MW. Turnkey features an integration of two units of 2. 5/3. 125/3. 4 MW central inverter, SF6 switchgear, double split transformer, and LV distribution & communication cabinet. In means of 3-level topology and smart 2 phase redundant cooling method, the efficiency can be achieved up to 99%, and they can work without derating till 50-degree Celsius. They also feature 1500V DC inputs, maximum DC/AC ratio of 1. 8, overload capacity of 115%, night SVG functionality and IP55 overall protection (IP65 for key components). This machine is equipped with everything what a plant owner could wish for. To address application scenarios like complex terrain, fully uneven hilly regions, Sineng presented 225kW string inverter SP225K-H. As one of the world' s most powerful 1500 Vdc string inverters, SP-225K characterizes the optimal protection capacity of IP66 and 12 MPPTs. It can maximize yields while coupling with bifacial module and tracking system. Energy storage solution for Utility and commercial plant-for the first time

shaving, and ancillary services. The nominal power is 2. 5MW and maximum power can reach 3. 465MW in different AC voltage situation. Highly integratedHighly integrated ESS for easy transportation and O&M. Safe and reliable(i) Two power modules can work independently, better system reliability (ii) Fast breaking and anti-arc protection (iii) Key component compartment has IP65 protection level. Efficient and flexible (i) 99% efficiency can be achieved thanks to three-level topology (ii) Modular design, easy capacity expansion Smart and friendly (i) Independent charging and discharging management which make it more battery friendly (ii) Integrated local controller to enable comprehensive devices management and easy for EMS access. String Inverter solutions for C&I rooftop To fulfill the diversified needs of commercial and industrial PV application, string family- SP-50K-L, SP-60K-L, SP-100K-L/SP-110KL inverters were presented. They feature multi-MPPTs to reduce mismatch problem which could effectively increase the yield. In particular, they are also designed for wide MPPT voltage range, anti-corrosion C5 environment, ingress protection IP66 (cooling fan with IP68) and what not. Without derating of up to 50 degrees Celsius, inverters work stably at full power operation to maximize the return on investment. String I/V Scanning make able to monitor and locate string faults easily.

In the post-grid-parity and 100% stable grid era, PV will be deeply integrated with energy storage and solidly support the grid stability. Sineng debuted its latest 1500V turnkey solutions with PCS and LFP lithium-ion battery tailored for utility and commercial plant. The product is flexible for both DC- and ACcoupled designs and allows for the creation of all-in-one systems capable of providing services such as frequency regulation, peak

A variety of products had been exhibited aiming at addressing diversified applications ranging from utility-scale PV plants, C&I solar parks to energy storage systems and floating solar systems. Utilizing clean solar energy day and night is not a fiction anymore with the help of Sineng smart inverter and ESS solutions.

| AUGUST ISSUE 2020

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PRODUCT FEATURE

DHASH UNVEILS PV JUNCTION BOX WITH INTEGRATED MODULE TYPE DIODE

India’s leading PV Junction box manufacturer, DhaSh expanding its manufacturing capacity to 5GW by end of 2020 to support Indian module manufacturing capacity at maximum. After getting enormous success of Split Junction box and 24A Rated Non-Potted PV Junction box, DhaSh being innovative enterprise pleased to introduce Fully Potted junction box with Integrated Module Type diode. Introduction

Increased demand for PV Module installations each day has catered more attention in ensuring advancement of component technologies. Despite of its small & compact design, a PV Junction Box, acting like an enclosure on the solar module where PV Strings are electrically connected, is one of the crucial component when it comes to the reliability and its importance can’ t be ignored. The importance of a Junction Box lies in many aspects like protecting the module from electrical safety/hazards, dissipation of excess heat inside the enclosure out of any high current, resistance to water/dust entry, etc.

With its integrated module type diode, this new introduction is great innovation and getting considered as path breaking solution for high efficiency PV modules. The fully potted j unction box is compliant with the latest version of IEC 62790: 2020. Provision of dedicated slots for individual busbar insertion enables safe operation and no fire hazards (by avoiding shorting) in case of any de-solder of busbars at field. The complete potting of internal live parts will give the product a cutting edge in terms of ingress protection to water and dust entry as well as excellent heat dissipation capability under harsh conditions. It’ s robust & compact design makes it very user friendly at their application point. The unique features of the integrated module type diode is expected to overcome the issues arising out of pre-mature failure of bypass diodes due to various reasons discussed at the beginning. “This Innovative model is a prime example of how DhaSh continues to innovate and push boundaries to provide simpler energy solutions for our customers, ” said Mr. Manj unath Reddy, Managing Director of DhaSh PV Technologies Pvt Ltd.

Challenges

When it comes to saving a PV Module under various circumstances, most of the times it is the Junction Box which has to j eopardize itself and ensure the safety across the PV Array. The pre-mature failure of PV modules owing to system installation are observed within the first few months of commissioning and the role of the j unction box in this regard carry enormous significance. Maj or failure modes include burnt bypass diode, burnt j unction box and low power, while the root cause attributes to Energy Over Stress in most cases. This marks the demand for advancement in j unction box technologies since last several years. Current Scenario

The electrical rating of PV modules has increased from time to time with increase in solar cell efficiencies and the j unction boxes have to be equipped with the increased current demand, generated by the modules. In more simple terms, any j unction box has to deal with the ability of improved heat dissipation out of the increased current output from the modules. Same applies for PV Connectors as well. Technical advancements by DhaSh PV Technologies:

As the India’ s leading Junction Box manufacturer, DhaSh PV Technologies with the State of the Art Manufacturing Facility at Bangalore has engaged in the development of various j unction boxes addressing the time to time technological drift in solar cell architectures with increased efficiency levels & other emerging innovations.

Here comes into picture, the Fully Potted Junction Box model in 15A & 20A rated current and engineered with superior heat dissipation ability through the usage of “Integrated Module Type” Diodes & complete potting of the internal live parts. The module type diodes in terms of performance will excel over the conventional diode package on the aspects of better temperature rise ability & excellent switching response. | AUGUST ISSUE 2020

THIS INNOVATIVE MODEL IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF HOW DHASH CONTINUES TO INNOVATE AND PUSH BOUNDARIES TO PROVIDE SIMPLER ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CUSTOMERS,” -said Mr. Manjunath Reddy, Managing Director of DhaSh PV Technologies Pvt Ltd.

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PRODUCT FEATURE

NEW VERSIONS OF INVERTERS WHICH ARE VERY COMPACT IN SIZE MAKE SOFARSOLAR DIFFERENTIATE FROM OTHERS

# 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 very pioneer group in GPS sector in china & we would like accept new challenges in the market. So we have started PV market business & doing successfully 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.

As a high â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 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 more than 600 employees in 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 have 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 to work with us. .

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. 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.

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

We are continuous growing company and we have variety of products like NEW ENERGY AUTOMOBILE (Supercharger) products & HYBRID INVERTER, STORAGE INVERTER & ON GRID string inverter developments in our basket. SOFARSOLAR, an inverter enterprise founded in 2013 and started in Shenzhen, has been determined to become a craftsman in the field of photovoltaic inverter with its focus on products and services since its birth. This persistence makes SOFARSOLAR set sail in the future voyage, full of expectations.

SOFARSOLAR HAS

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At the beginning of 2020, the unexpected COVID-19 has disrupted the development pace of many photovoltaic enterprises. In the chaos, the performance of SOFARSOLAR is eye-catching. Since the beginning of the year, SOFARSOLAR has formulated a series of effective measures to realize the rapid improvement of production capacity after the resumption of work. At present, the storage centers at home and abroad have sufficient stocks to fully meet the demand of domestic and foreign markets. The financial data also reflects the steady progress of SOFARSOLAR. From January to July of 2020, the company realized a revenue of 418 million, an increase of 39% over the same period of last year.

LEADERSHIP

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At the same time, SOFARSOLAR is still doing more to prepare for the future. In May, it has completed the construction of the fullautomatic production line of high-power inverter above 100kW and the full-automatic packaging production line of energy storage battery. The new production lines can produce 500, 000 inverters and 20, 000 energy storage batteries annually, with an annual sales volume of 2 billion in the future. To meet the window period of photovoltaic storage development, SOFARSOLAR will be the first to lay out "New Blue Ocean". With the development of photovoltaic industry, Photovoltaic + supporting a variety of application modes has become one of the development directions. Among them, the combination of photovoltaic and energy storage has become the focus of the industry. More industry leaders said that "Photovoltaic + Energy Storage" will be the ultimate solution for future energy. According to the analysis of well-known foreign industry consulting agencies, it is expected that the global energy storage market will usher in an explosive period of growth in the next 5-10 years. "Photovoltaic + Energy Storage" is the most reliable and potential solution at present. While continuously improving the product matrix of photovoltaic grid connected inverter, SOFARSOLAR has continued to invest in the field of energy storage, and has become a photovoltaic manufacturing enterprise with the early successful layout of "Photovoltaic + Energy Storage". It has launched a series of energy storage products, such as AC coupling series energy storage inverter, grid-connected and off-grid integrated machine, energy storage battery and other energy storage products, which are welcomed by the market. Compared with the ordinary inverter, the AC coupling inverter of SOFARSOLAR can improve the existing photovoltaic system and build a new energy storage system. At the same time, it can also be compatible with other brands of inverters, other energy generation systems, and multiple types of batteries (lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries); its internal topology adopts LLC structure, which has the characteristics of safety isolation, high efficiency and reliability. The dual-core control (DoubleDSP) and intelligent monitoring (ARM) make the inverter realize intelligent management, and the machine operation status can be also monitored through APP. At present, this product of SOFARSOLAR has been applied in many foreign countries, with tens of thousands of units shipped. New energy storage products of SOFARSOLAR in 2020: The high voltage and low voltage series batteries of 4-20kW three-phase energy storage inverter will be released in the near future. The new product is mainly oriented to the global market. Both gridconnected and off-grid systems can be built into a multi complementary energy generation microgrid system with the help of this new product to realize photovoltaic self-use and residual power storage, and arbitrage by combining energy storage peak and valley to maximize economic benefits and effectively mitigate the load impact on the distribution grid.

First of all, 80-136kW large series inverter, which is mainly aimed at large-scale industrial and commercial and ground power stations, is famous for its "High Quality, High Income", with the maximum efficiency of 99%. It has IP66 protection grade, 12channel MPPT design, advanced AC / DC dual power redundancy design, built-in high-precision intelligent string detection and other functions, which can better adapt to wind, sand, rain, snow and other complex and harsh environment. With its listing, the owners will have more choice space, and the income they care about will be strongly guaranteed. Secondly, the third-generation 10-20kW inverter is praised by customers as "Key Tool in the Large-Scale Household Market". The inverter has high cost performance. The appearance of the inverter adopts lightweight design, simple and fashionable, which is suitable for the home environment and is easy to install; the interior of the inverter adopts the industry-leading heat dissipation technology, and selects a new generation of international brand components, which has a longer service life; in terms of efficiency, it is also industry-leading, which greatly guarantees the income of users; at the same time, multiple protection is adopted inside, which can guarantee the service life of the inverter and greatly increase the time limit of users' stable income. Thirdly, 5-20kW three-phase HYD 5-20KW inverter is a machine developed for energy storage system, mainly used in large household energy storage system and small and medium-sized industrial and commercial energy storage. This machine integrates PV and energy storage, and can realize multiple working modes of off grid and grid connection. Fourthly, low voltage and high voltage series batteries, as several heavyweight products launched by SOFARSOLAR to the global energy storage market, have a good reputation in European markets such as Italy and Britain for their convenient installation, strong compatibility, long cycle life and rich communication. This strong return provides a broader space for domestic users in the choice of energy storage batteries. In the future, SOFARSOLAR will continue to ride the wind and waves, lead the trend, actively explore, deepen cooperation in the new era and under the new situation, improve products and solutions, bring forth the new, and develop more "Photovoltaic Storage and Charging" products with excellent performance, so as to increase the power for the development of global new energy industry.

SOFARSOLAR takes technological "Photovoltaic Storage" as the theme and relies on "Photovoltaic Storage and Charging" as the innovation carrier. Four series of new products of "Photovoltaic Storage" are launched in the world, to strive to create the top brand of "Photovoltaic Storage and Charging". Four series of new products cover: large series of 80-136kW, 1020kW three-generation inverter, 5-20kW three-phase gridconnected inverter and HYD inverter , and high-voltage and lowvoltage batteries.

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COMPANY FEATURE

BLOOMBERGNEF RANKS LONGI AS 100% BANKABLE IN ITS 2020 SURVEY OF PV MODULE BANKABILITY LONGi, the world leading solar technology company, has been rated ‘ 100% bankable’ in BloombergNEF’ s latest survey of PV Module & Inverter Bankability, underlining the company’ s capability to assist proj ect developers in securing more access to financing from banks in order to bring consistent, steady return on investment to its clients globally.

The BloombergNEF bankability survey asked banks, developers and technical due diligence firms which brands out of 49 module and 21 inverter manufacturers they considered bankable. Recognized by numerous international financial institutions as among the most credible third-party renewable energy research hubs, BloombergNEF leverages sophisticated data from banks, technical consultants, general contractors and independent power producers (IPP) to create clear perspectives and in-depth forecasts on the type of loans proj ect developers can obtain from commercial banks when deploying different brands of PV modules. LONGi is one of the top five module producers to be ranked as 100% bankable thanks to its good financial health and strong track record.

LONGi' s bankability has gone up from a rating of 67% in 2018 to 100% in 2020, which is not only a result of the company’ s improved comprehensive strength, but also reflects the recognition of the LONGi brand by clients all over the world.

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INSIGHTS

EMERGING TRENDS & TECHNOLOGY SOLAR STRUCTURE & TRACKING SYSTEMS

India is a market that has traditionally used fixed-tilt, but the growing popularity of bifacial modules, with increasingly higher power output, will help drive demand for trackers. Developers in India have been very focused on system cost (in $/Wp), but over time a more important equation is the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), says Gaurav Mathur, Trina Solar director for India. LCOE refers to the total capex and opex expenditure divided by the total electricity generated over the lifetime of the project. The benefit of using trackers – rather than fixed tilt – is that they substantially increase the amount of electricity the solar farm produces by having the panels track the movement of the sun throughout the course of the day, says Mathur. Bi-facial panels equipped with trackers can conservatively generate 1-20% more energy or even more in optimal locations with high ground reflectance he says. It means that over the lifetime of the project, the financial gains are enormous and easily make up for the additional upfront system cost, adds Mathur. He says if developers are using bifacial modules, which are generally more expensive than mono-facial, they really must use trackers. “Bifacial works better with trackers because they tend to be higher from the ground and more widely spaced than fixed tilt systems, ensuring more diffuse sunlight is delivered to the underside of the modules. There is questionable benefit in having bifacial with fixed-tilt,” because fixed-tilt solutions typically require a considerably higher than usual tilt angle to attain even relatively modest bifacial gains, which in turn increases land usage and wind loading on the structures, and therefore overall cost he adds. Mathur says some operators in India have been reluctant to use trackers because they are concerned about maintaining trackers over the lifetime of the project, as these have moving parts. But Mathur says because trackers have been in the market for many years now, the industry has built up its experience working with trackers and the leading solar tracker companies have a long record of reliability using performance critical components that are well proven with very low Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) in other outdoor applications. Before trackers come onto the market, they go through stringent product verification programs such as wind tunnel tests that test not just for standard static and dynamic loading but also for complex second order effects such as instability and buffeting – to ensure that quality is assured, says Mathur.

Trina Solar’ s trackers are also decreasing in cost – on a cost per watt basis – because the new TrinaPro Mega trackers integrate more modules, up to 120 modules per tracker as compared to around 90 previously and even more with the launch of Trina’ s 550 and 600W modules, which enable even longer strings due to their low open circuit voltage, says Mathur. TrinaPro Mega is the company’ s ‘ all-inone’ integrated solar solution for utility-scale projects incorporating 500W+ Trina Solar Vertex modules. The 500W+ Vertex module comprises larger solar cells – 210mm in diameter as compared to 166mm for earlier modules. The new modules have multi-busbar technology to maximize light capture. Adopting a non-destructive cutting technique for the cells to achieve smooth edges and minimise damage to cells. Trina Solar has also developed technology to reduce the space between each cell. Like with Trina Solar’ s earlier high-performance modules, Vertex uses cells that are Mono PERC. “TrinaPro Mega provides an 8-15% lower BOS cost and 3-8% increase in power generation as compared to our very first version of TrinaPro,” says Mathur. About Trina Solar (688599. SH)

Founded in 1997, Trina Solar is the world leading PV and smart energy total solution provider. The company engages in PV products R&amp;D, manufacture and sales; PV projects development, EPC, O&amp;M; smart micro-grid and multi-energy complementary systems development and sales, as well as energy cloud-platform operation. In 2018, Trina Solar launched Energy IoT brand, established the Trina Energy IoT Industrial Development Alliance together with leading enterprises and research institutes in China and around the world, and founded the New Energy IoT Industrial Innovation Center. With these actions, Trina Solar is committed to working with its partners to build the energy IoT ecosystem and develop an innovation platform to explore New Energy IoT, as it strives to be a leader in global intelligent energy. In June 2020, Trina Solar listed on the STAR Market of Shanghai Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit www.trinasolar.com

He says manufacturers such as Trina Solar can now cite numerous projects around the world where trackers have proven to be reliable and outperform conventional fix tilt solutions over time, which in turn will give developers here confidence to adopt the technology. GAURAV MATHUR Director for India, Trina Solar

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PERSPECTIVE

HOW DATA IS TRANSFORMING THE SOLAR ENERGY SECTOR?

Generation, distribution and consumption of Solar energy are going to experience an enormous revolutionary change due to technologies. There are several “core” technologies available today that are helping to create an efficient, productive and sustainable future. Big data, IOT and cloud computing, Machine learning, Artificial intelligence, Augmented reality, Virtual reality, Digital Twin, Robots, Automation and Blockchain are some of the technological pillars for the revolution and are set to take solar power to new places in 2020 and beyond. Read the opinions of our experts on How Data Is Transforming the Solar Energy Sector

RISHI SINGHAL Director, New Initiatives, The Solar Labs

The Rooftop Solar industry in India makes up only 10% of the industry size. But it has a quite complicated design process. Initially, a meticulous pre design helps the EPC propose the best solution to a client. Then, a detailed analysis and design of the solar rooftop system is executed. Multiple orthogonal parameters of design are connected to each other. Hence, relevant data improves quality of work. Data impacts multiple aspects of rooftop solar design as follows: 1. Sales phase during client conversion 2. Pre-construction phase during detailed design 3. Energy simulation phase of design Availability of high quality data for these elements has improved a lot over the last decade. Therefore, the demand for higher transparency by customers. End users are now extra aware of solar technology. So, they demand precise designs with accurate techno-commercials from day 1 of their buying journey. To fulfil this need, an installer has to up their game or become obsolete. Winning the end customer is not only a price war, it’ s transformed. Installers can use the power of data on financial savings to convince customers of best design solutions. End users value data and are willing to pay a higher price for smarter work. Behind every great sales pitch lies an unshakeable data driven insight.

The sales cycle for solar is long and an installer can win customer’ s trust with data. Usually, the sales executive uncovers a lot of data in a site visit. Using this information, a design engineer can create designs of solar plant layout. While the traditional way involves site measurement using tape measure. It’ s a safety hazard and a laborious process. Whereas data from satellite imagery is just as good and has transformed the pre sales bid procedure. An EPC can later conduct site surveys using aerial drone imagery. This method enables capturing of important dimensional data of all roof obstacles. Height information with accuracy upto 5 cm can be extracted here. This finally results in design layouts that are extremely precise with minimum shading losses. Concurrently, delivering maximum utilization for their rooftop area. Recently data from drones has been used to determine solar potential of entire cities. It has truly enhanced our expectation of the market size and design capabilities of the users. Finally, data used to predict energy simulation of solar plants has seen a quantum leap. We have observed the quality of simulations depend directly on the input quality of weather data. Older and free to use weather data is usually very poor in quality. Whereas the latest data from thousands of locations in India can be accessed instantly. This data is augmented with information on air quality. Software with capability to process this information can output precise energy simulation results. Based on location, mechanical design and weather; data can drive solar adoption through the roof.

MULTIPLE ORTHOGONAL PARAMETERS OF DESIGN ARE CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER. HENCE, RELEVANT DATA IMPROVES QUALITY OF WORK.."

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THIRUMALA RAJU M

NEHA MEHTA

AVP & Head – ICT,

Founder,

Greenko

FemTech Partners

The energy sector is becoming more composite and digital technology is the need of the hour for the entire ecosystem: right from site selection, power generation forecasting, operational performance analysis to predictive maintenance. Digitization also plays a primary role in integration of renewables and preparedness for future models like demand response. Leaving apart the data collection difficulties through variants like FTP push, Modbus / TCP (Data loggers), API’ s (Cloud) we primarily focus on diverse usage of data in transforming the Solar energy sector. Power generation forecasting: Day ahead forecasts are typically delivered in the morning for the next day from 0 to 24 hours and updated multiple times over the rest of the day and should be delivered automatically by the forecast provider. Generation Forecasting agencies rely on numerical weather predictions, satellite data and/or statistical forecasting and filtering methods or combinations of these techniques. The statistical filtering which in turn requires a near-real-time data feed from the monitoring system to the forecast provider along with plant historical data for building the models. As a best practice, the forecast provider should also be informed about scheduled outages and the expected duration of forced outages. Availability of data from SCADA systems (Historical performance values, accurate real-time values) / IoT instruments (weather monitoring parameters) are instrumental in optimum generation forecasting which is directly linked to huge penalties (Financial performance). Operation performance: In general data should be analyzed at various levels, plant level (portfolio level if available), inverter level & string level. The analysis should consist of various parameters at stated levels, aggregated to required time periods carefully chosen based on practical situations. Increasingly smart use of data along with relevant KPIs can unleash the misconceptions and provide guidance to the O & M team for performance excellence / benchmarking at various levels (plant, Invertors, strings etc.) Few Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which provide Business Units with a quick reference on performance of the power plant includes Specific yield - Measure of the total energy generated per KW installed over a certain period. Calculating specific yield at inverter level also facilitates performance comparison between inverters Performance Ratio (PR) - Ratio between the actual specific yield and the theoretically possible reference yield which captures the overall effect of losses of the PV system for longer periods. We can also use Temperature-controlled Performance ratio for shorter durations Few other KPI’ s include energy performance index and energybased availability. We can also evaluate the service team performance through intervention time, response time & resolution time based on data.

Who would have thought that if you add photovoltaic cells, Machine Learning, algorithms, and sensors, the end product would be a sustainable world? Seems quite an obscure thought, right? But as it appears, this is true. To begin with, we all know that the invention of technology to harness the never-ending source called the sun was a big leap in the tech world, but it had a small problem, it was unreliable. And be it a human or a machine, anything which was unreliable has always been soon forgotten, the only reason we remember something even after it’ s dead or obsolete in case of technology is only when it had done something extraordinary and right now, that is something that is happening with the solar energy sector as well, it is seeing a transformation which will change the perception it had on its arrival. It could be easily said that the once prodigal, is now on the way to become the wise son. Big data is providing the solar sector with the power to become reliable, to see the future, to automate things, to change the way businesses operate in this sector. The introduction of data into the sector not only bought reliability to the technology but also to the people who put their money in as the demand has since been growing for these products due to them being easy to maintain and wholly automated, in India itself the solar sector is the fifth most attractive sector for investment. The confidence in the technology has made the investors stick and bring in a boost to this once dwindling sector. Sensors and Artificial Intelligence have made it possible to study the cloud movements and forecast weather conditions thus making it possible to prepare for the future. For example, IBM’ s Hybrid Renewable Energy Forecasting solutions, use cloudimaging technology and sky-facing cameras to predict the weather up to a month in advance. When that kind of technology is used, it can lead to an increase in renewable power generation that is stored or delivered to the grid by up to 10 percent enough to power 14,000 homes. Data has also brought with it the ability to become self-sustaining, machine learning equipped with web platforms has made it possible for data monitoring in a way which was impossible for humans, this allowed for a pattern to be confirmed and energy consumption to be reduced or increased when necessary. This has helped to reduce unnecessary wastage of energy and helps save families substantially. In some nordic countries, the excess solar power production sometimes leads to consumers being paid to use the energy that they generated. Big data is fundamentally changing the world we live in. The mode of power generation, pricing, and consumption are all changing, causing significant disruption in the energy sector. New smarter ways of monitoring, modelling, analyzing, and predicting energy generation and usage are helping us to achieve sustainable energy objectives as the global population faces an unprecedented environmental challenge.

In addition, I wish to express extensive usage of data in modern business scenarios like Data-driven analytics to accelerate integration of renewable energy into the modern grid Operating IREP (Integrated renewable energy projects like Solar-Wind-Hydro, Solar-wind-battery storage) projects towards renewables integration, dispatch optimization, portfolio optimization, energy & reserve co-optimization Solar plant operates at maximum capacity when electricity prices are higher rather than percentage of operational time Predictive analytics to improve inspection, maintenance scheduling, maximize performance & operations around financials rather than Kilowatts.

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SENSORS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE TO STUDY THE CLOUD MOVEMENTS AND FORECAST WEATHER CONDITIONS THUS MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE. FOR EXAMPLE, IBM’S.."

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NITISH MEHTA Partner at Artha Energy Resources

SOMASHEKAR T H MD & CEO, EnerMAN Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Solar PV is well on track to reach the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) level by 2030, which will require electricity generation from solar PV to increase 15% annually, from 720 TWh in 2019 to almost 3300 TWh in 2030. When you anticipate such kind of long-term growth it is very important to track the data from the field and use it as learnings to improve efficiency of PV power plants. With technology advancements especially in Cloud storage and Internet Of Things (IOT), collecting real time data from the PV plants is easier and affordable than ever before. The question is - are the O&M teams looking into this data, analysing it, making informed decisions or are they simply looking into alerts & alarms, attending the breakdowns and ensuring that the plant is up & running ? Realtime data collected from the PV plants can truly transform the PV energy sector. Before setting up the project, plant designers rely heavily on Simulation tools like PVSYST. Instead they can use real data from the plants that have been operational for at least 5 years . For sure the story might be different !

Nearly 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated daily, which is accelerating every year along with the growth of IoT, says a research conducted in 2019. Industries have been storing and analyzing data for decades to optimize supply chain and operations and to maximize efficiency, reduce errors. Similarly, with solar now having completed a decade since the first commercial operations, data collected over time is now transforming the way solar works. Here are three ways to substantiate how data is transforming the solar energy sector 1. Duck Curve Geoffrey Moore, an organizational theorist, said, “Without big data, you are blind and deaf and in the middle of a freeway.” If we take this analogy for solar, then SLDC is blind, deaf, and the duck curve is 48 wheel trailer coming towards it, and it is the most significant barrier. Solar generation is at a peak when the requirement is generally lower (11 am to 3 pm), and it goes down when demand picks up in the evening (6 pm to 10 pm). It creates a unique problem for grid stability due to the demandsupply mismatch. With no control over the weather and other variables that affect the generation, SLDC is required to manage the fluctuation. With the use of forecasting and scheduling, SLDC can manage this better now. Further research is adding a data layer of cloud images and executing per minute basis prediction. This accuracy in prediction of generation will be quintessential in pushing one solar one world one grid.

There are several hundreds of Inverter & PV panel suppliers, each claiming they are the best. Instead of their presentations doing the selling, consider their past performance data. Monitoring over a Giga watt of PV plants, we have clearly seen few specific PV panels and Inverters outperform the rest. If you have a SCADA/Monitoring system for your plant, ask your O&M team to provide you comparison reports of all the major equipment. 3-6 months of data from these kinds of reports will help you root cause the problem in the field. In Solar PV, most people believe data is only about generation (kwh) which is not true. You need to capture data about manual interventions, breakdowns, module cleaning operations, spares, consumables, attendance and much more. The right word is ‘ Digitisation’ . All power producers should ‘ digitize’ their plant and only then the data can not only help improve the performance of the plant but also can reduce your operational costs and save money !

THE QUESTION IS - ARE THE O&M TEAMS LOOKING INTO THIS DATA, ANALYSING IT, MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS OR ARE THEY SIMPLY LOOKING INTO ALERTS & ALARMS, ATTENDING THE BREAKDOWNS AND ENSURING THAT THE PLANT IS UP & RUNNING ?

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RAJ P.

2. Reducing Type 1 and Type 2 Errors Solar has become a very competitive market wherein tenders are won and lost in a margin of a few paise. It has put pressure on developers to get more accurate with their modeling and aggressive in cost-cutting. Hence, every decision across the value chain becomes significant for bidding and executing such projects. Currently, we are using Meternom and NASA datasets to estimate future generation from various permutations and combinations of panels with inverters and degrees of tilt. With more data gathered due to solar installation across different geography, we will use these data sets to decide on the best panel and inverter BOM choices, thus decreasing LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy). It will reduce type 1 (Rejecting correct outcome) and type 2 (Agreeing Incorrect outcome) errors while investing or bidding for the project. 3. Industry 4.0 & Smart Meters & Smart Grids With smart homes gaining traction, data points capturing device-level data have tremendously increased. Moreover, ease of using appliances and scheduling operation times for air conditioners, washing machines, etc., have become feasible with simple coding. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly comfortable and cheaper to monitor, store, and analyze device-level energy consumption. It is essential when one considers that energy price varies as per the time of the day. Hence, with such data, one can modify consumption patterns to increase during low-cost hours and reduce during high-cost hours. However, the data play in the house would be minimal in comparison with industrial and commercial space. As we move from 4G to 5G in telecom, Industry 4.0 is inevitable, which will bring millions of data points of all machinery and assets. And with these data points, the industry will be able to map the exact energy requirement along with its leaks. It will enable them to pursue more energy-efficient practice, which can be fulfilled by captive solar or solar along with storage solutions. CONCLUSION:

Chief Products Officer, Bahwan CyberTek

How to Use Data, AI/ML to Automate, Analyze & Improve

Performance in Solar Power Solar power is turning into a mainstream source of energy and countries are looking to harness this energy to the maximum extent possible. There are two ways to do thisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;first, being the innovator in solar PV technology and second, to marry available technologies to gain maximum yield. Embracing latest technologies reduces LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) or OPEX. It is important to baseline available data and measure outcomes with key metrics that impact the business of a solar power plant. Data collection for performance analysis

Everything starts with collecting data from remote parks to a central location where analysis could be done effectively. To bring the data in a secure way without data losses demands thorough knowledge in network architecture, data storage and large-scale plant integrations. Automated Plant Performance & Diagnostics with AI/ML Unused data is like having an unexplored mine of gold. Using AI/ML-based recommendations can improve plant performance by 2%. One can change from reactive to proactive and predictive maintenance by 1. Recommending right cleaning schedules and cycles 2. Analyzing maintenance effectiveness and recommending customized plans 3. Clearly categorizing losses and identifying the specific point of loss 4. Predicting asset failures with good lead times to avoid accidents and unplanned downtimes All of this can be automated through alert-based mechanism on mobile to maintenance teams and stakeholders, eliminating the need to manually analyze large chunks of data. Drones, AI/ML for Thermal Imaging and Cleaning

DATA HAS BEEN THE BACKBONE OF THE SOLAR INDUSTRY AND IS NOW PROVING MORE CRUCIAL IN ITS TRANSFORMATION. IN THIS ARTICLE, WE HAVE FOCUSED ON

Drones are increasingly used in solar space now. Having drones deployed as part of the future workforce will save costs and time. Studies say that drones increase inspection efficiency by 97% compared to manual inspection, with a cost-saving of $1,250/MW per cleaning cycle. With complicated deep learning and predictive algorithms, thermal images can also be analyzed deeper to understand the kind of degradations and evolving issues in power plants.

THREE SIGNIFICANT WAYS IN WHICH DATA IS AND WILL TRANSFORM THE SECTOR, BUT THERE ARE MANY MORE APPLICATIONS USED DAILY, AND THIS WILL ONLY CONTINUE TO GROW.

AI/ML in Grid Integration and Energy Forecasting

Grid stability is of highest priority. AI/ML plays a big role in forecasting dayahead energy generation and giving advanced notification of weak grid links. In countries like the USA, the local marginal price of power in real-time and dayahead market is derived using AI/ML, which clearly impacts the business revenue of IPPs who supply in the free market. AI/ML in Energy Storage

To enhance solar to a source of base load, it is important to use energy storage technologies such as batteries. Data collection and AI/ML helps in battery storage by 1. Understanding battery chemistries â&#x20AC;&#x201C; degradation of energy charges and discharges 2. Life cycle management 3. End-of-life predictions The use of AI/ML has a wide range of opportunities to take solar PV technologies mainstream. While breakthroughs in PV technologies might proceed at a limited pace, choosing the right technology and integrating them to gain business benefits will be the need of the hour for fast-paced solar energy development. RETINA360 is an adaptive and seamless platform that enables data integration and collaboration of parameters from any dependent sources and provides realtime insights for actionable intelligence.

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TENDER T R A C K E R

UTTAR PRADESH FLOATS 39.36 CR TENDER FOR I NSTALLATI ON OF 263 UNI TS OF SOLAR PANELS Uttar Pradesh recently floated a tender for supply and Installation of Solar power based Arsenic/Fluoride Removal Unit including Solar panels of desired capacity, Raw/Treated water storage and associated civil works etc complete for different districts of Uttar Pradesh. Last date & time of Submission of bid is Upto 11.08.2020 till 17:00 Hrs. Opening date of the Technical Bid is 13.08.2020 at 14:00. To participate, firm should have successfully completed, tested and commissioned Solar Power based water supply/community water supply projects of One work of value equal to 60% of the cost of work put to bid or Two work each of value equal to 40% of the cost of work or three work of each value equal to 30% of the cost of work put to bid.

NTPC TENDERS FOR 1 GW SOLAR PROJECTS I N I NDI A National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) invites bids from the promoters or lenders, authorised financial intermediaries of power generation companies, independent power producers (IPPs), or developers for offering operational solar-based assets located in India. In line with its Long-Term Corporate Plan, NTPC is taking various steps to make its energy portfolio greener by adding significant capacities of Renewable Energy (RE) Sources. By 2032, the company plans to have a minimum of 32000 MW capacity through RE sources constituting nearly 25% of its overall power generation capacity, the document stated. Last date for sending queries is 27.08.2020 and the opening date of techno commercial bid is 22.09.2020.

HARYANA FLOATS I NR 700 MI LLI ON TENDER FOR I NSTALLI NG SOLAR I NVERTER CHARGER Haryana tenders for setting up of 320/640 Watt Solar Inverter Charger to charge the batteries of existing conventional Inverter. The location of this tender is in the Haryana State. The last date of bid submission is Upto 11.08.2020 at 02:00 P.M. Opening date & time of Technical Bids is On or after 11.08.2020 at 02:30 P.M and date of Financial Bids will be intimated later. Scope of work for successful bidders includes Supply, installation and commissioning of 320/640 Watt Solar Inverter Charger to charge the batteries of existing conventional Inverter in the Haryana State with five years warranty of complete system.

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UTTAR PRADESH FLOATS 35 CR TENDER FOR SETTING UP SOLAR PANELS IN STATE Uttar Pradesh recently floated a tender supply and Installation of Solar power based Arsenic/Fluoride Removal Unit including Solar panels of desired capacity, Raw/Treated water storage and associated civil works etc complete for different districts of Uttar Pradesh. The total number of panels to be supplied is 234 units. Last date & time of Submission of bid was at 11.08.2020 till 17:00 Hrs. Opening date of the Technical Bid is 13.08.2020 at 14:00.

NTPCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 1.2 GW ISTS SOLAR TENDER RECEIVES LOWEST BID OF INR 2.43/KWH The National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has recently issued results of a reverse auction for its 1.2 GW ISTS Solar PV Project. The location of the project is in India. Auction winners for the following tender are O2 power,Azure Power, Tata Power and AMP Energy who won capacity of 400 MW,300 MW , 370 MW and 100 MW. O2 power,Azure Power and Tata Power bidded the tariff rate of INR 2.43/kWh whereas AMP Energy bidded tariff for INR 2.44/kWh.

KSEBL INVITES EPC CONTRACTOR FOR SETTING UP 1.5 MWP GRID TIED GROUND MOUNTED SOLAR PV PLANT IN KERALA Kerala State Electricity Board Limited(KSEBL) invites competitive bids from domestic bidders for bidders for appointment of EPC Contractor for setting up 1.5 MWp Grid tied ground mounted Solar PV plant. The location of this project is at Nenmara, Kerala. Last date & time of online Submission is 09.09.2020 at 3.30 pm. Opening of PQ Bids is 16.09.2020 at 11:30 am and the last date to submit queries is 18.08.2020. Scope of successful bidder includes Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractor for the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of 1.5 MWp Grid tied ground mounted Solar PV plant along with Operation and Maintenance of the plant for the first 5 years from the date of commissioning.

SECI EXTENDS BID DEADLINES FOR 15 MW FLOATING SOLAR PV POWER PLANT IN HIMACHAL PRADESH The Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) recently announced an extension of online bid submission for a 15 MW Floating Solar PV Power Plant at Nangal Pond in Himachal Pradesh. The last date of online bid submission is hereby extended till 18.08.2020 at 18:00 HRS. The last date of offline bid submission is hereby extended till 20.08.2020 at 18:00 HRS. The techno-commercial bid opening shall be carried at 11:00 HRS on 21.08.2020.

GUNVL 700 MW TENDER OF DHOLERA SOLAR PARK OVERSUBSCRIBED BY 600 MW The Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) tender for development of 700 MW of solar PV projects at the Dholera Solar Park has been oversubscribed by 600 MW. Total bid of 1,300 MW was submitted by seven bidders, according to an official.The seven bidders are Tata, Torrent, Vena, SJVN bidded for 100 MW of capacity.Renew Power and Juniper Green bidded for 200 MW capacity whereas O2 Power bidded for largest capacity of 500 MW.

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INSIGHTS

A ROAD MAP FOR

ONE SUN ONE WORLD ONE GRID On October 2, 2018 in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “We have a dream: One Sun One World One Grid”. He announced a new ‘ One Sun One World One Grid’ vision for India to replicate its global solar leadership by encouraging the phased development towards a single, globally connected, electricity grid to leverage the multiple benefits of ever-lower-cost renewable energy and diverse energy resources. Sheer size of the task of achieving the vision looks highly difficult, but it is achievable. World have already achieved such global tasks in telegraph and on the Internet. First telegraph submarine cable was laid in 1866 between the US and Europe and by 1901 the global telegraph network had covered the entire world. There is a Global Internet’ s undersea world as shown in figure-1. Micro-level examination of Internet communication reveals that it is nothing but transmission of electricity at very low voltage for transfer of data and digital communication. In a similar way, we can also envisage the worldwide connectivity of the grid to achieve OSOWOG. For the development of the global grid, we may take a clue from the development history of Indian grid. Indian grid has grown

from state grids to regional grid to national grid. In the early years, India interconnected state grids with the tie lines forming regional grids like NR, SR, WR, ER and NER grid. During later years, India started synchronising regional grids with each other through trunk lines. Today, a very well defined integrated national grid has developed, reaping the benefit of resource diversity and time diversity between the different geographic regions of India. Worldwide, many regional interconnections are existing for the regional co-operation and exchange of power as given below:US & Canada - The US-Canadian power system has developed into a highly integrated grid. Cross-border transmission and coordination of system operations create an interconnected power system. OLADE: The Latin America Energy Organization - covers the Latin America & Caribbean and works for integration, sustainable development and energy security of the region. ENTSO-E: European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity – A non-profit organisation of European TSOs covering nearly the whole of Europe. Have established energy exchange, market and settlement systems. GCCIA: Gulf Countries Council Interconnection Authority covers West Asia. Is working towards a resilient interconnection between member countries.

FIG 1 : G LO BAL N ETWO RK O F U N D ERSEA C ABLE FOR IN TERN ET COM MU N ICA TION .

FIG 2 : A PROBA BLE I N TERC ONN EC TIO NS BETW EEN D IFFERENT REGIO NS OF TH E W O RLD.

APUA: Association of Power Utilities of Africa - A consortium of African countries covers nearly the whole of the continent of Africa. CASA/CAREC - Though not an association, these projects are aimed for regional energy interconnection and operation covering countries of Central Asia. BIMTEC/SARRC - Organisations of South Asian Countries - Framework for cross border electricity transactions have been established. Many interconnections exist and others are being developed. Oceania - Australia, New-Zeland, Melenasia. Regional operation is yet to be established. South-East Asia - These are developing countries and yet to have some organisations for regional cooperation. Eastern Asia - Includes, China, Japan, Mongolia, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea. Are not interconnected. To achieve OSOWOG and to form a Global Grid, we need to leverage these regional associations. Wherever regional cooperation or interconnection are either not existing or are underdeveloped, these have to be strengthened. However, parallely the already established regional interconnections may be interconnected through long distance undersea cables. Figure-2 shows a probable interconnection between different regions and probable shape of the global grid (courtesy - www.globalgrid.com).

P.K.AGARWAL, Former Director & CISO, POSOCO Ltd.

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T H I N K TWO-FOR-ONE ENERGY FROM PHOTONS, NOW BETTER THAN EVER

NEW RECORD EFFICIENCY FOR TANDEM SOLAR CELL TECHNOLOGY

In the twisting and turning of long organic molecules, Nati onal Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers have found a promi si ng group of materi als for tomorrow’ s super-efficient solar cells. In a new paper i n Nature Chemi stry, NREL researchers demonstrated how a carefully desi gned molecule can efficiently split the energy imparted by one photon i nto two exci ted states and keep them separated for several mi croseconds—a long ti me at the molecular scale. By creating and then refi ni ng a model of how the molecules move and interact, the team discovered that a twi sti ng moti on gi ves the molecules the characteristics needed to i solate the tri plets. The molecular chain is usually floppy and flexible when not under i llumi nati on; but when it absorbs a photon, the chain twists around i ts central axi s and i ni ti ally stiffens, resulting in a shape that facilitates the formati on of two tri plets. The subsequent twisting that occurs after the i ni ti al process fi ni shes helps to spatially separate the two triplets, lengtheni ng thei r li fespans. By combi ning experimental and modeling approaches, the team was not only able to develop a promising energy-absorbi ng molecule, but also to explai n i ts function in detail. Now that the fundamental mechani sm i s well understood, future development and use of si milar molecules i n hi gheffi ci ency solar cells or other photoelectrochemi cal systems should be easi er.

In the fi eld of photovoltaics, intensive research is bei ng carri ed out to conti nually improve solar cell efficiency. Increasi ngly, the focus i s on tandem photovoltai cs, in whi ch high-performance solar cell materi als are brought together in vari ous combi nations i n order to use the solar spectrum even more efficiently when converting light i nto electri cal energy. Fraunhofer ISE i s now reporti ng a new record effi ci ency of 25. 9 percent for a III-V/Si tandem solar cell grown directly on si li con. Thi s cell was produced on a low-cost si li con substrate for the fi rst ti me – marki ng an important milestone on the way to economi cal soluti ons for tandem photovoltai cs.

RENEWABLE ENERGY COULD REDUCE ASIA PACIFIC LNG PLANT EMISSIONS BY 8% Usi ng renewable energy to power liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants in Asia Pacific could reduce emissions by about 8%. Asia Pacific produces over a third of the world’ s LNG, but also generates over 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) of emi ssi ons during liquefaction. Australian LNG proj ects account for over half or 29 MtCO2e of li quefaction emissions from LNG proj ects i n the region. Many of Asia Pacific’ s LNG faci li ti es are located in remote areas, far from the power grid. As a result, feed gas is used to generate electricity to run the plant and fuel the liquefaction process. Typically, 8% to 12% of feed gas is consumed at the plant to run these processes. Older, more inefficient plants, as well as nascent floating LNG (FLNG) vessels operate with far higher losses.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has been worki ng for many years on multi -j uncti on solar cells, in whi ch two or three sub-cells stacked on top of another absorb di fferent porti ons of the solar spectrum and convert i t i nto electrici ty. Si li con is a suitable absorber for the infrared part of the spectrum. Several mi crometer-thi n layers of III-V compound semiconductors made of elements from groups III and V of the periodic table are deposited on top of si li con. These sub-cells effi ci ently convert the light from the ultravi olet, vi si ble and near-i nfrared parts of the spectrum into electricity. III-V semi conductor solar cells on Germanium are often used i n space as well as i n concentrator photovoltai cs. Through the development of better and more cost-effective processes i n combination wi th the use of si li con as the bottom sub-cell, the tandem technology can become accessi ble for wi de-range use in almost all photovoltai c appli cati ons i n the future. However, there is still much work to be done before thi s obj ecti ve can be achieved.

PV MODULE PRICES TO REBOUND INTO UPTREND AS GLOBAL WAFER PRICES SURGE ONCE AGAIN Polysi li con pri ces have seen continuous hikes in the past two weeks due to the explosi on at Jiangsu Zhongneng’ s chemi cal plant i n Xi nj i ang and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemi c, accordi ng to TrendForce’ s latest i nvesti gati ons. In parti cular, mono polysi li con closi ng prices i ncreased by more than 10% on average, whi ch led wafer suppliers to increase wafer pri ces. As a result of ri si ng wafer pri ces, the downswi ng i n global PV module prices rebounded i nto an uptrend instead. Trend Force analyst Sharon Chen i ndi cates that leadi ng PV wafer supplier LONGi i ncreased its wafer pri ces agai n thi s week i n response to risi ng polysi li con costs, with an average i ncrease of 7% (7. 3% in the overseas markets). However, as end-market demand has yet to recover to a suffi cient level, the increase i n global PV module prices i s proj ected to be limi ted despite thei r rebound. As endmarket demand for PV modules in Taiwan declines, module pri ce hi kes are proj ected to reach about USD 1. 5 cent/W at the most

A CLOSER LOOK AT WATERSPLITTING’S SOLAR FUEL POTENTIAL

FAST-PACED RENEWABLE ENERGY GROWTH TO DRAW SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENTS IN INDIAN TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE

In the fight agai nst cli mate change, sci enti sts have searched for ways to replace fossil fuels with carbon-free alternatives such as hydrogen fuel. A devi ce known as a photo electri cal chemical cell (PEC) has the potenti al to produce hydrogen fuel through arti fi cial photosynthesi s, an emerging renewable energy technology that uses energy from sunlight to dri ve chemi cal reactions such as spli tti ng water i nto hydrogen and oxygen. The key to a PEC’ s success li es not only i n how well its photoelectrode reacts wi th light to produce hydrogen, but also oxygen. Few materials can do thi s well, and according to theory, an i norgani c materi al called bismuth vanadate (Bi VO4) i s a good candi date.

The Indian transmi ssi on infrastructure is li kely to grow by over 25% between 2020 and 2025, mainly driven by the rapi d growth i n the renewable capacity which has seen limi ted expansi on due to lack of infrastructure. Accordi ng to Global Data’ s estimates, the Indi an power transmi ssi on infrastructure would need an i nvestment of about INR 2-2. 5 trilli on (US$27bn-US$34bn) over the period from 2020 to 2025 to accommodate the power evacuation i nfrastructure for modernizi ng aging infrastructure and new expansion to accommodate the power from new capaci ty bui ld-up target. The Indi an renewable landscape is rapi dly changi ng and is growi ng at a consistent pace. The steep reduction in the renewable generati on costs, conducive poli cy envi ronment and avai labi li ty of investment avenues have resulted i n doubli ng the share of the Indian renewable capacity i n the capaci ty mi x to 23. 4% at the end of March 2020 from 11. 8% at end-March 2015.

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T A N K ALL-INDIA ENERGY DEMAND SHOWS SIGNS OF RECOVERY In June 2020, the all-India energy demand contracted 10. 9% year on year for the fourth consecutive month to 105. 6 billi on units, whi le energy supply also decreased 10. 9% year on year, resulting i n the energy defi ci t remai ni ng at 0. 4% (June 2019: 0. 5%). The power demand declined for June 2020, ami d the COVID-19 led lockdown, on account of a decli ne i n commerci al and i ndustrial demand from maj or manufacturing states such as Maharashtra (down 17. 1%), Guj arat (down 10. 2%) and Tamil Nadu (down 10. 3%). The energy demand is showing signs of recovery as the decli ne i n power demand narrowed in June 2020 (down 10. 9%; May 2020: down 14. 9%; Apri l 2020: down 22. 3%) due to the gradual lifting of lockdown for certai n economic activiti es and an increase in domestic consumpti on wi th the extended summer season. The energy demand also showed a 2. 9% mom i mprovement over May 2020. With the contraction i n demand, electri ci ty generation (excluding renewables) also decli ned 11. 8% year on year to 99. 5 bi lli on units in June 2020 (May 2020: down 17. 7%) wi th thermal generati on decli ning 17. 7% year on year (down 21. 4%). Thermal PLF decli ned to 49. 5% i n June 2020 (May 2020: 47. 9%; June 2019: 62. 4%) on account of the lower demand. Central, state and private sector PLFs declined to 58. 7% i n June 2020 (June 2019: 67. 7%), 39. 5% (60. 8%) and 50. 8% (59. 6%), respecti vely. Thermal PLFs were the most impacted due to the decli ne i n the power demand over 1QFY21, given the must-run status of nuclear, hydro and renewables.

UTTAR PRADESH DISCOMS COULD SAVE INR 900 CR ANNUALLY BY PURCHASING POWER FROM COST-EFFICIENT PLANTS Stri ct adherence to meri t order dispatch (MOD) could result i n potenti al savings of INR 900 crores annually for di scoms i n Uttar Pradesh, accordi ng to an i ndependent study released today by the Counci l on Energy, Envi ronment and Water (CEEW). MOD i s a process vi a whi ch di scoms pri ori ti se the purchase of power from the most costeffi ci ent plants. Currently, discoms often devi ate from MOD due to a range of i ssues i ncluding poor coal availabi li ty at some low-cost generati ng stati ons, inefficient operati onal scheduli ng, and an i nherent preference to have state-owned generators di spatch on account of flexi ble payment terms. Uttar Pradesh’ s discoms highli ghted a revenue defi ci t of INR 4500 crore in their recently filed annual revenue requi rements for FY 20-21. Power purchase costs account for 75–85 percent of the total annual expenditure of UP di scoms. Tri mmi ng down power purchase costs, especi ally adherence to MOD, would be cruci al to address thi s revenue deficit. The CEEW study, based on an assessment of the Uj wal Discom Assurance Yoj ana (UDAY) scheme, also found that di scoms in Uttar Pradesh had lost more than INR 80 pai sa on each unit of electrici ty sold i n recent years.

ECREEE PUBLISHES POLICY BRIEF ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE ECOWAS ENERGY SECTOR As ECOWAS countries grapple to slow the spread of the virus, they must also face the fact that without adequate energy, it is much harder to sustain measures needed to fight a virus like thi s one. Being confined without electri city, water, and fuel for cooking and other uses is the reali ty for millions i n the region. Those living in rural offgri d communities, those served by weak and unreliable grid networks, and those wi thout access to clean cooking systems are bearing the brunt of the pandemic. The pandemic has revealed even more underlying vulnerabilities in the region’ s energy sector. We have seen delays i n the implementation of energy strategies, including the postponement of planned generati on capacity and, of course, for some countries, a reduction in public revenues due to the global decline in oil prices. In addition, energy demand reduced significantly i n the industrial and economic sectors but increased in the domestic sector, creati ng a new wave of energy-vulnerable citizens and, at the same time, reiterating the fragi li ty of utilities in the region. As countries in the region try to cope with the surging numbers of infected persons, there has been a need for constant electrification of traditi onal health centres and makeshift health facilities.

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MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS’ CLIMATE FINANCE IN LOWAND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES REACHES $41.5 BILLION IN 2019 Climate financing by seven of the world’ s largest Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) accounted for $61. 6 billion in 2019, of which $41. 5 billion (67%) was in low- and middle-income economies, according to the 2019 Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ Climate Finance. The study expands the scope of reporting for the first time to all countries of operation. It now provides data on MDB climate finance commitments beyond those directed solely at developing and emerging economies, but with the focus remaining on low- and middle-income countries. This year the report combines data from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group), the World Bank Group (WBG) and – for the first time – the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), which joined the working group in October 2017. In 2019, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) also joined MDB working groups, and its data are presented separately within the current report.

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P O L I C Y MINISTRY ANNOUNCES WAIVER OF ISTS CHARGES ON SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY PROJECTS TILL 30 JUNE 2023 The Mi nistry of Power recently issued a waiver of i nter-state transmi ssi on charges and losses on transmission of the electri ci ty generated from solar and wi nd sources of energy. Revised Tariff Poli cy provi des that “In order to further encourage renewable sources of energy, no i nter-State transmission charges and losses may be levi ed ti ll such period as may be noti fied by the Central Government on transmi ssi on of the electrici ty generated from solar and wind sources of energy through the inter-state transmi ssi on system for sale. ”Ministry of Power’ s earli er deci ded that no i nterstate transmission charges and losses wi ll be levied on transmission of the electri ci ty generated from followi ng power plants for a peri od of 25 years from the date of commissi oni ng of the power plants whi ch cri teri a set by the mi ni stry. Thi s followi ng order is i ssued with the approval of the Mini ster of State (I/C) for Power and NRE and i s applied from 5th August.

INDIA EXTENDS IMPOSITION OF SAFEGUARD DUTY ON IMPORTED SOLAR CELLS BY ANOTHER YEAR The Mi nistry of Finance has extended the safeguard duty on imported solar cells and modules for another year based on the recommendations of Directorate General of Trade remedies (DGTR). The Safeguard duty rate for July 30, 2020 – January 29, 2021 is 14. 90% and for other si x months i e. January 30, 2021 – July 29, 2021 the rate is 14. 50%. The safeguard duty wi ll be i mposed on solar cells falling under tari ff i tems 8541 40 11 or 8541 40 12 of the Fi rst Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, when i mported i nto Indi a. These duti es wi ll not apply to any developing country wi th the exception of Chi na, Thai land and Vi etnam

INTER-STATE TRANSMISSION CHARGES AND LOSSES REGULATION TO BE ENFORCED FROM NOVEMBER 2020 The Central Electricity Regulatory Commissi on (CERC) has recently issued notice that regulations for shari ng of InterState Transmi ssi on Charges and Losses, 2020 shall come i nto force wi th effect from 01. 11. 2020. Earlier, Central Electri ci ty Regulatory Commission publi shed about Regulati ons of Shari ng of Inter-State Transmission Charges and Losses Regulati ons, 2020. in the Gazette of Indi a Extraordinary. The transmi ssi on charges shall be shared amongst the DICs every month based on the Yearly Transmi ssi on Charges such that: - the Yearly Transmissi on Charges are fully recovered, and Any adj ustment on account of revi si on of the Yearly Transmission Charges are recovered. Yearly Transmi ssi on Charges for transmissi on system shall be shared every month by DICs. Long Term Access or Medi um Term Open Access for proj ects shall not be consi dered for apportionment of Yearly Transmissi on Charges. These regulati ons shall be applied to Power Exchange, Market Parti cipants and OTC Market. These regulati ons shall also be applied to contracts transacted on the Power Exchange, contracts relating to Renewable Energy Certi fi cates, contracts relati ng to Energy Saving Certifi cates, contracts i n the OTC Market. and any other contracts, as may be approved by the Commission.

INR 68 CR LOANS RELEASED UNDER DISCOMS LIQUIDITY SCHEME Rs 68, 000 crore loans have been sancti oned so far under Rs 90, 000 liquidity scheme for the stressed power distributi on uti li ti es, a source stated. In May, Finance Minister Nirmala Si tharaman announced Rs 90, 000 crore li qui dity i nfusi on to di scoms due to the lockdown to COVID-19. The amount was used by DISCOMS to pay thei r dues to Transmi ssi on and Generati on companies. “State-run non-banki ng fi nance firms REC Ltd NSE 2. 22 % and Power Finance Corporati on NSE 2. 17 % (PFC ) have sancti oned loans worth about Rs 68, 000 crore so far under the Rs 90, 000 crore liquidi ty i nfusi on package for di scoms announced i n May, ” a source said to PTI. The source further informed that, “The fi rst tranche of credi t has also been released to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. ” The Rs 90, 000 crore package would be fully utilised after Tami l Nadu (Rs 20, 000 crore) and Bi har (Rs 3, 500 crore) submi t thei r formal proposals under the package, the source added.

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MNRE EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR BIS CERTIFICATION OF SOLAR INVERTERS TILL DECEMBER 31 The Mi nistry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) i ssued notificati on for extension of self certi ficati on for solar inverters. Earlier deadline for deadli ne was June 30, 2020 whi ch now has been extended to 1 st December 2020. Due to COVID 19 lockdown di sruption the i ndustry sought more time for compli ance and hence six-month extension was announced , ministry stated. The extension would only apply to manufacturers holding valid International Electrotechni cal Commission (IEC) certificates. The quali ty certi fi cation has previously extended from 30. 06. 2018 to 30. 06. 2020.

PG 52

D E B R I E F CERC DRAFTS AMENDMENT TO GRANT CONNECTIVITY TO ISTS PROJECTS BASED ON RENEWABLE SOURCES

MNRE ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR PROCUREMENT OF RTC POWER FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has recently i ssued a Draft Amendment to Detailed Procedure for Grant of Connecti vi ty to Proj ects Based on Renewable Sources to Inter-State Transmi ssi on Systems. CERC also invited comments/ suggesti ons/ obj ecti ons from the stakeholders and interested persons on the provisi ons proposed to be amended. The Detailed Procedure for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Grant of Connecti vi ty to proj ects based on renewable sources to inter-State transmi ssion systemâ&#x20AC;? made under Regulation 27 of the Central Electrici ty Regulatory Commi ssi on (Grant of Connectivity, Long-term Access and Medium-term Open Access i n i nter-State Transmission and related matters) Regulati ons, 2009 was i ssued on 15. 5. 2018.

The Mi ni stry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) recently i ssued noti ce announci ng gui deli nes for Tariff Based Competi ti ve Bi ddi ng Process for Procurement of Round-The Clock Power from Gri d Connected Renewable Energy Power Proj ects, complemented wi th Power from Coal Based Thermal Power Proj ects. The successful bi dder wi ll si gn Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for 25 years wi th elaborate mechanism for ri sk apportionment and compensations, payment securi ty, etc. The mai n obj ecti ve of gui delines are to provi de RoundThe-Clock (RTC) power to the DISCOMs from renewable energy sources complemented/balanced wi th coal based thermal power, To faci li tate renewable capacity addi ti on and fulfi lment of Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) requi rement of DISCOMs, To provi de a transparent, fai r, standardized procurement framework based on open competi ti ve biddi ng with appropriate risk-sharing between vari ous stakeholders to enable procurement of power at competi ti ve pri ces i n consumer i nterest, i mprove bankability of proj ects and ensure reasonable returns to the investors; and to provide for a framework for an Intermedi ary Procurer as an Aggregator/Trader for the i nter-state/ i ntra-state, long-term, sale-purchase of power.

MNRE ISSUES AMENDMENT OF COMPONENT-C UNDER PMKUSUM The Mi nistry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued an amendment in Guidelines for Implementation of Component-C of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urj a Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme. Following is the Amendment Of Guidelines for Implementation of Component-C: IA wi ll be responsible to invite bids for empanelment of vendors through a transparent bidding process. Empanelment may be state-wide or feeder-wise, as per deci si on of the concerned State. To ensure quality and post installation servi ces, IAs shall allow either one or both of the following two categories to participate i n the tender for empanelment of vendors: i. manufacturer of solar panels or manufacturer of solar water pumps ii. joint venture of manufacturer of solar panels or manufacturer for solar water pumps with system integrators. A single vendor might be given responsibility as a feeder to ensure better services and accountability.

CERC SANCTIONS INTRODUCTION OF GREEN TERM-AHEAD MARKET CONTRACTS ON IEX The Central Electri ci ty Regulatory Commi ssion (CERC) has recently approved i ntroducti on of the Green Term-Ahead Market (Renewable Energy) Contracts at Indian Energy Exchange Ltd. IEX hi ghlighted that the proposed contract will provi de a market-

based mechanism where RE surplus and RE deficit States can trade RE and balance their RPO targets. This proposal would lessen the burden on RE-rich Order on 18 States and incentivize them to develop RE capacity beyond their own RPO, it added. IEX also highlighted that the proposed contract will promote RE merchant capacity addition which will eventually help in achieving RE capacity addition targets of the country.

MNRE GRANTS FIVE-MONTH EXTENSION FOR RENEWABLE PROJECTS Mi ni stry of New and Renewable Energy. MNRE recently i ssued an order on time extension in the scheduled commissioni ng date of Renewable Energy (RE) Proj ects consi dering disruption due to lockdown due to COVID19. RE developers requested the Ministry to grant a general time extension on account of lock down (due to COVID-19) and additional time required for normalization after such lockdown. This issue has been exami ned by the Ministry and it has been decided that all Renewable Energy (RE) implementing agencies of the Mi ni stry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) wi ll treat lockdown due to COVID-19, as Force Maj eure. The Mi ni stry ordered that all RE proj ects under i mplementation as on the date of lockdown, i . e. 25th March 2020, through RE Implementing Agenci es desi gnated by the MNRE or under various schemes of the MNRE will be given a time extension of 5 months from 25th March 2020 to 24th August 2020. This blanket extension, i f invoked by the RE developers, wi ll be given wi thout case to case examination and no documents/evidence will be asked for such extensi on.

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LAUNCHING TWO NEW EXCLUSIVE PUBLICATIONS for ASEAN & Middle East Solar Industry

EMPOWERING HIGH GROWTH ASIAN MARKETS

For Advertising Opportunities, Contact: Smriti Singh, M: +91 7718877514, e: smriti@firstviewgroup.com