SolarQuarter India - February Issue 2020

Empowering, Insightful, Engaging

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

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TRENDING

Rooftop Solar - A Rewarding Option For C&I Customers

P E R S P E C T I V E

LOAD DESIGNING CAN AID ROOFTOP SOLAR MARKET ACCELERATION

INDIA'S CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE DECARBONIZATION TARGETS

TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN ROOFTOP SOLAR + STORAGE SYSTEM DEPLOYMENT?

WHAT ARE THE CURRENT CHALLENGES &

FUTURE OUTLOOK

ABOUT LENDING TO ROOFTOP SOLAR PROJECTS? W W W . S O L A R Q U A R T E R . C O M

+91 77150 22226

FEBRUARY ISSUE 2021

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CONTENTS CONVERSATION

NEWS 05

PROJECT MONTHLY

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THINK TANK

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TENDER TRACKER

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POLICY DEBRIEF

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RAVINDER SINGH, CHIEF – SOLAR ROOFTOP BUSINESS, TATA POWER

INSIGHTS LOAD DESIGNING CAN AID ROOFTOP SOLAR MARKET ACCELERATION

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WHICH ARE THE BEST PRACTICES AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN ROOFTOP SOLAR + STORAGE SYSTEM DEPLOYMENT?

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INDIA'S CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE DECARBONIZATION TARGETS

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MANISH BAGADIA,

MANAGING DIRECTOR, GRACE RENEWABLES

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HITEN PAREKH

CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER, SOLARSQUARE ENERGY PVT. LTD.

ROOFTOP SOLAR - A REWARDING OPTION FOR C&I CUSTOMERS

PERSPECTIVE 25

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IS RESIDENTIAL ROOFTOP SOLAR READY TO TAKE OFF POST SUBSIDY AND FALLING EQUIPMENT COSTS?

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IS IT A HIGH TIME THAT A NATION NEEDS A CONSISTENT AND UNIFORM POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR THE ROOFTOP SECTOR TO ACHIEVE ITS FULL POTENTIAL?

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HOW IS ROOFTOP SOLAR AN ECONOMICALLY VIABLE SOLUTION FOR C&I CONSUMERS ? WHICH ARE THE MAJOR FACTORS THAT WILL AID SOLAR ROOFTOP INSTALLATION IN C&I SEGMENT?

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THYAGARAJU NAIDU

CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, MEGAMIC

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PRADEEP KUMAR

DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS FOR INDIA AND SRI LANKA, LONGI SOLAR

WHAT ARE THE CURRENT CHALLENGES & FUTURE OUTLOOK ABOUT LENDING TO ROOFTOP SOLAR PROJECTS?

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COMPANY FEATURE 42

SOLIS

43

WOUTER DE ROOS

PROCUREMENT & PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, ESDEC

ENERMAN

PRODUCT FEATURE 41

ARCTECH SOLAR

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DR. HUGH HIND CO-FOUNDING CTO, QUADRICAL AI

PUBLISHING

EDITING

CONTENT

DESIGNING Neha Barangali

Firstview Media

Sangita Shetty

Ashwini Chikkodi

Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

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Sadhana Raju Shenvekar Sanjana Kamble

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PROJECT MONTHLY TATA POWER SOLAR RECEIVES LOA FOR GSECL PROJECT WORTH INR 460 CRORES ($63 MILLION) Tata Power Solar, Indi a’ s largest i ntegrated solar company and a wholly-owned subsi di ary of Tata Power, has recei ved a “Letter of Award” (LoA) to bui ld 95 MW of ground mounted Solar PV proj ect for GSECL. The order value of the proj ect i s approxi mately INR 460 crores ($63 Mi lli on). The Commerci al operati on date for thi s proj ect i s set for Apri l 2022. Wi th thi s addi ti on, the order pi peli ne of Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd. (TPSSL) stands at approxi mately 4. 2 GWp wi th an approxi mate value of INR 12500 crores, thereby cementi ng i ts posi ti on as Indi a’ s leadi ng Solar EPC player for seventh year i n a row among uti li ty scale.

TORRENT POWER AND ADANI GREEN WINS THE 300 MW SOLAR PROJECT IN GUJARAT Torrent Power Generati on and Adani Green Energy are wi nners i n Torrent Power Li mi ted’ s aucti on to develop 300 MW of gri d-connected solar proj ects i n Guj arat. Adani Green and Torrent Power quoted a tari ff of ₹ 2. 22 (~$0. 03)/kWh and were awarded capaci ti es of 150 MW each. The Company i s also engaged i n manufacturi ng and supply of power cables.

Torrent Power operates i n the renewable energy segment wi th 787 MW capaci ty taki ng the aggregate i nstalled generati on capaci ty to 3879 MW.

HINDUJA RENEWABLES COMMISSIONS 75MW SOLAR PLANT FOR ASHOK LEYLAND IN TAMIL NADU Hi nduj a Renewables, part of the Hi nduj a Group, i s focused on bui ldi ng sustai nable and clean energy plants i n Indi a and has bui lt a solar plant for Ashok Leyland, wi th a capaci ty of 75 MWp, located i n Si vagangai di stri ct, i n Tami l Nadu. Thi s plant i s one of the largest group capti ve solar plants i n Indi a servi ng a si ngle cli ent. The plant i s expected to generate over 120 mi lli on uni ts of power annually.

TATA POWER PARTNERS WITH TATA BASERA TO OFFER EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS ON A WIDE RANGE OF ITS SOLAR ROOFTOP PRODUCTS Tata Power Indi a’ s largest i ntegrated power uti li ty, announced that i t has partnered wi th Tata Basera to promote i ts Solar Rooftop Servi ces and Home Automati on Products amongst Indi vi dual Home Bui lders and Tata Steel’ s channel partners. Under thi s i ni ti ati ve, i ndi vi dual home bui lders purchasi ng rebars from Tata Steel would benefi t from addi ti onal and exclusi ve offers from Tata Power upon purchase of solar rooftop soluti ons for thei r new homes. These exclusi ve benefi ts to Tata Steel customers would be avai lable across 240 di stri cts and 2, 800+ Tata Steel dealers. Solar Rooftop i s a revoluti onary product that helps customers save upto 80%+ electri ci ty costs and also make a posi ti ve i mpact on the envi ronment by mi ti gati ng carbon emi ssi ons.

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AMP ENERGY INDIA POWERS L&T METRO RAIL HYDERABAD WITH SOLAR Amp Energy Indi a has commi ssi oned one of the largest behi nd-the-meter solar proj ects for L&T Metro Rai l (Hyderabad) Li mi ted, a Publi c Pri vate Partnershi p (PPP) proj ect between Govt. of Telangana & one of Indi a’ s leadi ng i nfrastructure company Larsen &Toubro Li mi ted. Amp Energy has i nstalled a 7. 805 MW solar plant supplyi ng power to L&T i n Hyderabad, Telangana for the metro proj ect to supply solar power to i ts 24 stati ons and 2 depots i n the ci ty. The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) wi th Amp for procurement of solar power i s for 25 years and wi ll generate 11, 300 MWh of green energy i n a year, equi valent to reduci ng approx. 8, 000 MT of carbon emi ssi ons annually.

AGEL COMMISSIONS 100 MW SOLAR POWER PLANTS IN UTTAR PRADESH, AHEAD OF SCHEDULE Adani Solar Energy Four Pri vate Li mi ted, a subsi di ary of Adani Green Energy Li mi ted, commi ssi oned 100 MW (2×50 MW) Solar Power Plants at Jalalabad i n Shahj ahanpur di stri ct and Sahaswan i n Budaun di stri ct of Uttar Pradesh. Our team of experts made i t possi ble to commi ssi on the plants almost 1 month ahead to thei r scheduled commi ssi oni ng date. Both the plants have Power Purchase Agreements wi th Uttar Pradesh Power Corporati on Li mi ted at Rs. 3. 22/kWh and 3. 19/kWh, for a peri od of 25 years.

Wi th thi s, they have added a capaci ty of 700 MW capaci ty si nce the begi nni ng of the challengi ng COVID-19 pandemi c cri si s. Thi s places AGEL’ s total renewable portfoli o of 14, 815 MW well on track to reach i ts vi si on of 25 GW capaci ty by 2025.

CDC ANNOUNCES US $30 MILLION DIRECTED GREEN LENDING FACILITY TO TATA CLEANTECH CAPITAL LIMITED CDC Group, the UK’ s development fi nance i nsti tuti on and i mpact i nvestor, announced a US $30 mi lli on faci li ty to Tata Cleantech Capi tal Li mi ted (TCCL), through CDC’ s di rected green lendi ng faci li ty. Thi s fi rst of i ts ki nd faci li ty wi ll enable TCCL to offer loans to busi nesses across Indi a that focus on e-mobi li ty soluti ons as well as water and energy effi ci ency, to help mi ti gate the effects of cli mate change. Faci li ty wi ll help provi de loans i n the resource effi ci ency sector across Indi a Bolsters e-mobi li ty soluti ons, energy and water effi ci ency, and avoi ds greenhouse gas emi ssi ons and freshwater consumpti on.

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THINK TANK CLIMATE COMMITMENTS TO TOP ENERGY AND MINING AGENDAS IN 2021 Wood Mackenzi e hi ghli ghts 5 key emi ssi ons trends to watch thi s year.

Thi s momentum i s li kely to i ncrease i n 2021 as emi tters act on plans to meet thei r cli mate targets. So, what are the bi ggest emi ssi ons trends to watch thi s year? James Whi tesi de, Wood Mackenzi e Global Head of Multi -Commodi ty Research, and Amy Bowe, Wood Mackenzi e Head of Carbon Research, see fi ve key themes: Government cli mate commi tments wi ll i ncrease ahead of COP26 Technology developments wi ll help reduce emi ssi ons from metals extracti on and oi l and gas producti on TCFD reporti ng wi ll become a requi rement for a broader range of compani es Commodi ti es wi ll i ncreasi ngly be marketed on thei r green credenti als Energy compani es wi ll conti nue to lead the way i n di vestment and di versi fi cati on to manage emi ssi ons ri sk

IEEFA: GLOBAL CAPITAL MOBILISING FOR INDIA’S $500BN RENEWABLE ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE OPPORTUNITY A huge global capi tal pool i s mobi li si ng to i nvest i n renewable energy and gri d proj ects i n Indi a, accordi ng to a new IEEFA report, wi th pull factors i ncludi ng solar power tari ffs hi tti ng record lows, plungi ng solar module costs, record low i nterest rates, and the securi ty of government-backed, 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs). “Domesti c and global i nsti tuti ons across the fi nanci al, corporate, energy, uti li ty and government sectors are pri med to deploy a wall of capi tal that Indi a needs to fund i ts ambi ti ous renewable energy targets, ” says report coauthor Ti m Buckley, Di rector Energy Fi nance Studi es, South Asi a, at the Insti tute for Energy Economi cs and Fi nanci al Analysi s (IEEFA).

INVITS, REITS CAN RAISE RS 8 LAKH CRORE CAPITAL IN THE MEDIUM TERM: CRISIL IEEFA: INDIA’S NEW NET METERING LIMIT RISKS STALLING PROGRESS ON ROOFTOP SOLAR TARGET A new regulati on that excludes rooftop solar systems over 10 ki lowatts (kW) from net meteri ng wi ll stall adopti on of larger i nstallati ons i n Indi a, undermi ni ng progress towards the government’ s rooftop solar target of 40 gi gawatts (GW) by 2022.

Thi s i s accordi ng to a new bri efi ng note from IEEFA and JMK Research & Analyti cs that says a provi si on i n the Mi ni stry of Power’ s new rules for electri ci ty consumers whi ch mandates net meteri ng for rooftop solar proj ects up to 10kW and gross meteri ng for systems wi th loads above 10kW wi ll li kely make rooftop solar commerci ally unvi able for bi g resi denti al and commerci al and i ndustri al (C&I) consumers.

Infrastructure i nvestment trusts (InvITs) and real estate i nvestment trusts (REITs) are gai ni ng currency i n Indi a, followi ng the footsteps of the developed world. A CRISIL Rati ngs analysi s shows these i nstruments can potenti ally rai se up to Rs 8 lakh crore of capi tal for Indi a’ s i nfrastructure bui ldout over the next fi ve fi scals.

A government task force has esti mated that Rs 111 lakh crore1 of i nvestments are requi red i n i nfrastructure through fi scal 2025 – or twi ce what was spent i n the past fi ve fi scals. That’ s a humongous i nvestment need, and cannot be met by the government and tradi ti onal i nfrastructure-fi nanci ng channels alone. Thus, alternati ve channels need to be pressed i nto servi ce

RENEWABLE ENERGY REBOUNDS TO PRECOVID-19 LEVELS IN Q3 FY21; SIGNALS ECONOMIC RECOVERY A new regulati on that excludes rooftop solar systems over 10 ki lowatts (kW) from net meteri ng wi ll stall adopti on of larger i nstallati ons i n Indi a, undermi ni ng progress towards the government’ s rooftop solar target of 40 gi gawatts (GW) by 2022.

Thi s i s accordi ng to a new bri efi ng note from IEEFA and JMK Research & Analyti cs that says a provi si on i n the Mi ni stry of Power’ s new rules for electri ci ty consumers whi ch mandates net meteri ng for rooftop solar proj ects up to 10kW and gross meteri ng for systems wi th loads above 10kW wi ll li kely make rooftop solar commerci ally unvi able for bi g resi denti al and commerci al and i ndustri al (C&I) consumers.

SOLARQUARTER | FEBRUARY ISSUE 2021

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PG 7

IN CONVERSATION

"We are constantly finding newer avenues to promote our solar rooftop services and will continue to build strong partnerships to leverage the same as we move ahead."

Ravinder Singh, Chief – Solar Rooftop Business, Tata Power

How has the year 2020 been for Tata Power Solar especially since this has been the pandemic year?

Any key learnings?

According to you, how was rooftop solar growth in the past few years and what will be the demand trend for the next fiscal year?

The year 2020 had its fair share of challenges for the rooftop solar industry primarily owing to the pandemic when virtually no economic activity happened for 4-5 months as well as other factors such as volatility in the pricing of modules and commodities such as copper and steel.

Over the last few years, the Rooftop Industry has seen robust growth. Owing to the impact of Covid-19, we believe that the short-term demand has shifted by 3-4 quarters. However, the long term fundamentals of the business remain strong and going forward we expect to see rapid growth in this Industry.

However, over the last few months we have seen the demand coming back with a vengeance, especially from the Industrial and the Residential sector. With Industry under pressure to reduce costs and more and more people working out of their homes, rooftop solar is the most preferred solution for such clients, primarily owing to its attractive economics. In addition, owing to the pandemic, there is a greater appreciation of the damage that we are doing to the environment and this was certainly one of the factors for adoption of on-site clean and green power by a certain section of the consumers.

Are you happy with the budget passed for the solar sector? Please share your views on the budgetary allocation.

In this year’s budget, the budgetary allocation of The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has gone up by 48% as compared to last year. It is our understanding that this increased budgetary allocation shall go towards bolstering the various clean energy initiatives that include solar parks, roof-top solar, off-grid renewable energy, etc.

Hence, yes we are reasonably happy with this enhanced allocation for the solar sector.

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Can you brief our readers about the new offerings / initiatives Tata Power Solar would be providing in rooftop space?

Solar Rooftop plants help customers save up to 50%+ on electricity costs and also positively impact the environment by mitigating carbon emissions. With 30 years’ of expertise in providing rooftop solutions, worldclass engineering and execution, lifetime service and post-sales support, Tata Power has been the market leader in the rooftop segment for the last 7 years.

We recently launched the ‘SOLAROOF’ – ‘Kamai Badhaye Dildaar Banaye’ campaign which is aimed at creating awareness about the environmental and commercial benefits of solar rooftop installation.

In addition, as a part of our continued focus to provide value added offerings to our clients, we have partnered with other Companies in the Tata Group to offer bundled solutions to our clients. Through our partnership with Tata Bluescope, we offer our industrial customers, roof installation/ replacement services together with our Solar PV plants. For our Residential customers, we have the Basera program, an innovative initiative under which various products from different Tata Group firms right from steel to home loans to white goods to rooftop solar solutions are provided at attractive rates.

Additionally, we have partnerships with various financing entities as well as insurance companies to make it convenient and affordable for our customers in the Residential as well as the C&I segment to adopt our products.

We are constantly finding newer avenues to promote our solar rooftop services and will continue to build strong partnerships to leverage the same as we move ahead.

Which are the major factors that will aid Solar Rooftop installation in the C & I Segment?

The primary factor that is driving the increased adoption of Rooftop solar by the C&I segment is the compelling economics of rooftop solar that give them at least a 30-50% savings in comparison to utility tariffs. In addition, large corporates now have increasingly ambitious sustainability targets that are driving them to source more and more power from renewable energy sources. In the coming years, the advent of high efficiency panels (500Wp+ panels are now increasingly becoming available) and lower cost battery storage solutions are going to be the key drivers of the growth of rooftop industry.

In this year’s budget, the budgetary allocation of The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has gone up by 48% as compared to last year. It is our understanding that this increased budgetary allocation shall go towards bolstering the various clean energy initiatives that include solar parks, roof-top solar, offgrid renewable energy, etc."

PG 8

IN CONVERSATION

"We are constantly finding newer avenues to promote our solar rooftop services and will continue to build strong partnerships to leverage the same as we move ahead."

Manish Bagadia, Managing Director, Grace Renewables

Can you please share some of the key products / services offered by your Company?

Grace is one of the leading solar EPC solution providers in India with a focus on providing world class quality and cost effective solar solutions to our customers.

We pride ourselves in offering an extensive range of solar products and services, ranging from Solar EPC services for Residential, Commercial & Industrial segments to Utility scale projects and Solar PV modules.Our philosophy is to enable energy independence to our clients by reducing their dependency on fossil fuel and create a lasting impact on social well-being.

We are also the exclusive channel partner of leading solar module manufacturing company and have built strong partnerships with many leading global technology providers to extend our reach to our clients globally.Grace is actively engaged in development of various solar projects in India and across the globe.We have rich experience and exposure of executing projects conforming to international standards.

As we have already installed a solar project in Indonesia, have projects under execution in Nepal and presently developing a 4 MW solar project in Africa.

Any interesting projects OR product development in the pipeline, which you would like to share with our readers?

Grace is actively engaged in development of various solar projects in India and across the globe. In India, we have an approx 10 MW capacity project still in the pipeline. In addition, we have rich experience and exposure of executing projects conforming to international standards. As we have already installed a solar project in Indonesia, have projects under execution in Nepal and presently developing a 4 MW solar project in Africa. Grace is always at the forefront of adopting technologies to innovate. We are working on Building Integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) projects to offer smart energy solutions in order to satisfy our client needs.

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With 60+ MW of turnkey projects commissioned across the globe, Grace has had an impeccable record in India and abroad across various geographies and segments.

Our focus on quality and customized solutions has allowed us to maintain a leadership position in the solar sector.

Your view on the contribution of New & Renewable Energy in helping India lessen its dependence on Oil import & save on foreign exchange. Also your take on the rising interests amongst investors across the globe on India’s Renewable Energy sector.

During this pandemic crisis, people at large have fathomed the need to be self reliant.

Subsequent disruptions in the supply chain from China during lockdown has adversely impacted India’s ambitious solar target of achieving 100 GW by 2022. In order to combat this, the Government of India is aggressively pushing Make in India policy, which can be a welcome move for the solar industry to become more self reliant.

Further a favourable solar policy framework from centre and state government can provide much needed push to boost the solar sector eventually adding to the solar power generation capacity of India.

India has favourable climatic conditions which ensures 300 sunny days in a year with the daily average solar energy incident over India varies from 4 to 7 Kwh/m2. This unlocks huge potential for the solar energy sector.

Renewable industry in India has tremendous potential taking into consideration the government's intentions of energy transition through clean energy and affordable power, the opportunities are immense.

Another reason would be high return on investment; the solar industry ensures 30-35% ROI in the captive sector and in the case of the government PPA and Opex sector it offers only 15% ROI. This has echoed well with the thought process of many investors and seen a steady increase in investment in this sector at domestic and international level.

How scientifically & technologically are we, including your company, equipped to innovate and gear up to meet the requirements in future?

India has made significant progress in promoting renewable energy through various policy frameworks and public platforms.

However, in these days where the Government of India is emphasizing on becoming Atmanirbhar by boycotting Chinese goods, the Indian solar industry is heavily dependent on Chinese products where almost 80% of solar components are imported from China.

Currently India is just a follower of China and European market when it comes to the renewable energy industry and nowhere leading the technology and innovation market.

This brings up a very important question that does an Indian developer have core competence, robust policy framework, infrastructure and ecosystem to innovate.

Positively to boost the solar manufacturing industry in India, manufacturing linked solar tender were floated by SECI.

With your years of experience in this all important space, your advice/tips to all those following this vibrant sector.

Over the years, people have become more aware of the benefits accruing from installation of Solar rooftops in their homes or factories.

This is evident with the customer interactions we have on a daily basis who are eager to switch to solar energy for their power needs. It is just a matter of time till you will get to see rooftop solar in every household and industry.

Although, we as an industry must proceed with caution. One needs to be vary of the fact that this mindset shift can soon change if we do not focus on a key parameter for the customers Quality. This sector is plagued with cost competitiveness and a blind eye is given towards quality. It is not only the responsibility of the manufacturers and developers but also of the customers to understand that quality of product should be of paramount importance, even superseding the price. It is clear that one who ensures the right mix of quality and price will succeed in this aggressively contested market.

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How has been the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic in the RE sector? How do you see the recovery in the sector and future for the industry?

The renewable energy sector was on a high growth trajectory before the pandemic hit.

However during the lockdown phase people have realized that we need to be responsible towards nature and the planet. The awareness and interest about renewable energy, its long term benefits and benefits to the environment has increased significantly post lockdown.

Also people who had already installed the wind of solar power projects have seen benefits during the lockdown that in spite of the fact that the entire world was at a standstill, they could still reap the benefits of renewable energy. We believe that with the correct government policies and push, the target of 175GW by 2022 is achievable.

As a developer what key challenges do you face today?

Today the solar industry is facing an existential threat and that too from a totally unexpected source, Central Government Policy change!! Recently MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) announced changes in the solar policy regarding gross metering which has completely changed the financial equations for solar rooftop project ROI. As the readers might be aware that currently for solar installations by Industrial or Residential customers, net metering facility is available which provides set off in the electricity bill for the solar units generated. This provides a return on investment within 3 to 5 years depending on the project capacity and consumption.

However recently MNRE has come out with a notification, which states that any project over 10KW will not be able to avail the benefits of net metering. As per the new notification, all projects over 10KW will be considered for gross metering which states

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that all solar units generated by rooftop projects will be purchased by the discom at a fixed tariff instead of providing a set off against the energy consumed by the prosumers. This reduces the IRR for the solar projects above 10KW and increases the payback period of the projects. As such projects above 10KW form bulk of the orders for the Rooftop solar industry and hence it would be a very challenging future if the Gross metering policy is implemented If the gross metering policy is implemented across all states, then it will be an unprecedented detriment to the adoption of solar power by the public at large. All the effort and time spent towards educating the customers regarding the benefits of solar power and the infrastructure created towards the same, will be laid to waste. The Solar industry will undergo tremendous job losses and thousands of crores of investment might become bad debts.

Our Solar Industry Associations have made multiple representations to the MNRE and hope for a positive outcome from the government side to encourage the adoption of Solar Energy by the public at large.

What is your outlook for the future of the Rooftop solar industry? How can it help fulfil India’s commitment towards the Paris Climate Accord?

We believe that the Rooftop Solar industry is primed for take-off and the only thing holding it back is the gross metering notification recently announced by MNRE. Currently the installed Rooftop Solar capacity is near 6 GW which is just 3 % of the total energy requirement of India. We believe that we can achieve the targeted 40GW Rooftop capacity with the positive government policies.

The technology for solar power generation has reached a point where it has become commercially viable without relying on any subsidies from the government. As is evident from bids received in the recent auctions for utility scale projects, the power cost has reached Rs 2/ unit. So we believe that the Rooftop solar industry would grow exponentially and significantly contribute towards the reduction of GreenHouse Gases.

PG 10

IN CONVERSATION

"I am a strong believer in the distributed energy resources concept. And pretty bullish that this will continue to be a double digit growth area and multi GW’s will be delivered in the coming 5 years."

Hiten Parekh Chief Business Officer, SolarSquare Energy Pvt. Ltd.

Can you brief our readers about the services you provide?

SolarSquare Energy is one of the top Solar EPC players in the country with more than 80+ MWp portfolio.

We have had the privilege of supporting institutions like Aditya Birla Group, TVS Group, Prestige Group, Varroc Group, D’Decor, LNJ Bhilwara Group, Nahar Group, Johnson & Johnson, Emami, Monginis Foods, Trident Textiles, Wellknown Polyesters, Windwell group, American International School, KP Group, NM Foundation... go solar.

Our founders are ex-IITians with previous work experience in Technology, Investments, and Business Advisory having experienced engineering teams. With a project portfolio across 17 states in India, we are one of the leaders in adopting state-of-the-art latest technologies in modules and inverters.

2020 has been volatile.

Can you give us an insight of the highs & lows of the company?

Yes, surely 2020 has been a testing year on multiple fronts. When the going gets tough, the tough get going, the company pivoted the business focus areas and championed new frontiers which helped to secure substantial business. Challenges were plenty during the year, disruption of supply chains, price escalations not only on materials, but on freights and logistics too.

Where do you think the most significant growth will occur in the company in the next few years?

In my opinion innovation in business models and speed to market with the right product fitment, with laser sharp focus on customer delight and obsession for quality will enable delivery of strong returns for the industry at large. In the short term, we anticipate C&I customers to be the growth engines rooftop solar, which have remained the safest options with larger ticket size per project. We foresee significant growth opportunities in tier 2 cities and institutions, which would need to be triggered through aggregation of capacities preferably offered through centralised procurement.

Are there any specific reforms that you would like to see in the Indian sector?

The sector would be revolutionised if the energy consumer could be offered a choice to pick/switch his service provider and renewable energy as easily as procuring internet data. The budget offered a glimpse of retail competition in distribution, however consumer should be empowered to select their procurement mix. Business as usual shall be an injustice to sectors like solar rooftop and innovations like Peer to peer trading, virtual net metering should be encouraged to accelerate adoption of solar rooftop. The grids should transition from one way flow to a hub where consumers are also producers. We are also at the cusp of Electric vehicle adoption and encouragement to rooftop solar will be instrumental for balancing the grid.

How do you see the rooftop market growing in India over the next 5 years?

I am a strong believer in the distributed energy resources concept. And pretty bullish that this will continue to be a double digit growth area and multi GW’s will be delivered in the coming 5 years.

We have had the privilege of supporting institutions like Aditya Birla Group, TVS Group, Prestige Group, Varroc Group, D’Decor, LNJ Bhilwara Group, Nahar Group, Johnson & Johnson, Emami, Monginis Foods, Trident Textiles, Wellknown Polyesters, Windwell group, American International School, KP Group, NM Foundation... go solar.

Imposition of lockdown impacted site visits and management discussions, significantly dampening project pipeline.

Businesses have thereafter focused primarily on ramping up production/operations, which temporarily pushed rooftop down the pecking order.

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PG 11

IN CONVERSATION

"Megamic has a suite of hardware and software products designed specifically for performance monitoring and asset management of Large scale and distributed solar PV plants" Thyagaraju Naidu Co-founder & Director, Megamic

Can you give us a brief idea of the solar solutions that your esteemed company provides?

Megamic has a suite of hardware and software products designed specifically for performance monitoring and asset management of Large scale and distributed solar PV plants. Starting from electronic devices such as string monitoring cards, data loggers and RS485-wireless transceivers to our cloud based platforms including data analytics, centralized monitoring and digitized O&M, Cleaning cycles, Generation Analysis, etc. of a solar Plant, we have it all.

Megamic is probably the only Company in India with a complete solution of electronic devices and cloud platforms for residential / commercial rooftops, solar water pumps, solar street lights and micro grids.

Your company is known for coming up with timely innovative products. Can you brief us about the R&D efforts currently being undertaken?

At Megamic we have in-house R&D teams working on software and electronics development. With cumulative man-years of 30+ among the core team in R&D, We believe in developing and delivering a holistic solution to our customers. All our products are built from ground up, involving customer’s inputs and relevance right from the very beginning.

How important is real monitoring and analysis of data? Could you explain your data driven technology offerings in brief?

How do you see your company evolving and growing over the next 5 years in the competitive solar market?

Generation from a given solar plant should ideally be limited only by irradiance at that location and ambient temperature, but that is seldom the case. The plant’s performance needs to be measured. Important KPIs such as PR and CUF directly reflect the performance of the PV power plant. Any under-performance needs to be quantified into various loss contributing buckets, so that timely corrective actions could be taken to fix those issues.

This is possible only with real time monitoring and data analytics. With SolarNxt - Megamic’s flagship cloud based monitoring and analytics solution, a plant owner or O&M personnel is able to monitor KPIs of his plant, understand reasons for under-performance if any, and more importantly improve ROI from the Solar Plant.

Megamic’s products are built with asset owners and O&M teams in mind. We see a significant value which our products bring to the table. This would only increase with time.

With continuous focus on field requirements, feature-set relevance and R&D activities we are uniquely positioned to cater to this competitive solar market. We intend to become the de facto standard supplier for monitoring and analytics requirements.

Reducing Human Interventions into O&M will be our prime focus for the next 5 years.

What are the technology shifts that we are likely to see in the solar industry in the next few years?

We see a lot of digitalization coming into the solar industry, especially in the O&M space.

Many of the traditional O&M activities such as module cleaning, grass cutting etc have now become data driven. We are already seeing increasing penetration of ticketing systems for daily O&M tasks and events management.

Specifically, on the monitoring front, we are seeing acceptance for cloud-based platforms instead of offline local installations. AI/ML is playing a key role in LCoE. Megamic has leapfrogged in this front and thrives to become a market leader to consistently improve LCoE.

Any Solar plant’s performance can be measured using important KPIs such as PR and CUF. Underperformance if any, needs to be quantified into various loss contributing buckets, so that timely corrective actions could be taken to fix those root causes"

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IN CONVERSATION

"LONGi is the one of the few suppliers who can honour its commitments on time."

Pradeep Kumar Director of Business for India and Sri Lanka, Longi Solar

Can you give us a brief idea of the solar solutions that your esteemed company provides?

“In the Indian market, it is particularly important for developers to choose strong partners who can leverage their scale and are able to meet their commitments” In 2019, LONGi Solar was just starting to set up its footprint as a module supplier in India.

In a short span of less than two years, it has emerged as one of the leading module suppliers in the country, catering to around 22-24 per cent of the annual solar power market. The China-based vertically integrated solar player supplied close to 1,500 MW (DC) of modules in 2020. This is besides the 100-120 MW capacity it catered to in the solar commercial and industrial (CI) space in India.

In an interview with LONGi’s Director of Business for India and Sri Lanka , Pradeep Kumar highlights the key factors that make LONGi stand apart, the importance of strong developer-vendor partnerships, key trends shaping the Indian solar market, regulatory challenges that need to be addressed and the outlook for 2021.

What were LONGi’s new offerings in 2021 and what was the uptake?

Currently, we are offering Hi MO4 series which is 445-450 Wp module in a 9 busbar configuration, The product has received BIS approval. This has been an incredibly positive improvement as the industry can make use of a higher efficiency, lower losses, and much lower degradation levels. We have already supplied over 2GW of Hi MO4 series modules to Indian solar market.

Apart from this, a key offering in 202 is the Hi MO5 series designed for ultra-large power plants. It is in the process of getting a BIS approval. This is a 182 mm wafer-based module that would start from 530 Wp size and go up to 545-550 Wp. This would be our latest offering, and we will continue to offer Hi MO4 series.

What are the benefits of Hi MO5 series modules? What would be the impact of the Hi MO5 series on project cost? Project cost is majorly dependent on the price of modules and the BoS cost. Once Hi MO5 becomes available in India, it will not make a big difference to the project cost for large-scale projects.

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What would you say about the ongoing debate about the 182 mm wafer-based modules becoming an industry standard versus the 210 mm wafer-based modules?

At LONGi, we invest about 6-8 percent of our revenue on research and development (R&D).

Our job is to identify the technology that helps with the lowest LCOE at the best possible efficiency level. We have tried and tested all types of technologies extensively and the conclusion we arrived at is that 182 mm wafer size is the most efficient for the industry. It can currently be mass produced at the lowest cost giving maximum benefit to our client.

What are the biggest challenges that LONGi or any other large module manufacturer faces in India?

A key challenge that has emerged for large module manufacturers globally pertains to the supply chain. After the issue of polysilicon supply and prices were addressed, there was a new issue of solar glass shortage. This comes as the global demand for modules increased in the last quarter of 2020, at the same time whether the solar industry is pivoting toward bifacial panels, which increase glass requirements.

And manufacturing capacity for glass cannot be expanded in short duration due to technical and environmental factors. As glass prices continue to climb in the short term (at least in H1 2021), it can severely impact module production, leading to increases in module prices. The resultant impact on end users such as project developers, can be severe in terms of their project economics. In a price sensitive market like India, this is a concern.

China itself had upped its solar target based on revised 5-year plans. It has revised its plan from 40 GW capacity addition to 70 GW every year from 2021. Other countries like the US have also increased their solar targets. This would further create a pressure on demand for modules. We believe that this problem would be persistent for the next 12-14 months until the production for glass is expanded to meet demand. In India, it is particularly important for developers to choose strong partners who

can leverage their scale and are able to meet their commitments.

Another issue impacting all large China-based manufacturers in India is the high volatility / fluctuations in currency conversions between CNY, USD and INR.

How has LONGi addressed or plans to address these challenges?

We are a highly vertically integrated player; hence we are able to mitigate in part the supply chain impact on our production.

However, we are also dependent on 3 rd party sources for various components like glass, but we ensure that we secure them in advance by concluding long-term supply contracts for solar glass with the leading industry players.

In fact, LONGi had foreseen this glass shortage and therefore, managed to secure the long-term contracts. That is the kind of commitment we have to our clients. It must be noted that we fulfilled 100 percent of our orders at a time when the entire industry was facing supply and logistics constraints.

How did the Indian solar power market perform in 2020?

While COVID-related extension pushed the timelines of projects by 5-6 months leading to comparatively a lower installation rate in 2020, 2021 looks to be a promising year for the Indian solar industry. Clubbed with government’s aggressive push with cohesive policy measures like Ministry of Finance’s decision to reduce the Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD), Ministry of Power’s decision to allow Letter of Comfort issued by IREDA/PFC/REC in lieu of bank guarantee, we have a positive outlook for next year. For the first time in many years, we can also expect a significant capacity addition when it comes to manufacturing of solar cells and modules in 2021 and this would further increase in years to come. Special thanks to the government of India’s aggressive push for self-reliance.

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How much capacity is lined up in India in 2021?

What are the key regulatory challenges faced by manufacturers in India?

According to source, India has a plan to set up 12-13 GW of solar power capacity per annum toachieve a target of 100 GW. However,, due to a variety of reasons, local capacity addition has not been up to the mark. Last year’s capacity addition was much lower due to COVID-19 related challenges. With this scenario, the government has launched a variety of tenders to boost project supply. Large developers who were unable to install significant capacities in 2020 are looking to make up for the lost opportunity.

Almost all large developers are planning to develop 1-2 GW of capacity this year. This is a good sign. If their plan materialises, this will imply a capacity addition of 12-15 GW in 2021.

In my view, two main challenges are BIS approvals and the Approved Lists of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM). The government has been extremely supportive in getting BIS issues resolved, but there continues to be delays in various processes.

The ALMM order needs more clarity. The process of getting listed is time-consuming, and this may translate to project commissioning delays and supply chain disruptions.

What is the advantage of working with LONGi? LONGi is the one of the few suppliers who can honour its commitments on time. So, our track record for delivery has been extremely strong. India is a key market for LONGi. We are determined to meet our client’s needs and support the country in meeting its solar power development targets.

What are the prospects for C&I solar market in India?

Large scale commercial and industrial users are increasingly moving towards rooftop solar projects to reduce dependency on grid and electricity boards. Particularly in south India, with high irradiation, this is proving to be a strong economical model. The trend has picked up pace especially in the past two years and we expect it to grow at a much higher rate in the coming years. The government has also been promoting solar power development in this segment.

At LONGi, we have a separate dedicated team to cater to this segment. We see strong potential in the C&I space . Since LONGi only deals with high-efficiency modules and rooftops are always constrained for space, we have a natural technology and product advantage.

In India, which segment is more price sensitive – C&I or utility?

In my overall experience of selling in the solar space in India, I have not met a single customer who is not aggressive in terms of price negotiations. India on a whole is a price sensitive market. So, I would say that both C&I and utility-scale segments are equally price sensitive. The difference lies in the fact that smaller C&I players can still depend on polycrystalline products as the project size is small and can be financed through internal resources. Their knowledge may also be limited given the fact that solar is not the core part of their operations.

There has been a great deal of push from the government for Atma Nirbhar Bharat. What is LONGi’s strategy in this regard?

LONGi always has big plans. We are in India for a long-term play.

We actively explore local manufacturing opportunities and with the right time and conditions, we will not hesitate in setting up facilities in India. Our entire team, including the decision-making group based in India, completely supports the government’s mission of going local.

Is LONGi catering to India’s cell and wafer demand as well?

India has an overall solar cell capacity of around 2 GW. LONGi supplies wafers to many industry players. However, this is miniscule relative to LONGi’s overall wafer production and supply across the world. We have a global wafer production capacity of around 75 GW.

How do you expect the business model and competitive landscape changing in 2021?

The industry has learnt a great deal from the issues they faced in 2019 and 2020 and we see several positive trends emerging. One, India’s solar power industry has become more quality conscious.

This is reflected in the fact that all large and serious developers are working towards developing strategic partnerships with select vendors.

Until 2019, the mix of module suppliers to India comprised a large number of tier II manufacturers especially given the price sensitive nature of the market. However, as the industry matured during 2020, it has already shifted towards a top few Tier 1 manufacturers. So, we expect very healthy competition among manufacturers in 2021 and in the years to come as the industry realises the importance of bankability and the advantages of high efficiency and high reliability modules. Second, with these strategic partnerships in place, the decision making at developers’ end would become much faster thus ensuring timely deliveries and installations.

With the larger C&I players, the project economics changes due to multiple factors. Project sizes are larger requiring proper financing. In most cases, their lenders would not approve module suppliers that do not have a bankable track record as that would pose a risk for their own portfolio. This would propel them to go for high quality modules by leading manufacturers.

One can say that players in the C&I segment have realised that any compromise in terms of quality would have a long-term adverse impact on their portfolio.

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IN CONVERSATION

Esdec MMS With Minimum Supply Chain Disruption During Pandemic Wouter de Roos Director Procurement - Europe & Asia, ESDEC

Please tell our readers about the journey of Esdec India so far and what the year 2020 is like with the pandemic? Any key learnings?

2020 Is our first year in the Indian market. We used this year to make next generation products for the Indian market. In SRPLGROUP™ we have found a reliable partner.

Their dedicated, talented, motivated & professional team has support us to learn, grow, develop during the pandemic So far we have acquired over 50 customers who are regularly buying our products. We have created reference solar plants in all major cities and developed a local supply chain.

Also we are building a sales network PANIndia. We are looking for motivated, energetic, dedicated distribution & EPC partners all over India who can help us further expand our brand.

Key learnings This pandemic has given us time and opportunities to study the Indian markets and weather conditions. Esdec gives a 20 year warranty on the products. Therefore we have adjusted and modified our FlatFix Fusion products to meet the Indian needs and our customers’ requirements.

Also we have developed FlatFix Fusion for 10DGR slope so that it maintains higher sustainability at high wind speed and in less space we can install more solar panels.

Mid Clamp and End clamps with Bounding clip Mid & End Clamps are most failure parts during harsh weather like high wind speed, We have developed our unique bounding clip which helps to bound the module frame with mid clamp without any kind of slippage and maintain the form grip. We can mount earthing wire lugs so it helps for earthing purposes.

High Base & Low Base with Metal Insert

The metal inserts in High Base & Low Base plastic parts helps to give higher strength for mid and end clamps. It also helps to disable and reassemble the structures multiple times without damage.

What is the impact of Covid on your services, especially the supply chain and how have you maintained it through the pandemic?

This year is one of the biggest surprises for all of us. 2020 Has shown how important bankability is for a company like Esdec.

Because of the large scale and good relationship with our suppliers our inventory could always meet our customers needs. And we were able to deliver service our customers expect from us. Our strategy is to partner-up sustainably with both suppliers as customers.

Ballast container with ribs

We have upgraded the ballast container and added ribs which can handle 30% more ballast and perforation is provided to drain the rain water.

Esdec offers two solutions for Indian clients: FlatFix Fusion and ClickFit EVO (Steeldeck).

Due to our modular design, single tool approach, standardize design, minimum SKU’s, high quality & reliable vendors, inventory and stock management has reduce the impact on supply chain which consistent use of plastic, metal, aluminum and SS parts.

Due to pandemic and ongoing dispute between India and China there is disruption in the solar module supply chain hence there are a lot of changes in the designs of solar power plants and solar module mounting structures.

Esdec is able to deal with these changes with its portfolio.

However our inhouse online developed MMS calculator has benefited to our customers during pandemic

Wind def. rear with ribs

We have upgraded ribs which provide additional stiffness & strength and take care of aerodynamic features.

Online access Easy user interface Storage of project data and plan layouts BOM and Ballast calculations as per the site location Online Tutorial and dedicated hotline support.

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Interestingly our FlatFix Fusion is designed to accommodate all ranges of solar panels. The client can make changes in the layout as per their requirements. And our customers can benefit from universal racking systems.

Inventory and Packaging

Our packing system is compacted, lightweight and good to handle. Packaging helps to carry as well as load & unload the materials by following social distancing guidelines during pandemic.

Installation is done by a single tool approach means less contacts and can be installed by minimum manpower. So, installers of Esdec products can be safe from COVID-19 and do their job. Our Clicking technology makes installation 60% faster

Table of panel dimensions range

ESDEC has a strong presence in the rooftop segment globally. How does it plan to grow here in the Indian market ?

The Esdec group of companies develops, manufactures and supplies solar rooftop mounting solutions for residential, commercial and industrial markets. For over 15 years Esdec has simplified PV installations with some of the fastest, most economical mounting solutions on the market. Esdec is one of the leading rooftop racking and mounting companies in the U.S. and spans 16 countries in Europe, with over 7 GW capacity installed worldwide.

Esdec seeks to position itself as a top ballasted and rail-based mounting systems provider throughout India. The company has developed regional supply chains in India and partnered with SRPL-GROUP™ for local commercial presence.

In future we are planning to develop the products as per the local markets. As per our global vision we would like to grow organically.

What is the impact of Covid on your services, especially the supply chain and how have you maintained it through the pandemic?

First we will introduce our FlatFix Fusion 10DGR. And we are planning to provide various MMS for different types of tin shed roof such as full rail solutions, Also standing seam solution, corrugated profile roof solutions with different fixing mechanisms will be added to our various standard products used globally.

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IN CONVERSATION "Quadrical Ai has linked the emerging and energetic technology and business environment in India with Canadian Universities and Research hubs at the forefront of AI." Dr. Hugh Hind Co-Founding CTO, Quadrical AI

Give us a brief idea about the Quadrical Ai 5-in-1 Solar Management Platform?

Quadrical Ai is a B2B Technology company helping Solar Companies manage their plant assets better with Increased Generation and Reduced O&M costs.

Combining Data Engineering and Deep Math, founders Sharat Singh, and Dr. Hugh Hind has built a 5-in-1 Solar Management platform with proprietary and patented AI. RealTime Monitoring & Reporting (Faults/Failures) across Plants and Portfolio Forecasting >98% Daily accuracy in Head-to-Head Tests Predictive Maintenance with AI. Actionable O&M Guidance, prioritized by revenue impact Digital Twin AI Based Data Platform ‘Future Proof,’ and Extensible, these ‘Digital Twins’ of Solar plants learn how to optimize their every aspect with a holistic 25-Year Plan.

What do you believe is the strength of your organisation and how do you stand apart from your competitors?

Location, Leadership, Focus and Delivery.

Quadrical has made a conscious decision to link the rapidly emerging Indian technology centers and energetic business environment with the leadership position Canadian universities and research hubs have established at the forefront of AI evolution.

Quadrical’s India base is Gurgaon in the NCR, Northern India’s technology hub. In Canada Quadrical is based in Waterloo, home of the world class Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics University of Waterloo. Our Global team is organized for scale, innovation, and cost efficiencies.

Leadership is provided by the principals of Quadrical who bring years of experience accumulated while working in Canada, India, the US and Europe to introduce new and game changing technologies within major companies, but who remain enthusiastic and active with the goal of doing the same for AI. Our leaders recognize that focus and timely delivery are the keys to success in any technology field; Our Big-Data AI-first open and extensible SaaS platform for enterprise users and developers is built for utility scale and is AI optimized for distributed solar use cases.

Our Comprehensive Digital Twin approach renders Quadrical Ai as the ONLY all-in-one platform with Benchmarking Better monitoring with accurate needlein-haystack identification Predictive maintenance O&M guidance with revenue prioritized and actionable tickets Yield prediction with storage, trading, and pricing optimizations

Please tell us how data can accelerate the uptake of Solar and make it more effective?

PV Solar has achieved the goal of becoming the lowest cost method of generating electricity by a combination of technological advancement, massive increases in scale, and geographic distribution, and a trend towards just-in-time maintenance activities. The use of advanced data analytics can help in each of these areas: Technological advancement has increased complexityresulting in an increase in the number of possible failure modes; data analytics can identify patterns both identifying the nature of a fault and in some cases predicting that the fault is developing or about to occur. Increases in scale make human inspection to detect errors both inefficient and defeat the economies of scale advantage; data analysis is able to direct human attention, filtering out the normally operating parts of the plant and enabling the high-cost human time to focus only on those components which are failing or have failed. Geographic distribution to deploy solar plants in the best locations to generate power generates a monitoring challenge, requiring either the creation of multiple local operations and maintenance teams or expensive travel from the centralized location to the plants; using sensor systems and data analysis allows remote monitoring and re-configuration of the distributed plants. Finally, significant cost can be incurred through rigidly scheduled maintenance activities (e.g. panel cleaning), using data analysis to identify the optimal time for each activity can, in some cases, result in substantial savings.

What are some technology innovations you are aiming at in the next couple of years?

Quadrical is focusing on improved anomaly prediction and detection, processes to improve data integrity, distinguishing normal course variations from genuine problems, and integration of data from multiple data sources (e.g., plant sensors, weather data, drone and satellite imagery).

Further out the integration of Quadrical’s state of the art yield forecasting capability and energy storage systems to optimize system operation and storage lifetimes is expected to yield further cost advantages to PV Solar operations.

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INSIGHTS

LOAD DESIGNING CAN AID ROOFTOP SOLAR MARKET ACCELERATION

Figure1: Rooftop Solar PV at Jay Tea, Coimbatore

“The world hates change yet it’s a fact it brings progress”. For any solar Rooftop project to be commercially viable ‘load designing’ is crucial.

Distribution companies (DISCOMs) in India allow between 80% to 100% of sanctioned load as maximum Rooftop Solar PV (RSPV) capacity. A common practice followed to determine the capacity of a RSPV is the available roof area or the sanctioned load. Many a time it is observed that this conception mostly leads to systems being oversized that end up generating excess energy. It’s time to change the way we look at RSPV. Net-metering policy is now diminishing in most of the states. Ideally rooftop RSPV is best suited for industrial and commercial applications having sizeable daytime power requirements. The day solar radiation can best be captured into useful electricity for directly operating electrical loads. It is important to note that any Solar PV system cannot act as a substitute in meeting 24 X 7 energy demands unless it is stored. In other words they are supplementary in nature.

It is a known fact that solar radiation varies with time hence it is essential to estimate the daily kWh a typical solar cell technology can produce instead of estimating the annual average. This gives a sense of the optimum capacity to be considered that will deliver energy that can be best utilized. Particularly where there are seasonal loads this exercise helps in optimizing capacity.

Case Study of Madhu Jayanti International Pvt. Ltd., Coimbatore

Madhu Jayanti International Pvt. Ltd. is an export unit processing tea bags based in Coimbatore. It has a south facing roof of 5,000 m2 that can best accommodate up to 500 kWp RSPV. The contract demand from the electric utility TANGEDCO is 1,250 kVA. The annual electricity consumption in 2018 was 7,56,744 kWp. With these coordinates the company received offers for RSPV ranging from 500 kWp - 750 kWp. While designing the capacity net-metering option was not considered instead suggested in captive mode. The Electricity Act in India permits prosumers to set up captive power plants if they consume 51% or more power.

A common practice followed to determine the capacity of a RSPV is the available roof area or the sanctioned load. Many a time it is observed that this conception mostly leads to systems being oversized that end up generating excess energy.

It’s time to change the way we look at RSPV." Figure 2 below shows the flow chart of exercise carried

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A careful assessment of the loads operating during sunny time on hourly basis and monthly basis was obtained as shown in Table 1

Next the daily solar radiation data was obtained and the optimum PV capacity was assessed by averaging the daily capacities as shown in Table 2. Excess energy during summer days being undesired hence the capacity was further optimised.

As per the exercise carried in Figure 2, the final capacity arrived was 300 kWp as against 500 kWp obtained from PV developers. This capacity was able to meet 99.7% of the sunny time loads for most of the days that operate continuously excluding the rainy days. The balance energy requirement during a non-sunny time period is obtained from TANGEDCO supply.

With this load the excess generation was avoided in absence of net metering policy and the payback period was little under 4 years.

Load modelling is essential in order to benefit any beneficiary. Industrial and commercial consumers paying higher grid drawn electricity tariff can best benefit from RSPV even in absence of net metering. It also helps electric utilities in demand management. This can result certainly in rooftop solar market acceleration

It is a known fact that solar radiation varies with time hence it is essential to estimate the daily kWh a typical solar cell technology can produce instead of estimating the annual average. This gives a sense of the optimum capacity to be considered that will deliver energy that can be best utilized.

Particularly where there are seasonal loads this exercise helps in optimizing capacity."

Author: Jaideep N. Malaviya, Managing Director, Malaviya Solar Energy Consultancy

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PERSPECTIVE WHICH ARE THE BEST PRACTICES AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN ROOFTOP SOLAR + STORAGE SYSTEM DEPLOYMENT?

There is a lot of value that energy storage can bring to rooftop solar. Rooftop solar with storage systems is a win-win solution for both end consumers as well as the DISCOMS. A few hurdles will have to be addressed before the market can see a scale-up in rooftop solar + storage projects. Despite drastic fall in battery prices, a Solar + Storage system still costs at least 3 to 5 times more than a solar PV system alone.

Grid-tied energy storage application is fairly new technology and there is insufficient publicly available field data on the performance and reliability of each energy storage technology and integration algorithm. The bulk of the data are proprietary, making it difficult to take a long-term view of the technology risks. This issue is further compounded by several competing storage technologies and huge advancements being made by various manufacturers. The gaps in data and analysis capabilities can deter investments and hamper the growth of energy storage deployment. Open knowledge sharing can bolster the development of best practices in Solar + Storage system deployment and could spark further improvements across such assets in the long run.

SANJEEV JHA Head of Operations, U-Solar Clean Energy

It is evident from the falling prices of Li -i on bat t eri es t hat we (t he clean energy industry) is arriving towards a posi t i on of becomi ng more reliable and also cost effective for large scale adopt i on. We are seeing this across the market with ri se i n BESS t enders for large utility projects to allow RTC clean energy supply. However, for decentralised installations it is especi ally i mport ant t o si ze t he system appropriately with battery/energy management syst ems (BMS/EMS) to allocate the flow of energy from t he generat i on sources. The BMS will manage the energy supply t o loads at t he facility on the basis of energy source pri ori t y, we usually consi der solar as priority 1 (primary source) whi le t he bat t ery i s pri ori t y 2 (secondary source) and the existing di esel generat or/ut i li t y gri d wi ll become the backup (tertiary source). A cri t i cal fact or i n ensuri ng that this is done in an optimised way i s t o run a det ai led load analysis at the facility.

companies have a detailed energy assessment servi ce t o support this transition. As batteries have been cheaper t han usi ng di esel (Rs.25/unit) we are continuing to work wi t h faci li t i es wi t h heavy diesel use in the reduction of the gen-set s and t hei r effluent s. There is a fair amount of reduction in the past year alone, from Rs.18/uni t to Rs.12/unit, which contributed to the i mprovement s i n t echnology and also increased the scale of adopt i on.

A best practice would be, to ensure t hat t he EPC company i s providing you with the right system si ze and best t echnology opt i on, because although the prices are becomi ng compet i t i ve t he ent i re system will need to be maintained/replaced i f not done ri ght . U-Solar has piloted a project with Big Basket and from t hi s large off-gri d system in Kataria, we are learning more about t he O&M for bat t ery based systems and are continuing to i mprove t he processes i n t hei r operations.

Another point is that batteries are becomi ng cheaper, so much so that they are now reaching parity to t he commerci al sect or where the utility tariff is Rs.11/unit. So we are looki ng for sect ors where there are high energy rates and provi di ng t hem wi t h clean energy solutions, while also working with some PSU' s t o ensure t hat t hese

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TENDER T R A C K E R

FLOATED BY CENTRAL AUTHORITIES

TENDERS FLOATED BY PSU

TENDERS FLOATED BY STATE AUTHORITIES

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INSIGHTS

INDIA'S CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE DECARBONIZATION TARGETS

The whole world is warming up due to increasing carbon emissions.

There are no doubts about it now that Earth is warming up due to increasing carbon concentration in the atmosphere. And hence, most countries agreed to lower their carbon emissions that they release into the atmosphere.

India, the second most populous country after China contributes a fair share in the global carbon emissions. India is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases by size.

country are also important to track the progress of the government policies towards meeting the national goals.

Although the Paris Agreement requires the world to decarbonise by 2050, the 2030 progress is important to keep the carbon budget within reach, and to see if we are on the right course. The world will have to ramp up decarbonisation efforts much before 2050 as it is said that this is our only chance to reverse the adverse effects of excessive carbon emissions.

India’s contribution towards Decarbonization

Global Decarbonization Targets: Paris Accord 2016

Decarbonization goals are a direct result of the Paris Agreement, 2015.

As per the agreement, to meet the global temperature rise limit to 1.5 degree, each country is supposed to contain its local carbon emissions.

The IPCC has defined a 1.5-degree scenario as the case when there is no or limited overshoot of the global temperature throughout the 21st century. This limits the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.

Paris Agreement has identified 4 sectors that contribute to the carbon emissions: Power Transport Industry Buildings

India ratified the Paris Agreement exactly one year after the submission of its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) in 2016. The INDCs became its first NDC as India did not submit its NDCs prior to ratification. It includes the following main element(Government of India, 2015): To reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 33-35% below the 2005 levels To increase the non-fossil share of cumulative power generation to 40% with help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund (GCF) To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 GtCO2 eq. through additional forest and tree cover India’s carbon emissions were 132 MtCO2eq. in 2019 and they have been on a declining trend for the first time in the last 4 decades. (see fig.)

Annual change in carban dioxide(co2) emissions in India from 1982 to 2020 (in million tonnes)*

Every country must address these sectors, with its own different baseline.

National emissions are important to monitor the Paris Agreement 1.5degree scenario at a global level, but sectoral emissions within each

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Clean Energy Revolution

Power sector has been the torchbearer of India’s climate goals. India has set for itself an ambitious target of 175 GW of renewable energy by year 2022, out of which 100 GW is to come from solar energy.

Renewable energy (solar, wind, and biomass) contributed 23.5% of India’s total installed electricity generation capacity as of Sept. 2020. If we account for large hydro and nuclear power projects, India’s non-fossil fuel capacity stands at 38% of the country’s installed electricity capacity.

Renewables are growing faster than fossil fuels with the share of renewable energy capacity increasing from 13% in 2015 to 24% in just 5 years (36 GW in July 2015 to 88 GW in July 2020). Though thermal power (coal) still accounts for the majority of India’s power supply, the share of thermal capacity declined by 8%, from 70% in 2015 to 62% (192 GW thermal capacity out of 276 GW total installed capacity in July 2015 as compared to 231 GW thermal capacity out of 372 GW total installed capacity in July 2020).

India became the 3rd largest producer of solar energy in 2018 after China and the USA. This was made possible due to the push by the Government in the form of solar policies, like net metering policy, generation-based incentives, group captive projects etc.

Lowest Solar Tariffs

Reaching one of the lowest tariffs in the world, in Dec 2020 India’s solar tariffs dipped to an all time low to Rs 1.99/ kWh for an auction for 500MW solar power project by GUVNL (Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd.) Electric Mobility

Image Ref. https://www.iea.org/articles/energy-efficiency-in-india

As of May 2017, 12 Indian states have notified the ECBC norms. With the ECBC norms revised in Jun 2017 a decade later, more Indian states are going to adopt the ECBC norms for their smart cities plan.

Additional Carbon Sink

Under Phase-II of Faster Adoption and Manufacture of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles (FAME) Scheme, India has approved an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore ($1.4 billion) for 3 years starting April 2019 for faster adoption of electric mobility in public transportation fleets, fourwheelers, and three-wheelers, and privately owned two-wheelers, as well as electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Around 86% of this outlay is for demand creation.

MORTH (Ministry of Road Transport & Highways) also allowed the sale and registration of electric vehicles without the battery details which is said to help in faster adoption of electric vehicles. This move also helps bring down the cost by about 30-40% and make them comparable to internal combustion engine vehicles. Batteries can be purchased by the consumers separately.

Energy Efficiency

India's mandatory energy efficiency policies cover 23% of its energy use.

Largest energy efficiency opportunities are present in the less energy intensive sectors where energy intensity could be more than halved. In the last 17 years, Energy Efficiency gains were mainly achieved in the industry sector. This has been made possible due to the PAT (Performance, Achieve & Trade) scheme.

Indian government although realises that it needs to create an “additional carbon sink” of 2.5 – 3 GtCO2 eq. as per Paris accord, but our forest and tree cover has increased by only 5,188 km2, leading to 42.6 MtCO2 carbon sink increase. We are a long way to go reach our set target of 2.5 – 3 GtCO2.

"The world has enough for everyone's needs, but not everyone's greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi.

With the current state of Earth, the effects of global warming are evident in India as well. In the top 10 most expensive climate related disasters that happened across the world in 2020, 2 of them which happened are from India.

The recent glacier burst at Joshimath, Uttarakhand should act as a wake up call before the next tragedy comes.

Author: Pankaj Mohanpuria, Manager, Marketing & Institutional Relations, Amplus Solar

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INSIGHTS

ROOFTOP SOLAR - A REWARDING OPTION FOR C&I CUSTOMERS

Commercial and Industrial (C&I) customers are distinctly dependent on a reliable supply of electric energy for their productions or services. Any interruption in the electric supply leads to the loss of production and, consequently, revenue loss. Traditionally they have only the option to put up their captive power supply to fill in the gaps due to electricity interruptions.

However, captive supply is costly, generally 2-3 times the cost of the grid supply.

For over a century, the electricity grid has been a top-down business with utilities and big power generators sending electricity to the customers. But with the proliferation of roof-top solar and distributed solar (D-Solar), C&I customers are finding a viable alternative to meet their energy demand and have extra earnings by peer-to-peer trading surplus energy. In India’s present regulatory regime, consumers putting roof-top solar and having surplus electric energy have two options. One is to put back surplus electricity in the grid and either adjust it to their annual consumption or get a preset cost that is generally much lower than grid energy. Another option is to sell the surplus in OTC (Over the Counter) market or power exchange. But access to both has overheads and is difficult for small customers.

Though large scale installations account for 87% of solar power generation, today the adoption rate of solar rooftop panels is accelerating. The installed capacity of solar rooftop augmented from 117 MW to 1922 MW from the period between 2013 to March’ 2020.

Taking this immense growth into consideration, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy through its National Solar Mission Of India has set a target of 40 GW power through rooftop solar by 2022. Though this target may seem ambitious, it is still achievable.

With the increasing penetration of roof-top solar or distributed solar plants, the grid is transforming to a fast-acting transactive grid at the grid edge. The transactive grid is where you can pay somebody to inject energy into the grid by turning things off or discharging a battery, paying somebody to start up generation at the right time, and sending the economic signals to get people to do desired actions.

Peer-to-peer trading is an integral part of the transactive grid earning money to the owner whenever they have economic signals or low consumption and procuring electricity from the other consumers, which is generally cheaper than the cost of grid supply time when they require more.

The beneficial impact of household PVs in reducing network losses and effectively augmenting capacity by pushing electricity back into the grid in the opposite direction to the predominant flows is significant. It will further fuel the proliferation of distributed solar.

The peer-to-peer initiative in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India and India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) has launched blockchain-based peer-topeer trading with its first 12 participants, nine customers with roof-top solar PV, and three other customers without who will be the net buyers.

“This pilot project will demonstrate the feasibility of roof-top solar energy trading through smart contracts on the blockchain platform between prosumers with their neighbouring households”, says ISGF President, Reji Kumar Pillai.

The pilot project’s results and recommendations will be submitted to UPPCL and the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission for consideration for framing regulations to promote P2P trading of roof-top solar power amongst prosumers and consumers in the state.

The learning from the pilot will pave the way for the enabling regulations for peer-to-peer trading in India. And will further pave the way for distributed roof-top solar creating a win-win situation for all: the owner of the plant, C&I customers, utility (by way of reduction in network loss and efficient imbalance handling.

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

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PERSPECTIVE

IS RESIDENTIAL ROOFTOP SOLAR READY TO TAKE OFF POST SUBSIDY AND FALLING EQUIPMENT COSTS?

Annual installation of residential rooft op solar has decli ned from 199 MW in FY 2017 to 93 MW in FY 2020 despite attractive subsidy and f al l ing equipment cost. Lack of consumer awareness, li mi t ed rooft op space and shortage of f inancing options are the main cause of this f al l . However the increased power consumption in t he resi dent i al segment , hi ghly affordabl e and f inancial l y attractive schemes, f al l ing prices. l ow EPC cost, remote site surveys and standard desi gns for reduced i nst allat i on t i me et c wil l hel p take of f the residential roof top market. MNRE has al ready sanctioned the subsidy of 833 MW. Overall t here i s great opt i mi sm about prospects and the residential roof top sol ar market shoul d grow rapidl y in the coming years

SAPTAK GHOSH Research Scientist, Energy and Power sector, CSTEP

Residential Solar—Thinking beyond Capital Subsidies and Lower Equipment Costs

The Sustainable Rooftop Implementat i on for Solar Transfi gurat i on of India (SRISTI) scheme was announced i n early 2019. It was expect ed to rejuvenate the rooftop photovoltai c (RTPV) sect or, whi ch by t hen had achieved only ~1.2 GW of the 40 GW t arget for 2021–22. SRISTI targeted the underserved residential cat egory by offeri ng at t ract i ve capital subsidies of up to 40% for 1–3 kW syst ems and 20% for 3–10 kW ones. The scheme also had a subsi dy component of 20% for large apartment complexes and group housi ng soci et i es.

Despite this scheme and falling equi pment cost s, t he resi dent i al category continues to underperform, current ly account i ng for only ~1 GW (total: ~6.1 GW). The primary reason behi nd t hi s t epi d growt h i s the lack of information available to prospect i ve consumers.

This information gap can be addressed t hrough awareness programmes that can communicate the i mmense fi nanci al benefi t s of RTPV. A typical 5 kW system costs around INR 1.7 lakhs wi t h a payback period of less than 4 years. The ret urn on i nvest ment i s approximately 650% under net meteri ng over t he 25 years li fet i me of the system. RTPV yields savings through reduced elect ri ci t y bi lls wi t h tax-free returns, thereby making it a uni que i nvest ment opport uni t y.

When communicated adequately, these benefi t s wi ll resonat e wi t h the public, helping them make informed i nvest ment deci si ons.

Liaising with the distribution company (DISCOM) and vendor t o obtain clearances and commissioning should not be a det errent either. Residential consumers have oft en complai ned t hat t hi s i s t he most cumbersome step. To redress thi s gri evance, some DISCOMs are proactively trying to assemble resi dent i al consumers t hrough “one-stop-shop” online portals. For inst ance, Bangalore Elect ri ci t y Supply Company (BESCOM) is aggregat i ng ~300 MW of resi dent i al RTPV capacity. Economies of scale and margi nal cust omer acquisition charges reduce RTPV cost s drast i cally.

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Tendering processes become smoother when empanelled vendors are allotted capacity chunks in their respect i ve locat i ons. These vendors need to be reliable and responsi ble. They should provi de quality equipment to last 25 years and i nform consumers about maintenance schedules and inverter replacement t i meli nes. More importantly, they should discourage i nt erest ed consumers from installing RTPV in case of shading issues on t hei r roofs. Shadows from even the most innocuous obstacle can reduce generat i on by more than 60% in urban areas.

Lastly, residential consumers should have access t o low-cost finance for RTPV installations. Most dedi cat ed lendi ng li nes for RTPV in India focus on commercial and i ndust ri al consumers. Banks perceive residential RTPV to be a high-ri sk asset ; moreover, mult i ple residential consumers mean numerous small loan account s.

Innovative schemes such as consumer aggregat i on and li nki ng RTPV loan EMIs with monthly DISCOM bi lls can reduce t ransact i on costs for banks. Further, working wit h only one ent i t y—t he DISCOM —instead of several homeowners also mi t i gat es ri sk for banks by ensuring timely payments.

Capital subsidies and falling equipment cost s are not enough t o reinvigorate the residential RTPV sect or. Concert ed and coordi nat ed efforts are required from DISCOMs, vendors, and banks t o st i mulat e this sector and achieve the ambitious t arget s.

Tendering processes become smoother when empanelled vendors are allotted capacity chunks in their respective locations. These vendors need to be reliable and responsible.

They should provide quality equipment to last 25 years and inform consumers about maintenance schedules and inverter replacement timelines.."

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CHAITANAYA RAHUL Founder and Director, Surjaa Solar Solutions

As the world reels under the threat of global warmi ng and fast depleting natural resources like coal, solar power, whi ch grappled for some time due to high costs of manufact uri ng, has carved a ni che into our ever growing lives. Be it the i ndust ri al or resi dent i al front , our dependence on electric powered machi nes wi ll ever i ncrease, make no mistake.

The residential sector, in particular, has wi t nessed a decent rat e of solar power plant adoption thanks to growi ng awareness of underutilized terrace spaces and abundance of sunshi ne yearlong throughout India. Barring the frequent fli p flops i n poli ci es and t he juggernaut of agencies and approving aut hori t i es, t he resi dent i al segment has now just started to underst and t he benefi t s of havi ng a captive power plant deliver power from your rooft op at cheap pri ces (2.5 INR/unit) over 25 a year’s span.

The concept of rooftop subsidy was hi ghly flawed and t he program has been nothing short of a victim of i t s own i ncept i on. As we call them here at Surjaa, the “beneficiaries” have had a mi xed bag of experiences. We lost our first set of prospect i ve cust omers (and i n huge numbers) because the hearsay was “but t he subsi dy di dn’ t come for person x who got it installed 9 mont hs back” or “even t he department people don’t know how to t ake readi ngs of net -met eri ng”.

We saw it all.

The subsidy program was supposed t o i ncent i vi se when a ki lowat t of solar power plant installation would cost upwards of 70,000 t aki ng into consideration the appropriate levels of engi neeri ng, desi gn and ensuring we as EPC companies were NOT cut t i ng corners duri ng t he installation process so that the upkeep and t he dependence on t hi s power would outlast the 25+ years we advocat ed. Thankfully, some of the EPC players did and continued t o gi ve t he ri ght product s, service and a ‘ high standard solution’ as we call i t at Surj aa.

The subsidy program should have been st opped a long t i me back.

The adoptees of residential solar rooft op have most ly been mi ddle t o upper middle urban class of people who changed t hi s new technology and might have understood ROI calculat i ons t o some extent. It should have been capped at 1-2 kwp t o be complet ely fai r to the people like farmers or rural cust omers who would have act ually benefited.

With EPC players unable to get the subsi dy amount promi sed by DISCOMs, or the solar customers not bei ng part of t he DBT (Di rect Benefit Transfer) like the LPG and ot her programs, shoddy and inferior quality installations started taki ng place whi ch began t o hurt the industry even before it hit grid pari t y wi t h coal. If t he processes of subsidy disbursal were never in place, t he decli ne i n pri ces has shown a glimmer of hope. Customers do underst and quali t y product s now and are keen to hear the cost differences. Inst ead of i nnovat i on, or opportunities, to excel with newer and bet t er solar panels, subsidies brought irrational pricing wars, choi ce of i nferi or quali t y products, non-compliance to basic norms of i nst allat i on, and even wrong tax invoicing.

A subsidy free market would ensure fai r market value and competition to create better and more effi ci ent product s. Just li ke t he car or the TV, solar power plants are an essent i al commodi t y now.

Remove subsidy, and customers will st art seei ng i t as an i nvest ment instead of an expensive proposition wi t h a convolut ed buyi ng process of who offers the maximum subsi dy. A 40% ret urn on investment is not a bad choice to have i f i t ensures compet i t i on t o create better products for the customers, i nnovat i on t o out do t he status quo, a will to excel, generate your own power from your own rooftop, and while at it, leave a better place for our fut ure generations.

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PG 26

CHARUKESH N R B Manager, Residential Solar, HomeScape by Amplus Solar

Rooftop Solar in India has been seeing a st eady adopt i on, evi dent from the rising capacity addition every year. Accordi ng t o a Bri dge t o India report, India' s total commissioned rooft op solar capaci t y st ood at 6130 MW as on September 2020, predomi nant ly dri ven by t he Commercial and Industrial segment. The Resi dent i al segment , whi ch is in the nascent stage stands at 804 MW, whi ch i s approxi mat ely 14% of the total of 5880 MW of Rooftop Solar as of June 2020. However, with the changes in policy and business envi ronment , t he resi dent i al segment is poised to pick up the pace and i s ant i ci pat ed t o have a significant share in the coming years.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) i n 2019 launched the Phase-2 of Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme i n whi ch the Central Financial Assistance (CFA), or i n ot her words subsi dy, was accorded to the Residential sect or. Phase-2 of t he programme had revised the subsidy limits for indi vi dual resi dent i al houses t o 40% for capacity up to 3 kW and 20% for capaci t y bet ween 3kW t o 10kW. The subsidy is based on either the benchmark cost mandat ed by t he MNRE, or the discovered price in the t ender, whi chever i s lower. The subsidy allows the homeowners to si gni fi cant ly reduce t hei r share of the price paid for the rooftop solar syst em maki ng i t more affordable.

On the other hand, the equipment cost s have si gni fi cant ly fallen over the past few years globally, which has been observed i n Indi a as well.

The prices of solar panels which const i t ut e almost 60% of proj ect cost had fallen by almost 18% year-on-year as per Bri dge t o Indi a.

Reference: Bridge to India The percentage share of residential solar i n t he t ot al rooft op solar capacity added in a year has been almost st eady wi t h i t bei ng at 11% i n 2017, 10% in 2018 and 12% in 2019 and 14% up t o June 2020. Wi t h t he developments to promote the resident i al segment , t here i s a st rong sentiment for it to take off.

Figure: Solar module prices (USD cents/W) Ref: Bridge to India

However, the drop in prices has been offset by safeguard dut i es i n India against the import of solar modules t o promot e local manufacturing, which is also mandat ed as part of t he Domest i c Content Requirement (DCR). Accordi ng t o DCR, i t i s necessary t o use indigenously manufactured solar panels t o avai l subsi dy i n solar projects. In addition to this, the short age i n supply has dri ven t he prices higher during the second half of 2020. Despi t e t emporary volatility in prices, the long-term reduct i on has helped Resi dent i al Rooftop Solar project costs to reduce si gni fi cant ly and help dri ve adoption.

A major challenge that remains in adopt i ng resi dent i al rooft op solar i s the lack of awareness, which is being addressed act i vely by DISCOMS through community-level demand-aggregat i on programmes. Also, to make rooftop solar economi cally at t ract i ve, businesses in partnership with NBFCs offer fi nanci ng opt i ons t hrough EMIs at lower interest rates for longer t enures t han t radi t i onal banks.

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PG 27

SIMARPREET SINGH, CEO and Director, Hartek Solar Pvt Ltd

Adopt Multipronged Approach To Kick Off Rapid Growth In Residential Rooftop Solar

The falling solar equipment costs, coupled wi t h t he subsi di es offered by state governments and the increasi ng effi ci ency of modules, wi ll certainly make rooftop solar even more fi nanci ally at t ract i ve for house owners, thus triggering demand. But i t wi ll act ually t ake much more than this to prepare the resident i al rooft op solar cat egory for a take-off to the next level. Though these favorable fact ors have been in play for the past few years, rooftop i nst allat i ons i n t he resi dent i al category have not really picked up as ant i ci pat ed despi t e t he constantly rising electricity bills.

Unless the subsidies and downward pri ce t rend are backed by resolute measures to create more awareness among t he prospect i ve consumers, provide attractive financi ng opt i ons t o developers and introduce effective net metering poli ci es uni formly across t he country, India will not be able to reali se t he i mmense pot ent i al of rooftop solar in the residential domai n.

Another major impediment is the limit ed rooft op space, part i cularly i n the emerging urban landscape dominat ed by mult i -floored housi ng complexes. This problem can be effect i vely addressed by comi ng up with suitable group metering policies whi ch wi ll encourage residential townships to opt for rooftop solar i n overwhelmi ng numbers.

Therefore, a multipronged approach wi t h renewed focus based on all these aspects is urgently needed to ki ck off rapi d growt h i n t he residential space.

Net metering is expected to emerge as a game changer i n t appi ng India’ s rooftop solar potential by enabli ng households t o save on electricity bills and earn from the power t hey produce.

Complemented by effective net meteri ng poli ci es, cust omi sed smallscale solar solutions, which enable households t o opt i mally ut i li se their space for setting up rooftop solar plant s, wi ll propel i nst allat i ons in years to come.

Policy initiatives like viability gap fundi ng of renewable energy projects and renewable purchase obli gat i ons wi ll also gi ve i mpet us to the rooftop solar industry. The resi dent i al market i s expect ed t o pick up in coming years on account of bet t er poli cy support , loweri ng of solar capital costs, capital subsidi es and subst ant i al demand from the housing sector.

All said and done, achieving economi es of scale wi ll cont i nue t o be the biggest challenge for developers i n vi ew of t he relat i vely small size of rooftop installations. A lot more can be achi eved i f we streamline the time-consuming processes of busi ness development , technical feasibility assessment, cont ract negot i at i on, regulat ory approval, asset financing, installation and commi ssi oni ng. These processes deter scalability of rooftop solar, whi ch i s a more resourceintensive business.

The government should also promote off-gri d solar PV t echnologi es, which have immense scope in developi ng count ri es li ke Indi a where millions of households in remote areas are st i ll wi t hout elect ri ci t y.

Installing off-grid solar PV plants in such areas can work out t o be more cost-effective. Rural areas can serve as t he most promi si ng market for off-grid solar technologies. The economi c advant ages of solar for the rural populace can creat e a cycle t hat dri ves demand for larger systems. Assuming a demand of 1 kWh per household, i f we have 100 million Indian households wi t hout access t o elect ri ci t y, a potential 100-GW market for off-grid elect ri ci t y i s wai t i ng t o be tapped.

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PG 28

PERSPECTIVE

IS IT A HIGH TIME THAT A NATION NEEDS A CONSISTENT AND UNIFORM POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR THE ROOFTOP SECTOR TO ACHIEVE ITS FULL POTENTIAL? Solar photovoltaic rooftop has emerged as a pot ent i al green t echnology to address cl imate change issues by reducing rel iance on conventional fossil fuel based energy. With a strong commi t ment t o i ncrease t he renewabl e sources based energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022, I ndia has a target to install 100 GW of solar energy capaci t y. Of t hi s 40 GW would be the share of grid connected sol ar PV roof top. This ambitious target comes with its own challenges and needs a poli cy framework t o gui de t he industry. Currentl y, I ndia has around 6 GW of instal l ed roof top sol ar capacity, the majority of which has been developed by C&I consumers. Each state in I ndia has come up with its own individual sol ar pol icies and net metering regulations. Research & Analyt i cs says a provi si on i n t he Mi nistry of Power’ s new rul es f or el ectricity consumers which mandates net metering for rooftop solar projects up t o 10 kW and gross met eri ng for systems with l oads above 10 kW wil l l ikel y make roof top sol ar commercially viable for big residenti al and commerci al and i ndust ri al (C&I ) consumers.

Let' s see what experts have to say

K. R. HARINARAYAN, Founder and CEO, U-Solar Clean Energy

The answer obviously is a strong YES! Each st at e seems t o have i t s own solar policy, which not only causes a lot of confusi on about t he different sections such as third-party i nvest ment , net -met eri ng, permissible capacity, technical speci fi cat i ons and ot her cri t eri a but also delays as a result of unnecessary bureaucracy. For example, i n Karnataka each inverter needs to be regi st ered and approved every year while there is no reason to do thi s i f at a nat i onal level MNRE or a central body is placing acceptable st andards and regi st eri ng t hem for each state to follow or how in Guj arat t hi rd-part y i nvest ment was not allowed previously and now it is allowed.

This constant shift in the policy of each st at e every year gi ves an impression of an unstable market condi t i on. It i s clear t hat t he biggest challenge in rooftop solar is t he bad poli cy and regulat ory landscape and if done with a systemat i c manner t he decent rali sed solar sector in India will have the potent i al t o at t ract i nvest ors and boost the economy with more jobs. Therefore a cent ral poli cy for solar rooftop will be most welcome and also ext remely benefi ci al t o the states of India as they have a standard t o follow.

The development of rooftop solar would be elevat ed by such positive support from the central level. What we are seei ng i n t he policies right now is that there is agai n confusi on about net metering and gross-metering across st at es si nce t he di scussi on of banning net-metering has become promi nent . We are seei ng a shi ft

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of landscape where the implementat i on of rooft op solar wi ll not benefit the customer, potentially curbi ng solar adopt i on. It i s very relevant to involve the DISCOMs in these di scussi ons from a lense of growing the sector without damagi ng t he revenue st reams of t hei r power sales.

An example would be a revenue shari ng syst em, whereby a reasonable charge is given to the DISCOMs for enabli ng rooft op solar on a per unit basis (say Rs. 0.20-0.50/uni t for i nst allat i on per unit in a graded manner for various capaci t i es) - t hi s i s what i s missing in the current system and so t he DISCOMs lose out . Indi a i s well in need of a well thought out poli cy t hat i nclude all t he stakeholders ie. the customers, the developer and t he DISCOMs. If i t is made mandatory for solar rooftop enablement whi le also bui ldi ng a model for DISCOMs to benefit, we have a si t uat i on wherei n all t he stakeholders win in the clean energy t ransi t i on.

This constant shift in the policy of each state every year gives an impression of an unstable market condition. It is clear that the biggest challenge in rooftop solar is the bad policy and regulatory landscape and if done with a systematic manner the decentralised solar sector in India will have the potential to attract investors and boost the economy with more jobs."

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SHREYAS GAUR Manager, Strategy and Transformation, Ernst & Young LLP

NITHYANANDAM YUVARAJ DINESH BABU, Executive Director, EY

NEED OF THE HOUR : RELEVANT AND CONSISTENT POLICY & REGULATIONS FOR ROOFTOP SOLAR

The Government of India has set a target of 40 Gi gawat t s (GW) of rooftop solar capacity to be installed by 2022. As of June 2020, total rooftop solar capacity stood at ~6 GW, well below t he t arget .

However, the basic framework for rooft op solar upt ake exi st s across all states and the implementat i on of rooft op solar power installations has started in a true sense.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has implemented several key initiatives includi ng t he recent ly launched Phase II Program which ext ends subsi dy for resi dent i al rooftop solar adoption and incentives t o DISCOMs for enabli ng rooftop solar connections in the states.

While the third party investors and captive consumers are finding this as a disservice to the sector, the MSMEs will be significantly affected as they could have gained from savings from rooftop solar to remain competitive in their respective commercial and industrial segments.

Implementing uniform policy & regulat i on for rooft op solar across t he country with minor adaptations to stat es’ si t uat i ons offers great potential to reduce the ambiguity in t he market , leadi ng t o an increase in uptake of rooftop solar. Adopt i on of t he draft model regulations approved by the Forum of Regulat ors duri ng 2019 for gri d interactive distributed renewable energy syst ems by t he st at es wi ll provide this uniformity and market cert ai nt y for i nvest ment s.

Regulators may follow a standard met hodology, nat i onwi de for assessing the overall impact of rooft op solar on DISCOMs’ revenues and allow DISCOMs to charge additional levy on rooft op solar aft er the state has achieved its target.

MNRE had also launched State Rooft op Solar At t ract i veness Index (SARAL) in August 2019 and the regulat ory best pract i ces i dent i fi ed in the index may be utilized in developi ng uni form poli cy & regulat i on as well.

Despite these initiatives, there are mult i ple challenges on institutional, regulatory, financing, and consumer awareness aspects which hinder uptake of rooft op solar i n Indi a. One of t he major issues has been large variations i n t he regulat i ons i ssued by states for rooftop solar. It has been observed t hat t he regulat i ons vary in terms of the limit on individual rooft op solar capaci t i es, distribution transformer capacities, process for applyi ng for metering connection, voltage connect i on levels, i nt egrat ed bi lli ng, settlement tariffs and exemption limit s for i nspect i on by Chi ef Electrical Inspector to Government (CEIG). In addi t i on, i t i s observed that there are variations in processi ng net met eri ng applications within the various electri ci t y di st ri but i on compani es in a State. These large variations in regulat i ons, i nt erconnect i ons and metering application processes i ncrease t he i mplement at i on time and administrative costs of compli ance for t he solar proj ect developers. Furthermore, the non-uni formi t y creat es confusi on amongst the consumers who are already less aware of rooft op solar.

The recent announcement of a ceiling for net met eri ng (10kW) and gross metering (above 10kW) across t he sect ors by t he Ministry of Power under the Rights for Consumers (Elect ri ci t y) Rules 2020 is anticipated to further const rai n t he growt h of rooftop solar sector. While the third part y i nvest ors and capt i ve consumers are finding this as a disservi ce t o t he sect or, t he MSMEs will be significantly affected as t hey could have gai ned from savings from rooftop solar to remai n compet i t i ve i n t hei r respective commercial and industrial segment s.

Further at least a couple of states in t he count ry (e.g Maharasht ra and Rajasthan) have implemented and proposed addi t i onal charges for grid support extended by t hei r DISCOMs t o rooft op solar consumers. Additional challenges i n such proposals i s t he absence of a fair set of assumptions for det ermi nat i on of t ari ff for rooftop solar under different categori es. Tami l Nadu for example has limited rooftop solar installations only t o Low Tensi on consumers below 150 kW.

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M. VENKATESHWARLU, President, Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry

It is essential that there should be a consi st ent and uni form poli cy for solar rooftops to convert major towns and ci t i es as solar ci t i es in the country. When solar rooftops are becomi ng more and more popular, the Government of India rose t o t he occasi on and set an ambitious target of achieving 40 GW by 2022 for rooft op installations. We are far behind the target as of now mainly because of the inconsistent policy and guidelines and t ardy implementation of the programme whi ch i s agai nst t he pri nci ples of the Government itself.

The recent decision of the Government made t hi s sect or weekend especially in the MSME Segment. In case t hi s i s not pract i cally possible and viable, the policy can be vari ed t o sui t t he fi nanci al conditions of DISCOMS of that particular st at e. However t he customisation of policy should not impact t he exi st i ng poli cy of Net Metering. The Government of Indi a i s slowly removi ng or restricting the incentives to the rooftop plant s, arguably t o reduce the burden on the exchequer but that wi ll not serve t he purpose for which targets were fixed with all hopes. In fact , t hese incentives could have been continued for certain non-profit institutions like Schools, Temples and Trust s et c.

In fact, the current Net Metering Policy played a key role i n initiating the rooftop revolution. It wi ll be a hi ndrance t o t he momentum gathered if there is an unexpect ed change i n t hi s policy. Many Independent Power Producers (IPPs) have come forward to install SPV power plants on t he roofs of Indust ri es, Commercial Buildings etc., without causi ng any burden on t he Government, but the Gross Metering has become a bi g disincentive to the industries and commerci al est abli shment s.

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This may be a difficult task for the Government t o adopt a uni form and consistent policy at the cost of Discoms whi ch are runni ng i nt o losses with decreased revenues and increased overheads. Wi t h t he implementation of these new rules, i t may be benefi ci al for Di scoms, but it is going to be an impediment for achi evi ng t arget ed and full potentiality of Rooftop installations. The St at e Government s cannot afford to extend 100% support to this act i vi t y.

The MSME segment will be adversely affect ed uni magi nably and t he business will collapse as commercial and i ndust ri al consumers are getting discouraged from opting for rooft op solar i nst allat i ons. It i s understood that this new policy threat ens t housands of solar integrators, manufacturers and service provi ders across t he count ry who depend on this sector. Instead of creat i ng employment , t hi s wi ll lead to large scale unemployment.

The need of the hour is to take stock of t he si t uat i on t hroughout t he country by enlisting cooperation of all st akeholders, st at e governments and state discoms, rather asking them to subscri be t o the Green energy policy and give encouragement t o t he i nt erest ed parties. The Government may refrain from di si ncent i ve poli cy announcements for some more time.

It is also advisable to consider the possi bi li t y of offeri ng some i ndi rect benefits like more accelerated depreci at i on benefi t s t o i ndust ri es and Income Tax benefits to individuals and small players t o achi eve i t s full potential.

The MNRE may consider the uniform poli cy t he way i t i s drawi ng conclusions in respect of solar, wind and hybri d i ncludi ng st orage.

This move would really expedite the process of est abli shi ng more and more solar rooftops and meet the target fi xed by t he Government .

Undoubtedly, utmost importance is t o be gi ven t o t he Rooft op Sect or keeping in view the promotion of clean energy, cli mat e change and employment generation and achievement of i t s full pot ent i ali t y.

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PRASHANT JAIN, Director, Advit Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

Chinese imports swelled the Indian market . Indi an PV manufact urers were unable to compete and in order t o prot ect t hem, FOCUS was

shifted to achieving self reliance in Solar PV module manufacturing ;

SOLAR ROOFTOP: HAVE WE LOST THE OPPORTUNITY?

There hasn’ t been an easier Electrici t y solut i on for t he masses than RoofTop Solar (RTS). However, despi t e t he si mpli ci t y and years of hard work, the progress has been abysmal. Have the

failures at multiple levels of POLICY, REGULATION and EXECUTION led us to underachieve the true potential of RTS? One of the ambitious decisions taken by t he new government i n 2015 was to increase the existing Solar Power Inst allat i on t arget of 20GW by 2022 to 100GW (RTS - 40GW) . Increasing the target five-fold was a daring move indeed! And i n order t o achi eve t hat target, several steps were taken: RTS subsi dy regi me was promoted (already in place), RTS Net Met eri ng regulat i ons were issued by different State Electricity Regulat ory Commi ssi ons (SERCs), Empanelment & rating of vendors was undert aken by MNRE, Unified portal for RTS enquiries and i nst aller select i on was setup, Nationwide tendering by SECI for RTS i nst allat i on was conducted, Accelerated Depreciation benefi t was offered t o Commercials and Industrial (C&I) cust omers, and several ot hers.

Considering the potential of the sect or t o creat e huge employment, Solar Power Plant (SPP) ski ll development t rai ni ng was initiated through PMKVYs and Suryami t ra Programs.

With almost six years of efforts by mult i ple agenci es, we have limped to achieve a little over 10% of t he t arget (RTS i nst allat i on 4.2GW till Jan’ 2021 Source:MNRE Websi t e). Let ’ s underst and t he reasons.

At the top level, POLICY should provi de t he gui di ng framework t o achieve the target. But POLICY guidance in case of RTS failed

because the focus was lost and we tried achieving multiple goals. When the Solar Power installation target was set , t he Solar PhotoVoltaic (PV) manufacturing was caught off-guard; i t was a miniscule percentage of what was requi red. Solar PV cell manufacturing was almost non-existent . We were nowhere close to achieve the target through in-count ry manufact uri ng. Hence, ZERO Customs duty imports were allowed. But suddenly, t he huge

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terms like Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) were i nt roduced and Basic Customs Duty (BCD) of 25% was slapped overni ght on Solar PV Module imports. How much this Duty helped local manufact uri ng and how much it dented our original target i s a t opi c for anot her art i cle.

‘Electricity’ is placed in the Concurrent li st i n our const i t ut i on meani ng both Centre and the State can make & i mplement Regulat i ons on t hi s subject. But this meant that all the SERCs act ed i ndependent ly (and framed their own regulations). There was a clear di rect i on for St at e Electricity Distribution companies (Di scoms) (who were bleedi ng financially and constrained for resources) t o develop and mai nt ai n independent Net metering processes/ web-port als. We lost t he opportunity to set up a unified portal whi ch could feed dat a t o st at e Discoms. Policy was made to promote solar. However, Regulation was made too complicated for Execution. At least for smaller projects, Net metering should have been as simple at get t i ng an elect ri ci t y connection. Multiple approval points/processes creat ed by t he Regulation increased the compliance cost s and hampered t he confidence of the RTS system owners/pot ent i al owners.

Proliferation of RTS meant electricity wi ll be generat ed and consumed at Demand centres, thereby reducing t he dependence on t he Di scoms.

Discoms, many of whom already have a negat i ve net -wort h (owi ng t o decades of political interference and mi smanagement ) and payables running into Lakhs of crores, have pushed back execut i on of RTS. Why? Because more than 75% of the i nst allat i on i n t he RTS segment i s by the C&I segment who are the highest payi ng cust omers for t he Discoms. Implementation of RTS meant losi ng t hose cust omers and incurring further losses. ‘Power for all’ cannot be achi eved wi t hout t he Dicoms. Hence, the POLICY FOCUS again shifted to saving the Discoms . This was done through a change in t he Met eri ng regi me (how the accounting for solar electricity whi ch i s fed i nt o t he gri d wi ll be done) for more than 90% of the RTS market i .e. from Net met eri ng t o Gross metering (Already notified, Regulat i ons are bei ng draft ed). Thi s step has ramifications of completely wi pi ng out t he RTS i ndust ry, putting into question whether the RTS t arget wi ll ever be achi eved.

In all likelihood we are going to miss t he RTS t arget , t hat t oo by a huge margin, mostly in pursuit of achieving alt ernat i ve goals. Whet her we will be able to achieve those alternati ve goals as well, st i ll remai ns t o be seen.

PG 32

NIKHIL GUPTA, Business Head, Delta Solar Inverter Solutions, Delta Electronics India

Solar photovoltaic rooftops have emerged as pot ent i al green technologies to address climate change i ssues by reduci ng dependence on conventional fossil f uel-based energy. Wi t h a strong commitment to increasing renewable energy-based capacity to 175 GW by 2022, India’s goal i s t o i nst all 100 GW of solar energy capacity.

The current Indian objectives, issues & challenges i n achi evi ng them and trends in further development s are di scussed. The centre can help accelerate the growt h of t he i ndust ry i n 2021 and beyond by incorporating positive regulat ory, fi scal, t ax, and financing policies and incentives for t he renewable energy industry.

The Government of India has set an ambi t i ous t arget of i nst alli ng 175 GW of renewable energy capaci t y by 2022, whi ch has been increased to 450 GW by 2030, as commi t t ed by t he Pri me Mi ni st er at the United Nations Climate Action Summi t . It i s a marat hon target and the total investment required t o meet t he i ni t i al t arget of 175 GW has been estimated at just over $150-200 bi lli on.

The performance of the industry was adversely affect ed by COVID-19 and related issues in 2020. The current level of installed renewable capacity in the count ry i s only about 90 GW and there is a pipeline of more than 50 GW for i mplement at i on.

The industry is struggling with the lack of a clear regulat ory framework in the sector at both cent ral and st at e level, rapi dly declining tariffs, and the lack of long-t erm compet i t i ve fi nanci ng options with high and ambiguous tax st ruct ures.

The poor financial health of the Discoms, whi ch are t he mai n buyers of this power, has further reduced t he at t ract i veness of t he industry in the eyes of international and domest i c i nvest ors and lenders due to their poor track record of payment s and frequent changes in state-level policies, particularly i n relat i on t o t he rooftop and open access projects.

Under the regulation, the government must ensure t hat a st able policy framework on renewables is clearly announced and followed at both central and state level. Thi s i ncludes t he implementation of amendments to the Elect ri ci t y Act of 2003, privatisation of T&D systems and cont i nued hi gher allocat i ons of funds for T&D to upgrade the interstat e and i nt rast at e power transmission networks for the evacuat i on of power.

There must be opportunities on the Indust ri al & Commerci al rooft op and open access projects. The center should properly amend and relax net metering policies by completely wi t hdrawi ng t he rest ri ct i ons on net metering. These should apply in part i cular t o t he current Mi ni st ry of Power Regulations for Consumer Elect ri ci t y (Ri ght s of Consumers) 2020, which mentions the withdrawal of Net Met eri ng over 10 KW of load for any consumer.

The proposed rule, if implemented wi t hout any amendment , wi ll be a hindrance in the solar roofing industry. Wi t h regard t o open access projects, the government plans to phase out and remove cross-subsi dy charges, transmission surcharges and ot her appli cable charges immediately and provide a single window syst em for t he t i mely approval of such projects. Open Interst at e Access for RE proj ect s should be opened.

India, which is one of the lowest cost producers of elect ri ci t y, can become a hub for achieving sustainabi li t y t arget s for global compani es through virtual PPAs and commercial power plant s, but current market regulations prohibit such arrangement s as ‘ deri vat i ves’ . Vi rt ual PPAs shall be considered and allowed by CERC as t hey are purely bi lat eral i n nature and should not be regarded as a deri vat i ve cont ract . Thi s can help India to become one of the largest corporat e PPA market s i n t he world, attracting huge investment in RE generat i on and helpi ng businesses meet their RE goals of buyi ng green power di rect ly from RE generators, which are currently being rest ri ct ed by t he regulat i ons.

The Government should aggressively promot e renewable-solar integrated battery energy storage syst ems (BESS) by provi di ng t he required regulatory and fiscal incent i ves t o t hi s segment as such systems help to store and stabilize infi rm RE power for use duri ng peak power times by consumers, reducing t hei r power cost s duri ng t hat time. They can also help curtailment of renewable energy and i n growth of micro grid or off-grid project s. These measures should include making BESS mandatory with i nfi rm power, t he end-use-li nked exemption from customs duty on import s of li t hi um-i on bat t eri es, making storage purchase obligations (SPOs) mandat ory for DISCOMs and corporate consumers on RPO lines, provi de capi t al subsi dy for small rooftop and micro grid or off-gri d proj ect s usi ng BESS and categorizing them as part of the priori t y lendi ng sect or t o help t hem raise easy long-term funds at very compet i t i ve rat es.

While the government funding project should creat e a separat e category under the “Renewable Energy” cat egory of pri ori t y sect or lending. More lenders like DFI’s, PSU’ s and pri vat e sect or banks and NBFC’ s should be encouraged and di rect ed t o set separat e li mi t s for financing RE projects in India at compet i t i ve rat es. Thi s wi ll ensure adequate availability of long-term funds t o t he i ndust ry for such projects at a reasonable rate.

The renewable energy industry is eagerly awai t i ng favourable consideration of the above-mentioned proposals and a host of ot her related changes proposed by the indust ry t o t he government through various industry plat forms and relat ed channels.

We strongly urge the regulatory and admi ni st rat i ve aut hori t i es t o gi ve a patient hearing of the above suggest i ons and t o i mplement t hem i n t he content and spirit of a self-reliant Indi a. Thi s, i n t urn, wi ll help t he RE industry to provide the masses and i ndust ry wi t h affordable, hi ghquality green powers and contribute t o t he rapi d growt h of t he country’ s economy in the coming years.

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PG 33

PERSPECTIVE

HOW IS ROOFTOP SOLAR AN ECONOMICALLY VIABLE SOLUTION FOR C&I CONSUMERS ? WHICH ARE THE MAJOR FACTORS THAT WILL AID SOLAR ROOFTOP INSTALLATION IN C&I SEGMENT? Increasing electricity demand and risi ng gri d t ari ffs for commerci al and i ndustrial (C&I ) customers are driving business users to roof top sol ar, which is not only cleaner and cheaper but also gi ves t hem t ari ff cert ai nt y f or 25 years. I n I ndia, residential and agricul tural users are subsidized while C&I consumers are levied an addi t i onal si gni fi cant cross-subsi dy surcharge l eading to higher than average mains el ectricity tarif f s. As a result, rooftop solar is an economically vi able solut i on for C&I consumers. Al so el ectricity costs are up to 50% of their total expenses, so cutting such costs via solar power sustainably i mproves t hei r compet i t i veness i n a big way. Favourabl e Government pol icies, technol ogical innovations such as more cost reflective time-of-day t ari ffs, smart met ers, hi gh-effi ci ency modul es and battery storage wil l drive the growth of this market.

RADHIKA CHOUDARY Co-Founder and Director, Freyr Energy

SOLAR ROOFTOP: THE BEST OPTION FOR C&I CUSTOMERS

C&I customers contribute to the majori t y of rooft op solar installations in India. The commercial segment i n t he count ry has installed 1.9 GW of solar rooftop, whi le t he i ndust ri al segment has added 1.5 GW, as of June 2020. 96% of t he rooft op i nst allat i ons i n Q2 2020 came from C&I consumers. Rooft op solar i s t he cheapest source of power today with tariff rates t hat are nearly 50% lower than grid tariffs in many states. The commerci al t ari ff rat es t oday vary from ₹ 8 to ₹ 15.

The C&I customer segment in India has reali sed t he pot ent i al benefits of solar and this awareness has i mproved t he adopt i on of solar in the sector.

One of the major incentives of choosi ng solar i s t he cost benefi t due to the substantial reduction in electri ci t y bi lls. Indust ri es can reduce their dependence on grid power and choose t o power t hei r faci li t i es with solar instead. With ‘net-metering’ , excess power generat ed by the solar system can be exported to t he gri d and t he cust omer can get credits for the units supplied to t he gri d. Thi s furt her cut s down the electricity bills. As the life of the solar syst em i s for 25 years, customers are also protected from any fut ure ri ses i n gri d t ari ff.

C&I customers can also take advantage of t ax benefi t s provi ded by the government. Under Section-32 of t he Income Tax act , t he consumer can benefit from accelerat ed depreci at i on of 40% every year until the asset is fully depreciated.

In the present day we live in, doing all t hat we can t o prot ect t he environment is crucial. Many compani es also engage i n solar because they feel a sense of responsi bi li t y t owards t he envi ronment and to attain their sustainability goals. For i nst ance, i nst alli ng a solar system of 100 kWp would indirectly mean plant i ng 1,562 t rees or eliminating 137 tons of greenhouse emi ssi on annually.

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Solar is a one-time investment that can gi ve assured ret urns of 2530% annually with a payback period of 2-3 years. In ot her words for an investment of ₹ 1,00,000 the minimum ret urn you can get i s ₹ 25,000- ₹ 30,000.

Even with these benefits, the growth of t he rooft op solar segment has been slower than expected. To t ri gger a st eeper growt h curve, viable financing options need to be made avai lable. Most resi dent i al and MSMEs (micro, small and medium ent erpri ses) have t o rely on their own funds to own a solar system. Freyr Energy has t i ed up wi t h several NBFCs to offer collateral-free solar loans t o MSMEs t o reduce upfront cost.

A unified nation-wide policy in terms of solar, net -met eri ng, et c can further boost the growth across all cust omer segment s. Today, multiple permissions and approvals are needed t o gai n net /gross metering approvals and this process vari es from st at e t o st at e. The procedure of approvals and clearances bet ween mult i ple departments like regulatory commissi ons, st at e nodal agenci es, DISCOMs and urban local bodies also cause i nordi nat e delay.

C&I customers can also take advantage of tax benefits provided by the government.

Under Section-32 of the Income Tax act, the consumer can benefit from accelerated depreciation of 40% every year until the asset is fully depreciated.

PG PG20 34

ANIMESH DAMANI, Managing Partner, Artha Energy Resources

C&I backing the rooftop solar space

The increasing electricity demand and ri si ng gri d t ari ffs for C&I customers have driven commercial users t o rooft op solar whi ch i s not only cleaner and cheaper but provi des t hem t ari ff cert ai nt y for up to 25 years.

According to a JMK report, Electricit y demand i n t he C&I segment was rising at a compound annual growt h rat e (CAGR) of 5-6% (FY2017- FY2019) while grid tariffs for C&I consumers are increasing at a year-on-year rate of 1-2%. We look i nt o fact ors aiding the growth of C&I in solar rooft op space.

Rooftop scenario in India

Currently, out of the total electricity generat ed i n Indi a commerci al & Industrial (C&I) sector consumes 49 percent of i t whi le only a small amount of that power is from renewable sources. Moreover C&I consumers pay the highest cost of power t han any ot her class of consumer in this country. It is an age-old poli cy of t he government to subsidize the agricultural & resi dent i al sect or by charging higher tariff in the form of cross subsi di es t o t he industrial & commercial sector. Power t ari ffs for i ndust ri es i n Indi a are in-fact one of the highest when compared t o ot her G20 countries. Hence, it is no surprise that t he C&I sect or account s for 70-80 percent of the country’s rooftop solar i nst allat i ons. When compared to other economies globally i t i s t he resi dent i al sect or which leads the rooftop solar sector.

Currently, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharasht ra & Tami l Nadu contribute around 50 percent of t he t ot al C&I rooft op installations in the country. The reason for such hi gh adopt i on of rooftop solar in the C&I space in these st at es i s t he t ypi cally higher price of grid tariff in the range of Rs 7-10/kWh. Rooft op solar has emerged as a boon to these i ndust ri es as a medi um t o reduce their exorbitant electricity bills.

The reason for such high adoption of rooftop solar in the C&I space in these states is the typically higher price of grid tariff in the range of Rs 7-10/kWh. Rooftop solar has emerged as a boon to these industries as a medium to reduce their exorbitant electricity bills.

Factors aiding rooftop installations for C&I segment Post Pandemic

Ever since the pandemic locked everyone i nt o t hei r homes t o maj or initiatives has started at major compani es. The fi rst i ni t i at i ve i s on cutting costs, while the second is to i ncrease di gi t ali zat i on. Solar Power turned out to be a natural fit for t he fi rst i ni t i at i ve as many companies had put solar projects low on pri ori t i es before t he pandemic has made it one of the top pri ori t i es si nce t he pandemi c.

The increased use of digitization and worki ng from home has gi ven people more time which they never f ound before for solar proj ect s.

Both these initiatives have spearheaded t he growt h of rooft op solar in the C&I segment.

It is anticipated that large conglomerat es are goi ng t o dri ve t he growth in the C&I sector and MSME’s are goi ng t o cat ch up very soon. However, policy uncertainty is t he bi ggest i ssue hamperi ng t he growth of rooftop solar in India. Discoms are fearful of losi ng t hei r high paying C&I consumers and they are i ssui ng orders and notifications to restrain net metering and power banki ng provi si ons.

For the C&I segment to grow there needs t o be consi st ency and clarity on policies for the rooftop sect or. Wi t h t he i deal poli cy support we would witness stronger adoption of rooft op solar i n t he C&I sector.

Many Indian conglomerates have been i nfluenced by t hei r forei gn counterparts who have been a part of global i ni t i at i ves such as RE 100 and have a strong ESG Policy. Thi s has result ed i n many Indian companies aiming for net zero carbon emi ssi ons. Eg Infosys has already achieved net zero carbon emi ssi ons whi le Unilever is reducing its carbon footpri nt i n all i t s uni t s & supply chains. Such initiatives help increase t he brand equi t y of t he organizations.

Models for rooftop solar

C&I rooftop installations are popularly done i n t wo models, t he Opex & Capex model. Opex has been gai ni ng populari t y si nce i t involves a RESCO developer which funds, bui lds & mai nt ai ns t he plant while the consumer only pays f or t he power consumed. The price of this power is generally at a di scount t o t he gri d and involves a long-term contract ranging from 10-25 years. Whi le i n the Capex model the onus of investing, mai nt ai ni ng t he plant & all risk and benefits attached to the solar plant i s wi t h t he consumer.

Herein, the role of a quality installer i s more pronounced and critical to the success of the solar plant . Anot her emergi ng model is the differed cape model which works li ke t aki ng a car on EMI with down payment.

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PG 33

POLICY DEBRIEF FEBRUARY 2020

STATE: POLICY UPDATES ANDHRA PRADESH BECOMES THE 2ND STATE TO UNDERTAKE POWER SECTOR REFORMS Andhra Pradesh has become the second State to undertake the power sector reforms stipulated by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. As part of the reforms, the State has started Direct Benefit transfer (DBT) of electricity subsidy to farmers with effect from September, 2020. Thus, the State has successfully implemented one out of the three stipulated reforms in the power sector. Successful implementation of the reform has made the State eligible to mobilise additional financial resources equivalent to 0.15 percent of its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

MAHARASHTRA’S NEW RE POLICY WILL ATTRACT RS 75,000 CR INVESTMENTS: NITIN RAUT Addressing an interactive session with the CEOs of Renewable Energy and Power Companies organized by FICCI, Mr Raut said that the policy aims to implement 17000 MW of renewable power projects in next 5 years thereby creating direct and indirect employment for 1 lac people along with giving priority to hybrid power projects. “In line with the Paris Agreement, the Government of Maharashtra is committed to achieving 40% electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2030,” said Dr Raut.

Maharashtra has been leading in terms of renewable energy (RE) deployment with push on electric mobility where RE deployment will have greater potential in future.

PM SHRI NARENDRA MODI INAUGURATES POWERGRID’S 320 KV 2000 MW PUGALUR – THRISSUR HVDC PROJECT The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated today POWERGRID’s 320 kV 2000 MW Pugalur (Tamil Nadu) – Thrissur (Kerala) HVDC project in presence of Governor of Kerala Respected Shri Arif Mohammad Khan; Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan; Minister of State (IC) (Power and New Renewable energy) & Minister of State (Skilled Development & Entrepreneurship); Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs(I/C), Civil Aviation(I/C) Shri Hardeep Singh Puri; Shri M.M Mani, Minister for Electricity, Govt. of Kerala; Shri Rajmoha Unnithan, Member of Parliament Kasaragod and Shri M.M Kamaruddin, MLA Manjeshwaram and senior officials of Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, State Govt. of Kerala, POWERGRID and THDCIL on 19 February, 2021. The event was held over video conference.

The Prime Minister also dedicated a 50 MW Kasaragod Solar Power Project to the nation.

CITY OF MUMBAI SIGNS LONG-TERM DEAL FOR 100 MW OF FLOATING SOLAR-HYDRO POWER CAPACITY The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has given its nod to set up a hybrid power project on the Middle Vaitarna Dam. It has become the first civic body in the country to develop such a project. The Middle Vaitarna Dam supplies water to Mumbai’s metropolitan region. “The MCGM has approved a proposal to form a joint venture between Shapoorji Pallonji & Company and Mahalaxmi Konal Urja. The hydroelectric project will have a capacity of 20 MW, and the floating solar project a capacity of 80 MW. The project will generate 208 MUs of electricity and help MCGM save ₹ 240 million (~$3.28 million) in power bills. The civic body will buy power at the rate of ₹ 4.75 (~$0.065)/kWh for 25 years from these companies.” said the official from MCGM

PRIME MINISTER TO DEDICATE 50 MW KASARAGOD SOLAR POWER PROJECT TO THE NATION The Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the 50 MW Kasaragod Solar Power Project. It has been developed under the National Solar Energy Mission. Set up over 250 acres of land spread across Paivalike, Meenja and Chippar villages of Kasaragod district, it has been built with Central Government’s investment of around Rs. 280 crores. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of the project via video conferencing. Chief Minister of Kerala, along with Union Ministers of State (I/C) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, and Housing & Urban Affairs, will also be present on the occasion.

KKR BACKED VIRESCENT INFRASTRUCTURE FLOATS INDIA’S FIRST GREEN ENERGY INVIT VRET is India’s first renewable energy InvIT proposed to be launched by Virescent Infrastructure, a renewable energy platform in India backed by KKR. The InvIT aims to achieve approximately 1.5 GW assets in the next two to three years. The KKR arm has sought approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for the private InvIT. KKR is also in the process of acquiring a portfolio of operational solar assets of about 76 MWp (megawatt-peak) at different locations, including Mohaba (Uttar Pradesh), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), and Patan (Gujarat).

CENTRAL: POLICY UPDATES MNRE ISSUES AMENDMENTS TO THE GUIDELINES FOR PROCUREMENT OF ROUND-THE CLOCK RE POWER, COMPLEMENTED WITH POWER FROM ANY OTHER SOURCE OR STORAGE The Mi ni stry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has passed a resoluti on wi th the amendments to the gui deli nes for tari ff-based competi ti ve bi ddi ng process for procurement of Round-The-Clock (RTC) power from gri dconnected renewable energy (RE) power proj ects, complemented wi th power from any other source or storage. For the procurement of RTC power from gri d-connected RE proj ects, the gui deli nes were i ssued i n July 2020 and later amended i n November 2020. The key amendment made to the gui deli nes was the formal i ntroducti on of “power from any other source or storage” i nto the gui deli nes to replace the uni di recti onal approach of bundli ng renewable energy wi th only thermal power. Key amendment i n the earli er noti fi cati on from the power mi ni stry was the shi ft from composi te tari ff to wei ghted average leveli sed tari ff as the bi ddi ng parameter. It has been deci ded that the bi ddi ng evaluati on parameter shall be the wei ghted average leveli sed tari ff per uni t supply of RTC power. The Procurer shall i nvi te bi ds wherei n the bi dder shall quote the fi rst year wei ghted average leveli sed Tari ff i n Rs/kWh.

INDIA AND THE IEA ENTER NEW PHASE OF CLOSER COLLABORATION WITH SIGNING OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK Ceremony highlights the IEA’s enhanced relationship with the world’s thirdlargest energy consumer. Less than four years after the International Energy Agency welcomed India as an Association country, IEA members and the Government of India today agreed to enter into a Strategic Partnership, strengthening their collaboration across a range of vital areas including energy security and clean energy transitions. The signing of the Framework marked a major milestone in global energy governance that could lead to eventual IEA membership for India. The IEA and India signed the Strategic Partnership Framework during a virtual ceremony, with senior representatives from India and IEA Members in attendance. Participants included Ambassador Hiroshi Oe of Japan, the Chair of the IEA Governing Board, and Ambassador Jawed Ashraf of India. The Framework was signed

by Mr Sanjiv Nandan Sahai, Secretary of the Ministry of Power, representing India, and Dr Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director, on behalf of the Agency’s members.

MNRE ISSUES CLARIFICATION ON THE TIME EXTENSION FOR SCHEDULED COMMISSIONING DATE OF RE PROJECTS DUE TO COVID-19 The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had earlier extended the timeline for the scheduled commissioning date of Renewable Energy (RE) projects due to disruption by Covid-19. Requests were received by MNRE for further extension beyond 5 months on account of COVID-19. The requests have been examined in the Ministry. The MNRE on 9th February, 2021 has declared that further extension beyond 5 months can be granted by implementing agencies in exceptional cases, after due diligence and careful consideration of the specific circumstances of the case, and if allowed in terms of the provisions of the relevant contract. It is also emphasized that this further extension beyond 5 months will not be granted in a routine manner. This issue is in line with the approval from the Hon'ble Minister (MNRE & Power).

BUDGET 2021-22 AUGMENTS CAPITAL OF SECI AND IREDA TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT OF RE SECTOR

Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech 2021-22 announced capital Augmentation of Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA). She said “To give a further boost to the non-conventional energy sector, I propose to provide additional capital infusion of Rs.1,000 crores to Solar Energy Corporation of India and Rs. 1,500 crores to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency”. In the Budget Speech 2021-22 , the Finance minister proposed to launch a National Hydrogen Mission for generating hydrogen from green power sources. Further, a production linked incentive ( PLI) scheme was announced in the budget 2021-22. Accordingly, PLI schemes to create manufacturing global champions for an AtmaNirbhar Bharat have been announced for 13 sectors including manufacturing of ‘High Efficiency Solar PV Modules’.

POWER MARKET UPDATE, JANUARY 2021, JANUARY 2021: IEX Electricity Market achieves its highest ever monthly volume of 7434 MU registering 47% YoY growth.

Real-time Market achieves highest ever volume of 1233 MU registering 9% MoM growth.

Term-ahead market trades 524 MU registering a significant 93% YoY growth.

The electricity market at the Indian Energy Exchange achieved a new milestone in the month of January’21 with all-time high volume of 7434 MU leading to a significant 47% YoY growth in electricity volume traded during the month.

1ST INDIA-BAHRAIN JOINT WORKING GROUP MEETING IN THE FIELD OF RENEWABLE ENERGY The 1st meeting of the Joint Working Group in the field of Renewable Energy between India and the Kingdom of Bahrain held in virtual format.

H.E. Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, President of Sustainable Energy Authority led the Bahraini delegation. The Indian delegation was led by H.E. Mr. Dinesh Dayanand Jagdale, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. H.E. Sh. Piyush Srivastava, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Bahrain also participated in the meeting. It was a very productive meeting, in which both sides underscored the importance of renewable energy to meet climate change goals, and presented the initiatives taken, progress made and future targets set by their respective governments as well as opportunities available in this sector. They agreed on sharing experience, expertise and best practices. Both sides agreed to forging deeper engagement in capacity building and focused cooperation between concerned agencies as well as the private sector of the two countries in this sector, particularly in the field of solar, wind and clean hydrogen.

MNRE ISSUES GUIDELINES ON INSPECTION FEE FOR SOLAR MANUFACTURING CAPACITY UPTO 50 MW The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has notified that under its guidelines for the enlistment under its order for “Approved Models and Manufacture of Solar PV modules (Requirement for Compulsory Registration), it has revised the inspection fee for manufacturing capacity upto 50 MW to Rs 2.5 lakh from the existing Rs 5 lakh. The fee was revised for categories upto 50 MW capacity. For units situated in the SAARC (South Asian Association Regional Cooperation) countries, the price for capacity between 50 and up to 100 MW, More than 100 MW and upto 250 MW, and more than 250 MW, the inspection fee has remained the same at Rs 5 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 15 lakh respectively.

CLIMATE POLICY INITIATIVE (CPI) UNDERTOOK A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND STUDY THAT PRESENTS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION ON GREEN INVESTMENT FLOWS IN THE COUNTRY, DHRUBA PURKAYASTHA, CPI Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC), the leading NBFC in the power sector, successfully raised USD 500 million on 29.01.2021 through issuance of USD denominated Bonds under Reg S route with a fixed maturity of 16.05.2031. This is the longest tenor bond issuance from India since the start of the year. The bonds have a fixed coupon of 3.35% p.a. which was inside the fair value of PFC’s secondary bonds. The order book amounted to around USD 2.55 billion, achieving an oversubscription of 5.1 times.

The proceeds from bonds will be utilized in accordance with the external commercial borrowing regulations of the Reserve Bank of India including for on-lending to power sector utilities.

PERSPECTIVE

WHAT ARE THE CURRENT CHALLENGES & FUTURE OUTLOOK ABOUT LENDING TO ROOFTOP SOLAR PROJECTS? From banks, NBFCs, to personal loans vari ous fi nanci ng opt i ons are avai l abl e f or f inancing roof top projects in I ndia. But if we are to see explosive growth in the rooftop segment , fi nanci ng must be made more accessibl e and uncompl icated. Around $40 bil l ion-$50 billion of capital investment is required t o meet Indi a’ s rooft op solar capacity target of 40 GW by 2022. Mul tipl e l ines of credit are extended by State Bank of India (SBI), Punj ab Nat i onal Bank (PNB), and Indian Renewabl e Energy Devel opment Agency Ltd (I REDA) at attractive interest rates. NBFCs present i n t he space have hi gher i nt erest rates, making the project l ess attractive. Other f inancial institutions are not well equipped to assess solar syst ems and hence warrant additional guarantees apart f rom the sol ar system itsel f .

Going forward, innovations like solar i nvest ment t rust s, housi ng soci et i es, equity f unding to mul tipl e smal l -scal e projects, and sustainable energy bonds (SEBs) that channel fi nances from i mpact i nvestors through non-banking f inancial companies can drive market growth as they invest in project s across sect ors and t hus di versi fy their risk prof il e.

JANAK DOSHI AVP-Business Development, Tata Clean-Tech Capital Ltd.

KEY CHALLENGES FOR SCALE-UP:

FUTURE OUTLOOK – BELOW ARE THE VIEWS FOR MITIGATING SOME OF THE ABOVE CHALLENGES

For low ticket size loan ( eg rooftop at resi dent i al or for C&I customers), banks would need to roll our credit underwri t i ng checkli st paramet ers with reliance on alternate data (i.e timeli ness on payment of elect ri ci t y bills, govt statutory payments, Provident fund etc..) and it has to be embed with digital solutions , for quick T.A.T in pre-evaluation, sanction, post sanction and disbursement st ages

| FEBRUARY ISSUE 2021

As when Developers are seeking finance under Opex Model for portfolio of project, Banks would need t o demark x% (say 2025%) of total portfolio of rooftop project s from Mi cro and Small Industries or not so reputed Trust ent i t i es, whi ch t i ll now was getting rejected In case of residential segment, cooperat i ve soci et y would need to consider providing collateral by provi di ng li en on fi xed deposit In case of residential and MSME segment , where banks are shying away, if reputed and financial st rong EPC compani es enters into Buy-Back agreement with Fi nanci al i nst i t ut i on, where in case of delay in servicing the EMI, t hen Lender would i ni t i at e invocation process via hypothecation of asset s and subsequently EPC agreement would pay t he out st andi ng amount to Lender In Pre-Sanction stage in case of Capex model /Leasi ng , Lenders needs to ensure having EPC compani es whi ch have proven experience and also get assurance f rom Borrower of havi ng EPC or its contractor undertaking O&M of proj ect t i ll t he loan t enure Lenders needs to embrace technology i n performance monitoring of solar rooftop assets via havi ng pre-di sbursement requirement of having remote monitori ng syst em and requi si t e sensors Govt initiated Partial Credit guarantee & Fi rst Loss guarant ee for Solar Rooftop project, this would enable fi nanci al i nst i t ut i ons towards Micro and Small Industries

PGPG 20 38

YUVARAJA SK Research Engineer, Energy and Power sector, CSTEP

India has set an ambitious target of 40 GW of clean energy generation through rooftop photovolt ai c (RTPV) i nst allat i ons to be achieved by 2021–22. RTPV upt ake, however, has been sluggish with only ~6.1 GW installed so far. Of t hi s, more t han 75% capacity comes from commercial and i ndust ri al consumers and the rest from resident i al and publi c sect or rooftops.

demands into an agglomerated MW-level one. Furt her, banks should encourage prospective homeowners and real est at e developers t o adopt RTPV by integrating RTPV loans with home loans. DISCOMs t oo need t o come up with, or at least seek, innovat i ve fi nanci al st rat egi es and poli cy frameworks, especially for commerci al and i ndust ri al consumers.

RESCOs looking at the rooftop lease model wi t h gross-met eri ng should have access to lines of credit and lower i nt erest rat es.

The lack of financial access is a major challenge hi nderi ng RTPV uptake nationwide. To address t he RBI i nt roduced loan options for rooftop solar under the pri ori t y sect or lendi ng (PSL) norms. However, the initiative fai led t o creat e much impact because of high interest rates charged by banks, as they perceived RTPV to be a high-risk asset . Furt her, because the residential sector comprises mult i ple small RTPV installations, banks tend to be reluct ant i n fi nanci ng such projects to avoid multiple transactional cost s, loan recovery issues, and asset monitoring hassles.

Compared to net-metering, this model i s less profi t able for developers.

Hence, large volumes in GWs are requi red t o st i mulat e t hi s segment .

Multilateral and bilateral financial inst i t ut i ons can enable i nvest ment s at this scale.

In conclusion, to meet the ambitious 2021–22 RTPV t arget of 40 GW and increase capital flow into the RTPV market , Indi a’ s fi nanci al syst em requires considerable change. A struct ured approach along wi t h sound technical and policy analyses can go a long way i n maki ng RTPV financing more accessible for all consumer cat egori es.

There are other factors responsible f or t he slow uptake of RTPV. Most distribution compani es (DISCOMs) are averse to widespread RTPV adoption as it can potentially hurt thei r revenue.

The end consumers do not have adequat e information about several pertinent poi nt s— technical aspects of RTPV installation, possi ble income generation, etc.

Initially, high-paying commercial and i ndust ri al sectors were expected to play a major role i n meeting the country’s RTPV target. In fact , most dedicated lending lines at lower interest rat es (World Bank–State Bank of India, Asian Development Bank–Punjab National Bank, et c.) focused on these sectors. However, recent recommendations by the Ministry of Power (MoP) restrict net metering (billing syst em t hat rewards RTPV owners for adding elect ri ci t y t o the grid) to smaller RTPV systems (10 kW), effectively discouraging commercial consumers from adopting RTPV. Further, most states are now discouragi ng t he Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model—another initiative for encouragi ng RTPV installations—for commercial and indust ri al consumers.

To increase RTPV adoption in the count ry, t he aforementioned challenges need to be addressed at both consumer and poli cy levels.

To start with, appropriate scientific analyses should be conducted to assess the sui t abi li t y of residential rooftops for RTPV installat i on.

DISCOMs can aggregate multiple kW-level

Compared to netmetering, this model is less profitable for developers.

Hence, large volumes in GWs are required to stimulate this segment. Multilateral and bilateral financial institutions can enable investments at this scale." | FEBRUARY ISSUE 2021

PG 39

ALOK A JAHAGIRDAR, Senior Consultant, Government and Public Sector, EY

NITHYANANDAM YUVARAJ DINESH BABU, Executive Director, EY

The residential sector’s contribution, as of June 2020 t o Government of India’s ambitious target of 40 GW of Rooftop Solar (RTS) by 2022 is a mere 13.5% (804 MW).

So far, the residential sector has played t he second fiddle to the Commercial and Industri al (C&I) sect or i n India’ s RTS installation journey. The annual growt h has been consistent in the residential sect or but hasn’ t reflected in a significant cumulative i nst allat i on. Thi s sector still faces barriers such as high upfront cost s, roof limitations, low awareness, financing i ssues and lack of access to single window services. Addi ng t o t hese, t he pandemic has constrained household i ncome only for critical spends.

MNRE Phase-II of Grid Connected Rooft op Solar Programme launched in August 2019 has so far result ed in allocation of subsidy for over 2.5 GW proj ect s across the country.Undoubtedly, this has cont ri but ed t o unlocking the residential sector’s RTS pot ent i al i n a bi g way thereby providing business opport uni t i es t o numerous vendors including entrepreneurs. The pri ce discovered for CAPEX projects are signi fi cant ly lower than MNRE’ s benchmark cost in a few st at es t ri ggeri ng concerns as regards the quality and t he overall performance of RTS systems for 25 years. Not hi ng can be construed

| FEBRUARY ISSUE 2021

at this point as the installations have begun only duri ng 2020. At the same time, a few vendors have moot ed t he suggestion of allowing residential consumers t o choose RTS systems of costs higher than the di scovered pri ce (L1) due to preferred brands for certai n RTS component s.

However, the subsidy could be capped t o t he di scovered price or benchmark cost whichever is lower. Int erest i ngly it has been observed that in Haryana, t he percent age of residential consumers installing RTS wi t hout subsi dy i s higher than with subsidy.

As regards the falling price of modules, such benefi t could be availed only if the availabili t y of domest i c modules for the residential sector is ensured gi ven t he increasing demand for KUSUM and DCR mandat ed ground mounted solar projects. The recent demand for domestic modules and solar glass coupled wi t h t he steep increase in iron rates has further added t o t he woes of vendors during this pandemi c. MNRE’ s blanket extension of time (of 5 months) has provi ded some respite to the vendors who are struggli ng t o convi nce residential consumers in the current scenari o.

MNRE’ s engagement with DISCOMs for i mplement i ng i t ’ s residential RTS program is timely and cri t i cal t o achi eve the desired outcome. Onboarding DISCOMs t hrough MNRE’ s incentives is expected to mot i vat e t hem t o creat e an enabling ecosystem for an accelerat ed implementation of RTS projects. Digi t ali zat i on of applications, interconnection processes and performance monitoring will certainly ai d DISCOMs t o establish a robust RTS implementation syst em.

The recent notification on Rights for Consumers (Electricity) 2020 by the Ministry of Power wi ll i mpact Residential Welfare Associations (RWAs) and Group Housing Societies (GHS) due to the rest ri ct i on of net metering upto 10kW. MNRE needs to secure an exemption of this ceiling for RWAs and GHS as i t wi ll impact its Phase II program.

Despite the above facilitative measures, sust ai ned effort s towards raising awareness among the publi c and easi ng the financing through a dedicated line of concessi onal credit for the residential sector are cri t i cal t o dri ve t he growth of RTS in the residential sect or.

PGPG 2040

PRODUCT FEATURE COMPANY FEATURE ARCTECH AI-POWERED TRACKER BOOSTS ENERGY OUTPUT BY UP TO 7%

As a leader in providing solar racking, tracking and BIPV solutions, Arctech Solar is working hard towards innovative solutions. It is committed to providing high-quality products with the highest engineering standards in customer interests by maximizing the value of their investments while mitigating the inherent risks. Arctech Solar has its services from complete designing, manufacturing and end to end technical support to help its customers solve the toughest challenges in the industry.

Our global team of over 100 R&D members has innovatively integrated Artificial Intelligence with tracker technologies while keeping a simple, digital and smart design concept. We offer the Industry leading a new generation of AI (artificial intelligence) solar tracking solutions which helps to adapt to different conditions like various module technologies (such as bifacial modules), various weather conditions (sunny or cloudy), various topographies (such as undulations or slopes) and various terrains (such as land, grassland, snowfield). After field verification and simulations by Arctech Solar, this solution can improve the power generation of solar PV plants by up to 7%.

1.3 THE BIFACIAL STRATEGY FOR BIFACIAL MODULES & TRACKERS: When a traditional tracker operates, the smallest incident angle of sunlight to the module surface corresponds to the maximum radiation received, achieving the best angle and power generation state.

Therefore, traditional tracking mode can only ensure the maximum radiation on the front side of the bifacial module. The AI control system can perform algorithm optimization on the tracker angle for bifacial modules. By obtaining the radiation reaching both the front and rear side of the generation of the modules as a whole is maximized under any weather condition.

The AI bifacial strategy separately performs irradiation and weather sampling, distributed feedback, concentrated deep learning, constant comparison of information (predicted values and target values).

Through this process, the maximum power tilt is obtained and sent to each control box.

1.1 TRACKING CONTROL STRATEGY ON A REAL TERRAIN: Normally, solar trackers operate by following the Sun' s trajectory. In the early morning or late afternoon, shadows appear between PV arrays due to low sun altitude angle. To solve this problem, a backtracking algorithm is added to make the tracker move in the opposite direction to the sun' s trajectory reducing shadows, which results in a smaller energy loss. For flat terrains, the tracker successfully avoids shadows by backtracking; however, for complex undulating terrains, the traditional backtracking function cannot make full use of the irradiation resources, and shadows are present in interior arrays, which causes energy loss. The steeper the slope, the more severe shadow effects, and the greater the power loss.

Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the algorithm of traditional backtracking.

Based on the principle of maximizing PV yield, Arctech Solar uses the tracking control strategy on a real terrain to optimize the backtracking algorithm. By modelling the tracker layout across the land, the different trackers tilt to different angles. In this way, the impact of shadow occlusion is reduced and a better use of light resources is realized. This new algorithm achieves energy gains of 0~5%, in the backtracking phase.

Customer & Projects: -

1.2 THE CLOUD STRATEGY BASED ON REAL-TIME WEATHER DATA: -

In India, Arctech Solar has been one of the top mounting structure suppliers for the last 5 consecutive years. Currently, Arctech is working with many key customers in the Indian PV industry. Despite the challenges, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Arctech bagged nearly 2 GWp contracts from various clients and more than 1GWp trackers already reached the project sites. All these projects are situated in a different part of Rajasthan India and will be equipped with SkyLine (1P) Bifacial Trackers. Our SkyLine tracker, with its signature 1P configuration and AI Controller, is a perfect fit for these projects. The land constraints create challenges that only a tracker with a design like Arctech can truly optimise.

In addition to topography optimization, The AI solution also includes a weather-related optimization. It establishes a meteorological database of the project site through sky cameras, then analyses and converts weather data into useful meteorological information via neural networks and real-time training. It calculates the best tracking angle, which can increase the power generation by 0. 5%~2%.

| FEBRUARY ISSUE 2021 SOLARQUARTER | JANUARY ISSUE 2021

About Arctech: -

Arctech Solar (SSE-STAR: 688408) is one of the world's leading manufacturers and solution providers of solar tracking, racking and BIPV systems. In the past decade, Arctech Solar has successfully set up overseas subsidiaries/business service centres in China, Japan, India, U.S., Spain, Australia, UAE, Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Vietnam. Today, Arctech Solar is a reliable partner in the global PV tracking, racking and BIPV industry. For more information, please visit www.arctechsolar.com.

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COMPANY FEATURE COMPANY FEATURE SOLIS MAKES A POINT, WITH 1 GW MILESTONE IN INDIA

Ginlong (Solis) Technologies, the Ningbo, China headquartered inverter firm released its 2020 estimated annual financial report on January 22: the annual sales is expected to up to 3, 40 million USD dollars, the highest growth than the same period last year of 93%.

Ginlong (Solis) Technologies entered India in 2015, and has underlined its strong focus here by crossing the 1 GW milestone in India. The milestone, coming just over 5 years since the firm entered the market, is notable for not just the steady year on year increase, but the acceptance the firm has managed in India. A place in the top 3 inverter suppliers to the Indian solar market.

As an established name embraced across utility, C&I and other segments, the firm’ s wide range has had success in a tough value driven market like India mainly due to the long term view the firm took for this market. Unlike many other firms entering the market around the same time, Solis has actually focused on delivering the kind of service and warranties top inverter firms promise. Thus, from a call centre in Mumbai to a technical service network available online as well as at short notice across the country, Solis as a firm has managed to convince Indian buyers that it is delivering real value for money. 5 years on, a very low failure rate coupled with higher visibility across quality projects has helped build the trust factor further.

expected to peak at 30 GW per annum from 2030 onwards, That means an energy storage all-in-one inverter, off-grid energy storage inverter, will be next on the agenda. The firm plans to launch its off-grid energy storage inverter for the Indian market this year. It’s wide experience in the C&I segment especially, where it has been used in projects from schools to gas stations, farms and office buildings will certainly give it an advantage building the next generation of products for this market.

Having a technically qualified founder familiar with the risks and opportunities in the sector has helped Solis make the most of its opportunities. By 2020 end, the firm had prepared for the next phase of solar growth by getting a stock exchange listing in March 2019, as well as a zero debt status , giving it ample options to fund future growth. A strong R&D focus has helped keep it on the cutting edge of innovations, and R&D investment increased by more than 100% year on year in the first three quarters of 2020, and have a faster go to market record, ensuring customer loyalty is rewarded with low wait times.

Regular third party validations have helped no doubt, be it on lifespan projections, or failure rates of under 0.2 percent, both from DNV•GL. Solis is a genuine multinational firm today, with a global brand respected across markets.

The Solis brand, which is the one used by the firm for global sales outside China, has been built on the back of a high focus on quality. From being the Second Inverter manufacturer to get BIS listing for maximum ratings in India, Solis was also the first inverter manufacturer to pass PVEL (former part of DNV-GL) inverter reliability testing. The firm claims that 100% of inverters produced are duration-tested before shipment to reduce failures during installation. Topping it all off is the claim to winning the EUPD research top brand award for 5 consecutive years . The firm currently has BIS certification in place for its inverters in the 700K to 80K range. All of which has made the firm a top 3 ‘ Most bankable Asia brand’ by Bloomberg NEF too.

Solis cherishes the relationship with all India customers. Thank you so much for all your support and understanding as usual.We will make every effort to ensure better service to all of our valuable customers.

Solis has plans to build on its strong legacy of trust worldwide, thanks to the massive capacity expansion it hopes to complete in 2021, wherein manufacturing capacity will go from 5 GW to 20 GW.

A r m e d w i t h a g l o b a l s u p p l y c h a i n , w o r l d - c l a s s R & a m p ; D a n d m a n u f a c t u rin g c a p a b i l i t i e s , G i n l o n g o p t i m i z e s i t s S o l i s i n v e r t e r s f o r e a c h r e g i o n a l m a rk e t , servicing and supporting its customers with its team of local experts. For more information on how cost-effective Solis delivers value while maximizing reliability for residential, commercial, and utility customers, go to solisinverters.com.

Speaking about the future, the firm’ s management believes that in line with global trends, Solis will also be served best by focusing on the energy storage market , where installed capacity of new energy storage is

| FEBRUARY ISSUE 2021 SOLARQUARTER | JANUARY ISSUE 2021

About Ginlong Technologies

Established in 2005, Ginlong Technologies (Stock Code: 300763.SZ) is one of the most experienced and largest manufacturers of PV string inverters. Presented under the Solis brand, the company’s portfolio uses innovative string inverter technology to deliver first-class reliability that has been validated under the most stringent international certifications.

PG PG 42 38

COMPANY FEATURE COMPANY FEATURE ENERMAN SURPASS 1GW OF IOT SCADA INSTALLATION FOR SOLAR PV PLANTS AND ROOFTOPS

We are delighted to announce the great achievement of deploying our IoT Based AI/ML Driven SCADA product (ETi-SOL) to Monitor, Control, Analyse and Forecast Energy Generated from Solar PV Plants and Rooftops for over 1GW (1000MW) size in 5 (five) countries.

Our Success proves that there is always a market for good products, which is reliable, customizable, easy to use, and backed by exceptional level & speed of service from a professional team, who can understand and are always ready to solve customer problems at an affordable price.

Our in-house Hardware, Firmware and Software team based in Bangalore has created a Made in India products for Global Market (Vocal for Local To Global) in line with our vision of providing "Innovative solutions to Save Energy and Reduce Carbon footprint".

Our parent company Avi Solar team has been providing O&M service for over 2 GW plants for the past 5 years for leading Developers in India. In the year 2016, our O&M team and developers were struggling to get Local PLC based SCADA data to headquarters to analyze the plant performance and generate useful reports (DGRs, Weekly Reports, Monthly Reports). Leased line (BB) connectivity to remote plant was a challenge, and repair of damaged communication cable during rainy season was taking time, hence we have developed IoT Hardware (ETi-LOG Data logger) to send plant data using 2G/3G/4G directly to cloud, and option to store the data in data logger to avoid data loss due to any communication problem.

We have also seen many Global players SCADA System license was not renewed by developers due to high annual license fee, and poor service support from Global players in repairing nonfunctional SCADA forced O&M team and developers to manually collect the plant data for Performance analysis and reporting. We tried to address this problem by offering products at affordable prices, and quick installation and service support.

| FEBRUARY ISSUE 2021 SOLARQUARTER | JANUARY ISSUE 2021

Our Retrofit solutions contribute to more than 70% of our deployment by replacing leading Global companies SCADA with our IoT SCADA (by reusing hardware or equipment wherever possible).

We have been addressing all types of customer needs like Local Monitoring, Remote Monitoring, data storage in Cloud servers or Own Servers provided by Developers, Equipment data collection through wired network or RF network within the plant, Monitor and Control of Plants, Energy Forecasting, provide plant data to SLDC, PPC (Power Plant Controller), customized dashboards, customized reports, Products access using web and Mobile Apps (Android and iOS) . . . etc.

Our product is installed and tested from 50KW size rooftop to 350MW single utility plant. We are working on developing advance analytics using AI/ML to provide valuable reports to Developers on Plant performance and recommended actions to improve the performance and reduce the breakdowns and energy/revenue loss.

We are confident in taking our made in India products to the Global market in coming years. We have opened our office in the US and partnered with local players in the US, Europe and Africa. We thank our customers for trusting newcomers like us and partnering with us in creating great products.

ASHOK D M, Chairman, EnerMAN Technologies Pvt Ltd.

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The Payment Should be made in the favour of FirstView Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd. via cheque or DD (payable at Mumbai, India) to the address mentioned below.

FirstView Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd., 907, 908, NMS Titanium, Plot 74, Sector 15, CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India info@firstviewgroup.com Contact: Kunal Varma Email Id: kunal@firstviewgroup.com Mobile: +91 88505 70273

SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE ONLINE:

SUBSCRIBE ONLINE AT WWW.SOLARQUARTER.COM FirstView Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

907, 908, NMS Titanium, Plot 74, Sector 15, CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India info@firstviewgroup.com

EMOBILITY + | JAN FEB ISSUE 2020

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