1. Mr. Harjinder Kamboj, Head-Quality Azure talks about future of India’s solar industry and quality parameter that should be maintained.
3. Where do you see the Solar Energy industry in India poised for the next 10 years?  

Solar Energy Industry is expected to grow at a very fast pace in India owing to majorly four positive factors: 

1. Robust demand due to good economic growth.
2. Increasing investment because the sector has become quite attractive for both foreign and domestic investors.
3. Policy support as Government has ramped-up target to achieve 100GW solar installation by 2022. Hopefully, this trend will continue beyond 2022 as well. 
4. Competitiveness advantage that India has because of the availability of sunlight throughout the year.   

We have seen that in recent years, growth of solar energy in emerging markets had been phenomenal. India has already overtaken the US and has become the second largest solar power market in the world, in terms of solar power installations. 

The country currently stands at almost 25 GW of grid-connected solar power capacity as compared to 9 GW in 2015. Large scale solar installations in India account for 87 percent of solar capacity while rooftop sector has also picked-up. Last year, solar accounted for nearly 53 percent of new energy capacity additions in the country and this is great news for solar sector.

For a developing country like India, where electricity for every home was once considered a dream is now close to reality. The government initiative of ‘power for all’ is changing the socio-economic structure of the country. In fact, people are demand 24×7 power supply and Government is also working tirelessly to fulfil their demand.

The sector also has immense potential to create new jobs; 1 GW of Solar manufacturing facility generates approximately 4000 direct and indirect jobs. In addition, solar deployment, operations and maintenance creates additional recurring jobs in the sector.

Are we seeing a major push towards better & smarter technology in solar sector by the EPC contractors? 

With power tariff hitting all time low, developers are under tremendous pressure on cost. So, at present, more focus is on reduction of project cost per KWp, while maintaining quality of equipment and construction at the same level.  

However, a lot of developments have been seen in this regard, like; 

• Development and use of new construction machinery and tools for a quick project handling. 
• Optimization of efficiency and reliability of photovoltaic systems.
• Use of String Inverters rather than Central Inverters in order to minimise the mis-match losses and to maximise the output.  
• R&D of utility-scale energy storage systems for stabilization of regional power grids. 
• Combination of Wind, Solar and even fuel-based energy sources in Hybrid Power Plants.
• Co-operation with energy suppliers and grid operators for an utmost environmentally-friendly and inexhaustible source of energy. 
• Remote installation monitoring by drone-based system.

Solar project should be designed for a life of 25 years. What quality parameters should mounting structures adhere to, in order to sustain over this period?  

Solar Mounting Structures are critical components in solar power plants, which support the solar panels on the ground or on rooftops. They ensure the structural stability of the solar system.

Solar panels need secure fastening to the roof or ground to protect against high velocity winds. Moreover, solar panels also require protection against water logging and other elements that gather on the ground or on the roof. Mounting structures must adhere to adverse environment conditions. 

The Mounting structure shall be so designed to withstand the speed for the wind zone of the location where a PV system is proposed to be installed. 

It may be ensured that the design has been certified by a recognized Lab / Institution and submit Wind Load calculation sheet to MEDA. 

Suitable fastening arrangement and grouting should be provided in order to secure the installation against the specific wind speed.

The mounting structure steel shall be as per latest IS 2062: 1992 and galvanization of the mounting structure shall be in compliance of latest IS 4759.

Structural material shall be corrosion resistant and electrolytically compatible with the materials used in the module frame, its fasteners, nuts and bolts.

Aluminium structures also can be used, particularly in rooftop installations which can withstand the wind speed of respective wind zone. 

Apart from design and selection of suitable steel grade, it is also necessary to protect the structure parts from rusting either by coating or anodization. 

Suppliers, having robust manufacturing and Coating facilities should be selected for supply of structures. 

Do We Need Stricter Product Certification Guidelines And Quality Standards For The Solar Sector?

Yes, off course. As I said earlier, there is tremendous pressure on the cost of the projects. So, wherever possible, component manufacturers would try to optimize the cost. 

Therefore, in order to ensure the desired Quality of the components, stricter Product Certifications and Quality Standards must be implemented on all critical equipment, like PV Modules, Transformer, Inverters, Cable, Panels, Module Mounting Structures etc. 

Inspection and Testing must be ensured at factory before these components are shipped to sites. 

As we know that PV module being most expensive and critical items in the PV Plant, so special focus must be given on selection and qualification of module suppliers through review of IEC / BIS certificates, factory audits, close monitoring of quality parameters during production and pre-shipment inspection according to relevant standards.  

In order to ensure reliability of PV Modules, sequential testing methods need to be incorporated.

List some of the challenges you come across while developing a project?  

Despite tremendous efforts from Government to promote Clean Energy in India, Solar industry has been facing a lot of barriers, like: 

Training and development of human resources to drive industry growth and PV adoption. 

The lack of closer industry-government cooperation for the technology to achieve scale.

Land allotment & PPA signing is a long procedure under the Generation Based Incentive scheme. 

Lack of better financing infrastructure, models and arrangements. 

Lack of collaborative, focused and goals driven R&D to help India attain technology leadership. 

Domestic manufacturing failed to take advantage of Safe-Guard import duty imposed on PV Solar Modules, even after one year of imposition.  Government should consider some other way-out in order to help the domestic Solar manufacturing sector. 

There is a need for more promotional incentives by Government and better industry-government co-operation in order to give a further push the Solar Industry in India.  

• Give us a glimpse about your company presence and offering in the solar sector?
• Kalpa Power is an end to end solution provider of solar power plant projects. Kalpa prides itself in being able to develop solutions which are highly customised, user oriented and seek to maximize benefits through cost effective technology deployment with least operational overheads. Our team of experienced professionals make sure installations across India occur seamlessly at the same high standards ascribed by us to achieve maximum benefits from any given locations. We have achieved a capacity of 16 + MW in solar generation across India and have another 15 MW in India and 3 MW in West Asia in the pipeline.  We are in the business of solar power for the last 5 years and have the necessary experience and expertise in Design, Procurement of quality products and project execution, along with an excellent Finance and Administrative teams which manages the day to day operation and fund requirement of the company. This results in making timely project execution and commissioning. Apart from EPC team, we also have strong Operation and Maintenance team which ensures proper monitoring of installed solar power plant and aims for zero break down, by having real time monitoring system as every single unit generation from solar power plant count

Where do you see your Kalpa Power 10 years from now?

 Without subsidies, in 2016, globally solar became more competitive than the coal based or thermal power plants. Since then, the solar prices have come down substantially. In 2012, less than 10% of the annual capacity added in the world came from solar. Last year, it was over 25%. Hence there are huge growth opportunities. You have got a situation where the market is projected to grow fast and by 2022 , approximately 2% to 3% of the electricity will be generated by solar globally. The opportunity over the next 10 years is immense because this number will have to go up and become a substantial number for the world energy market.  As we are expanding our operation on a global level, alongwith current projects in pipeline we are optimistic we can make a remarkable achievement in the field of Renewable energy globally in the next 10 years. We have cumulative target of 50 MW in next 2-3 years.

Taking forward our knowledge and expertise in solar, we are venturing into solar powered Electric Vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). Traditional electricity sourced from conventional sources is expensive, and losses are high to convert electricity from AC to the required standards for EVSE for charging. Hence solar and EVSE are a natural fit. We’ve already received an EoI from large corporate and government entities in this regard. We have started development in this sector by designing and manufacturing of efficient smart chargers for electric vehicles which are expected to hit the market by the end of FY 2019 or by early FY 2020.  

What are the key drivers of growth in the solar rooftop segments?

Solar power provides a decentralized option to address growing power needs of a vast-expansive country like India. Kalpa power envisions to fulfill the needs of the country by providing cheap and affordable power. Solar power can be designed to size so as to meet the needs and requirements of the urban as well as the rural people of India by providing independence from foreign sources of energy, thus enabling stable energy prices for the future. Increasing the supply of renewable energy would allow us to replace carbon-intensive energy sources and significantly reduce India’s total CO2 emissions.

High energy cost and tariffs usually affects the operating margins of many manufacturers, industry and commercial complexes. Green and clean energy being a prime objective and step towards sustainable development, has been a major key drivers in the solar rooftop segments. This initiative is taken by many leading industries. Another key driver for growth is net metering policy, which encourages end consumer to take benefit of excess generation from solar power plant.

How has GST impacted solar rooftop industry in India?

GST has indeed made an impact on capital cost of solar project. According to a recent study published by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water(CEEW) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the introduction of GST has led to an increase in cost of generation of solar power by almost 6 per cent. The current GST structure discourages a potential client to go for solar . With the government aiming for ambitious target of 100 GW  and with current market scenario GST for solar need a relook from government. If you observe last three quarters, capacity addition of solar project have been declining. Cut down of GST on Solar rooftop should be major objective of MNRE, that will boost up solar capacity addition. It is important to continuously monitor and examine if fiscal measures are being effectively wielded, to support India’s larger national objectives with implications for sustainable development. The introduction of the safeguard duty on solar panels has compounded the uncertainty, resulting in delays in deployment of solar projects. Combined with the imposition of safeguard duty (making majority of the PV panels used expensive) and the cap on solar power tariffs, the GST impact may have a bearing on the profitability of companies in this sector.

What according to you is the biggest strength of Hero Future Energies in the solar sector?

Hero Future Energies (HFE) is the renewable energy arm of the Hero Group, which is an extremely diversified industrial conglomerate. The group’s flagship company is Hero Motocorp but we also have auto component company, finance company, electronic company, university and of course renewable energy.

We are one of India’s fastest growing renewable energy developer. The “Hero approach” of owning a renewable energy project is based on business case certainty of 25 years or more, this in turn helps to bid and build robust assets with the right HSEQ standards in a time bound manner.

How significant is energy storage for the development of solar sector?

One of the distinctive characteristics of the electric power sector is that the amount of electricity that can be generated is relatively fixed over short periods of time, although demand for electricity fluctuates throughout the day. Energy storage can assume a larger role in matching the demand and supply. At the same time, technological development, better utilization of transmission assets and rapid price reduction of other technologies like thermal storage and battery energy storage along with rapid penetration of intermittent renewable energy like solar and wind, have created a renewed demand for energy storage technologies.

Energy storage will also support buyers by supplying power during peak period along the day at competitive prices against the power from conventional sources during such period which is procured by paying premium charges.

What do you think are the untapped opportunities which needs to be explored in the solar sector?

Solar sector has evolved from being focused on heat transfer-based method of power generation to solar photovoltaic based power generation during the last decade under the JNNSM and it’s still evolving as we speak.

Thus, we see very high opportunities in the fields of domestic solar PV module manufacturing with integrated supply chain of polysilicon to PV modules instead of cells to PV modules to cater the demand of both domestic and international market (100+ GW per annum).

Technological development in battery-based energy storage system clubbed with solar/ wind energy generation has huge potential in the coming years. A shift to green alternative will be attractive as compared to conventional power based on pricing.

India has ~ 36 GW of installed wind capacity. Most of these farms also happen to be in high solar insolation zones and if proper hybridization is done even to the 50% (i.e., 18 GW) of such installed capacity along with solar and energy storage solutions, it will result in better utilization of existing transmission systems along with increase in capacity utilization factor and reduction in variability of power from renewable sources. Also, it means that about 18 GW capacity can be added in a short span of 1 year to the country’s overall renewable target.

A lot has been done to improve the policy and regulatory framework for the sector. What are the problems that persist with in the sector?

In FY18 capacity addition in renewables was 2.5 times the capacity addition in conventional energy generation during the same period. This sector has seen numerous off takers in the bids conducted by SECI, NTPC, MSEDCL, GUVNL and other nodal agencies during second half of 2018 and so far in the first half of 2019, thus we expect considerable capacity addition in the years ahead.

This wave of optimism coupled with strong regulatory framework is the need of the hour. However, challenges to be dealt includes outstanding overdues with DISCOMs, slower augmentation of transmission infrastructure, threatening and challenging the sanctity of long-term power purchase agreements by state government, uncertainty of waiver of transmission charges beyond March 2022 etc.

Additionally, to spur investment in this sector few more challenges namely mismatch in timelines of solar projects, deemed non-agricultural conversion of land for use in solar projects, curtailment of power from renewable sources and non-adherence to “Must Run” status for renewable projects need to be addressed.

It is worth mentioning that union government had already taken cognisance of situation and invited RE developers in recently conducted Chintan Baithak by MNRE to address the challenges faced by the sector. Let 2019 be the time when leaders in government and business of renewables can jointly drive sectoral growth, create employment and transit towards a carbon free economy.

What more can Indian government do to propel the growth of the sector?

To improve the bankability of projects, the government should focus on the following pointers, which might seem micro in nature but is of utmost importance to gain confidence of any investor or banker.

• Development of single window clearance for all requisite approvals
• Flexibility in terms of size and timing of equity infusion
• Deemed generation compensation at 100% of applicable tariff in case of grid curtailment
• Time bound adoption of tariff discovered under tariff based competitive bidding by ERCs without any re-examination of such discovered tariff
• Timely payment to renewable generators
• Extension of financial closure and commissioning timelines for actual/ genuine delays in government approvals
• Pre-defined formula for calculating impact of new duty on cell and modules
• Increase the duration of PPAs from existing 25 years to 35 years for solar, wind and storage-based hybrid projects

How has been Impulse Green Energy’s journey so far and what is its current scale of operations?

Impulse started operations around three years ago as a distributor of solar power equipment. We are the distributors for high quality and high performance solar brands including Huawei, LONGi Solar, REC, Hoymiles, Leoni and QC Solar.

In terms of growth in operations, we had a turnover of only about Rs 7 million in 2016-17 but last year, in 2018-19, our turnover was Rs 360 million. This year, in 2019-20, we are expecting to cross Rs 750 million in turnover. This also reflects the growth of the solar power industry in the country as well as the opportunities for good quality equipment manufacturers. The brands we are working with launched their products in the Indian market around the same time when we entered the market. The growth in our bottom line reflects how the strength of their product has increased over these years. The good quality can be gauged from the fact that we have had several repeat customers for these products.

When we talk about the share of inverters and modules, so far the majority of our revenue was from inverters. Here it must be noted that the cost of modules per MW is eight to ten times the inverter cost but we added modules to our portfolio only last year when we started distributing REC modules. LONGi Solar signed us up in 2019 so this year onwards we are expecting the share of modules in our total revenues to be 50 per cent.

What is the split between rooftop and utility-scale solar space?

Majority of our clients are sourcing the products for rooftop projects. So over 70 per cent of our revenue is derived from rooftop segment and remaining from utility-scale projects. Within rooftop, majority of the business is coming from the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment followed by SECI-sponsored government and institutional users. Residential rooftop has only started picking up recently and is expected to gain traction in the coming years.

Why would project developers source equipment from a distributor and not directly from the manufacturer?

Project developers opt for distributor mostly in the rooftop segment. In the utility-scale market, there is negligible scope for distributor due to the scale of projects. A distributor comes into picture when there is a small expansion or addition in the plant which is to be done in a short span of time.

Moreover, rooftop projects are widely spread across. The cost of supplying to such staggered and distributed projects for companies like LONGi and Huawei is similar to the cost of supplying to any large utility-scale projects. For multinational companies like Huawei and LONGi Solar as well, shipping products to a single company will be much more convenient than shipping to multiple small-scale players. A small rooftop project owner or developer would not want to bear such high costs. Moreover, a single glitch in the process can risk delaying the shipment leading to serious cost implications. In order to avoid the same, it is better to have a channel partner which will support the customer by ensuring that the shipment reaches in time. We maintain adequate stock in order to meet the immediate door delivery requests as well besides being the local and reliable point of contact to address any issues.

How does the after sales service function in this case?

Impulse has its own team of after sales service. The team is trained by our vendors. But this is mostly relevant for inverters as the after sale service for modules is negligible. The only challenge with solar modules is that they need to be handled carefully while being transported and we take full guarantee for the same.

Besides, we are planning to train our local service team to be well versed with various types of defects in modules and also provide them training to have onsite analysis capabilities. This is important to provide the customer quick support and opinion since the sites are staggered and at the company representative may sometime take longer duration to reach the site. However, in case of module defect, nothing can be finalised until the site is analysed by the manufacturer’s team.

What all new module technologies has LONGi Solar brought in the Indian market?

We started with supplying LONGi Solar’s Monocrystalline PERC modules. The company has recently diversified into Monocrystalline PERC half-cut technology which offers significantly better performance and efficiency. The company is now planning to offer higher capacity modules. Currently, they are offering 375 Wp modules which they plan to increase the module capacity to 420 Wp while keeping the dimension/size similar. This will be beneficial for C&I users which have limited rooftop space. A higher capacity module will make a significant difference when seen from a 25-year project lifecycle point of view.

Besides, LONGi Solar is also working on the bifacial technology which is suited for both utility and rooftop solar projects. The technology trials have already begun but we are yet to supply these modules. A number of our customers have shown interest for bifacial technology as the difference in power generation using bifacial modules ranges from 7 per cent to 39 per cent, depending on the surface. For instance, if the modules are installed on a snow covered surface, the reflection levels are significantly high and so is the efficiency. In case of a rooftop, the surface of the roof can be painted white to derive the maximum efficiency from bifacial modules.

The shift from polycrystalline to monocrystalline is already taking place and going forward, we are likely to witness the shift towards bifacial. The transition is inevitable given that the cost differential is not very significant. It will be an increase of only 7 to 8 per cent in cost terms but efficiency gains will be much higher.

How do these products compare with the competing products in the market which may come at a much lower price?

We are only dealing in premium products as our intent is to supply equipment for a project which can be sustainable for a period of 20-25 years. As far as pricing is concerned, products offered by companies like Huawei, LONGi Solar and REC may come at a 4-5 per cent higher price but the value proposition they offer are much more significant.

We try to convince the customer basis the long-term value, good quality and higher efficiency of the product for which they are willing to pay the premium.

Before associating with brands we have analysed the trust factor, the financial strength and the longevity of the brand and all our brands though they demand premium over prevailing market terms are the leaders in technology & innovation, along with being very reputable and recognised brands not only in India but international market too

Which industry verticals are witnessing a greater movement towards solar power?

All industries where power consumption is high are moving towards to solar power. Manufacturing industry including automotive, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, textiles and data centres, is emerging as one of the highest installers of solar power projects.

Large educational institutes are moving towards solar due the benefits offered under the net metering policy in most states. Breweries, distilleries, stone quarries and cement units are going for solar largely due to their RPO obligations. But the trend of moving towards solar is more in the mid-scale owner driven manufacturing units.

What is the company’s geographical reach? Which states are experiencing higher demand for your products?

We are a pan-India player. Headquartered in Mumbai, we have offices in Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi. Our warehouses are in Navi Mumbai, Chennai and Ajmer. This is sufficient to cater to the central, western, northern and southern regions. We are now beginning to see demand from the eastern region as well. So we are planning to hire more people in the eastern regions.

In order to optimise costs, we are also taking the channel partner route. For instance, we have a channel partner in Rajasthan wherein we provide them a complete container of modules and inverters for supply within the state.

We are witnessing high demand in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. We are also beginning to witness activity in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh besides the eastern region.

What are the best practices for efficient and safe logistics of modules and inverters?

Inverters are much easier to transport compared to modules which are extremely fragile. We take guarantee for proper shipment of modules till the customer’s premises. If broken or damaged during the transfer, we either replace the module or provide refund. Proper packing of modules is crucial to ensure that they do not get damaged, especially if they are transported to remote locations for which the approach roads are generally of poor quality.

Therefore, special attention is paid towards packing and we have specifically trained our warehouse team to pack modules in such manner so that they can last the journey on Indian roads. This type of packing is important not only to avoid breakages but to avoid micro cracks too. We are also open to ideas from our partners who suggest new ways. Further, our team keeps an eye on the most effective and cost efficient processes of packing so that we can make the process fool proof.

What are the new technologies or products that customers of solar power projects can expect in 2019-20?

Mono PERC is the latest and most trending technology currently. The emphasis in the coming year would be on increasing efficiencies and watt-class in this technology by using half cut platform.

Bifacial modules are going to be the next big thing in the solar panel space in India. LONGi Solar has already released its bifacial PERC monocrystalline module and we are soon going to start supplying these as customers are showing interest in higher efficiency products.

In the inverter space, micro inverters, which are already available in the market, are going to be our next offering. While Huawei currently offers string solutions with optimisers for the rooftop customers in India, it is already selling micro inverters in the European markets where they are a big hit. But very soon, we are going to start supplying these in India as soon as the residential rooftop, which will have much smaller-scale projects, starts gaining traction.

Raychem RPG has a huge varied portfolio of offerings for solar sector. Can you give us more insights on it?

Raychem RPG is the pioneer in Energy Storage Systems which is the key for ensuring dispatchable solar energy. The company has a wide range of products for Solar and Energy Storage Systems. The FIRST MW Scale Project integrated with solar power and back-up diesel generator for supplying firm power to power electronics manufacturing line was deployed and commissioned by Raychem RPG in March 2018.

Raychem RPG has set-up a new manufacturing facility in India for bi-directional inverters for energy storage integration. This facility produces power conversion systems for global supplies.

To add to this, I would also like to mention that Raychem RPG is also the leader in supply of multi-winding solar transformers with over 6 GW of supplies for solar projects in India. We innovated multi-winding transformers and kept pace with the evolution of solar inverters and emerging requirements for solar developers.

Moreover, Raychem RPG’s flagship products for connection and insulation systems ensure safety, security and longevity of solar fields. All these products are designed and manufactured with 25 years of life time, as required for solar projects. We supply Cable jointing and termination kits, transformer connection systems, safety products and equipment, surge & lightening arrestors, string combiner box, to name some.

As Solar storage is the current buzzword in the solar industry and Raychem RPG being the pioneer in this segment, what would be the demand outlook for the storage products in 2019?

Year 2019 is turning out to be the transformational year for energy storage and solar segments. There are three key levers that are working together to create and integrate energy storage with solar markets in India

a. Government Policies – Government has come out with FAME-2 for electric mobility, as well as, the Energy Storage Mission and CERC amendment for demand side management for utilities. It is also working with utilities for adoption of future business model along with focus on overall improvement of utility’s financials. Many pilot and demonstration projects are planned to set the base for long term business model for industry players and developers

b. Market Dynamics – Growing adoption of energy storage globally has demonstrated that it is not limited to just one application. The dispatchable power along with multitude of use cases can create business models for developers and utilities to push for hybrid solar + storage or RE + storage projects

c. Technology Maturity – There have been several projects globally to demonstrate the actual working of energy storage system with the grid and load sub-systems that gives relevant data points for developers to contain their risk and build credible business models.

Another important factor is that the Battery production is attaining economies of scale leading into supply chain stabilization and passing on the benefits to the customers.

Raychem RPG has done Strategic Technology Partnership with various companies. Can you tell us more about this?

Raychem RPG has done technology collaboration with Dynapower, a global leader in energy storage products and technologies with over 500+ MW of storage projects deployed globally. Raychem RPG collaboration with Dynapower addresses three major areas:

a. Manufacturing of power conversion systems in India – These products are customized and stabilized for Indian environment while ensuring global standards. This ensures that the customers doing projects in India and other countries get the benefits of complete technical, commissioning and warranty support from Raychem RPG’s established service network. As the products are 100% localized, there are no global supply chain dependencies and can provides faster customer service

b. Global product supplies – Products manufactured at Raychem RPG’s facility in Halol, Gujarat are exported   across the world that ensures that the products are of global standard

c. Development of next generation products – The technical team from Raychem RPG and Dynapower collaborate together in developing next generation products for the world.

How do you manage to provide quality after sales service to your prestigious customer base?

Raychem RPG has a fairly well evolved 3R concept for customer service – Reliable, Responsive and Receptive. The company has Pan-India service presence to ensure that customers get First Time Right Service with complete life cycle promise for their investments.

Raychem RPG is also one of the very few companies to have attained excellence level of TPM that ensures that all the products manufactured and/or supplied by us are quality products and delivered to customer sites on time.

How the solar industry will evolve in the next 2 years?

Renewable energy is showing growing adoption globally and the next frontier is dispatchable renewable energy that is driving the growing adoption of energy storage. Renewable percentage of the overall energy consumption will keep showing the upward trend. We also see that the consumers will start driving further adoption of Green energy.

Utilities across the world are remodelling their business models to become more service oriented and giving options to consumers to drive new energy consumption patterns. Energy as a domain and infrastructure is expected to evolve at break-neck speed in the next two years and keep all major players in the domain on their toes.

Could you give our readers a brief introduction of your company?

Insolation Energy is being Promoted by Vikas Jain & Manish Gupta both are Engineers from Education Background and company was incorporated in 2016.

We begun our commercial production from year 2017 April with an Fully automatic line of capacity 80 MW. It is one of the most advanced plant installed in North India having manufacturing base in Jaipur on NH8.

What are the services provided by your company? What makes you stand apart from other players in the market?

We are purely into Panels Manufacturing keeping our complete focus on manufacturing only. WE believe still there is lot of R&D going on in this field and we have to continuously enhance our quality and adopt latest technologies so we are not focusing on EPC or tenders business.

What according to you has been the biggest milestone on your path?

The decision to invest in good equipment and selection of right team has been biggest milestone without which we would not be able to reach at this positon. At the start of plant we got an order for 2.3 MW plant in Ujjain were we could prove our quality and this was the biggest milestone in our growth.

As a module manufacturer, what trend do you expect in the race in Module Technology?

New trends are Twin Peak / Bifacial and Mono PERC. We have already started making MONO PERC modules and are In process of quality updation for Bifacial and Twin Peak Modules.

Module Quality, Costs, and Performance are key concern areas for Indian project developers. How would you like to address these issues for your offerings in India?

There is too much pressure in India on the cost of solar Modules we strive hard to keep our prices competitive without any compromise in quality. Since last two years we have been able to supply good quality panels in market and customers are gaining confidence in our quality and we have receving repeat orders from the satisfied customers now. In the past it has been observed that some Chinese companies failed to provide warranty claims and replacement to indian EPC companies .Since we are a local company we can address their concerns better.

What are your plans for the current and next financial year?

India has been our biggest market as of now but we trying very hard to reach markets of Middle East Africa and Latin America. We hope to get some good orders from these countries in near future.

Currently our capacity is 80 MW per Annum we are going to make the size double in this fiscal alongwith modules we are also planning for a cell line and a Lithium batter line. This year we plan to do a business of 100 cr. We have target of atleast 25% growth YoY.