Saur Energy Magazine September 2019

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SAUR ENERGY

SEPTEMBER 2019 | Rs. 200

I N T E R N A T I O N A L DCP LICENSING NO. F.2(S-29) PRESS/2016 l VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 l TOTAL PAGES 96 l PUBLISHED ON 1ST OF EVERY MONTH

INDIA’S FALTERING SOLAR TARGET

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FROM THE EDITOR

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

GROUP EDITOR 2019 is probably going to see the lowest solar capacity PRASANNA SINGH addition in three years after the heady boom of 2017 prasanna@meilleurmedia.com that was supposed to be the start of a long, extended expansion. There is reason to hope that much like India's DIRECTOR MARKETING missed landing on the moon, this year's slide will be just PRATEEK KAPOOR an aberration in the longer trend of inevitable growth prateek@meilleurmedia.com and expansion.

Which is why we have focused on rooftop solar EDITOR this month; not only because of the big gap it is MANAS NANDI supposed to fill in India, but also for its underwhelming manas@meilleurmedia.com performance thus far. Besides, we have also placed the spotlight on the five states that could make or ASSOCIATE EDITOR break the targets for the remaining three years to MANU TAYAL 2022. manu@meilleurmedia.com One of the peculiar characteristics of India's solar push has been the almost complete absence STAFF WRITER of communicating its environmental benefits.

AYUSH VERMA This can make convincing stakeholders in the editorial@meilleurmedia.com energy system very difficult in a country where available thermal capacity is twice as much MANAGER- MEDIA SOLUTION as demand. The longer view must talk about GIRISH MISHRA the environment, especially the impending girish.mishra@meilleurmedia.com shift in transportation energy to electricity.

DESIGN HEAD That shift will be almost useless unless SANDEEP KUMAR renewable energy supplies a large part of the new demand that will be created.

WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER We believe the EV revolution must be JITENDER KUMAR tracked for that reason, hence our continued focus on EV's too, including WEB PRODUCTION Yulu, a start-up offering last mile BALVINDER SINGH solutions for public transport users.

In this special issue, there is a whole SUBSCRIPTIONS lot more; be it product reviews, KULDEEP GUSAIN profiles to even solar customers subscription@meilleurmedia.com and their views. Don't miss out - this might be your best way to know where the industry stands today.

Prasanna Singh prasanna@meilleurmedia.com

Saur Energy International is printed, published, edited and owned by Manas Nandi and published from 303, 2nd floor, Neelkanth Palace, Plot No- 190, Sant Nagar,East of Kailash, New Delhi- 110065 (INDIA),Printed at Pearl Printers, C-105, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi.

Editor, Publisher, Printer and Owner make every effort to ensure high quality and accuracy of the content published. However he cannot accept any responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Editor and publisher. The information in the content and advertisement published in the magazine are just for reference of the readers. However, readers are cautioned to make inquiries and take their decision on purchase or investment after consulting experts on the subject. Saur Energy International holds no responsibility for any decision taken by readers on the basis of the information provided herein. Any unauthorised reproduction of Saur Energy International magazine content is strictly forbidden. Subject to Delhi Jurisdiction.

CONTENT PAGE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

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VISHWANATH KAMATH Managing Director Fronius India Private Limited

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RUCAS WANG Regional Director Growatt

AMID MOTOWN SLOWDOWN, ELECTRIC TWO AND THREE-WHEELERS POWER AHEAD

POLICY

SUDHIR AGGARWAL

Executive Director Patanjali Renewable Energy

62 EMERGING SOLAR COMPANIES

MARKET

EV

24 10 MSEDCL Petitions for Procuring 500 MW RE MNRE Guidelines for Approval of Solar Inverters States That Miss UDAY Targets to Face Fund Cuts

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SEPTEMBER 2019

38 China to Meet Paris Targets a Decade Early Restrictive Guidelines to Impact System Integrators

Tamil Nadu Launches 1st Electric Bus in Chennai EESL to Bring EV Charging Station to Kolkata NTPC Commissions its 1st EV Charging Station

Corrigendum: In the August issue, there was a misprint in the ad of Waaree on page 21. The error has been corrected and the ad appears on page 25 of this issue.

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CONTENT PAGE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

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COVER STORY

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WILL ROOFTOP SOLAR RESCUE INDIA’S FALTERING SOLAR TARGET INNOVATION

MILESTONE

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SEPTEMBER 2019

India eyes Financial Aid to Achieve Paris Targets

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A Better Method for Harnessing Power from Solar

Engie Begins Work on its Biggest Wind Complex

ENGIE Acquires African Firm Mobisol

NREL, First Solar Collab Enhances Thin-Film Solar Cells

Total adds 1000th Solar Powered Service Station

Adani Acquires 205 MW PV Projects From Essel

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POLICY UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

MSEDCL PETITIONS FOR PROCURING 500 MW RE The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Corporation (MSEDCL) has filed a petition with the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for approval on procurement of 500 MW flexible and schedulable power from renewable energy sources with energy storage facility for 25 years and approval of the related tender documents.

In its petition, MSEDCL has requested the commission to consider such procurement for fulfilment of the discoms Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO).

The discom in its submissions to the state commission has declared that it has already contracted 9,852 MW of renewable power as on March 31, 2019, and has planned to contract around 8,000 MW of renewable energy especially solar power to meet its RPO targets. By the next financial year, it expects around 16,500 MW of renewable

power is expected to be fed into the grid, says the petition.

In its petition, the discom has cited the non-availability of sufficient quantities of RECs and increased rates in the market to cause difficulties in purchasing

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), and in part fulfill its RPO. And that, “In such a scenario with increasing targets of RPOs on Year to Year basis, it is necessary that MSEDCL should contract sufficient Renewable power through the long-term contracts.”

The state commission compared the SECI’s latest tender for 1200 MW solar projects with peak power supply documents with MSEDCL’s RfS submitted with its petition. “On comparison it is observed that there are many Clauses in SECI’s documents which if adopted

by MSEDCL would improve the clarity of MSEDCL’s RfS document,” the commission stated.

In its order, the commission has asked the Discom to rectify all the deficiencies and errors in its RfS document. After which, it can approach the commission with a new petition.

RAJASTHAN INVITES JAPANESE HIMACHAL SIGNS PACT FOR INVESTMENTS IN SOLAR SECTOR 250 MW SOLAR PROJECTS

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SEPTEMBER 2019

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has assured a Japanese business delegation of his government's full cooperation and support in setting up industries in the state. Gehlot gave the assurance during his meeting with the delegation led by Japan's Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu. In the meeting, Gehlot also invited Japanese entrepreneurs to invest in solar energy sector in the state, saying that Rajasthan is the most promising state in the field of solar energy. The state government is encouraging investment in this area, he said. The delegation also had representatives from companies located in Japanese Zone at Neemrana in Rajasthan and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). The chief minister urged Japanese companies already operating in the state to consider carrying out expansions, while promising them full cooperation in ventures. Earlier this month, Gehlot had said that his government will bring in a policy to make the state a hub of solar energy. He said efforts were being made to generate 10,000 MW of additional power in the state in the next five years. “The government is going to introduce a new solar and wind energy to make the state a hub of solar power,” Gehlot said. The chief minister said a 1,000 MW solar park is being developed in Nokh, Jaisalmer, by the Rajasthan Solar Park Development Company Limited. About Rs 3,450 will be invested in it, he added. The people of the state will greatly benefit from the solar park, the chief minister added. Presently, Rajasthan is on the third position in the field of solar power and efforts are on to bring it to number one, Gehlot said.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

Himachal Pradesh on September 3, 2019, signed two pacts for setting up solar power plants with an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore.

The first pact with an estimated outlay of Rs 600 crore was signed with Renew Energy Private Ltd for setting up a 150 MW solar plant, which is proposed to be commissioned by 2021, while the second was signed with CSE Development (India) Private Ltd for setting up a100 MW plant.

On behalf of the state government, the pacts were signed

by Principal Secretary Prabodh Saxena in the presence of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

Thakur said the state would facilitate the companies to obtain permissions and clearances from authorities at the earliest so that work on these projects could be started soon. The solar plants would be set up in Una and Kangra districts. He said the state aims to tap 776 MW solar power by 2022.

In July, we had reported that the state government of Himachal Pradesh has set a target of attracting investments to the tune of Rs 85,000 crore and has already succeeded in signing a memorandum of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 22,964 crore, according to Thakur.

Presiding over a review meeting on the investment target of the state, the chief minister had said that the government has set a target of attracting investments of Rs 85,000 crore, which include Rs 20,000 crore funding in hydro and renewable energy, real estate, urban development infrastructure, transport and logistics.

POLICY UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

RAJASTHAN, UTAH TO COLLABORATE IN ENERGY SECTOR The Rajasthan government and state of Utah in the US have entered into a partnership for knowledge sharing in the energy sector. The two states signed an MoU last week to advance statelevel policy exchange, share emerging knowledge of innovative energy solutions and to develop direct ties between Utah and the Rajasthan government agencies and private sector energy companies for creating new grid and off-grid energy availability.

Rajasthan's Principal Secretary of Energy Naresh Pal Gangwar said that the partnership was about knowledge sharing in energy sector and will benefit the two states.

The two states during a meeting last week discussed challenges and opportunities for collaboration between the two states, including renewable energy integration,

power plant flexibility, transmission and distribution sector issues, energy storage and electric mobility, a release from the US embassy said.

Laura Nelson, energy advisor to the governor of Utah and the executive

director of the Utah Governor's Office of energy development, said that Utah has experienced a 150 percent growth in renewable energy in advancing affordable, reliable and clean power options for its thriving economy and high quality of life.

"Given our states' shared interests in strengthening the grid while integrating new energy resources, our similar arid landscapes, and our unparalleled rich and diverse energy resources, there is much we can learn from and partner on creating a bright energy future for all," the release said.

Recently, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and State Energy Minister BD Kalla have both intimated that the state is working to bring a new renewable energy policy.

One that will help the state become a hub of solar energy in the near future.

NCLT OKs IL&FS PROPOSAL TO SELL WIND ASSETS

NEW MNRE GUIDELINES FOR SOLAR INVERTERS

The National Company Law Tribunal on August 28, 2019 cleared the sale of IL&FS's seven wind energy assets to Japan's Orix Corporation for Rs 4,800 crore, which will partially help reduce its debt burden of over Rs 99,000 crore.

The tribunal comprising of VP Singh and Rajesh Sharma allowed the government-appointed board's plea to approve sale of 51 percent stake in seven wind energy arms to Orix.

Orix Corporation is already an equity partner in the group and owns 49 percent stake in each of these seven operating wind power plants. The seven wind-power SPVs are Lalpur Wind Energy, Etesian Urja, Khandke Wind Energy, Retadi Wind Power, Wind Urja Indiae, Tadas Wind Energy and Kaze Energy.

The company should deposit the fund from the asset sale in aninterest-bearing account until further, the tribunal said.

Last month, IL&FS had said it would completely exit the wind energy business, held under IL&FS Wind Energy to Orix, with NCLT for final approval.The proposal was filed before the tribunal after completing a binding share purchase agreement with Orix and obtaining an in-principle approval from all lenders.

Jain had approved sale on conditions that the proposal would be placed before NCLT for approval and the bid amount realised from the sale be kept in an escrow account and the money would be disbursed only on the orders and directions of the NCLT/NCLAT. This intent to buy 51 percent stake was in exercise of Orix's right under the terms of an existing MoU wherein Orix could match the price offered by the highest bidder for purchasing these assets.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued the guidelines for the series approval of solar PV inverters for conducting testing in test labs for the implementation of Quality Control Solar Photovoltaics Systems, Devices and Component Goods Order 2017.

The guidelines are meant to facilitate test labs/manufacturers to approve the product family including change in design and materials for the solar inverters for their compulsory registration with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and for the implementation of the Solar Photovoltaics Systems Order.

These guidelines are applicable for solar PV based off-grid, grid-tied and hybrid inverters of capacities up-to 150KW. Under the guidelines, the manufacturers will have to submit a declaration about the series of their product while submitting the samples of a particular series for testing to test lab. Out of the entire range of models intended to be covered under registration, the highest-rated model shall be tested to cover the entire range of family.

The lab will be required to charge the cost of testing only for the highest-rated inverter size model and the product label of each series model will be placed in the test report.

If or whenever there is a change in construction, material or components in the family then the product will be submitted to test labs for fresh testing. The Firmware/software can have different limit setting as per the rating of the model in a given series, however, the overall Firmware functionality should remain the same.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

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POLICY UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

NEW GUIDELINES FOR ROOFTOP SOLAR PROGRAMME-II The Government of India (MNRE) has set the target of achieving 100 GW of solar power capacity in the country by the year 2022 of which 40 GW to be achieved from rooftop solar.

In 2015, the Centre had approved the "Grid Connected Rooftop and Small Solar Power Plants Programme" for installation of 4,200 MW RTS plants in the country by the year 2019-20, of which 2,100 MW was through Central Financial Assistance (CFA) and balance 2,100 MW was without CFA. Following which earlier this year, the Phase-II of the programme for achieving a cumulative capacity of 40 GW RTS plants by 2022 had been approved. And now the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued the implementation guidelines for the second phase of the program.

In Phase-II, it has been decided to implement the programme by making the Discoms and its local offices as the nodal points for implementation of the programme. Discoms will play a key role in the expansion of rooftop solar as they are having direct contact with

the end-user and they provide approval for installation, manage the distribution network and also have billing interface with rooftop owner.

The key objectives which the ministry hopes to fulfill through the second phase of the program are: • To promote grid-connected rooftop solar systems in all consumer segments, viz., residential, institutional, social, government, commercial, industrial, etc.

• To bring Discoms at the forefront as key

drivers for rapid deployment of RTS. • To create awareness, capacity building, human resource development, etc.

• To promote sustainable business models.

• T o create additional rooftop solar capacity of 38000 MW in the country

by December 31, 2019, out of which a capacity of 4000 MW in residential sector with CFA and 34000 MW in other sectors.

• To promote domestic manufacturing of solar cells and module.

STATES THAT MISS UDAY TARGETS TO FACE FUND CUTS

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SEPTEMBER 2019

The Centre has proposed a reduction in power sector funds of the states that would not maintain performance benchmarks set under the second version of Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme, which is at the draft stage, Power Minister R K Singh has said. The government plans the second wave of reforms in the power distribution sector and has shared the draft with states, the minister told reporters during the launch of the State Solar Rooftop Attractiveness Index (SARAL) on the sidelines of the annual Review and Planning Meeting being held with all the states and power Discoms. In November 2015, the Centre had launched the UDAY scheme to bring about the operational and financial turnaround of debt-laden power distribution companies.

“We have planned the second wave of distribution reforms and shared the draft with states. We are going to combine the features of UDAY scheme (meant for revival of debt-laden discoms) Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS),” the power minister said.

Elaborating further, the minister said, “we would add features like system strengthening, expansion of access, loss reduction and reforms in one package. The funds would be targeted towards exceeding those reforms (targets). The funds’ release SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

would fall if the trajectory of loss reduction (by discoms) and reforms reduce. It would happen quickly.”

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech in July had said, “our government launched UDAY in 2015 aimed at the financial and operational turnaround of Discoms. The government is examining the performance of the scheme and it will be further improved.”

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POLICY UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

INDIA, BAHRAIN TO COLLABORATE IN SOLAR SECTOR India and Bahrain on August 24, 2019, agreed to collaborate in the solar energy sector as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held comprehensive talks with his Bahraini counterpart Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa to give a major boost to the entire spectrum of bilateral relations.

As part of the exchange, the two nations have also signed agreements for the collaboration in the areas of space technology and culture exchange programs.

Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Bahrain, and Prince Khalifa witnessed the exchange of MoUs in the areas of culture, space, collaboration with International Solar Alliance (ISA).

The two sides agreed on the collaboration of the kingdom with ISA. The ISA, launched in 2015 by Modi and then French President Francois Hollande at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, is a major global initiative for contributing to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive

deployment of solar energy.

“Honoured to have met HH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Our talks were comprehensive and included a wide range of subjects concerning IndiaBahrain relations,” Modi tweeted after the talks.

Both leaders expressed their commitment to giving a boost to the entire spectrum

of bilateral relations.

In April the Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi had given its approval for a cooperation agreement between Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) of India and Ministry for Energy, Utilities and Climate of the Kingdom of Denmark on strategic sector cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy with a focus on offshore wind energy.

INDIA APPEALS CERTAIN RULINGS BY WTO DISPUTE PANEL

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SEPTEMBER 2019

India is challenging certain parts of rulings given by the WTO dispute settlement panel on a solar case against the US, according to a communication by the World Trade Organization. Though India has won this case against the US as most of the ruling is in favour of India, New Delhi has challenged certain issues of law and legal interpretation covered in the panel’s report or ruling.

“India hereby notifies the dispute settlement body (DSB) of its decision to appeal to the appellate body certain issues of law and legal interpretation covered in the panel report entitled US – Certain Measures Relating to the Renewable Energy Sector which was circulated on 27 June 2019,” the communication by India to WTO said.

India has stated that it appeals and requests the appellate body to reverse the findings and conclusions of the panel with respect to the errors of law and legal interpretations contained in the report related to certain areas.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

“The panel erred in holding that India did not make a prima facie case that the Minnesota solar thermal rebate under measure 10 had ongoing effects, and therefore, constituted a matter before the panel that required examination in order to provide a positive solution to the dispute,” it added.

In June this year, a WTO dispute resolution panel ruled in favour of India in a case against the US saying that America’s domestic content requirements and subsidies provided by eight of its states in the renewable energy or the solar sector are violative of global trade norms.

MODULE UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

ULTRATHIN SOLAR CELLS REACH RECORD 20% EFFICIENCY Researchers at the Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies (C2N), in collaboration in particular with researchers at the German Fraunhofer ISE, have succeeded to trap sunlight efficiently in a solar cell thanks to an ultrathin absorbing layer made of 205 nm-thick GaAs on a nanostructured back mirror. With this new architecture, an efficiency of nearly 20 percent was obtained.

Till now, the laboratory state-of-the-art 20 percent-efficient solar cells required at least 1 micrometer-thick layers of semiconductor material (GaAs, CdTe or copper indium gallium selenide -CIGS-), or even 40 µm or more in the case of silicon.

A significant thickness reduction would enable material savings of scarce materials like Tellerium or Indium and industrial throughput improvements due to shorter deposition times. However, thinning absorber automatically reduces absorption of sunlight and conversion efficiency. A flat mirror at the backside

of the cell can help and lead to doublepass absorption, but no more. Previous attempts of light trapping have been greatly limited in performance by the optical and electrical losses.

Researchers of the team led by Stéphane Collin and Andrea Cattoni at the C2N, in collaboration with Fraunhofer ISE, have developed a new strategy to trap light in ultrathin layers made of only 205 nm-

thick gallium arsenide, a semiconductor of the III-V family.

The work published in Nature Energy demonstrates that this architecture should enable 25 percent efficiency in the short term. Even if the limits are still unknown, the team is convinced that the thickness could be further reduced without efficiency loss, at least by a factor of two.

YINGLI SUPPLIES 110 MW PANELS TO SOLARIA

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SEPTEMBER 2019

Yingli Green Energy Holding, one of the world’s leading solar module manufacturers, has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Yingli Europe has supplied 110 MW of polycrystalline solar panels to Spanish operator Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente for the development of 3 solar projects in Castilla y León.

The panels will be installed in 3 projects with a capacity of 50 MW, 30 MW and 30 MW separately. As parts of the developments awarded to Solaria within the last large-scale auction held in Spain in July 2017, these projects are currently under construction in Castilla y León.

“In Solaria we have a very ambitious plan to reach more than 3 GW of installed power in Spain by 2023. These projects are part of the first steps of this plan and in them, we wanted to have a reference company in the sector such as Yingli,” said Dario López, CEO of Solaria.

Luis Contreras, the managing director of Yingli Europe said that after several years of reduced growth, the company is pleased SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

to see the resurgence of the PV sector in Spain. And that it is confident that solar energy is unstoppable and wants to be part of these emblematic projects. “To work with Solaria to improve the Spanish energy mix and contribute to bringing

clean energy for all is very motivating.

With the European headquarters that consist of laboratory, training center and warehouse, Yingli can offer outstanding services that a manufacturer can offer in Europe.”

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MILESTONE UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

ENGIE BEGINS WORK ON ITS BIGGEST WIND COMPLEX Engie has announced that it has begun the construction work on the Campo Largo 2 Wind Farm, in the State of Bahia, Brazil.

At 361.2 MW installed capacity, the project will be Engie’s worldwide biggest wind energy complex, to date.

“Engie is already playing an effective role in Brazil's energy transition process. Campo Largo 2 will strengthen our growth strategy based on renewable energy sources in the region,” said Maurício Bahr, CEO of Engie Brasil and chairman of the board of Engie Brasil Energia.

The Campo Largo comprises 11 wind farms which will be developed using 86 4.2-MW turbines, and will be Engie biggest wind complex when it begins operating, at 361.2-MW installed capacity. The project, which is intended for the free energy market, is being built next to two other complexes: Campo Largo I (326.7 MW) and Umburanas (360 MW).

Engie aims to enlist Campo Largo 2 under the UN Clean Development Mechanism, thereby contributing to an increasingly clean energy matrix. The investment is estimated at R$ 2 billion (USD 47.77 million) and the first generator units are expected to begin commercial operations in late 2020, with the last ones slated for completion in March 2021.

Assembly of the wind turbines is slated to begin late in the second half of 2020. The electric energy generated in the

complex will be entirely sold on the free market. This means that the Group is building the wind complex in the absence of pre-existing energy sales on Federal Government-sponsored auctions.

TOTAL ADDS 1000TH SOLAR POWERED SERVICE STATION

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SEPTEMBER 2019

French multinational integrated oil and gas company Total has inaugurated its 1000th solarised service station powered by solar panels. The rooftop solar systems at the Palmeraie retail outlet in Marrakech, Morocco, is a milestone in the company’s program to solarise certain of its service stations worldwide, begun in late 2016.

The company’s goal is to solarise 5,000 stations in 57 countries. And has reassured that the work on the project will accelerate in the coming months to reach around 1,000 stations per year. More than a third of its retail network stations worldwide will be equipped with high-efficiency SunPower solar panels.

“TOTAL service stations around the world are designed as one-stop shops offering customers tailor-made services that are easy to access and use,” said MomarNguer, president of Total Marketing & Services. “The service stations equipped with solar panels are more independent of the grid and showcase our know-how and expertise in renewable energies.

Consistent with Total’s ambition to become the responsible energy major, the SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

program will reduce our retail network’s carbon emissions by more than 50,000 tons per year.”

The firm is also solarising production sites, such as plants and refineries, and office buildings. A number of projects to equip various plants or office buildings with solar panels have been identified, adding up to a nominal power of more than 200

MW-peak, equivalent to the electricity demand of a city of 200,000 people.

The newly solarisedPalmeraie service station in Marrakech has 134 square meters of photovoltaic (PV) panels. The system will produce 45 megawatt-hours of power per year and reduce the retail outlet’s carbon emissions by 30 tonnes per year.

GRID UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

DELHI’S POWER DEMAND HIGHEST ON SUMMER NIGHTS The power demand in Delhi this summer peaked at night with "cooling load" due to the use of AC, coolers and fans contributing to maximum consumption of electricity. Data from Delhi's State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) sho ws that on 90 days between May and August, the city's power demand peaked during night.

"Contrary to popular perception that higher day temperatures require more power consumption, Delhi's power demand is increasingly peaking during the night hours mainly because of cooling load," a discom official said.

Delhi's peak power demand has increased by over 250 percent since 2002, when it was 2,879 MW. It clocked an all-time high of 7,409 MW on July 2 this year, according to the data. "Cooling load is the main factor behind the increase in Delhi's power load. In fact, according to estimates, almost around 50 percent of Delhi's power demand in summers is because of the cooling load of ACs, coolers and fans," the official said.

Air conditioning can account for up to 30-50 percent of annual energy cost

of a company or households. During summers, Delhi's power demand peaked during night on 89 days - 19 in May, 18 in June, 24 in July and 28 days in August, the data shows.

In fact even on July 2, when Delhi's

demand clocked an all-time high of 7,409 MW, power demand in South and West Delhi first made an all-time high record on 3,159 MW in the afternoon only to again breach it during the night (3,189 MW), discom officials said.

GE BAGS RS 90 CR PROJECT TO UPGRADE BENGAL GRID

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SEPTEMBER 2019

As part of its commitment to strengthen and modernise the energy transmission network of the country, GE T&D India has announced that it received a grid upgradation order from West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company (WBSETCL) that will address the growing energy demand of the state and provide the utility with latest state-of-the-art transmission infrastructure.

The order worth approximately Rs 90 crore that GE won through a competitive bidding processincludes construction of three new 132/33 kilovolt (kV) substations using GE’s advanced Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) technology in Ramnagar, Manbazaar and Birlapur. It also includes an extension of three existing substations at Hurand, Sirakole and Indus by adding two bays each.

With over 11 GW of generation capacity, West Bengal is working towards improving the availability, reliability and quality of power supply, whilst minimizing transmission and distribution losses. The projects aim at contributing to the state government’s ambition to provide 24X7 supply to all electricity consumers and provide electricity access to all unconnected households of the state.

GE T&D India has a strong footprint in West Bengal and with the latest contract awarded, the company is executing SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

projects worth over Rs 250 crore to upgrade the state’s grid infrastructure. Some of the key ongoing projects include GIS at Burdwan and Salt Lake. GE has been fully committed to modernise the state’s power infrastructure and has already completed projects worth approximately Rs 750 crore over the last few years in partnership with the state’s transmission and distribution utilities like WBSETCL, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), and Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation.

GRID UPDATES ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

PGCIL TO INVEST RS 2,578 CR IN RAJASTHAN PROJECT State-run PowerGrid Corporation of India (PGCIL) has announced that its board has approved an investment of Rs 2,578.47 crore for an electricity transmission project for a solar energy zone (SEZ) in Rajasthan.

The board of directors in their meeting held on August 27, 2019, have accorded investment approval for transmission system for the SEZs in Rajasthan at an estimated cost of Rs 2,578.47 crore with commissioning schedule as of December 2020, the company issued in a BSE filing.

Earlier, we had reported that the company had been declared the successful bidder under the tariff-based competitive bidding to establish transmission systems for two projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The state-owned utility had won the right to develop transmission systems associated with LTA application from Rajasthan Solar Energy Zone (SEZ) Part – C, on a Build Own Operate and Maintain (BOOM) basis. The transmission system comprises a 765/400 kV substation and 765 kV and 400 kV transmission lines that traverse Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi.

The other Letter of Intent (LoI) was received for establishing a transmission system for providing connectivity to RE Projects at Bhuj-11 (2000 MW) in Gujarat on BOOM basis. The Transmission system will comprise of 765/400kV Gas Insulated substation and

765kV transmission lines that traverse in the state of Gujarat.

The two contracts to set up transmission infrastructure have been signed for providing the facility to evacuate power generated from renewable energy projects.

In March, PGCIL had come up with a detailed proposal for developing a transmission system for the evacuation of power from potential solar and wind energy zones in the western region.

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EV UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

MG MOTOR, DELTA TO INSTALL FAST CHARGING STATIONS MG Motor India has revealed that it has tied up with Delta Electronics India to establish fast charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs). As part of the tie-up, Delta will install AC chargers in private vehicle parking locations such as homes and offices enabling MG customers to charge their EVs free of cost as per their convenience.

The move comes ahead of the launch of MG Motor's ZS EV in India next year. The model is currently on sale in the UK, Thailand and China.

"Our partnership with Delta, is another aspect of our commitment to help us (the company) pioneer and further develop the ecosystem for EVs in India, months ahead of the scheduled launch," MG Motor India Chief Commercial Officer, Gaurav Gupta said. The partnership expands our infrastructure push for EVs in both slow and fast charging segments, he added.

The upcoming launch of MG ZS EV next year is aligned with the government's objective to bring more EVs on the road in India. The MG ZS EV has crossed around 1,000 orders within two weeks of its launch in the UK. "As EVs have been greatly promoted by the government, we are constantly evaluating the Indian market from charging

infrastructure perspective and will continue to provide innovative solutions to EV users," Delta Electronics India Business Head (Energy Infrastructure Solutions) Niranjan Nayak said.

In July, we reported that MG Motor India and Fortum Charge & Drive India have undertaken the first step towards creating DC EV Fast Charging infrastructure (50 KW) in the country.

EESL TO BRING EV CHARGING NTPC COMMISSIONS ITS 1ST STATION TO KOLKATA EV CHARGING STATION

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SEPTEMBER 2019

State-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL) has announced that it is in talks with the West Bengal government for setting up electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in the metropolis and adjoining New Town area.

The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA), the West Bengal Transport Department, Power Department and the Urban Development Department are involved in installing the proposed EV charging stations, officials said. "We are planning 400 public EV charging stations in the city and New Town. Soon, a deal with NKDA will be inked," EESL Regional Head Sudeep Bhar said.

"We require land for the EV stations at viable locations. We have submitted a proposal to carry out the capex and maintain the infrastructure for 10 years. There will be some revenue sharing with the landowner.” A clear guideline for electricity cost of the charging stations is yet to be worked out, but talks are already in progress in this regard, the officials said. EESL has also given a proposal to the state government to supply electric sedans on lease. “There are two models we are offering. One is 'dry lease' at Rs 22,500 a month for a period of 6 years, and the other is for drivers, which will be about Rs 37,000 a month,” Bhar added.

Taking forward the vision of the National Electric Mobility Programme, EESL has so far commissioned 300 AC and 170 DC chargers across India, and also 55 public charging points which are currently operational in Delhi NCR. In the pursuit of increasing charging infra penetration, it has also partnered with Urban Local Bodies in Hyderabad, Noida, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chennai, and is in discussion with others across India.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

State-owned power utility NTPC Ltd. has announced the commissioning of its first electric vehicle (EV) charging station along with the Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL). The charging station has been installed at an IOCL petrol pump in Greater Noida. The two companies have joined hands to set up many such charging stations. “This EV Charging station is the first in a series of such charging stations which have been planned across cities and highways,” the company said in a statement.

The EV charging station offers four charging points to consumers with fast and slow charging options conforming to Bharat DC 001 and Bharat AC 001 standards.

NTPC said the adoption of electric vehicles is expected to help in reducing auto emissions, improving air quality and country’s dependence on oil imports. As part of its increased focus on setting up electric vehicle charging stations, NTPC has entered into agreements with fuel retailers, Delhi Metro Rail Corp and state government entities for providing electric mobility solutions.

In July, NTPC Ltd had issued a Notice Inviting Applications (NIA), seeking applications from eligible and interested parties for the enlistment of bidders for the development of EV charging infrastructure with Bharat Chargers. In March, the utility had issued a tender for the development of charging infrastructure for EVs. The scope of work had been divided into three sub-items which included, BOQ for 4-Wheeler Charging Infrastructure, BOQ for Bus Charging Infrastructure-I and finally, BOQ for Bus Charging Infrastructure-II.

EV UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

TOYOTA TO PROVIDE 3300 EVs FOR TOKYO 2020 Toyota Motor Corporation, the worldwide partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, has announced that it will provide a full line-up of electrified vehicles, including unique versions of certain vehicles as well as vehicles developed specifically to support the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Tokyo 2020).

With its electrified line-up, Toyota, together with the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, aims to achieve the lowest emissions target level of any official fleet used at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and thereby also helping to reduce the environmental burden of the Games.

Toyota will provide a total of around 3,700 mobility products and/or vehicles

for Tokyo 2020. The majority, or nearly 90 percent, of the official vehicle fleet will be electrified.

The Electrified vehicles fleet will include Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV), Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV), such as the

hydrogen-powered Mirai, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), the Prius PHV (known as Prius Prime in some markets), and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), including the “APM” (Accessible People Mover) and the e-Palette as well as TOYOTA Concept-i, which will provide a unique and wide-range of diverse mobility during Tokyo 2020. Among the electrified vehicles provided, Toyota will include approximately 500 FCEVs and approximately 850 BEVs, the largest of any fleet for a Games to date.

Out of the approx. 3,700 mobility products and/or vehicles for Tokyo 2020, 2,700 vehicles will be part of the official fleet providing transportation support between venues during the Olympic Games.

EDFR ACQUIRES EV CHARGING FIRM POWERFLEX

TAMIL NADU LAUNCHES 1ST ELECTRIC BUS IN CHENNAI

EDF Renewables (EDFR) has announced that it has acquired Los Altos, California-based PowerFlex Systems (PowerFlex), a pioneer in managed electric vehicle (EV) charging technology through its subsidiary EDFR North America.

The investment is part of EDF Renewables’ continued strategic growth in the distributed energy market, as reflected by their acquisition of groSolar in 2016 and their partnership with EnterSolar last year. PowerFlex’s patented technology was incubated out of Steven Low’s NetLab research laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The optimisation algorithms and methods were the outgrowth of a broad research program supported by grants from a variety of sources, including the National Science Foundation, ARPA-E, Department of Energy, Southern California Edison, California Energy Commission’s CalSEED program, etc.

PowerFlex has deployed some of the largest single-site EV charging deployments in the world thanks to their Adaptive Charging Network (ACN) technology. This system enables site hosts to maximise delivery of electricity to EVs while reducing or eliminating the need for costly utility upgrades by managing charging depending on driver’s demand, building load, onsite generation, and other variables.

“For California to meet the 2030 goal of 60 percent renewable energy and five million EVs, we need to deploy hundreds of thousands of low-cost workplace charging stations that promote daytime charging to prevent curtailment of solar,” said George Lee, CEO of PowerFlex in reference to California’s Duck Curve.

As part of measures to keep a check on the rising air pollution levels, the Tamil Nadu government has unveiled a batterypowered electric air-conditioned bus that would be operated on a trial basis on specific routes by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation in Chennai. Built by Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland, the roll-out of the bus comes against the backdrop of the state government signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the London-based ‘C-40 Cities Climate Leadership Group” in March 2018.

Accordingly, the Centre has given its consent to the government to operate 525 electric buses in Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Erode, Tiruppur, Salem, Vellore and Thanjavur. Chief Minister K Palaniswami flagged off the electric bus at the Secretariat. Palaniswami, his Deputy O Panneerselvam, Transport Minister M R Vijayabhaskar and a host of ministers and government officials travelled in the bus for a few km from the Secretariat as part of the launch ceremony. The electric buses are fitted with ‘fire detection and suppression system’ and can travel upto 120 km on a single charge. The bus that can seat 32 people is equipped with a host of features including air suspension facilities, GPS facility besides automatic doors. An Ashok Leyland official said “the bus has no gear box, no engine and (hence) no pollution.” The buses would be run for three to four months on a trial basis. The Tamil Nadu government has been pitching for vehicles that are run on alternative sources of energy. Recently, Palaniswami had unveiled an electric car ‘KONA’ manufactured by Korean-auto maker Hyundai at the Secretariat.

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

EV UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

VW TO INSTALL 4000 EV CHARGERS AT GERMAN SITES The Volkswagen (VW) brand is systematically driving its electric offensive and will be installing some 4,000 EV charging points at its German sites by 2025.

The first batch is already up and running. The first EV charging center was commissioned at the VW Group Components plant in Braunschweig. The 60 charging points are located on the Ohefeld parking lot bordering on the site. The charging power level is 11kW and the charging center uses a Type 2 plug, the European standard system. The sole source of power for charging is Volkswagen Naturstrom from renewable sources. The power has been certified by TÜV Nord and is 100 percent CO2-free, originating from sources such as wind and hydropower. Further charging centers will be successively phased in at the other German sites by 2025.

The Volkswagen Group is investing some EUR 250 million in expanding the charging infrastructure at its European sites.

When combined with the activities at dealerships, this means the group is providing some 36,000 new charging points in Europe.

“Adequate facilities for charging at the workplace are an important element in our electric offensive. Going forward, charging their electric vehicles while they are at work will be

easy and convenient for our employees. We are demonstrating how the gradual transition to e-mobility can succeed”, Thomas Ulbrich, member of the VW Board responsible for E-Mobility, said.

The company believes that charging at the workplace is becoming increasingly important because it is a good alternative for all those who cannot charge at home. Going forward, it expects some 20 percent of all charging operations could take place at the workplace.

ELECTRIFY AMERICA, EVGO TO ADD CHARGING SITES

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SEPTEMBER 2019

Electrify America and EVgo announced an interoperability agreement that increases access to electric vehicle (EV) charging stations throughout the US. The roaming partnership allows drivers to charge their EVs on both EVgo and Electrify America public chargers without additional fees, using their existing accounts for a seamless experience.

Drivers will be able to access public chargers on either the EVgo or Electrify America networks without having to create new memberships, registrations, or payment methods. The agreement will connect more than 3,000 DC fast chargers at more than 1,000 stations from EVgo and Electrify America, two of the nation’s largest owner/operators of charging stations that continue to expand their networks as the number of EVs on the road grows significantly in the coming years.

“As the demand for EVs continues to increase and create the need for more EV charging stations, we understand the importance of making access to public chargers as easy as possible for current and future EV drivers,” said Giovanni SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

Palazzo, president and CEO of Electrify America.

“Connecting our two networks helps ensure EV drivers have the freedom to travel on their terms without concerns of where to charge their EV along the way.”

Earlier this year, Electrify America announced a similar agreement with ChargePoint. The company also has

similar agreements in place for L2 chargers with Greenlots, Sema Connect and EV Connect. EVgo has also announced bilateral interoperability agreements with ChargePoint, EV Connect, and Sema Connect. Such collaborations between electric vehicle charging companies will continue to grow as more Americans take advantage of the benefits of EVs.

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INNOVATION UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

A BETTER METHOD FOR HARNESSING POWER FROM SOLAR In a new study, conducted by the University of Waterloo, the team of researchers developed an algorithm that increases the efficiency of the solar photovoltaic (PV) system and reduces the volume of power currently being wasted due to a lack of effective controls.

“We’ve developed an algorithm to further boost the power extracted from an existing solar panel,” said Milad Farsi, a Ph.D. candidate in Waterloo’s Department of Applied Mathematics.

“Hardware in every solar panel has some nominal efficiency, but there should be some appropriate controller that can get maximum power out of solar panels.

The new algorithm enables controllers to better deal with fluctuations around the maximum power point of a solar PV system, which have historically led to the wasting of potential energy collected by panels.

“Based on the simulations, for a small home-use solar array including 12 modules of 335W, up to 138.9 kWh/year can be saved,” said Farsi, who undertook the study with his supervisor, Professor Jun Liu of Waterloo’s Department of Applied Mathematics. “The savings may not seem significant for a small home-use solar

system but could make a substantial difference in larger-scale ones, such as a solar farm or in an area including hundreds of thousands of local solar panels connected to the power grid.

“Taking Canada’s largest PV plant, for example, the Sarnia PV Power Plant,

if this technique is used, the savings could amount to 960,000 kWh/year, which is enough to power hundreds of households. If the saved energy were to be generated by a coal-fired plant, it would require emission of 312 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.”

NREL, FIRST SOLAR COLLAB ENHANCES THIN-FILM SOLAR CELLS

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SEPTEMBER 2019

Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and First Solar have announced that they have “unwound 30 years of history to create” a new approach for making cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells, paving the way for this technology to further undercut the costs of electricity from conventional energy sources.

For decades, CdTe solar cells have been made with the addition of copper and chlorine, because attempts to make them without one or the other have led to reduced performance. However, this approach also has its difficulties. Key material properties critical to increased performance have reached a ceiling, and copper can move within the solar cell during extended periods of use, causing the efficiency to change and SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

lifespan to shorten.

Researchers at NREL and one of the world’s leading thin-film manufacturers, First Solar, were able to successfully alter the longstanding approach by removing copper and placing—or “doping”—

elements from the fifth column of the periodic table (Group V), such as antimony or arsenic, onto tellurium crystal sites at extremely high speeds by low-cost methods required for mass production.

The research published in the Nature Energy journal was completed by a team of over 17 researchers from NREL and the Arizona-based thin-film manufacturer.

The research reports a cell efficiency of 20.8 percent, representing a crossing point for the new group V technology relative to historic copper technology.

The results build on earlier fundamental research with single crystals reported in 2016 by NREL in collaboration with Washington State University, which demonstrated that CdTe solar cells could generate record voltage by using Group V elements.

THE CONVERSATION REI SPECIAL ISSUE

SAHIL SHANGHAVI

Solutions Technical Lead, Schneider Electric NEED TO BREED, ENCOURAGE INNOVATION AT GRASSROOTS LEVEL

For India to become a battery or any other storage technology manufacturing hub, we need to breed and encourage innovation at the grassroots level. Both public and private sectors need to collaborate closely with researchers at various institutes in India and fund different ideas in order to come up with better technology than what exists for India to become a true leader in this space, believes Sahil Shanghavi, Solutions Technical Lead, Schneider Electric. In conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Saur Energy International, Shanghavi shared his views on various topics related to India’s renewable energy sector.

Following are the excerpts from that exclusive interview.

Q

In your view, what is the importance of decentralisation As I see it, manufacturing units which require highly reliable despite wide availability of central grid connection in power or data centres would benefit from their own supply India? Any example to justify this? of power which could be used to back up the grid. Suburban Decentralization of the Indian electrical grid is going to areas which constantly face the nuisance of power outages be instrumental in its growth but more importantly, in the would also benefit heavily from having their own micro grid improvement of its overall reliability and stability. I view network with generation and/or storage systems. decentralization in this context in a couple of different How plant owners in India can boost efficiency by using ways - by means of introduction of distributed generation technologies such as data analytics, Artificial Intelligence technologies, off-grid networks, micro grid networks with the ability to connect to the centralized grid. Depending on the or Big Data? specific use case, any one of these may make more sense Over 65 percent of India’s generation comes from fossil fuels.

The way I look at this, the step jumps in efficiency improvements or none of these may be valuable.

For example, a city faced with both transmission and generation can only be achieved for these plants by upgrading to better technology in the types of generators or turbines capacity challenges as is seen in all the large and growing used. Most of them are older plants where the cities of the country such as Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, generators are almost always more than a couple Bangalore, Hyderabad and the likes, would be most of decades old. Thus, they lose out on capturing benefited by large-scale deployment of distributed any real efficiency gains. AI and Data Analytics generation technologies. This could be in the form only truly come into play when the power plants of rooftop solar, or smaller wind turbines, but could using fossil fuels step into the 21st century. Most also utilize the newer battery storage technologies. of the current coal and gas plants have the These would not only provide greener generation ability to help make significant efficiency gains to the cities but would help decongest the aging by simply upgrading their generators/turbines. transmission infrastructure as well.

After which they can use AI and Data Analytics Whereas remote villages in India which are not to figure out how to be more efficient and where currently grid connected and have poor access they could make cost improvements. to infrastructure, would benefit most On the other hand, when I look at the renewable from being provided with energy plants – AI and Data Analytics can play electricity via an off-grid a much bigger role in helping improve network and associated operational uptime/efficiency and overall generation. I believe energy production. But in general, that multiple examples all generation technologies can could be used where benefit from Data Analytics largely a micro grid network by helping figure out maintenance with the ability to be requirements, operational information, grid connected or and downtime analysis. Fossil fuel a co-generation plants can benefit from better insights plant could be into fuel consumption data to reduce considered overall costs. valuable.

Q

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

THE CONVERSATION ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Q

As the Indian solar market is price sensitive, does adoption of digital technologies prove to be cost effective?

This depends on what digital technologies we are talking about. I assume by digital technology we mean technology to help improve overall solar production at a plant level.

For example, I personally would never recommend a solar plant to buy dual axis tracking technology for panel mounting.

A fixed mount in general works just fine, and based on the additional cost analysis, I would at most push for a single axis tracking system. The overall gains in production do not generally justify the increased installation and maintenance costs of a dual axis tracking system.

which already has been a giant leap from the old lead acid batteries. Universities in India also have some great research taking place. IIT Madras recently developed the first Iron-Ion battery. The point I am making here is that both the public and private sectors need to collaborate closely with the researchers at various institutes in India and fund different ideas in order to come up with better technology than what exists for India to become a true leader in this space.

We also need to have a plan in place for sourcing the specialized materials needed for these technologies as there are generally supply chain problems with availability of materials, like for making lithium ion batteries. The government will likely have to find ways to support this effort and help make it easier for The government is mulling to make India a battery companies looking to grow this sector. manufacturing hub while countries like China have What are the best kinds of renewable energy systems for already grabbed a major share globally. Given this, to what homes? How cost effective are they? extent does India’s plans for storage manufacturing feasible?

For India to become a battery or any other storage technology Generally speaking, roof top solar panels and solar water heating manufacturing hub, we need to breed and encourage systems are the only two options I see working as renewable innovation at the grassroots level. When Tesla started out, most energy systems for homes in India. But if we consider apartment naysayers believed that most of everything it has achieved could buildings as a whole, if they do not face shading issues and not be done. This same drive is needed to innovate in India. have good solar potential, I would highly recommend them to Currently, battery and other storage technologies are seeing install roof top solar panels. One concern here I have thought an incredible amount of R&D globally. There is research going is that this would only make sense in states that have a decent on in various materials other than the mainstream Lithium Ion, net metering policy for consumers, such as Rajasthan.

Q

Q

These are his personal view and not of Schneider Electric.

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POINT OF VIEW REI SPECIAL ISSUE

The repeated failure of manufacturing-linked solar tenders is a big surprise. What is the industry take?

In order to boost solar installations with domestic manufacturing in the country, government issued manufacturing-linked solar tenders but it hasn’t worked so well. Here are some industry views and voices which say why.

ASHISH KHANNA

CEO & MD of Tata Power Solar and President Tata Power (Renewables)

Indian manufacturing can compete with any other country provided similar fiscal and infrastructural support are also provided to the industry. Recent government initiatives to encourage solar cells and module manufacturing capacities in the country are appreciated. However, the lower tariff cap offered in the cited tender neither in caution nor mitigates risks of off take guarantees, especially for manufacturing where an investor commits on long term basis.

The primary reason behind failure of manufacturing linked solar tenders istrying to force developers to take on a business venture, which is not their core specialty.

Manufacturing requires high equity and low lending, while on the other hand project generation focuses on low equity and high lending, therefore asking a single entity to handle them together successfully is asking a lot. Lenders see manufacturing as a risk — especially putting together manufacturing and generation in the same bid is a huge risk they would have to take on.

Besides, denying incentives to set up plant (under Central Government Program), no great effort is made to get the local manufacturer promoted with any incentive schemes or opening up the market for them. Also, mandating to set up transmission network up to the interconnection or delivery point and leaving developers to handle the high interest and capital cost of the project (and setting up manufacturing unit) are coming in the way of success for SECI’s manufacturing linked tenders.

Additionally, lack of funding push from the Centre can also be considered another reason for developers not stepping up for the projects. These are the reasons why developers are hesitant to shoulder such projects.

PAWAN PANDEY Director Radite

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SEPTEMBER 2019

MANISH AGGARWAL Managing Director Enkay Solar Power

It's not a big surprise. While the government has tried to provide support, it falls short of the risks an investor will have to take to start manufacturing in India. We are at the cusp of a major need to upgrade the technology we are using in solar installations, and manufacturing the next generation of cells and modules requires clear visibility on orders and market growth. While the long-term visibility seems to be there, in the short and medium term, there is too much uncertainty, which puts off potential investors.

-MANU@MEILLEURMEDIA.COM

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

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THE CONVERSATION REI SPECIAL ISSUE

JATIN PATEL

Managing Director, Banga Solar THERE HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT UPTICK IN DEMAND FOR SOLAR PRODUCTS

I believe that there has been a significant increase in demand for solar energy products. Particularly due to the increasing awareness of the benefits of solar-powered products, affordability and abundance of solar companies in India. The introduction of refined government policies has left a fundamental impact on India’s solar market, by increasing the affordability and awareness of solar-based products throughout India, says Jatin Patel, Managing Director, Banga Solar. In conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Saur Energy International, Patel shared his views on various topics related to his company’s latest product offerings, current market scenario for solar products etc. Following are the excerpts from that exclusive interview.

Q

Tell us about Banga Solar and its various product offerings for the solar industry.

Banga Solar is an Indian owned leading wholesaler of solar products. Focused entirely on the distribution of residential and commercial solar photovoltaic products. We deliver quality, reputable solar brands coupled with superior customer services. Our customer network is located in every state and territory of India.

We have wide range of products Including Solar PV Panels, Solar Inverters, ACDB, DCDB, Solar Cables, MC4 Connectors, Solar Water Pump.

Q

Do you focus on India made brands or look beyond India? Any particular criteria?

Banga solar primarily focuses on the distribution of high quality local products and brands to support local manufactures and companies. In addition, we also offer a wide range of international products, to further increase the diversity of our products, brands and ensure cost efficiency as well as keeping up with newest technology. In particular, we hold the master franchise for distribution of the internationally recognised Solis Inverters brand across India. Additionally, Banga Solar is acknowledged as the sole dealer for Adani Modules in Maharashtra and Goa regions. As well as a major distributor of Suntree products, in particular electrical components.

Moreover, we have our own manufacturing

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

facility to customise ACDB, DCDB.

Q

Out of your products list, what is the share of India manufactured products?

Out of our total products, we estimate approximately 60 percent of our products are made in India for distribution.

Considering that solar modules are a core component of our product list and primarily purchased from domestic companies.

Q

Do you sell to developers directly or retail segment too? Any regional strengths?

Expansion plans for the future?

Our company vision is not just to remain as a typical ‘box mover’ catering to only a portion of our customers’ needs but instead it is to become a complete solutions provider.

Therefore, our core focus is in the distribution of our products to developers directly, customer satisfaction and the committed resourcefulness of our local technical support.

We have warehousing facilities in multiple states across India that ensure on time delivery of goods. Our access to various warehouses spread across major states in India allows us to do this. We are proud to say that our facilities are located in Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, UP, Karnataka, Maharashtra.

In addition, to further expand our reach Banga Solar invites distributors and contractors for the local supply of

THE CONVERSATION ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

goods and services. In particular, by appointing dealers throughout India to make sure a wide spread market reach.

market in India, we have a well-trained team available 24 x 7 for telephonic after sales services. If further required, Banga Solar, accommodates more than 20 technical specialists in Based on your past experience, do you find any difference the field who are available all over India for local support. in demand for solar products in recent years?

To cater to immediate needs of our customers, our local Definitely. I believe that there has been a significant increase replacement stocks are available in our various warehouses in demand for solar energy products. Particularly due to located throughout India. Additionally, we keep a detailed the increasing awareness of the benefits of solar-powered record of our services via our efficient tracking system that products, affordability and abundance of solar companies in aims to ensure timely closure of customer query.

India. The introduction of refined government policies has left Do you believe distributed solar products such as heaters, a fundamental impact on India’s solar market, by increasing cookers or lamps will see a boom with the drop in prices the affordability and awareness of solar-based products throughout India. We are quite thankful to our Prime Minister and improvement in battery technology? Do they offer an and his team for their continued efforts in India’s transition opportunity to meet overall solar targets? towards cleaner energy, in particular the residential rooftop I strongly believe that any type of green energy plays a vital policy. Quite frankly, we have witnessed many positive effects role in the development of a country. As we know, solar in the solar industry and these include growth in market size, is a sustainable source of clean energy and any product competitiveness in the solar market as well as environmental connected with solar helps to meet overall solar targets.

Definitely an increase in the diversity and abundance of benefits to our nation. solar products will play a significant role in the future of our What are the kinds of after sales services do you provide technology. Decrease in prices and overall improvement in to customers? solar energy storage solutions will be a major contributing The key to any successful business is customer satisfaction factor towards this change. ‘Beyond the limits’, our company for the services and products provided by the business. We motto, is what we all live by and believe in and I also believe have well experienced teams setup whose primary objective that we can witness this transition and boom towards a is after sales service. To keep up with the competitive solar cleaner tomorrow.

Q

Q

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MARKET UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

CHINA TO MEET PARIS TARGETS A DECADE EARLY China, currently the world's largest carbon emitter, is on track to meet its emission goals up to a decade early, official media reported.

For decades, top Chinese cities including capital Beijing were engulfed with heavy industrial pollution specially during the winter months, making pollution control specially generated by coal consumption - a top priority for the government during the last few years.

China is one of the early signatories of the Paris Agreement on climate change and has pledged to halt the rise in carbon dioxide emissions by around 2030.

Researchers from China's Nanjing University, Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Harvard University in the US examined carbon dioxide emissions from 50 Chinese cities

from 2000 to 2016 and found a close relationship between per capita emissions and per capita gross domestic product (GDP), Xinhua news agency quoted an

international study findings as saying.

The 50 Chinese cities account for about 35 per cent of China's total carbon emissions and 51 per cent of the country's GDP. The study found that carbon emissions peak for most Chinese cities when GDP reaches about USD 21,000 per person.

According to the study published in the journal Nature Sustainability, the carbon emissions in China should peak between 2021 and 2025, about five to ten years ahead of the Paris target.

The researchers said that cities are the frontline for global climate change action, and there is clear evidence that progress has been made in the Chinese cities.

The study also pointed out that different types of Chinese cities face different challenges in their carbon emissions reduction timetables.

WIND INDUSTRY TO CONSUME PAYMENT DUES TO RE FIRMS 5.5 MT COPPER BY 2028 CLIMB TO RS 6872 CR

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A new analysis has predicted that over 650 GW of new onshore and 130 GW of new offshore wind capacity will be installed between 2018 and 2028. This additional wind capacity is predicted to consume in excess of 5.5 million tonnes (Mt) of copper. Henry Salisbury, a research analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said that wind technology is the most copper-intensive form of power generation and that it is anticipated to consume the largest amount of copper over the next ten years in this sector. Within a wind turbine, copper is consumed in the generator, power transformers, gearbox and tower cabling. Onshore turbines are connected through collector cables, which are linked to a substation before joining the electrical and transmission network. Offshore turbines are connected through collector cables to an offshore substation. Distribution cables connect the offshore substation to a terrestrial substation ahead of connection to the transmission network. “Approximately 58 percent of copper consumed within wind installations is through cabling. Considering our current forecasts for new wind turbine installations between 2018 and 2028, over 3 Mt of copper will be consumed in both collector and distribution cabling,” added Salisbury.According to the analysis, the global wind technologies are expected to require an average of 450 ktpa of copper per year between 2018 and 2022, before increasing to 600 ktpa per annum out to 2028. Of this, China is forecast to see the strongest growth in new onshore capacity, consuming an average of 110 ktpa copper pear year to 2028.

Followed by the US, which will average 35 ktpa copper each year through 2028.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

A new report has revealed that the power distribution companies (Discoms) across the country owe close to Rs 6872 crore to renewable energy developers in payment dues up to August 16, 2019.

The Central Electricity Authority’s latest report reveals that at a time when the centre is planning ahead for achieving its ambitious 175 GW renewables target, power Discoms in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka owe renewable energy firms close to 70 percent of the total amount that is due. Andhra Pradesh with its recent PPA skirmish, which now seems to have taken a fresh turn, owes what is nearly 40 percent of the total dues at Rs 2,591 crore.

Andhra Pradesh houses the sixth-largest installed wind power generation capacity in the country. The state’s wind capacity at the end of 2018 stood at 4,007 Megawatts (MW) while its total installed electricity generation capacity stood at 23,726 MW at the end of 2018, with the wind sector’s share at 17 percent. Moreover, it also houses the fourth-highest installed solar power generation capacity in the country.

The state’s solar capacity at the end of 2018 stood at 2,829 MW, accounting for 12 percent of the state’s total electricity generation capacity. CEA in a letter to state discoms earlier this month communicated, “it has been reported that some renewable energy generating companies are not getting payment of energy supplied to distribution companies on a regular basis. To monitor the position, CEA wants to maintain a database of all outstanding dues of renewable energy generators from distribution companies.”

MARKET UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

COST OF RENEWABLES IN CHINA TO MATCH COAL BY 2026 As China moves towards a subsidy-free era for wind and solar projects beginning in 2021, the economics of renewable power have come into the spotlight. According to new research, China provincial renewables competitiveness report 2019 from Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables, the average levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for solar and wind power is already cheaper than gas-fired power in China, and will be competitive with coal-fired power by 2026.

In 2019, new-build ultra-super critical coal plants are the key conventional low-cost power supply option with an LCOE of below USD 50/MWh, while offshore wind is in the higher range, hitting USD 116/MWh. Alex Whitworth, research director with WoodMac, said that “across most of China’s provinces and regions, a renewable cost premium remains over coal power, averaging 26 percent in 2019 for wind and solar, down from over 100 percent in 2010.

28 of 30 regions examined in our latest report see premiums of up to 70 percent, and only Shanghai and Qinghai have cost-competitive renewables today.”

2019 also marks the first time when solar PV costs have fallen below those of wind power in the country, overturning the latter’s traditional cost advantage. Solar PV is cheaper than wind in 19 provinces, including Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and

Shaanxi.

Renewables competitiveness is achievable in the next few years for some of China’s regions, but for others, the journey will not be a sprint but a marathon – taking a decade or more.

The share of renewables is increasing, but the recently announced renewables subsidy phaseout planned for the end of 2020 threatens the profitability of new investments in renewables in coming years.

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MARKET UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

RESTRICTIVE GUIDELINES TO IMPACT SYSTEM INTEGRATORS According to a new analysis by JMK Research and Analytics, there are two critical restrictive guidelines in the new schemes that the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has recently launched. Namely, the KUSUM scheme and the Rooftop Phase II (SRISTI) scheme that was recently cleared with an installation target of about 30 GW expected to be achieved by 2022.

This 30 GW target includes nearly 26 GW capacity for pumps and grid-connected systems under KUSUM scheme and 4 GW for the residential segment in the Rooftop Phase II program.

The two guidelines which the analysis marks as restrictive are: • Mandatory use of only indigenous solar panels (including cells and modules).

• O n l y p u m p s a n d s o l a r p a n e l manufacturers allowed to participate in the bidding process. Thus, excluding the system integrators/ installers from the bidding process.

Presently, in India, the indigenous operational cell manufacturing capacity is only 1.5 GW while the module manufacturing is nearly 8 GW. The

analysis reveals that these numbers are way too less than the 30 GW target set under both the schemes.

“In the previously launched CPSU scheme as well, it is mandatory to use indigenous solar panels wherein there is a target to add about 12 GW. The only way to achieve this cumulative target of 42 GW is by scaling up the current cell manufacturing capacity to 22X and module manufacturing capacity to 4X of current production capacity, which is a highly unlikely scenario. This demand and supply mismatch will eventually lead to increase in prices of domestically manufactured modules. Thus, impacting overall project costs,” the analysis states.

Another restrictive clause put up by the government is the exclusion of system integrators and installers from both the schemes. With new guidelines, only the pump and solar panel manufacturers are allowed to participate in the bidding process under both schemes.

The analysis concludes with a proposition that both these restrictive conditions should be revisited by the government and a practical solution needs to be identified to achieve the targets set by the government. The government should instead devise mechanisms to ensure that the BIS guidelines are adhered to by the manufacturers and installers when products are procured and installed.

GUJARAT CAN LEAD RENEWABLES RACE IN INDIA

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A new report has predicted that in a race to be the top state in India, Gujarat could and perhaps will outdo all other states with the addition of a staggering 46 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity by the end of the next decade (2029/30).

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) identifies Gujarat as one of five leading Indian states for renewable energy in terms of both existing generation capacity as well as future potential in its new report ‘Gujarat’s Electricity Sector Transformation – A Role-model of India’s Electricity Transition’.

Tim Buckley, co-author of the report and IEEFA’s director of energy finance studies said the Indian government has rightly identified the need to reduce its exposure to imported fossil fuels including oil, coal and gas, setting the stage for a massive transformation across the country.

“The government knows an over-reliance on imported fuels adversely affects India’s trade account deficit and puts the country’s energy security at risk. Setting an ambitious new renewable energy target of 523 GW by 2030 is a clear indication by the central government of the direction the states must pull towards.”

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

While Gujarat lifted its renewable energy target to 30 GW from 17 GW in July 2019, the state could be more ambitious, with India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy estimating Gujarat’s renewable energy potential to be 72.7 GW, equally balanced between solar and wind energy potential.

The report notes that the incorporation of nearly 55 GW of intermittent renewable energy on Gujarat’s electricity network would require very active measures and investment on the grid integration and balancing front.

POINT OF VIEW ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Like rainwater harvesting, solar rooftops should be made compulsory for large buildings all over the country. This will support the industry, and help the environment too. What’s the view?

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his concern via ‘Mann Ki Baat’ program about water crisis, rainwater harvesting also become the talk of the town, like solar these days. India has shown massive capacity additions in solar but has fallen behind on its target of achieving 40 GW rooftop solar by 2022. Here’re a few voices from industry veterans.

JAIDEEP N. MALAVIYA Secretary General Solar Thermal Federation of India (STFI)

Before making compulsory, it is crucial to understand that any solar energy system needs to be oriented in a particular direction and must have shadow free area during sunlight hours. This will impact yields where roof space is a challenge, particularly in urban areas. Discom’s are bound by Solar Purchase Obligation and with falling tariffs of large-scale solar power projects, it will remain a healthier option to rooftop solar. Net metering is seen as a threat by Discoms and has been bothering them as a revenue erosion plan. Instead, it makes sense to make solar water heaters mandatory on rooftop as its supply can be justified and also helps electric utilities manage their peak demand. From a business point of view, the residential rooftop segment does not provide the comfortable margins as against ground-mounted projects. Instead, commercial and industrialconsumers have been witnessing more consistent growth helping to overcome the high cost of grid power tariff and also the daytime demand matching with solar energy supply hence should be the target in rooftop solar PV. Finally, it will be important that all municipal corporations and municipalities comply to this mandate instead of existing only on paper.

(These are his personal views and not of STFI)

In recent years, rooftop solar installations have gained pace mainly due to two key drivers: rising consumer awareness and increasing economic viability. While scaling up solar rooftops for large buildings will certainly help meet India's 40 GW rooftop solar target, it cannot be made compulsory till challenges associated with limited access to finance for consumers and lack of rooftop ownership are resolved. To bring the solar rooftop revolution to a larger base of consumers, the first step should be to make provisions of rooftop solar PV in building byelaws. There should also be a clear demarcation of consumer categories and building types based on parameters such as building footprint, roof area, sanctioned load, electricity consumption, etc. Further, monetary incentives in the form of feed-in-tariffs and capital subsidies would be required to transform the sector.

SHAILESH VIKRAM SINGH Managing Partner, Massive Fund

NEERAJ KULDEEP

Programme Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)

Yes, the idea looks good, but there is no point in adding another compliance without sorting the friction in setting up a rainwater harvesting system. Right now, the process of establishing a rainwater harvesting system itself is riddled with too many issues of permissions, process and measurability.

When this is simple, no one will object to compulsory rules on building rain water systems.

-MANU@MEILLEURMEDIA.COM VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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TECHNICAL FEATURE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Reducing metallization induced recombination

losses in n-type solar cells VINODH CHANDRASEKARAN

Sean Lonsinger, Crystal Han|Heraeus Photovoltaics, USA The PV industry continues to grow at a steady pace both in terms of technology and capacity. An important aspect of efficiency improvement is to reduce recombination losses to improve the open circuit voltage (Voc) of the solar cell. Metal induced recombination is a significant component of the total recombination losses in the device. In p-type PERC cells, reduction in metal induced recombination losses is achieved by reducing the metal contact area on the rear.

An alternative approach that has seen steep progress and adoption by industry is “passivated contacts.” In one form of this approach, a thin tunnel oxide with a poly silicon layer is used as the passivation and contact layer whereby direct metal contact to the crystalline silicon substrate can be largely avoided.

This approach also has the benefit of being able to withstand high temperature processing steps including firing for contact formation, which is most common in the current PV industry.

Passivating contacts (more widely known as TOPCon) can be used to improve efficiency in both n-type and p-type solar cells.

Significant improvements in metallization pastes have enabled the use of screen printing and firing to contact Poly-Si layers while preserving the passivation properties of this layer and inducing only very small recombination losses from metallization.

J0,met of <100 fA/cm2 using Heraeus pastes have been reported

by A. Chaudhary [1] on 150nm poly-Si layers. In this paper, the effect of firing temperature on J0,met was studied and analyzed using SEM imaging. They have reported that as the peak firing temperature is reduced, the J0,met reduces quite significantly as shown in fig 1 and a value of ~69 fA/cm2 was measured with respectable contact resistivity.

SEM images in fig 2 reveal that as the firing temperature is reduced, the amount of poly Si etched by the screen printed paste is drastically reduced, which could be one of the reasons for the reduced J0,met at lower firing temperatures.

Metal induced recombination for n+Poly Si using screen printed and fired paste

Although laboratory cells using Poly-Si passivating contacts use evaporation, photolithography for contact formation, screen printing continues to be the preferred method for contact formation in industrial cells using this technology.

Figure 2: Top down SEM images of Poly Si after complete removal of silver and glass as a function of peak firing temperature (a) 780 ˚C (b) 800˚C (c) 820 ˚C set points

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Figure 1: J0,met and contact resistivity as a function of peak firing temperature on 150nm n+poly using Heraeus paste

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

This study clearly demonstrates the importance of lower firing temperatures to reduce the J0,met and achieve the highest possible Voc from poly-Si passivating contacts. In an n-type cell where n+ poly Si is used in the rear side of the solar cell, in order to achieve the full benefit in a finished solar cell device,

TECHNICAL FEATURE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

the front side metallization paste used to contact the Boron emitter also needs to be able to perform optimally at the lower firing temperatures.

Boron emitter contact pastes optimized for lower temperature firing

Two development paste formulations referred to as 9380 M1 and 9380 M2, where the inorganic system was developed to support lower firing temperatures are shown in comparison to a reference paste, which is the incumbent, as tested on nPERT cells to clearly see the impact from front side paste only. In Fig 3, Voc of cells using all three pastes perform quite similarly at the reference firing temperature. When the firing temperature is reduced to Ref-40˚C, the reference paste shows hardly any change in Voc and drops when the temperature is reduced to Ref-55 ˚C. In contrast, the Voc for 9380M1 increases by 2mV at the Ref-40˚C firing temperature. At even lower temperature, the Voc is similar to that at Ref firing condition.

Figure 4: FF as function of firing temperature for Boron emitter contacting pastes

increases for the development pastes 9380M1 and 9380M2 as the firing temperature is reduced. For 9380M1, again Ref-40˚C is the optimum and the peak pseudo FF achieved at this firing temperature. For 9380M2, Ref-55 ˚C is the optimum and the highest pseudo FF is achieved at this even lower firing temperature.

Figure 3: Voc as function of firing temperature for Boron emitter contacting pastes

For 9380M2 paste, the Voc continues to increase as a function of lower firing temperatures. With this paste, Voc is improved by 5mV at Ref-55 ˚C. In order for the cell performance to improve, we must ensure that the improvement in Voc is not offset by a loss in other IV parameters, particularly FF. FF data for the three pastes as a function of firing temperature is shown in fig 4. The reference paste shows a small drop in FF at Ref-40˚C, but a significant drop in FF at even lower temperatures. 9380M2 has a trend of generally lower FF as the firing temperature is reduced, but the overall values for FF are still comparable to the Reference paste at it’s optimum firing condition. On the other hand, 9380M1 shows an improvement in FF at Ref-40˚C firing temperature.

Similar to the V oc trend, the FF also drops at even lower temperatures, closer to that at Reference firing condition.

In order to understand the source of FF differences, series resistance and pseudo-FF data for the pastes at different firing conditions were analyzed. As it can be seen in fig 5, series resistance increases for all pastes as the firing temperature is reduced. However, it is interesting to note that the pseudo FF

Figure 5: Series resistance and Pseudo FF as a function of firing temperature for Boron emitter contacting pastes

VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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TECHNICAL FEATURE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

The trend of improving pseudo FF for the development pastes indicate that there is less damage induced by the pastes, which is also consistent with the improvement in Voc observed for these pastes at lower firing temperatures.

The net result of efficiency is shown in fig 6 for the pastes under study as a function of firing temperature. We can see that, as the Voc and FF are improved at Ref-40˚C for 9380M1, this results in a net improvement in efficiency, as expected. For 9380M2, while there is a loss in FF, the improvement in Voc is quite significant that there is still a net increase in efficiency, particularly at a firing temperature that’s even lower than the optimum temperature for 9380M1. For both developmental pastes 9380M1 and 9380M2, the improvement in efficiency is ~0.15%. These pastes not only enable lower temperature firing but also provide the ability to optimize the processing and firing conditions for the Boron emitter contacting paste (SOL9380) that are also suitable for the back side passivated contact (SOL7200) to achieve the highest efficiency.

Figure 6: Efficiency as function of firing temperature for Boron emitter contacting pastes

References: [1] “Screen Printed Ag Contacts for n-Type Poly Silicon Passivated Contacts”, Aditya Chaudhary, Jan Hoß, Jan Lossen, R.A.C.M.M. van Swaaij, Miro Zeman; Silicon PV 2019.

PRODUCT FEATURE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

New Huawei Smart Inverters Bring AI, IoT and Big Data to Solar Installations

Huawei will revolutionise the solar installation market by bringing the new SUN2000-15/20KTL-M0 three phase smart inverters to Indian solar users.

The arrival of the SUN2000-15/20KTL-M0 smart PV inverter looks set to further fuel growth in the household, industrial and commercial segments with the product designed to deliver ultimate safety and high reliability – even in the harshest of Indian conditions.

The new technology used by the SUN200015/20KTL-M0 three phase smart inverters means that they provide maximum safety, not least thanks to the Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to detect any signs of over-heating that can cause dangerous fires.

The AFCI can disconnect the circuit within two seconds of detecting a problem and using AI it can develop self-learning algorithms that enable more accurate arc-detection with less false alarms, thus ensuring the security of PV plants.

The AI technology used in the SUN200015/20KTL-M0 also enables a one-click remote health check of all strings and accurate identification of 14 types of PV string faults certified by TÜV– with diagnosis

reports available in 10 minutes.

This means that O&M personnel no longer need to climb rooftops to gain access to solar equipment to troubleshoot panel faults, it can be done remotely which greatly reduces time and labor costs.

Huawei recognises the need for inverters to deliver maximum reliability and has used our extensive experience in the industry to deliver a failure rate of less than 0.5 percent for our inverters – a leading benchmark in the industry.

We have achieved this by leveraging advanced new technologies such as Big Data, IoT (Internet of Things), and AI to improve our products and we plan to carry on making use of cutting-edge technologies to deliver more benefits and better experience to Indian users. The SUN2000-15/20KTL-M0 will be launched at REI and will be available on February 2020.

For more information, please visit Huawei FusionSolar: https://solar.huawei.com/in VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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THE CONVERSATION REI SPECIAL ISSUE

RUCAS WANG Regional Director, Growatt

WILL BE HAPPY TO COLLABORATE WITH INDIAN FIRMS FOR EV CHARGERS

Growatt has developed a variety of EV chargers. We have been actively expanding our business across the globe and our EV chargers are getting popular in Europe. I would be happy to discuss collaboration with Indian clients that are interested in developing business in this sector. Over the past years, we have been increasing investments in India, including staffing, marketing, training and service. We have other investment plan also in India, says Rucas Wang, Regional Director, Growatt. In conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Saur Energy International, Wang shared his views on various topics related to his company’s product offerings, future investment plans in India, new opportunities in the Indian market, CSR initiatives etc. Following are the excerpts from that exclusive interview.

Q

Tell us about the Growatt presence in India and its latest solar storage product.

How many employees are working for the firm here?

Growatt has been active in Indian solar industry for more than seven years and by far over 50,000 Growatt inverters have been installed across India, mainly for rooftop projects.

For solar storage, Growatt offers a wide range of storage solutions for residential, commercial and industrial PV systems. Growatt SPH single-phase and three-phase hybrid inverters can work at both on-grid and off-grid modes, and they are also compatible with a variety of lithium batteries. For existing solar system, owner can choose to retrofit the system with Growatt SPA single-phase or three-phase inverter and turn it into energy storage system.

Right now there’re our 25 employees in India and 15 of them are aftersales service engineers. We also have pre-sales team at headquarters to provide support for our sales team in India. So, it’s actually a very big team here.

Q

Till date, for how much capacity Growatt has supplied its inverters in India along with their type? What is the specialty of Growatt inverters in terms of key segments and size?

By far, Growatt has shipped over 450MW to India. The main inverters type range between 1kW to 80kW. Our advantage is on the rooftop sector. We’ve been focusing on business of rooftop solar for almost a decade.

Our solutions for residential, commercial and industrial solar systems have been

THE CONVERSATION ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

very well developed in terms of product line and technology. With this foundation, now we are also looking to develop the business of small and medium ground mounted solar plants.

Q

What growth opportunities do you see in the Indian Photovoltaic (PV) storage market in the next 2-3 years?

I’m optimistic about the solar storage market in India. The market has huge growth potential and once we have the support of policies and solar industry, we would see a storage boom.

Q

Tell us about your Research & Development (R&D) division.

How do you ensure the quality and reliability of your inverters?

There’re over 200 professional and experienced R&D engineers in Growatt. The company has introduced the Five Quality Engineering Process (Design Engineering, Component Engineering, Testing Engineering, Reliability Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering) to ensure product quality and durability.

Q

As government has recently taken many steps to promote EVs in the country, do you have any plans to bring Growatt EV chargers and other storage products to India?

Yes, Growatt has developed a variety of EV chargers. We have been actively expanding our business across the globe and our EV chargers are getting popular in Europe. I would be very happy to discuss collaboration with Indian clients that are interested in developing business in this sector.

Q

Do you have any future investment plans for India? If yes, by when?

Over the past years, we have been increasing investments in India, including staffing, marketing, training and service. We have other investment plan in India, but it

can’t be disclosed at this moment.

Q

I’m optimistic about the solar storage market in India. It has huge growth potential and once we have the support of policies and solar industry, we would see a storage boom.

What are the services you provide to your customers post sale?

We provide a comprehensive range of services. We provide technical support, onsite service, online smart service, installation and troubleshooting training workshop. By building these service capabilities, we are able to prevent causing unnecessary issues and quickly diagnose and solve the problems for clients.

Q

Is Growatt working towards any Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in India?

Growatt has been committed to corporate social responsibility ever since its foundation. It applies responsible practices in the workplace and has been awarded the SA8000 certification. Growatt supports social and charitable causes through donations and has contributed to photovoltaic plants for poverty reduction and remote school with limited access to the grid.

In 2018, Growatt donated its inverter - Growatt 20KTL3-S - to the Indore Cancer Foundation Charitable Trust (ICF), a not-for-profit charitable organization in central India. The ICF was launched on December 27, 1988. It started with objectives to focus on the head & neck cancers, the most common cancers in adult Indian men, promote public and medical education, conduct clinical & basic research etc. To reduce carbon footprint and power the facility with clean solar energy, the ICF proposed an initiative of 20kW solar plant on the rooftop. After learning the program, Growatt donated a 20kW inverter and worked with other parties to contribute to this solar project.

Though we are not very familiar with CSR programs in India, as a global leading inverter company, we are committed to developing solar energy in India as well as contributing to social and charitable causes.

VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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SEPTEMBER 2019

THE CONVERSATION REI SPECIAL ISSUE

VISHWANATH KAMATH Managing Director, Fronius India Private Limited

INDIAN’S POLICY FOR MANUFACTURING TECH PRODUCTS IS BIT COMPLICATED

We would love to make in India but the skill sets required and Indian’s policy for manufacturing technological products is bit complicated to be easily available. Also, our global production unit is getting expanded for the world market, so no plans in near future of manufacturing in India, says Vishwanath Kamath, Managing Director, Fronius India Private Limited. In conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Saur Energy International, Kamath shared his views on various topics related to his company’s product offerings, R&D infrastructure, future manufacturing plans for India, Fronius Smart Meters etc. Following are the excerpts from that exclusive interview.

Q

Tell us about Fronius’ latest product offerings for the Indian market.

Currently, our product portfolio covers from 3 kW – 8.2 kW Single phase, & 3kW to 27 kW 3 phase range. We have launched new products for the global market and they will be available in the Indian market from 2020. The product is named “Tauro” and it will be available in 2 ranges - 50kW & 100 kW. We are excited to launch the product for the Indian market and make it a great success.

Also, we are working in the niche market and our customers are those who value the product and its quality. Our segment is premium band and there are few of us here. Information on total installation is already available in the public domain.

From our range, our 25 and 27 kW are in demand.

Once Tauro is launched, there will be a more positive scenario.

As mentioned, we are quality players and worldwide we are number 1 for the same reason – quality, service What is the total installation capacity sold by Fronius in o f f e r s a n d much more. We are happy India so far? What kind of inverters are in demand now? to explain in detail about products How do your inverters fare when compared to your peers?

Firstly, installation numbers in India in rooftop is controversial.

Q

THE CONVERSATION ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

differentiation in product training conducted free of cost at our HQ in Pune.

Q

Tell us about your manufacturing facilities and R&D infrastructure. A bit about the quality checks that are performed by the company before sending products to the market?

Fronius has a world class manufacturing unit and R&D Infrastructure in Austria. It’s a global production facility for our all 3 BU – Perfect Welding, Solar Energy & Perfect Charging. a) B efore sending Fronius products to the market,our inverters go through various tests such as a visual check, mechanical check. b) Proper packing guidelines are followed. c) Installation and operation manual are packed with the inverter. d) Toll free sticker on each inverter. e) Default parameters are checked on MTS.

Q

How important is after sales support in the solar market?

How does Fronius stand out?

After sales support is most important in any product segment. Customer retention depends on this. We are known in the Indian market for best service support. Our customer testimony speaks for itself. We have also launched “Fronius System Partner Concept (FSP)” where in based on certain pre-set criteria, EPC can become FSP and they become our authorised & trained service partners. We are creating these networks for better and faster service.

Q

What do you feel about India’s move towards electric vehicles? Is the pace for adoption right? What’s the best case scenario for the 2030 timeline according to you?

EV shapes the future and it can help to make it compatible with nature.

It can help us develop clean energy and transport possibilities with less emission. The Government of India

There is an increased need to prepare for a green future for Indian mobility.

I believe it should be faster.

is working towards developing a mobility option which is ‘shared, connected and electric. There is an increased need to prepare for a green future for Indian mobility.

I believe it should be faster. We need to see very aggressively the ecosystem getting developed for successful launch of EVs in India.

I think as a country we will have the capacity, well-built ecosystem and mature products. We would have touched close to 30 to 40 percent electric vehicles. Majorly, I think shared mobility, rented vehicles and cab aggregators, B2B will be the early adopters. Later, we see down the line involvement of general public.

Q

Being an international player, do you see battery manufacturing in India taking off?

Do you have any plans for setting up a manufacturing base in India too?

We would love to make in India but the skill sets required and Indian’s policy for manufacturing technological products is bit complicated to be easily available.

Also, our global production unit is getting expanded for the world market, so no plans in near future of manufacturing in India.

Q

What is the market share of Fronius in India currently?

Currently, we are at 2.12 percent as per public domain and we will surely bounce back in the next 2-3 years with our new products and also our FSP concept.

Q

In which areas have Fronius Smart Meters been installed currently? How do you see the customers response for smart meters?

Fronius Smart Meters are installed across different locations, depending on the net metering policy. Our smart meters are really smart as they also give load analysis data on the Fronius web portal solarweb, so, many of our customers purchase the smart meter for these reasons.

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TECHNICAL FEATURE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

The Role of Solar PV in an Urban Heat Action Plan

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD)has established that the frequency and severity of heatwaves, and a resultant high number of preventable deaths due to heat-stroke, have risen significantly in India over the last three decades.In India this summer of 2019, the IMD has already reported heat waves across Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Urban areas in particular, further aggravate the problem of already rising temperatures caused by climate change. Many urban areas have removed vegetation and replaced it with heat absorbent surfaces like paved roads and concrete buildings; traffic congestion and air pollution; and air conditioning which pushes hot air outdoors. Together, these createthe phenomenon of “urban heat islands” (UHI) which have much higher temperatures than surrounding areas even within the same city.

This problem persists at night too due to daytime heat capture and absorption.

UHIs pose a great threat to the life and safety of people living in them, such as construction workers, vegetable vendors, SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

auto repair mechanics, cab drivers, police personnel, road side kiosk operators and other groups living in slums and informal housing, mostly belonging to economically weaker sections of society.

The National Disaster Management Authority has issued guidelines in 2016, on managing heat (temperature as well as humidity is important) to save lives. Their analysis shows similar levels of heat stress for combinations of “lower temperature with higher humidity” and “higher temperature with lower humidity”.

To illustrate, 42 degrees Celsius and 40percent humidity or 33 degrees and 90 percent humidity impose similar levels of heat stress. In both cases, the subjective experience of heat stress is equivalent to being exposed to a temperature of 54 degrees Celsius.This suggests an important role for access to air circulation with the use of ample numbers of energyefficient fans in high humidity areas, to evaporate perspiration from the skin in order to counteract heat stress.

Leading the way with its Heat Action Plan (HAP) in 2013 following a high number of heat-related deaths in 2010, Ahmedabad in Gujarat became the first city in South

MOHUA MUKHERJEE Program Ambassador International Solar Alliance Asia to come up with a solution to tackle heat waves.Heat Action Plans have since been adopted in at least 30 cities in more than a dozen Indian states.

Ahmedabad’s heat action plan is simple, cost effective and focuses on implementing four key strategies  B u i l d i n g p u b l i c a w a r e n e s s a n d community outreach  Utilising an early warning system and inter-agency coordination  Capacity building among health care professionals  Reducing heat exposure and promoting adaptive measures But Heat Action Plans tend to overlook the underlying infrastructure, such as energy, water and transportation, which all play a crucial role in mitigating heat stress or responding to it.

Say during a heat spike, failure of the electrical grid is a distinct likelihood, especially during a time of extreme heat emergency.

We therefore propose to increase resilience through the introduction of solar PV energy in all facilities and buildings that will be part of the response to saving lives during a heatwave.

OPED ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

A Proposal for “Municipal Heat Action Plan 2.0”: Here is a proposal for adapting any municipal heat action plan, by introducing a solar element to it at the design stage: ACTION ITEM 1: COLLECT REAL TIME DATA TO PINPOINT EXACT LOCATIONS OF UHIs. • Identify suspected UHIs in a given city by studying known areas which are devoid of vegetation and tree cover, have many concrete buildings, high traffic density and congestion, air pollution, and possibly the presence of offices with air conditioners which expel hot air into the surroundings. Also, within the same city limits, identify a separate group of control areas with a good amount of trees, vegetation and unpaved surfaces.

• Place sensors on lamp posts in both types of areas, to monitor temperature and humidity at regular intervals during the day. With guidance from the IMD and a team of support consultants, develop an algorithm to calculate the “localized heat index” in different parts of the city and thereby conclusively identify the areas where UHIs are present.Calculate the range of temperatures present inside the city limits. Survey the population living in low-quality housing inside the UHI, and do a needs assessment, i.e. how many elderly and children who need to move to local clinics during heat emergencies, and how many adults of working age who may only need to move to designated emergency heat shelters. Make arrangements to communicate with community leaders via SMS to send warnings and instructions e.g. one day before anticipated heat emergencies.

ACTION ITEM 2: GEOGRAPHICALLY MAPPING THE FACILITIES WHICH NEED TO BE MADE ENERGY-RESILIENT, AND STUDYING THEIR SOLAR-BACKUP ELECTRICITY REQUIREMENTS FOR UNINTERRUPTED BASIC SERVICE DELIVERY. • Identify relevant buildings and supporting elements that will be part of the strategy, i.e. the government owned medical facilities close to UHIs that can supportvulnerable populations (elderly and children) and treat heat-stroke victims. Also identify nearby public buildings like schools and places of worship, that can serve as emergency

heat shelters when needed.

• It should be assumed that in a heat emergency, these buildings will experience power cuts from the discom grid, and will not be able to supply the energy services of lights, fans, refrigeration as reliably as needed. All of these buildings should be studied in terms of their rooftop capacity to support solar panels, as well as their indoor requirements for solar appliances such as lighting, fans, solar-powered refrigeration. For each city, a required minimum investment package of solar PV panels, inverters, balance of systems and various solar appliance requirements for each building, should be prepared.

ACTION ITEM 3: DEVELOP A WORKABLE BUSINESS MODEL THAT IS AFFORDABLE FOR MUNICIPALITIES AND HELPS THEM TO IMPLEMENT A BETTER HEAT ACTION PLAN. • Identify options to set up a Special Purpose Company, whose Board will have representation fromthe municipality and the equipment supplier. This company will own the solar assets and will identify workable solar PVbusiness models, allowing municipalities to pay for the energy services in small monthly instalments as required.

• There is a lot to learn from the ‘pay as you go’ technology that is rapidly powering the growth of highly digitized, smart mini-grids in Africa. (The technology is also operational in India through various companies including Simpa Networks and K-PAY and others).

• In the ‘pay as you go’ model, the panels, batteries and other appliances are web-

enabled as they have in-built chips for two-way communication, and are able to be remotely metered and controlled, turned on and off as per requirements, similar to pre-paid mobile phones. For example, they are instantly activated when payments are received and a fresh energy credit is established. The idea is that usage is metered and the client only pays for what they use.

• After a certain number of payments have been accumulated, and the purchase price of the asset has been paid, no additional payment is required and the asset ownership is fully transferred to the payer, in this case the municipality.

• The in-built chips in the solar equipment are therefore re-set to remain permanently unlocked, and no further payments are required other than maintenance and servicing.

• T he benefit of having automated smart systems on the solar investment to provide better resilience, is that all data is captured and available for monitoring the program’s cost-benefit impact, based on accurate readings on usage of the solar equipment.

• In order to implement this, the solar integrator and equipment suppliers will have to prepare a suitable legal structure.

This will invest in owning the assets and taking responsibility for servicing them so that 99 percent uptime is maintained.

• The Special Purpose Company must discuss with municipalities whether they would like to rent the services of these solar assets only during the hot months of the year, or if they want to rent it throughout the year in anticipation of regular discom outages.

• T he amount of monthly payment required will depend on the duration of the agreement. It will also depend on the upfront cost of the total package for the Special Purpose Company. A big determining factor will be the terms of financing (concessional interest rate and long maturity) that the special purpose company is able to obtain in order to purchase the assets and get them installed in the required locations.

• T his will be the right time to seek international climate funding related to heat-resilience measures, and create a new category of such financing on concessional terms to redress damage caused by global warming.

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FINANCE UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

INDIA EYES FINANCIAL AID TO ACHIEVE PARIS TARGETS In the run-up to two key UN summits on Climate Change, India has raised the pitch for finance and technology support to developing nations to achieve the Paris Agreement goals of keeping a global average temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said India was taking decisive steps in achieving Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which is the heart of the 2015 Paris pact.

Javadekar spelt out the success stories of India on Paris NDCs to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. He also said the Prime Ministers ambitious renewable energy programme to create 175 GW by 2022 "is a huge success and India has already reduced energy intensity by 22 percent.

His remarks are in line with the statement by the BASIC group of nations -- Brazil, South Africa, India and China -- in which they urged developed countries to undertake ambitious actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and meet their financial commitments, including by mobilizing USD 100 billion annually by 2020.

Replying to a Calling Attention Notice on Climate Change in Parliament in June this year, the minister had blamed the developed countries for not keeping up to their commitment

of providing USD 100 billion and technology transfer collectively to developing countries like India for dealing with climate change.

"It is true that the developed world is responsible for most of the climate change situation today. Over 70 percent of the greenhouse gases emission was due to the developed countries while India's contribution is just three percent. There was overconsumption by the people in the developed world, he had said.

ENGIE ACQUIRES AFRICAN FIRM MOBISOL

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French multinational electric utility company ENGIE has expanded its decentralized energy offering in Africa through the acquisition of Mobisol, a pioneer of off-grid solar solutions in the region. Mobisol has operations in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya and has installed more than 150,000 solar home systems, providing clean and reliable energy to over 750,000 people in SubSaharan Africa.

With the acquisition of Mobisol, ENGIE will be offering solar home systems in 3 additional countries, complementing the six countries where it is already present with its solar home system company Fenix International. Mobisol’s focus on productive use products, combined with Fenix’s inclusive home solar power systems, will enable ENGIE to offer an unparalleled range of affordable energy products as well as extending its customer base from rural to urban areas.

The closing of the acquisition of Mobisol will happen once all approvals of the relevant regulatory bodies are received.

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ENGIE already has significant activities in off-grid electrification in Africa. With its subsidiary Fenix International, it provides access to energy and financial services via its solar home systems to over 500,000 customers, improving the quality of life for over 2.5 million people in Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Mozambique.

Additionally, with ENGIE PowerCorner,

it supplies affordable electricity to rural populations through smart mini-grids powered by solar energy and battery storage.

Isabelle Kocher, ENGIE CEO said that with the acquisition of Mobisol, ENGIE expands its access to a market of millions who are not connected to the grid and establishes itself as the market leader on the continent.

FINANCE UPDATES ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

ADANI ACQUIRES 205 MW PV PROJECTS FROM ESSEL Adani Green Energy has announced that it has signed a securities purchase agreement for acquisition of 205 MW operating solar assets of Essel Green Energy Private Limited (EGEPL) and Essel Infraprojects Limited (EIL). The acquisition of these assets is at an enterprise valuation of approximately Rs 1,300 crore.

According to the official statement, the solar projects are located in three states - Punjab, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. And all of them have long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with various state electricity distribution companies. The portfolio is relatively young with average remaining PPA life of approximately 22 years Jayant Parimal, CEO of Adani Green Energy, said “this is our first brownfield acquisition of operating assets. It expands our footprint in states where we already have a presence, and with our

strong operational expertise, will deliver significant value for our shareholders. We remain focused on opportunities that help us create value for shareholders, as well as facilitate the growth of environmentfriendly green power in India.”

The ten Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) that have been acquired under the deal are Essel Bagalkot Solar Energy (5 MW),

Essel Gulbarga Solar Power (5 MW), Essel Urja (50 MW), KN Bijapura Solar Energy (20 MW), KN Indi Vijayapura Solar Energy (20 MW), KN Muddebihal Solar Energy (20 MW), KN Sindagi Solar Energy (5 MW), PN Clean Energy (20 MW), PN Renewable Energy (20 MW) and TN Urja (50 MW).

The closing of the transaction is subject to customary approvals and conditions.

MITSUBISHI INVESTS IN OFF-GRID SOLUTIONS FIRM BBOXX Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has announced its decision to invest in UKbased BBOXX Limited, a next generation utility providing off-grid energy solutions in Africa and Asia.

Since its establishment in 2010, BBOXX has provided clean and affordable energy and other essential modern utilities. It delivers innovative solar home systems (SHS) consisting of solar panels, battery storage, and a variety of home appliances on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Using its real-time remote monitoring system, BBOXX Pulse, the company currently manages operation and payments for SHS in twelve countries.

Pay-as-you-go: A mobile payment mechanism enabling customers to pay according to their energy usage.

According to UN statistics, the population of Sub-Saharan Africa will double in size to two billion people by the year 2045. Over 600 million of the region’s current residents live in off-grid areas, beyond the reach of conventional transmission and distribution networks and where kerosene lamps have typically been the

main source of indoor lighting. SHS is an important step in tackling this problem and presents a range of benefits for customers. The technology enables a safer, more reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional lighting.

BBOXX also plans to provide other key utilities in addition to electricity such as gas and water, along with

fundamental consumer servicessuch as insurance and finance, in order to improve customers’ living standards.

Leveraging its global network and synergy with NEoT Off-Grid Africa, MC aims to add value to BBOXX as part of its strategy of to help realize a sustainable society by simultaneously generating important economic, societal, and environmental value.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

THE CONVERSATION REI SPECIAL ISSUE

SUDHIR AGGARWAL

Executive Director, Patanjali Renewable Energy INDIA’S SAFEGUARD DUTY MOVE HAS NOT HELPED MUCH

India’s move to impose safeguard duty on import of solar cells and modules last year hasn’t helped domestic manufacturers much. While import of solar cells and modules from China have declined since the duty was implemented in July 2018, India still imported USD 1.9 billion worth of panels in the 11 months ended June 30, says Sudhir Aggarwal, Executive Director, Patanjali Renewable Energy. In conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Saur Energy International, Aggarwal shared his views on various issues which the India’s solar sector is currently dealing with along with his company’s latest product offerings, manufacturing facilities, future expansion plans etc. Following are the excerpts from that exclusive interview.

Q

Do tell us about Patanjali Renewable Energy and your latest product offerings.

PREPL (Patanjali Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd.) is a completely new division of the Patanjali Group. Having a vision to expand its horizons to cater to the power and electricity needs of the people across India, PREPL has set up a fully automated state of the art solar PV module manufacturing plant.

We have made a basket of the most widely accepted products in the most affordable price bracket.

Our product range includes: a) Solar PV panels b) Batteries • Solar Batteries • Inverter Batteries c) Inverters • 3Off Grid PWM • Off Grid MPPT • On Grid (Grid Tie Inverters) • Hybrid Inverters d) Solar Street lights • Integrated • Semi Integrated Soon we will be venturing into Solar Water Pumps as well specially to cater to the need of our farmers.

Q

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We have an expansion planned to increase our module manufacturing capacity to approx.

200 MW by beginning of next year.

What is the scope for lithium-ion battery manufacturing in India? Do you see any bottlenecks for domestic manufacturers?

Rising penetration of electric vehicles, substantial investments in clean and renewable energy sources, and the recently launched Make in India campaign are expected to boost the demand for Li-ion batteries at a tremendous pace in the coming years in the country. Government of India has launched New Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020, which projects to have 6-7 million electric vehicles running on Indian roads by 2020. Smart city SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

projects and Green Energy Corridor for power generation from renewable sources would add to the overall installed capacity, thereby increasing the demand for energy storage batteries.

We believe standardised policies and quality control need to be made stringent so that the domestic manufacturer can take care of the quality of the cells being imported by them.

Q

In current scenario, with safeguard duty wind down also started, how do you see the scope for domestic module manufacturers in the country?

India’s move to impose safeguard duty on import of solar cells and modules last year hasn’t helped domestic manufacturers much. While import of solar cells and modules from China have declined since the duty was implemented in July 2018, India still imported USD 1.9 billion worth of panels in the 11 months ended June 30, according to government data.

We see that government policies will play a vital role as in recent tenders, it was mentioned that Indian panels and cells must be used. So such initiatives for Make in India will definitely boost domestic module manufacturing business in the country.

Q

What is your current market share on the domestic front along with your major client base?

“Patanjali” as a brand is popular among the masses. But that client base is for FMCG products and this sector is totally different from that.

So in comparison, Patanjali in the Renewable Energy front is yet to touch the hearts of the people on that scale, but yes the journey has started. Solar powered energy initially was viable

THE CONVERSATION ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

for industries and government projects, but we have set our primal objective to reach to the people in the remotest of areas and provide them affordable sustainable energy. That will be our market share.

Q

Tell us something about Patanjali’s manufacturing facilities in India? Do you have a R&D division?

We have incorporated a modern state of the art automated solar PV module manufacturing facility in Greater Noida, Delhi NCR. It’s a 60 MW plant and we are on the verge of expanding our capacity.

We have setup a testing lab conducting various quality tests like house mechanical load test, Gel content test, wet leakage test, cable robustness test etc. Our R&D team keeps drilling into our products and processes to create new technology, products, services or systems. A separate repair & maintenance team has developed a “Jig” which enables us to run numerous tests on all our products, post and pre-production to make the desired quality product, the best in class.

Q

Besides solar polycrystalline modules, what are Patanjali’s other product offerings for the renewables? Have you considered manufacturing mono crystalline modules too?

PREPL has a wide range of products as mentioned above. Yes currently we are manufacturing only polycrystalline modules, but very soon we will see Patanjali Mono Crystalline modules as well in the market.

Q

Does Patanjali have any further expansion/ investment plans for the near future?

We have an expansion planned to increase our module manufacturing capacity to approx. 200 MW by beginning of next year. Also we will go for some backward integration as well for some of our products.

Q

Besides modules, is Patanjali Renewable also planning to enter into cell manufacturing in India?

Yes, maybe when the policies of the government will be favourable and when we see a good potential in the market.

Q

Patanjali has been focused on rooftop and distributed solar sales too. What are your expectations from this market? Do you see an opportunity for brand building in this segment?

Solar energy sector is majorly divided into 4 sectors: Industrial, Residential, Institutional and Government projects. Each sector has a huge potential in terms of business, but the biggest opportunity we feel is residential sector. People are nowadays curious to go healthy, turn environmentalist, looking for pollution free solutions and what not. With solar coming in picture, keeping its affordability factor, ease of installation, life span and its benefits over other sources of energy, there comes huge opportunity.

Sure there are challenges in this sector too but a good brand like Patanjali can leverage the most out of this sector.

Our only proposition is to maintain the trust that people have in our brand with respect to quality and pricing.

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THE CONVERSATION REI SPECIAL ISSUE

AMIT GUPTA CEO, Yulu

YULU WANTS TO SOLVE PUBLIC TRANSPORT’S GREATEST PROBLEM IN INDIA

At a time when the crisis in auto sales has everyone’s attention, Yulu, the Bengaluru based firm focused on micro mobility couldn’t care less. In a discussion with Group Editor Prasanna Singh, Yulu’s CEO Amit Gupta discusses the firm, its experience so far with electric mobility and its hopes.

For Yulu’s Co-Founder and CEO Amit Gupta, whose other co-founders include RK Mishra, Hemant Gupta and Naveen Dachuri, the decision to go with Yulu was an easy one. “Yulu is ‘simple’ in Chinese and we are very confident that like the fintech revolution, where India has sailed quickly through credit cards, debit cards to frictionless transactions, we will move the same way to the future of mobility which is small, sustainable and shared.” It’s a vision that has seen this Bengaluru based firm hit 10,000 vehicles on the road, including 8,000 cycles and 2,000 of its Yulu Miracle EV’s.

Like many other services, ‘last mile connectivity’ is a bugbear that public transport has also struggled within India. For Bengaluru-based Yulu, solving this “first and last mile problem”has become its reason for existenceas the firm spread out to the NCR region in early September, the fifth city it has tracked on its journey since starting off in March last year in Bengaluru. Like its operations in other cities, including Pune, Greater Mumbai, Bhubaneswar, besides Bengaluru, in Delhi too the firm has tied up with a key public transportation body.

Gupta asserts that ,“we are dealing in mobility. It has no meaning in isolation, so we have to work with the city government, the public transportation of that city”. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) model follows the Bengaluru model where the firm has tied up with Namma Metro and the bus operator.Even in Mumbai, we are part of the CIDCO network and primarily in Powai right now. And now a meaningful presence in Navi Mumbai. It made more sense to us than Mumbai. With the success there, it is easy for officers and bureaucrats to see that it works, making them warm to the idea of helping us for the main city launch soon”.

Yulu offers two options to its users: a cycle called ‘Yulu Move’ and the Yulu Miracle, a two-wheeled electric vehicle that is dockless and powered by its own IoT technology. Delhi is the first city where it has gone only with the ‘YuluMiracle’. The Miracle comes with a 1 KW battery pack that can travel 60 kms on a full charge at a maximum speed of 25 Kmph. Although at 15 percent remaining charge, a warning goes off and the firm prefers to take the vehicle off the road for recharge.

According to Gupta, “we started with bicycles and got a lot of learning. Like average distance travelled in Bengaluru was 2 kms on our cycles. In Delhi it would have been max 1 km on a cycle due to the weather

THE CONVERSATION ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

and other issues, so we went with a battery or EV only option has got us amazing feedback from users, including women, for here. Barring some campus use cases in Noida and surrounding being so user friendly. You can easily drive it in a saree too!” areas, where we are open to bringing in the Yulu Move”.

At 43 kgs, the ‘bike’ is light enough to be easily manoeuvrable Stressing on their flexibility, he adds that “we are a micro too, claims Gupta, adding that anyone over 5 feet can mobility platformand we understand the areas mobility comfortably ride it. need. So we will place assets that make sense. So inside a corporate campus in Bengauru, it might be cycles. For Inter So how do you actually get started with a Yulu rental? campus commutes (longer distances), users might prefer the A user simply needs to download the Yulu app, input a Yulu Miracle. “ verifiable phone number,pay the initial security deposit of Rs The logistics of running the operation are not easy. “Our ops 250 (In Delhi), and you could be on your way from any Yulu run 24X7”, says Gupta. “So rather than charging our vehicle, zone nearby. The vehicle is unlocked through a QR code on we actually charge the battery remotely, and swap it at the app. While Yulu is offering only the Miracle, or battery the spot. We have created a network of charging boxes to powered bike in Delhi, in other cities it offers the Yulu Basic, charge batteries, placed across areas where we operate or pedal powered bikes too. at partner locations and even mom and pop kirana stores While pricing is common for now,”our platform allows for for a monthly fee. Like a gym locker, we have this smart box differential pricing, as every city has its unique needs,” says created for a Yulu application team so they can locate which Gupta. battery needs to be taken out and swapped. Every battery “For Delhi, we have around 40 Yuluzonesand cover 9 metro is uniquely numbered so now they can locate the vehicles stations. Till we spread our network, we have created a special that require charging. At a 15 percent threshold, two things concept of evening package called ‘Yulu Keep’ where happen. First, the scooter is no longer available for hiring. someone can take the vehicle from the metro station and Next, a task is added to the operations team member to go bring it back the next day. There is a three hour saver pack and swap the battery. So much like a cloud kitchen in food for Rs 99.Tourists can also avail this facility as Yulu supports delivery, my guys pick up the batteries from those locations payments from all international debit and credit cards”. and deliver it to the scooters that need a fresh charge.”

During normal hours, the Yulu Miracle offers a pricing package Interestingly, while Yulu runs operations completely in five cities of Rs 10 for activation, and Rs 10 for every subsequent 10 it is present in, forBhubaneswar it has gone with a different minutes. Or Rs 70 for one hour. Users seem to like it, going by operating model. Yulu has a local partner in the city who runs Gupta’s claim of 4.5 to 5 million rides taken on their vehicles operations while the assets have been funded by the city since they started off, including on Yulu Move. government.“Strategically we understood the importance of involving local entrepreneurs who understand the city better How does the firm plan to tackle the safety aspect of driving and can make the service successful faster. It’s also a smart by its users? and progressive city so when we found a strong partner, it “Technically our Yulu Miracle is a cycle. There is no age bar seemed the right move”. in the policy document. However, keeping in mind user The firm has also learnt from global cases, besides its own early safety, we have ourselves put an age restriction of 16 years experience in Bengaluru when it came to operational logistics. and above for users.” Gupta says they did experiment with Gupta says “one of the biggest challenge we faced, where helmets for users in Pune but were rebuffed by users on various we had to change from global templates, was to change grounds like hygiene, fit, or even looks. But the company the approach to parking policy. Initially, firms in this space plans to keep encouraging users, especially its regulars, to went with a dock less model, which meant users could pick go for helmets with a plan to start retailing branded helmets and leave the cycles almost anywhere. This model quickly on a leading ecommerce portal soon. became a problem as, besides high theft and vandalism The firm counts itself lucky when it comes to mishaps considering rates, we could see city governments coming after firms to the fact that a lot of its users are getting back to two-wheeler find a better solution to the ‘clutter’ being created. In August driving after a long gap at times. Reports of accidents have 2018, after almost six months of execution, we moved from been in the single digits so far. The firm insures Miracle users dockless to specific parking areas we named Yulu Zones. This for Rs 2 lakh against accidents, and cycle users for Rs 1 lakh. is the virtual docking modelwhere there is a docking station, Of course, as Gupta says, the fact that as a slower vehicle, and discipline in parking. This is a welcome change then in all driving typically happens on the left of the road, reduces line with our overall objectives as cities will look cleaner and the risks considerably of any serious accident. more organised. And lower costs for operators like Yulu”.

Started with seed funding, Yulu’s attention to detail and A second change that Amit is chuffed about is the evolution planning the full stack of ‘micro mobility’ has won it the of their EV, the Yulu Miracle. “ We experimented with close confidence of investors, with the firm raising USD 7 million in to 25 vehicles from India, Korea and China. We researched March 2019 from investors including Wavemaker Partners, extensively on the key features that will really matter on a Blume Ventures, 3One4, Grey Cell Ventures, and Incubate shared mobility vehicle. After nine months, we finally arrived Fund India. The big question is, 2 years from now, will it along at the Yulu Miracle. Designed by us, built in China, and with other firms in the business be able to count decongesting assembled in India. The batteries in its vehicles, are currently Indian cities among their achievements? That, is a billion being sourced from a Delhi-based vendor. The Yulu Miracle dollar answer.

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OPED REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Can rooftop solar be the game changer to achieve India’s ambitious solar target?

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India is on its way to phase out fossil-based energy generation and adopt green energy. The growing population and the need for energy aligns with India’s transition initiatives, thus satisfying energy SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

demands and in the process reducing the carbon footprint. The country’s per capita energy consumption currently stands close to one-third of the world's average. In recent years, solar energy

SAURABH MARDA

Co-Founder & Managing Director Freyr Energy in the emerging markets has been phenomenal and India stands as the thirdlargest solar power in the world in terms of solar power installations, making it all set to be a global leader in solar energy.

OPED ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Despite pro-solar policies, among the total installed solar capacity of 30GW, rooftop accounts for 4GW, and the overall growth in the sector has been sluggish. There is no doubt that the pace of installations in India has to be accelerated exponentially to get to the target of 40GW set by the Government of India.

Roadblocks

Though there are evident roadblocks particularly in the rooftop segment, the potential is much higher than the said target, hence a possible push can start the momentum of the segment again.

Firstly, local Discoms have given a lukewarm response to solar rooftops, stalling many Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) that have been signed but not executed, owing to the fear that it could hurt their finances, especially in the wake of falling tariffs post-signing of the PPA’s.

Declining cost and increased deployment

of rooftop solar at the global level have raised questions about its financial impact on utilities and its increasing proliferation in India may pose operational and commercial challenges for Discoms.

They have also expressed fear of grid protections, quality of power and maintenance as more reasons. Large scale adoption of consumers to rooftop solar may imply a decrease in the sale of electricity by Discoms resulting in revenue loss. Discoms’s high paying C&I (Commercial & Industrial) consumers switching to rooftop solar may affect the bills paid by them to the Discoms to a highly subsidized category. These implications may only increase the burden on the Discoms which are already reeling under severe financial stress. It is therefore important to keep in mind and factor these realities into account to expect the steady growth of solar rooftop projects.

While there have been proactive in spreading awareness and announcing goals& subsidies regarding solar projects, the ground realities are quite different.

The deployment of solar in the residential segment is sluggish because of significant upfront costs, unavailability of space, roof ownerships, the feasibility of installation, etc. The factors seem to be overpowering the inherent positive aspects of rooftop solar, like saving on electricity bills, zero fuel cost and environmental benefits.

In addition, the government’s support on robust regulatory and policy framework, which includes a remunerative netmetering policy to encourage the growth of residential off-grid capacity, must be introduced.That will go a long way in ensuring a smooth roadmap for rooftop solar installations. Getting clarity on net-metering policies is key to the widespread adoption of rooftop solar across verticals in the country.

Way Forward

To push rooftop growth, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently approved Phase-II of the Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme to achieve the target of 40,000 MW by the year 2022.

The programme will be implemented with central financial assistance of Rs 11,814 crore. In addition, Phase-II Programme Central Financial Assistance (CFA) will provide financial support of 40% for rooftop systems up to 3 kW and 20% for beyond

3 kW and up to 10 kW. This initiative is commendable and essential at this stage to give that much-needed momentum which is lacking in the industry.

The programme deals with the challenges hindering the large-scale interest of rooftop solar, i.e. by incentivizing the Discoms, one can easily gain their support which in turn will encourage greater participation from consumers to shift to rooftop solar. However, this can be known only if implemented in the right direction with all its foundation and policies in place. Consequently, the need for clear, credible information about rooftop solar PV that can be easily comprehended by the end-user should be introduced along with awareness via mediums that reach the common man. An information kit that comprises of basic information in layman’s language on subjects such as how much area is required to generate a unit of electricity, who can they contact for after-sales services, important maintenance care kit, the difference between net and gross metering, installation time, household utilities and so on.

To encourage the uptake of loans in the sector, options for finance provided by banks should demand reasonable collateral security with reasonable interest rates (both standalone and top-up loan cases) which will not work as deterrents for the end-users. The country is blessed with ample potential for the growth of solar energy, being strategically placed in the perfect geographical location, having 250-300 tropical sunny days. A big opportunity lies there and with a little push in a sustainable manner, this can help India achieve its 40GW target.

Creating an ecosystem where everyone is involved and actively participating to make India a global leader in the space will be possible with innovative schemes and programmes.

The targets India has set are undoubtedly ambitious, but very much achievable.

Looking at a solution from the consumer's perspective can help overcome problems better. For rooftop solar to be mainstream in India, there is a dire need for awareness and ensuring clarity of basic information with ease of finance options for installation.

India will shine brighter and better than now if the consumer-centric approach is adopted.

VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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THE CONVERSATION REI SPECIAL ISSUE

VIKAS JAIN Director, Insolation Energy

KUSUM SCHEME GREATEST SETBACK FOR SMALL MANUFACTURERS

KUSUM scheme will be the greatest setback for Indian solar manufacturers in the SME/MSME category. Small manufacturers are not eligible to meet the qualifying turnover condition for the scheme. KUSUM scheme was long awaited but we are highly disappointed to see the terms. We have already submitted our representation to the concerned authorities, says Vikas Jain, Director, Insolation Energy. In conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Saur Energy International, Jain shared his views on various issues which the power sector is currently dealing with along with his company’s plan of action in the renewable energy space. Following are the excerpts from that exclusive interview.

Q

Q

Q

Q

What is the current manufacturing capacity of Insolation Energy and are Insolation modules truly ‘Make in India’?

Definitely yes. Solar modules made by Insolation Energy are true representation of ‘Made in India’. We make our modules in India with maximum usage of Indian RM as everybody is aware solar cells are seldom available in India and we have no choice over it.

Being a manufacturer of Mono PERC modules in India, how do you see the demand for these modules in the country as compared to the Polycrystalline ones? What is the cost difference in the market? What is the difference versus Chinese imports?

Mono PERC is the future and we see a great opportunity in this. We have already started manufacturing these modules and have observed very good performance of these Mono PERC Modules over Polycrystalline modules. By using PERC modules, we can save considerable cost of BOM as they are of much higher wattage as compared to conventional modules.

Q

How do you see the government’s KUSUM scheme for farmers? Will the scheme create demand for home grown solar modules?

In your view, are there any challenges in the scheme?

KUSUM scheme will be the greatest setback for Indian solar manufacturers in the SME/MSME category.

Small manufacturers are not eligible to meet the qualifying turnover condition for the scheme.

KUSUM scheme was long awaited but we are highly disappointed to see the terms. We have already submitted our representation to the concerned authorities.

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

What are your investment and expansion plans for the future? What about technology changes?

Currently, our capacity is 80 MW per year and we are going to double this in this fiscal. Alongwith modules, we are also planning for a cell line and a Lithium battery line. This year, we plan to do a business of Rs 100 crore. We have a target of atleast 25 percent growth year-on-year.

Does Insolation export its modules?

Yes we do export our modules and we plan to set up an office in Europe to handle the exports.

Q

How do you see the recent moves from the government, be it on Letter of Credit by Discoms, to ensure prompt payment, reminder on must run status of renewable power and others impacting the solar industry?

Solar industry is a victim of policy paralysis at the moment. There is no set of long-term policy from the government due to which there has been a major slowdown in the sector. Poor payment records and undue litigations by the Discoms have severely impacted the sector.

Q

What is the minimum capacity needed in your view to get economies of scale in solar module manufacturing?

Any capacity below 100 MW per annum is very difficult to operate and maintain in this scenario. To compete with imports and to maintain quality, this capacity is required so that requisite infrastructure can be arranged.

STARTUP FEATURE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Zunroof Solutions

Biggest Challenge in solar sector Awareness amongst home-owners.

Present State of Mind

Pranesh Chaudhary Founder Zunroof Solutions

Brief Details

Total employees: 150+ Turnover: Over Rs 50 crore Key operational areas (Products, Regions, Clients): Design, Delivery and Diagnostics of rooftop solar solutions through an app. Present in 10+ states and 60+ cities.

Founder/promoter details: An IIT Kharagpur alumnus, Pranesh Chaudhary, had seven years of experience advising some of the largest financial services firms in the world before he founded ZunRoof in mid-2016 with his long-time friend from IIT days, Sushant Sachan.

The best advantage of a startup is its agility, so I never think of what would have been done differently. Instead, as soon as we identify any opportunity for improvements in our system, we implement it immediately. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how you grow.

One thing that has changed this year is that we are now not satisfied with a 3x year-on-year growth, we are looking at growing 8-10X every year with a solid unit economics. That throws tech and ops challenges every day at us and that is what ensures that I spend every waking hour thinking about ZunRoof.

Loom Solar

Amol Anand

Turning Point for the firm

Our own conviction not in the idea but in the team - for the first 6 months, we were not even getting 1 order a month and it was just the two of us meeting 100s of customers, creating marketing videos, writing the code for our 1st version of design app. But, we had fun working together and sold the same concept of fun while poaching some of our good friends and ex-colleagues for almost 0 salaries. We have hit many roadblocks in this journey but every time that belief in the team helps us propel forward.

Plans in next 3 to 5 years

We will put solar on the roofs of 1 million home-owners in the next 5 years and bring a taste of IOT to these customers along-with saving tonnes of money for them.

Biggest attraction in solar sector

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Gets you in the customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homes while utilising an asset which was not yielding anything to its owner.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

Director - Sales & Marketing Loom Solar

Brief Details

Total employees: 40 Turnover: Rs 25 crore Key operational areas (Products, Regions and Clients): Loom Solar products are easily available across India and on ecommerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Loomsolar.com website.

Founder/promoter details: It was founded in 2018 in Faridabad, Haryana by two brothers Amol Anand and Amod Anand, an ex-employee of Luminous and HomeShop18.

Turning Point for the firm - Solar Sector is one of the most challenging sectors to work with. As the product is of odd size, Fragile, transportation is difficult, all products looks similar and the demand supply is heavily controlled by government policies. Our approach has been digital to reach to the

STARTUP FEATURE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

customers and sell premium high efficiency Mono crystalline solar panels which most of the players in the industry do not manufacture or sell. We focused on a segment which has been always ignorant that is residential home, Loom Solar caters to residential space and catering the demand from 10 Watt to 10 kW.

Plans in next 3 to 5 years

Loom Solar aims at very simple thing, we want to become Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most popular brand in the solar space by 2020, and to achieve this, we will be reaching to 100 million customers in the country through digital platforms.

Biggest attraction in solar sector

All the developed and developing countries in the world have moved their focus to the different sources of sustainable energy or renewable energy thus leading to Lithium.

Biggest Challenge in solar sector

The challenge is to educate the consumer on the different qualities of Lithium Batteries available in the market and also the impact that Lithium Batteries can cause to the environment.

Present State of Mind

The sector is full of challenges, but as a startup if we do not face challenges and if we do not intend to solve the bigger problems, we cannot become super brands.

Satisfied yes but content no.

This market has just begun making its presence felt in India and all around the world. So there is a long way ahead of us and we shall not keep our goals and expectation limited because there are alot more avenues to explore that the industry offers.

Present State of Mind

Easy Solar Solutions

Biggest Challenge in solar sector

The name startup and doing business is always nice, but it also a fact that the other name of big problems is called startup.

A startup must be sustainable, scalable and profitable. In our 1.5 year journey, today we have a strong 40 people team, more than 10,000 customers have a trust on us. I think this could have been built in lesser time for which we have taken 1.5 years.

Lokesh Vats Director

Aqueouss

Easy Solar Solutions

Brief Details

Vibhas Verma Founder Aqueouss

Brief Details

Total employees: 20 Turnover: cannot be disclosed Key operational areas (Products, Regions, Clients): Lithum Battery packs (Lithium ion, LiFePo4 and Lithium titanate battery.

Founder/promoter details: Vibhas Verma, Founder

Turning Point for the firm

The conviction our team had in themselves of becoming those first few inches of an entire mile. In this case, a Lithium Battery Start up was the first kick, and another quick positive boost we got post surviving more than two and a half years in this competitive industry that made us realise of what we are and what we can further be!

Plans in next 3 to 5 years

We would like to establish ourselves as a much bigger and a better brand of Lithium Battery Pack and also make our presence felt not only in India but at the global stage .

Total employees: 40+ Turnover: Rs 59 crore Key operational areas (Products, Regions, Clients): All over India and export in Gulf countries.

Founder/promoter details: Lokesh Vats, Director, Easy Solar Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Turning Point for the firm

My Keen attitude to meet new people and explore the solar products took me to business and my marketing skills helps me a lot.

Plans in next 3 to 5 years

To expand the business in India as well as European countries as we need to make everyone aware about solar and its benefit to environment.

Biggest attraction in solar sector

The importance of solar energy in saving the environment, without a high cost for doing it.

Present State of Mind

Somewhat satisfied as we are still behind in solar in compare to European countries, I had explored from Retail to Govt. sectors even worked in toughest areas in Jammu & Kashmir.

-MANU@MEILLEURMEDIA.COM VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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CASE STUDY REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Industrial and Commercial Photovoltaic Power Stations Enter the Grid-Parity Era

According to the BNEF analysis report, the current installed capacity of China's industrial and commercial rooftop PV market has exceeded 200 GW. As urbanization continues to advance, this number is likely to reach 300 GW by 2040.

'IV scan + high-end configuration' helps Industrial and Commercial Photovoltaic power stations enter the grid-parity era: With the start of the parity phase, industrial and commercial project developers will usher in a new round of development opportunities. As the major consumers of electricity, industrial and commercial users must pay a fixed electricity fee for part of annual operating costs.

The installation of photovoltaic power plants on the roof of a factory or enterprise can reduce the energy consumption of enterprises and fully utilize idle resources.It helps energy conservation and emission reduction. At the same time, the addition of an on-site PV system will economic benefits to the enterprise.

Nowadays, even if there is no state subsidy support, a company can invest in the construction of photovoltaic power plants, and the return on investment (ROI) can be very attractive.

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

CASE STUDY ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Case Study

Case#1:

Zhejiang LangDi Group Project Name: Zhejiang Langdi Group Co., Ltd. 3.7MW Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation Project Location: Yuyao, Zhejiang Project capacity: 3.7MW Inverter: GCI-70K-HV The installed capacity of the project is 3.7 MW, the total utilization area of the project is about 50,000 square meters, and the total investment is $2,811,961. And the self-use ratio is more than 85 percent.

The project uses 52 pcs of Ginlong (Solis) Technology GCI-70K-HV inverters. This type of inverter has 4 channels of MPPT, which can access 12 strings of components, which can effectively reduce the component loss. The module is 340W single crystal with a maximum input power of 84kW. VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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CASE STUDY REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Case#2:

Changshu Zhu Dian Auto Parts Co., Ltd. Project Name: 700 KW Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation Project of Changshu Zhu Dian arts Co., Ltd. Location: Changshu, Jiangsu Project capacity: 700 KW Inverter: GCI-50K The installed capacity of the project is 700 KW, the total utilization area of the project is about 8,500 square meters, and the total investment is USD 6,104,208. The first year of power generation is about 700,000 degrees.

The project uses a total of 12 pcs of Ginlong Technology GCI-50K inverters.

This model inverter has 4 MPPTs, each of which can be connected to 12 strings of components. With ASP-S1-85 solar modules, the maximum input power is 60 kW. Support 1.2 times DC over-distribution, effectively support the optimal capacity ratio of the project, maximize the power generation and increase the revenue.

Case#3:

Zhejiang Shenji Titanium Industry Project Name: Zhejiang Shenji Titanium Industry Co., Ltd. 1.15 MW Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation Project Location: Anji, Zhejiang Project capacity: 1.15 MW Inverter: GCI-60K The installed capacity of the project is 1.15 MW, the total utilization area of the project is about 12,000 square meters, and the total investment is USD 6,540,222.

Self-use ratio of more than 90 percent.

A total of 16 Ginlong Technology GCI60K inverters are used. This type of inverter has 4 MPPTs and can access 12 strings of components. The module is single crystal 285W with a maximum input power of 72 kW. As the "brain centre" of the photovoltaic system, the correct selection of the inverter directly determines the revenue of the entire photovoltaic power station.

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Ginlong (Solis) Technology can provide complete system solutions for industrial and commercial projects, provide strong technical support for the safe and stable operation of photovoltaic power plants, and answer the concerns of new owners.

A Solis C&I power station owner recently spoke to the Ginlong Technical Service Team leaders about working with Ginlong (Solis) Technologies saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the power station has operated perfectly. Looking at the steady daily power generation, I am very satisfied with the power plant operations and would praise the outstanding performance of the Solis inverter!"

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

Supported by

Bhagwan Dhuldhule

E: reiconference-india@ubm.com

Registration Counter Partner

Badge Partner

Lanyard Partner

Technology Partner

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Premium Solar Module Partner

Visitor Bag & Water Bottle Partner

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Knowledge Partner

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COVER STORY REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Will Rooftop Solar Rescue India’s Faltering Solar Target Plus: 5 States Where The NumbersWill Matter

Z

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ero.

That’s the number of fresh utility scale solar and wind projects commissioned in August 2019 through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), India’s premier agency for executing them.

While the corporation is not seeing a zero month for the first time, the fact remains that in 2016-17, when momentum was picking up sharply, not a single industry professional would have imagined that things would come to this in 2019.

For the record, utility scale installations in 2019 are projected to be close to 15 percent less than those in 2018 at 7.5 GW, when 2018 itself was a year that saw a drop of 15 percent over 2017’s addition of 9.7 GW. All this after projections at the beginning of this year for solar capacity additions was pegged at 14 GW, a 50 percent higher figure than 2018, a prediction that looks laughably optimistic now.

This is a slowdown that, unlike the rest of the economy, has been entirely government created as policy flip flops and SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

multiple other missteps that have been reported widely, led to this situation.

In all this gloom however, one segment has stood out -- the rooftop solar segment.

The rooftop segment, which has a 40 percent share in India’s solar target of 100 GW by 2022, has finally started showing a healthy growth clip thanks mainly to price drops that have made it viable even without government subsidies for many, besides a rising corporate and industrial market (C&I).

This is where the battle for numbers will be won or lost based on the performance of a group of 5 statesplus the two states that made up the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh. This group of 5+2 will decide both the sum and substance of rooftop solar achievement in the coming years even as other large states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh flounder, predictably with a bureaucracy that seems unprepared to do what it takes to enable and encourage solar installations.

COVER STORY ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Why is the success of rooftop solar so important?

For three really good reasons. First of course is its contribution to the national solar energy goals. Second is its ability to generate both employment and competition in a free market situation. For every megawatt of power installed, rooftop solar generates 3-4 times the employment that grid scale projects do. Finally, as subsidies die out or are simply ignored due to painful claims processes, a free market is creating thousands of entrepreneurseager to find a way to differentiate their offerings and respond faster to market needs with innovation.

That means a more aware and committed customer base; a user base which will be critical to ‘sell’ the essential steps needed for sustainability in so many more areas.

this is a rate that can continue for the foreseeable future on the bank of corporate as well as residential interest.

While IEEFA estimates that for the next three years, rooftop solar installation will grow at a CAGR of 50 percent suggesting a cumulative 13 Gw of installed capacity by FY22, a small poll we conducted among 20 rooftop players across the country indicates that this target could be comfortably exceeded, with a total rooftop capacity closer to 17 GW or more by 2022.

Rooftop solar by states: The official version State-wise installed capacity of Grid Interactive Renewable Power as on 31.07.2019.

S. No. STATES / Uts Small Hydro Power

WHY ROOFTOP SOLAR MATTERS

4 Higher employment generation 4 Critical contributor to overall solar targets with lower subsidy demands 4 Contribution to greater awareness and helping create a culture of participation in wider sustainability efforts

Which are these five critical states?

Maharashtra (618 MW), Rajasthan (393 MW), Tamil Nadu (365 MW), Gujarat (314 MW) and Karnataka (298 MW) are the top rooftop solar power generating states, according to a report from Bridge to India, a solar energy consultancy. Not surprisingly, these are among the most industrialised states in the country too, making them obvious candidates for faster solar additions. Especially by the industries and firms concentrated in these states. Between them, these 5 states account for almost 45% of the total solar rooftop target, a number that experts believe could be closer to 60% or more, if Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are counted too.

According to the Bridge to India report, at the end of FY19, the installed rooftop solar power generation capacity stood at 4,375 MW, soaring 72 percent over FY18. The additions are across commercial, industrial, public sector, and residential projects. The industrial segment is the leader here, with an installed capacity of 2,140 MW. This assertion of rooftop solar numbers was long in coming.

With greater corporate commitment to renewable energy transition, almost 29 percent of rooftop solar installations have been accounted for by the corporate and industrial segment.

A number that shoots up by over 50 percent if we add public sector undertakings to the picture.

This number should easily grow further as more corporates buff up their green credentials at a possible profit now, thanks to the high cost of grid power for industries in most parts of the country. India’s high cross-subsidisation from commercial and industrial (C&I) to residential and agricultural users acts as a key incentive, making self-generation for C&I immediately cost effective.

US-based think-tank Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA), has flagged rooftop solar power generation as the fastest growing renewable energy sub-sector in India, albeit on a low basewith a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 116 percent between 2012 and 2018. We believe

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

Solar Power

Bio-Power

(MW) Andhra Pradesh 162.11 Arunachal Pradesh 131.105 Assam 34.11 Bihar 70.70 Chhatisgarh 76.00 Goa 0.05 Gujarat 62.35 Haryana 73.50 Himachal Pradesh 870.21 Jammu & Kashmir 180.03 Jharkhand 4.05 Karnataka 1254.73 Kerala 222.02 Madhya Pradesh 95.91 Maharashtra 375.570 Manipur 5.45 Meghalaya 32.53 Mizoram 36.47 Nagaland 30.67 Odisha 64.625 Punjab 173.55 Rajasthan 23.85 Sikkim 52.11 Tamil Nadu 123.05 Telangana 90.87 Tripura 16.01 Uttar Pradesh 25.10 Uttarakhand 214.320 West Bengal 98.50 Andaman & Nicobar 5.25 Chandigarh Dadar & Nagar Haveli Daman & Diu Delhi Lakshwadeep Pondicherry Others Total (MW) 4604.802 MW = Megawatt

Wind Power

(MW) 4092.45

BM BM Cogen.

Power/Baga (Non- Waste sse Cogen. Bagass to e/Capti Energy (Grid Interactive) ve Power) (MW) (MW) 378.20 98.98

(MW) 23.16

Bio Power Total

(MW) 500.34

113.00 228.00

8.20 2.50

121.20 230.50

6860.77

65.30 121.40

12.00 84.26 7.20

77.30 205.66 7.20

4723.10 62.50 2519.890 4794.13

1811.60 93.00 2499.70

4.30 15.20 0.72 12.35 16.40

1.00 15.40 12.59

13.80

4299.72

50.40 8.82 194.00 123.10 119.30 2.00

9201.86 128.10

969.00 158.10

28.55 1.00

13.80

9.25

59.22 326.35 121.30

6.40 18.50

1003.95 177.60

1957.50 158.01 73.00 57.50 300.00 19.92

4.30 36686.820

9131.50 674.81

4.30 1827.80 0.72 120.75 2528.69

2115.51 130.50 319.92

52.00

52.00

138.30

9944.61

Ground Roof Top Mounted

Total

(MW) 3230.74 1.27 10.67 138.93 215.83 0.95 2257.09 130.80 17.00 8.49 19.05 6097.56 100.00 2059.28 1447.30 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.00 383.56 828.58 3554.27 0.00 2663.48 3530.29 5.00 899.00 239.78 55.00 7.60 6.34 2.49 10.15 8.96 0.75 0.03

(MW) 77.94 4.33 30.40 6.92 15.52 3.83 390.63 111.25 9.88 10.27 19.15 205.41 41.35 41.48 202.36 3.69 0.12 1.30 1.00 13.72 118.52 154.36 0.07 151.63 90.46 4.41 146.10 74.92 41.03 4.13 30.23 2.97 5.30 123.19 0.00 3.17

(MW) 3308.68 5.60 41.07 145.85 231.35 4.78 2647.72 242.05 26.88 18.76 38.20 6302.97 141.35 2100.76 1649.66 3.69 0.12 1.40 1.00 397.28 947.10 3708.63 0.07 2815.11 3620.75 9.41 1045.10 314.70 96.03 11.73 36.57 5.46 15.45 132.15 0.75 3.20

27930.34

2141.04

30071.38

Total Capacity

(MW) 8063.58 136.71 75.18 337.75 537.85 4.83 9648.14 521.21 904.29 198.79 46.55 14108.60 426.59 4837.31 9348.05 9.14 46.45 37.87 31.67 521.13 1447.00 8153.50 52.18 13143.97 4017.32 25.42 3185.71 659.52 514.45 16.98 36.57 5.46 15.45 184.15 0.75 3.20 4.30 81307.61

The Haze Around Numbers

Of course, with such a heavy government overhang, there is some haze around the numbers. There is an ambiguity in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) figures on rooftop solar dated July 31, 2019, and a recent comment

by India’s Power, New and Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh inRajya Sabha.

Singh, while replying to a question from independent lawmaker Parimal Nathwani representing Jharkhand, said that a total of only 1700 MW of rooftop solar have been installed in India till July 18, 2019 according to government records.

The minister elaborated that 918.42 MW out of the 1700 MW was subsidized by the government. In other words, even the government admits that barely 55 percent of rooftop solar has obtained subsidies.

Phase two of the rooftop solar push

What gives hope to the future for rooftop solar is also fresh impetus. MNRE has issued operational guidelines to VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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implement the second phase of its grid-connected rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) program in July 2019. Overall, 38GW of rooftop solar PV projects is to be set up under the second phase of this program.

Of this, 4 GW will be in the residential sector and 34 GW under other sectors such as governments, commercial, industrial, and educational. The program also aims to promote domestic manufacturing of solar cells and modules.

There are two main components in the program. Under component A, up to 4,000 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects in the residential sector will be set up with Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for which the electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs)and its local offices will be the nodal point for the implementation of the program.

For group housing societies and residential welfare associations (RWA’s) under component A, the CFA will be limited to 20 percent for the installation of the rooftop solar PV project to supply power to common facilities. The capacity eligible for the CFA will be limited to 10 kW per house with the total not more than 500 kW, inclusive of rooftop solar PV project already installed in individual houses.

MNRE will allocate the capacity for the installation of rooftop solar PV systems in the sector by DISCOMs in the ensuing year.

The key parameter for allocating the capacity will be the demand raised by the DISCOM and the capacity required for the fulfilment of solar renewable purchase obligations (RPO) of the state. DISCOMs will be required to submit their yearly online proposal on the MNRE’s SPIN portal by the month of March in each financial year.

Government owned DISCOMs will be eligible to avail an advance CFA of up to 30 percent of the total CFA amount for the project. For private DISCOMs, the CFA will be disbursed on a reimbursement basis. However, if required, private DISCOMS will be eligible to avail an advance CFA upon the submission of a bank guarantee of an equivalent amount. For cash strapped government discoms, these are all small but important moves to move faster, a complaint every rooftop installer has about them.

Under component B, incentives to DISCOMsbased on their achievement towards the initial 18,000 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar PV projects will be provided. Incentives will be provided for each MW capacity of rooftop solar added by DISCOMs in their distribution area over and above 10 percent of base capacity installed at the end of the previous year.

DISCOMs have to submit the cumulative capacity of gridconnected rooftop solar PV projects (in MW) installed in their distribution area as on March 31, 2019. This will be taken as the installed base capacity for the first year of participating DISCOMs. For achievement above 10 percent and up to 15 percent over the installed base capacity, the DISCOM will get an incentive of 5 percent of the applicable cost for the capacity achieved above 10 percent of the installed base capacity. For an achievement beyond 15 percent over the installed base capacity, the DISCOM will get 5 percent of the applicable cost for the capacity achieved plus 10 percent of the applicable cost for capacity achieved beyond 15 percent of the installed base capacity.

The MNRE has also ensured clarity on subsidies applicable.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

For a capacity of 1 kW, the applicable subsidy is at the rate of 40 percent which amounts to Rs 20,000. For 2 kW solar installations, the applicable subsidy is Rs 40,000. For a 3 kW capacity, the subsidy is Rs 60,000. For installation capacity of 4 kW, the subsidy is calculated at 40 percent for 3 kW and 20 percent for the balance of 1 kW, which totals to Rs 70,000.

For all systems with a capacity 10 kW, the subsidy provided is 60 percent (@40 percent for 3 kW and 20 percent for the balance of 7 kW), which adds uptoRs130,000.There are no subsides for installations above 10 kW capacity.

So where do the key states stand?

Recently, in its budget, the government of Gujarat announced Rs 1,000 crore for new solar rooftop scheme aiming to cover 2 lakh families in a year. Earlier, the Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) had come out with a state government subsidy scheme of up to Rs 20,000 per consumer for individual rooftop solar segment, with an aim of reaching a figure of 100,000 individual rooftop solar consumers.On top of the central subsidy.

A look at the policies of the top five rooftop solar states show that Gujarat is the only one that allows only the self-ownership or CAPEX model across residential, commercial and industrial segments, whereas all other states allow the RESCO model or third party ownership of rooftop solar installations along with CAPEX . This is likely to crimp growth in the state, although the state benefits from a high wind energy base too, along with a significant pipeline of upcoming projects, which will ensure it meets is overall renewable targets.

Gujarat also stipulates that for residential consumers and for government buildings, the maximum capacity of rooftop solar should be 50 percent of the consumer’s sanctioned load.

However, Gujarat’s CAPEX only condition remains a sore point, with developers even petitioning the state regulator against it.

The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission’s ‘Net Metering Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive Systems Regulations, 2016’, had mandated that setting up of rooftop solar had to be in self owned rooftops.

Interestingly, all states mention the range of installed capacity (IC) of rooftop solar from a minimum 1 kWp to a maximum of 1 MWp but only Tamil Nadu mentions that the maximum capacity is subject to shadow free area and estimated annual consumption across the three segments. Tamil Nadu is also the only state that allows net metering for LT (Low Tension) customers only.

Across the commercial and industrial segments of rooftop solar, the top five states have more or less a similar policy which ensures exemption from electricity duty, wheeling charges, cross subsidy, banking charges, and transmission charges and losses.

Apart from these, tax holiday for ten years, accelerated depreciation and all applicable subsidies under the MNRE guidelines and SECI guidelines are applicable.

With the Reserve Bank of India having declared lending to solar projects as a priority sector lending, across commercial and industrial segments the loan quantum allowed is up to Rs 15 crores, whereas under the residential segment the maximum loan quantum is Rs 10 lakhs.

Karnataka, another key rooftop solar state, is guided by the solar policy 2014-21. The state had plans of achieving 400 MW grid connected rooftop solar installations by 2018.

Rajasthan is guided by its solar regulations given by the Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission of 2015.

Tamil Nadu is guided by the solar policy of 2012 which also allows domestic generation based incentives to SRTs for six years from the date of commissioning

Maharashtra Industrial SRT Policy

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In terms of fast approval process for setting up of rooftop solar across segments, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL)stands out with its claim to give approval for installation of rooftop solarsystemswithin 7 working days from the completionof the feasibility study. The approval is valid for a period of 6 months, or such extended period as may be agreed to by the MSEDCL. MSEDCL also claims tocomplete the testing and commissioning of the installations within 10 working days from receipt of testing and commissioning request, along with installation of thenet metering equipment. Maharashtra allows a capacity of maximum 1MWp with variation of 5 percent. It offers both CAPEX and RESCO model options for rooftop solar ownership. The billing is on an annual basis (April-March).Any unadjusted electricity credits are paid as per the rates notified

by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).

Rajasthan’s solar policy states that the Clean Development Mechanism(CDM) benefits arising from solar energy generation SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

from the rooftop PV facility shall be retained by the distribution licensee provided that the entire CDM benefits obtained by the distribution licensee shall be fully passed on to the consumers through ARR. The state’s policy also states that check meters shall be mandatory for rooftop solar systems having capacity of more than 250 kW. Maharashtra clearly seems to be more focussed on scale of operation and targets the commercial and institutional segments of rooftop solar. The state’s policy also promises speedy delivery of the installation process.

Karnataka seems focussed on attaining its 400 MW grid connected rooftop solar target which it missed in 2018 through its existing policy which extends till 2021.

For industry observers and investors, there is now an index to better understand state policies. On Aug. 21, 2019Power Minister RK Singh released the State Roof Top Solar Attractive Index (SARAL). Quite simply, the index is meant to goad state governments to streamline and improve their rooftop solar policies by competing against each other. It’s a strategy that has been used extensively with mixed results by this government, especially in areas like cleanliness.

The SARAL index has been prepared by MNRE in collaboration with the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Consultancy firm Ernst & Young and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation.

The idea of the index is to look into the robustness of policy, implementation levels, investment scenario, consumer experience and the business ecosystem across the states.

COVER STORY ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

According to the index, Karnataka is first with score of 78.8, Telangana is second with 72.2 and Gujarat third with 67.9.

Total Capacity under the Ph-II:

38000MW

Total CFA proposed for residential sector for 4000MW capacity:

Rs 6,600 crore

Incentives to DISCOMs:

Rs, 4950 crore

Capacity Building @1 percent of CFA:

Rs 66 crore

Service Charges @3 percent of CFA:

Rs198 crore

Total Central Financial Support:

Rs 11.814 crore

The User’s Perspective AVINASH NIMONKAR

Resident of Thane, Mumbai Solar Plant Size: 10 KW Major benefits: Savings in electricity bills and return on Investment

MNRE figures on CFA

Total Funds Requirement

Year

Funds required for Component ‘A’

Funds Required for Component ‘B’

2019-20

858

-

2020-21

1716

742.5

2458.5 4917

858

2021-22

3432

1485

01.04.2022 to 31.12.2022

858

2722.5

3580.5

Total

6864

4950

11814

MNRE year wise targets of CFA

The road ahead

Residential rooftop solar, ignored thus far due to basic issues like costs, financing and an ecosystem to support sales and service, is ready for take-off. GOGLA, the global industry body for distributed solar already rates India as the largest market for distributed solar rooftop systems, which could reduce the load on mainstream transmission, if used smartly.

Rooftop solar systems with net metering offer many advantages.

With loss making DISCOMs still locked into an escalating price spiral, rooftop solar will continue to become more attractive for some time to come. What is needed is a concerted effort to raise consumer awareness about the benefits of SRT, aligned with smoother processes for approvals. Net metering permissions remain a drag in most states, and need to be done faster.

Subsidy disbursal where applicable also needs to be speeded up. Efficient financing could be a far greater support than subsidies today, thanks to lower costs per Kw. With some states allowing rooftop solar only on owned premises, funding for rooftop systems could also be one of the safer bets going around. Institutional moves like the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006,which required buildings with an area over 5,000 square metre to have at least 1 percent of their connected load through rooftop solar, need to be enforced.Finally, even mini-grids, that neglected part of the sector that holds so much potential, need to be kept in the framework to meet overall energy access requirements, especially in remote areas.

" The entire 10 KW is consumed as the system generates 50 units daily and it helps me recharging my EV too. The solar panels have made my driving virtually capital free and I don’t require money to refuel. My electricity bill for the last seven months is virtually zero. Earlier, it use to be around Rs 8000-10,000 every month but for the last seven months, we only get Rs 40 which is the statutory charges. So, consumption from the grid is zero. I spent approximately Rs 5 Lakhs for the entire setup, and I think in 2-2.5 years, my entire investment will come back as the life of the equipment is 25 years. This is why I recommend it to everybody who has an independent terrace. I have heard that in most of the states it has become compulsory now. You have to install solar and rainwater harvesting as well. We produce our own energy and we have reverse net metering so whatever we generate is accredited to our account and whatever we use is adjusted so the virtual outlay is zero."

DR NIMISH MESHRAM Resident in Gurugram, Delhi Solar Plant Size: 5 KW Major Benefits: Savings Major Worry: Power Intensity//

"The experience has been Okay-ish. Living in a gated society, I was sold the concept of having solar panels for electricity. Given the likely high costs of electricity in the future, I was game to do it. I wish technology is developed and available at economical rates so that high requirement appliances can also run directly off solar panels. In my opinion, government has done a great job regarding awareness and marketing of solar power. But how it is implemented has to be a collective effort between people, market,bureaucracy and the government. I monthly bills have shrunk to Rs 900-1500 for my 3BHK in Gurgaon, from an earlier bill of Rs 4,000 plus each month.

-SAUR ENERGY BUREAU VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

n

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PRODUCT FEATURE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Meet Sungrow's New Powerful

1500V String Inverter Currently, solar power generation faces significant growth due to global awareness and favorable government policies. IHS, BNEF and other leading analysts predict that solar installations will breach the 100GW barrier again in 2019. At the same time, the PPA price for solar continues to decrease, which is already lower than traditional power generation in some countries.

One example is a 500MW solar plant in Qinghai province, China. Therefore, solar plant investors pay more attention to the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE).

The application of new technologies such as tracker system and bifacial module will reduce the LCOE. But a question remains: How to match the new technologies and deep integration with the solar plant? Due to lack of flat land, solar plants are now installed over complex environmental conditions like hilly areas, coastal areas and desert regions.

In this context, Sungrow introduces the world's most powerful 1500V string inverter in 2019 —SG250HX-IN, which is a global product in compliance with both IEC and UL standards.

Fig.1 SG250HX-IN

12 MPPTs Compatible with Bifacial Module and Tracker System, High Yield

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International Solar Energy Research Center Konstanz indicates that the lowest LCOE of 1￠/kWh is expected in 2021/2022 and the leading technologies to achieve this goal will be bifacial module plus tracker system. The single axis or multi axis tracker system plus bifacial module will require higher fullload operation capacity and pose more Fig.2 SG250HX-IN compatible with Bifacial Module & Tracker System challenges for the inverters. Sungrow’s SG250HX-IN can run at full load for a long time attributing to reliable and robust components selection with advanced design. Additionally, SG250HX-IN is embedded with 12 MPPTs to adapt complex terrain and enables 26A input current per string, perfectly matching the bifacial modules.

SG250HX-IN also provides reserved power supply and communication interface to tracker system. SG250HX-IN has 0.3~0.5% higher yield compared with its competitor through PVsyst simulation, which will bring a higher performance.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

PRODUCT FEATURE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Up to 6.3MVA Block, Cost Saving

As a recent study shows that the global market for large-scale PV installations is shifting to bigger block design to reduce LCOE. Based on the cost comparison of different capacity block, 6~7MW block enables lowest cost.

Sungrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SG250HX-IN is suitable for any block size between 3MW to 6.3MW. The SG250HX-IN typical system diagram is shown as figure 2.

The SG250HX-IN and communication device supports PLC (Power Line Communication), which decrease communication cable cost. Detailed CAPEX study indicates that SG250HX-IN will save 0.2~0.3 USD cent/Wp compared Fig.3 System Diagram with competitor.

Adapt to Harsh Environments

In recent years, more solar plants are installed in coastal areas and desert areas which pose challenges to inverters. With smart forced air-cooling technology, the SG250HX-IN can work stably in scorching heat. On account of lower internal temperature than the temperature in natural cooling method, the lifetime of the SG250HX-IN will be longer. Due to separate electrical/cooling chamber design, SG250HX-IN provides an ingress protection rating of IP66 for all chambers and anticorrosion design with C5 protection degree, making it ideal for applications in coastal areas, chemical industrial region and other typical harsh conditions.

Fig.4 High protection rating and low internal temperature

Smart Monitoring Makes Fault Diagnostics Easy

Sungrow can provide a complete monitoring solution for SG250HX-IN which includes COM100 (Smart Communication Box), Insight (Local SCADA), iSolarCloud (Remote SCADA), PPC (Power Plant Controller). Sungrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s monitoring solution supports I-V curve scanning and diagnosis which can finish a full-scale plant diagnosis in 15 minutes with an accuracy less than 0.5%.

It makes easy to locate faults caused by dust shielding, glass panel cracking, dirt shielding, diode short circuit, gate line disconnect and PID attenuation in order to reduce power generation loss.

The SG250HX-IN is the most powerful 1500V inverter in the market to date and is equipped with the latest solar technology to withstand new challenges and suitable for utility-scale solar plants. It will undoubtedly bring higher yield and lower CAPEX. IP66 protection and C5 anti-corrosion capability make it easy to adapt to harsh environments. The smart monitoring solution can accurately locate faults to ensure power generation benefits of solar plants.

VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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SEPTEMBER 2019

EV STORY REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Amid Motown Slowdown, Electric Two and Three-Wheelers Power Ahead

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With nearly 80 percent of the vehicle market dominated by two and three-wheelers in India, tech start-ups have led the electric mobility space to manufacture electric two and three-wheelers and the ecosystem must-haves like battery swapping and charging setup.

Government think tank Niti Aayog announced, and retracted quickly on a transition target from fossil fuel based internal combustion engine (ICE) to EVs for two and three-wheelers by 2023. While the climbdownhas been caused by an auto sector in distress, besides the cost of compliance with BS-VI fuel standards from April 2020, the EV future remains bright.

Niti Aayog’s report did some maths to justify the target. The report said “India has over 170 million two-wheelers. If we assume that each of these vehicles uses a little more than half a litre of petrol per day or about 200 litres per year, the total amount of petrol used by such vehicles is about 34 billion litres. At Rs 70 per litre, this would cost about Rs 2.4 lakh crores. Even if we assume that 50 percent of this is the cost of imported crude (as tax and other may be 50 percent), one may save Rs 1.2 lakh crores worth of imported oil. There is a real possibility of getting this done in the next five to seven SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

years.” Of course, it’s not always the math that wins.

The push for EVs to cut pollution levels in its cities and save fuel import dollars has meant multiple incentives by the government to manufacturers and consumers to make the switch. Oil marketing companies and public sector undertakings have also been encouraged to rollout charging infrastructure to ease range anxiety.

Quality always comes with a price and so is the case with modern technology and components to safeguard the environment. Since 40 percent of the cost of an EV is the battery, recommended lithium-ion batteries add to the overall cost and upfront purchase price. This makes an EV expensive to buy when compared to an ICE vehicle. In fact, with the new FAME guidelines ruling out subsidies for lead acid batteries that power EV’s for instance, the much celebrated e-rickshaws, the unorganised mass of EVs that make up over 80 percent of India’s EV numbers on date, are in for a stumble.

In a report, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (NEF) has stated that it expects price parity of ICE and EV by mid 2020 in two wheelers, while another report by PricewaterhouseCoopers says India sold 7.6 lakh EVs in FY 2019 dominated by two-

EV STORY ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

wheelers (16.4 percent) and three-wheelers (83 percent).

The NEF report also mentions that the EV passenger segment might reach 28 percent growth by 2040. The price parity target for comparable products looks very ambitious; if you compare the price of say an Activa 5G from Honda to Ather 450 EV, the latter is priced at Rs 1.28 lacs, almost twice the cost of the Activa 5G. Maxson Lewis, managing director of Magenta Power, a EV charging solutions provider reckons the second half of 2020 is when the market will zoom.

“The three-wheeler market is growing in certain geographies since it is a regulated market. Delhi has more than 1 lakh electric rickshaws and they areessentially EVs,”he says.

Talking on the vital issue of charging of electric two and three-wheelers, Lewis says: “I think there is a huge concern, if misplaced, around DC fast charging. Globally, up to 80 percent of the EV charging happens at homes and office – places where people park their cars normally and naturally. DC fast charging is for highway charging and caters to the 20 percent of the charging requirements. Even after DC charging, it is recommended to do an AC charging for battery stabilisation

and life. What I am trying to say is that DC fast charging is required for a different use case (fleets and highways), but the mass adoption of EV will be driven by availability of safe and simple AC charging”.

Given the small size of the onboard converters, AC charging is relatively slower and inefficient. In DC charging, the convertor is outside the vehicle and can be as large as required. Hence, DC charging tends to be faster. However, approximately 80 percent of EV charging happens using AC charging since charging is happening at places where vehicles are parked usually.

Magenta Power is making its own charging network called ChargeGrid. It is an open charging platform made for 2W, 3W or 4W irrespective of the type and make of vehicle, in India with an option to provide charging services through the platform, catering to malls, housing complexes or individuals.

For users, the issues are obvious. “There needs to be faster charging systems in place... during office time or at work, one does not get enough time, also, charging stations are very spaced out. In a major metro like Bengaluru which is notorious for traffic congestion, this becomes a risky affair,”said VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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EV STORY REI SPECIAL ISSUE

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Vijaya. N, an EV two-wheeler customer. His views voice the most common issue of range anxiety for prospective EV owners, an issue where battery swapping provides an easy answer possibly.

Battery pack manufacturerGreenfuel Energy Solutions sits in the middle of the go electric push.

“In the context of India, two-wheelers and three-wheelers make up almost 80 percent of vehicles sold. We first want to focus on 80 percent of India’s automotive population. The FAME-II policy also outlays maximum subsidies for these two segments.” said Akshay Kashyap, founder and managing director of Greenfuel Energy Solutions.

Kashyap has an interesting view on the charging infrastructure required for two and three-wheelers. “Public infrastructure for two and three-wheelers is really not needed. You can charge these using a standard socket at home, office or in malls.

Further, I think you will see business models around battery swapping or even portable batteries for two-wheelers which make it easy to charge the vehicles even in apartments like you charge your phone. Having said that, there is going to be some charging infra put up in malls, apartment complexes, etc. for charging them,” Kashyap said.

He too agreed with a few other expertson a key aspect. “For the long term, Hydrogen fuel cells, EV’s and natural gas will be the most important fuels and technology going forward. In fact from 2030 onwards, we should see these fuel technologies overtake the IC Engine in numbers. Hydrogen fuel cell is an important technology to watch out for. For India, green mobility is no longer an option but an imperative,” Kashyap added.

Interestingly, the two and three-wheeler market for EV’s at this point is dominated by start-ups. The traditional OEM’s have all signalled their intent but are yet to launch their products. There are a few battery pack manufacturers like Greenfuel Energy Solutions, but most companies are just importing technology from China and pushing it into the Indian market.

Gemopai Electric, a joint venture between Goreen E-Mobility and Opai Electric, has sold more than 15 million electric twowheelers worldwide. Launched in October 2018, currently it has Gemopai Ryder, a Lithium-ion powered electric scooter under Rs 60,000.

"India gained huge strides towards electric mobility in the year gone by. Not only did we witness a slew of manufacturers lining up to address the supply problem for electric vehicles, the government announced a slew of initiatives that has really turned the wheels of electric mobility in India,”Gemopai Electric Co-founder Amit Raj Singh said.

Jaipur-based electric mobility start-up BattRe’s portfolio includes e-scooters and even e-bicycles, a popular segment in India’s hinterland. “We learnt in this year gone by, about the consumer needs and the gaps that exist in the available solutions. It has also helped us build the right organization structure for a seamless operation,” said Nishchal Chaudhary, the founder and CEO of BattRe. BattRE has future plans of growing deeper with district level distribution in the states where it has already launched its electric scooters with an emphasis on easy availability as well as servicing. It plans to be present in all major towns of southern India by Diwali.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

Ather Energy, an early pioneer backed by Hero Electric and Sachin Bansal among others, has similarly ambitious plans.

The firm launched its scooters in Bengaluru first, followed by Chennai. A strong response has only quickened their plans to go to a production level of a million scooters in the future.

Besides its own charging network, the company has also launched the Ather Dot, a charging unit that weighs just 3.5 kg and comes with a 2-metre long output cable and 1.2-metre long input cable. The charging unit delivers a 60 V, 12 A DC supply, which is capable of offering 0 to 80 percent charge in just 4 hours and 30 minutes, while 0 to100 percent takes 5 hours and 15 minutes. Ather says that the charging patterns data show that most owners charge either overnight or during the day at their workplace, making the waiting time manageable.

But the road ahead for electric two and three-wheelers in India is not without any challenges or bumps. There are about 20 models of lithium-ion powered models of electric two-wheelers in the market and the FAME-II subsidy is only eligible for these models.

According to a KPMG report, even the battery swapping model given by NITI Aayog suffers from limitations as it does not fall in the evolution path of battery technology. The rationale for battery swapping model are low energy density of batteries leading to low range of batteries that require frequent charging in a day,the time taken for charging and high cost of battery ownership.

However, as batteries evolve to significantly higher energy capacity for longer range and with ability tocharge in a very short period of time, battery swapping could die faster.

And then there are the alternate green fuels. According to a SIAM report of March, 2019, three million CNG vehicles, including 1.7 million cars in India, save 3 percent of fuel which can further be enhanced by proper infrastructure and an increase from the present level of about 1,300 CNG stations.

SIAM expects government to deploy 6,000 CNG stations by 2025 and 10,000 stations by 2030 for catering to 20 million CNG vehicles.

SIAM also says that Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technologies could achieve a 33-35 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 .

India has developed and demonstrated hydrogen-operated motorcycles, three-wheelers, and other vehicles. The Banaras Hindu University has modified a commercially available motorcycle (100 cc, four stroke) and a three-wheeler (175 cc, four stroke) to operate on hydrogen as fuel. The Banaras Hindu University; Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre (MCRC), Chennai and IIT, Kharagpur are among the leading research groups working on biological, biomass, and other renewable energy routes to produce hydrogen.

Taken together, the adoption of green mobility is real, here and in our driveways. The cost of ownership will reduce with time and so will the benefit to our environment. Government subsidies will be replaced by technology innovation that helps these new vehicles stand on their own strengths, besides their undoubted role in reducing pollution.

-SAUR ENERGY BUREAU n

TECHNICAL FEATURE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Data analysis with AIS Equipment Cloud in a PERC production line

New Technologies Opportunity for Indian Solar Manufacturers

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While more solar modules are being installed and the Indian photovoltaic market is growing noticeably, the vast majority of all solar modules, especially solar cells, are still imported from China.

Other countries around the world also source their solar modules in China but there seems to be a shift in thinking.

In view of the various trade disputes and the opportunity to cover the high installation demand with solar modules directly on site, photovoltaic production outside China is becoming more interesting again.

In addition to lower transport costs and the independence from trade tariffs, the expansion of regional production opens up the opportunity to overtake the top dog from China in technological terms as well. Heterojunction technology (HJT) is the only technology suitable for completely new production sites that immediately enables solar modules with significantly higher performance than all currently available Chinese modules.

PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) technology has become SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

the standard in recent years and now dominates solar cell production in China. Gigawatt-scale production capacity cannot be easily replaced by new high-efficiency technologies such as HJT, which require completely different production processes and equipment.

Due to lack of competition outside China and great reluctance of potential investors with regard to heterojunction technology in recent years, PV producers in China have consistently decided to upgrade their existing production capacities with PERC. PERC is based on a redesign of the back of cells that improves the capture of light falling on the surface compared to standard technologies. This is made possible by applying a dielectric layer made of aluminum oxide (AlOx) to the back of cells that reflects the light passing through it without being converted into light. The reflected light thus gets a second chance. Besides, passivation layers and antireflection layers out of silicon nitride (SiNx) are applied.

As a result, solar cells achieve higher efficiencies and the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) becomes more competitive.

TECHNICAL FEATURE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

FABiA 6.1: 3 in1 coating system for PERC production

For the manufacturing of PERC cells, Swiss equipment supplier Meyer Burger developed patented PERC processes and offered production equipment that ideally complement any cell production and enable customers to become manufacturers of highly efficient PERC cells. After market introduction of the PERC technology around five years ago and first installations, interest increased sharply. Standard technologies have been lifted to the next level of efficiency and Chinese manufacturers supply PERC modules as the new standard.

However, the market situation is changing rapidly. More and more companies outside China are interested in heterojunction technology and the construction of own cell and module production facilities due to emerging regional photovoltaics markets.

They do not only think of the PERC technology. With REC, the largest non-Chinese PV producer has already committed itself to heterojunction technology and is currently setting up the world's largest HJT production in Singapore. With the REC "Alpha", a 60-cell module has already been introduced as the first product that, with 380 W, clearly outperforms all comparable currently available photovoltaic modules.

Producers in China can't react to this because they are forced to use their established PERC production capacity before a new investment in high-efficiency technologies becomes possible. In December 2018, Meyer Burger announced the sale of HJT production lines with a capacity of 600 MW to a non-Chinese company. It is now known as REC. Meyer Burger is currently the only company that can offer a complete HJT production line including equipment and technology transfer. And, the construction of the production facilities is going so well that the first production line will go into operation less than a year after the order is placed. REC has already announced a significant expansion of capacity.

The production of modules with heterojunction cells would also make sense in India. New producers should focus only on high-efficiency technology. This would immediately give them a clear advantage over Chinese competitors with their product.

But what happens to the existing factories that still produce solar cells with the old BSF standard (Back Surface Field)?

These do not need to be closed at all. Even if the production capacity is not close to that of the Chinese super-factories, it

would make sense for companies like Tata or Adani to upgrade their existing production to PERC technology.

Meyer Burger offers today highly versatile customizable PERC solutions at lowest CAPEX and OPEX. These solutions include manufacturing, installing and servicing equipment qualified for PERx, p- and n-type cell concepts, mono- and multi-crystalline wafers and both mono- and bifacial cells and enable a fast and reliable upgrade of existing production lines.

Meyer Burger’s modular PERx cell coating equipment platform is tailored to meet customers’ requirements and was the key factor to establish PERC technology in solar cell production.

Integrated tools simplify cell production complexity through full process automation.

The tools maximize overall machine up-time and provide a profitable investment for manufacturing highly efficient solar cells. Versatile deposition layers and adaptable numbers of plasma sources enable customized layer thickness.

FABiA® 6.1 is the latest tool in Meyer Burger’s PERC portfolio. It combines the proven advantages of industry-leading SiNA® and MAiA® platforms. The FABiA® system is the only available equipment which integrates all three passivation processes for PERC in one tool.

With a throughput of 6,350 cells per hours and a minimal footprint, FABiA® 6.1 ensures lowest overall production costs and a high return on investment. Only 4 FABiA® 6.1 tools with a total floor space of 871m² are required to achieve a production capacity of 1 GW. Alternative technologies such as ALD require at least twice the floor space with higher operating costs at the same time.

In addition, FABiA® is a future-proof system for the upcoming TOPCon upgrade. Current developments in PERC technology continue to focus on Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) technology, because the possibilities offered by the technology have largely been exhausted.

With the so-called passivated contacts technology (TOPCon, monoPoly® ) there is a possibility of optimizing existing production lines in such a way as to reduce the transfer resistance within the silicon cell boost the efficiency of solar cells to more than

Process steps and efficiencies of different solar cell technologies

VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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TECHNICAL FEATURE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

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SEPTEMBER 2019

23 percent.

Meyer Burger has therefore developed the CAiA ® Lab tool with a view to industrializing TOPCon technology for large-scale production. The compact system enables solar cell manufacturers to qualify the TOPCon process for series production. The process itself differs from the PERC process only in respect of a few modifications.

The CAiA® Lab tool covers two stages of the TOPCon process.

First, an ultra-thin tunnel oxide is deposited. This is followed by doped silicon. The equipment is extremely compact and it can be integrated into existing production lines in order to test and adjust the TOPCon process in an industrial environment and to qualify it for large-scale production in the production environment concerned. Solar cell manufacturers can thus familiarize themselves with the process and customize it very quickly.

PERC cell structure The TOPCon process developed by Meyer Burger and SERIS and designated monoPolyTM utilizes PECVD deposition processes.

In contrast to the competing LPCVD process, significantly and personnel, but also require significantly less silver when fewer modifications to the systems and process sequences connecting the cells. Instead of busbars printed with silver are called for. Here, the decisive factor is also the facility paste, a foil with thin wires is applied to the solar cell to connect to replicate two processes (ultra-thin tunnel oxide + doped the fine printed fingers. This reduces silver consumption during silicon) within one CAiA® equipment. A major advantage is printing, increases the energy yield and makes the cell less the single-sided coating, whereby no wrap-around effects prone to microcracks. occur when applying the silicon layer and no additional Interestingly, the conductivity requirements for the thin fingers protective layers need to be applied to the opposing side are lower with SWCTTM than with a conventional connection technology. Thus, a resistance of 10 Ω/cm can be combined of the solar cell beforehand.

The next evolutionary step TOPCon will deliver also a positive with SWCTTM, with no appreciable loss of performance. economic impact for the PV market. The efficiency increase The smaller the distance between two fingers, the lower the in “standard solar cells” brings with it an increase in the energy influence of performance losses in the fingers. Compared to PERC cell modules with 3 busbars PERC modules with SmartWire yield at the module level. around 2 percent higher module With the TOPCon technology, cell manufacturers can c o n n e c t i o n r e a c h to 65 percent less silver consumption differentiate themselves from the competition through modest power output with up production changes because it enables them to make a at the same time. manufacturers have to change higher quality product compared to the PERC cells that have W h i l e C h i n e s e their production lines again for TOPCon process and become the standard.

Indian companies have the But there are also new developments in the interconnection SWCTTM integration, opportunity to upgrade their of solar cells that bring further advantages to conventional plants from standard BSF production without great effort. The SmartWire with busbar connection Connection Technology (SWCTTM), also provided

by Meyer Burger, replaces conventional busbar to PERC and TOPCon with connection technologies and promises a higher SmartWire Connection energy yield and lower production costs.

Technology in one step.

Although Meyer Burger has been able to sell That will bring economical SWCT TM production capacity in excess of 1 and technological GW, Chinese manufacturers are still showing advantages as well. little interest, as in Against the background recent years they of possible further customs have already burdens on Chinese invested heavily in modules, modernised the differentiation Indian production would o f b u s b a r definitely be competitive technologies (2, 3, again and in a position 4 and 5 busbars). to supply solar modules The compact to new photovoltaics SmartWire stringer projects in the country ("Ibex") not only directly.

Ibex stringer for SmartWire Connection technology save floor space SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

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TECHNICAL FEATURE REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Mono vs Poly A climatic study in cold zones Cold & cloudy climatic zone Power plant based on fixed area

SUNIL RATHI

Director - Sales and Marketing Waaree Energies Ltd

The first part of the article “Mono vs Poly – An introspective simulation study” introduced the types of crystalline technology, the need for this study, the methodology we followed and detailed discussion of 4 climatic zones. This part would educate the readers on the results of the remaining two climactic zones.

Further, it would also present a financial analysis of both the plants and the conclusions from the study.

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Figure 1: Division of climatic zones in India (Source: IIT Bombay)

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

The climatic zones discussed in our previous article i.e. hot & dry, warm & humid, composite & moderate were relatively warmer with moderate to heavy rains. Few zones had extreme weather conditions which resulted in higher generation during winters and lower generation in summers. The remaining two climatic zones which are discussed in this article are relatively cooler (throughout the year). Found mostly in Northern and few North-Eastern (refer Figure 1) regions of India, cold & cloudy climatic zone could be significantly identified by cool summers and extreme winters with a cloud cover throughout the year.

Despite such cool climate close to the ambient operating temperatures of solar module, mono crystalline technology is found to perform better under both fixed area and fixed power conditions. Considering the case of fixed area first, poly crystalline module loses6.25 percenthigher energy than the mono crystalline technology based power plants.Overall an energy boost of around 17.25 percent in summer can be realized while utilizing mono technology.Performance Ratio (PR) of a mono based power plant is found to 87.10 percent, which is 3.07 percent more than that of poly based plants.

Energy injected into the grid by mono based plant is deemed to be 17.34 percent or 41.3 MWh higher (refer Figure 2) which directly enhances the plant’s financial returns.

Figure 2: Energy generation in cold & cloudy climatic zone – power plant based on fixed area

TECHNICAL FEATURE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Power plant based on fixed capacity

Considering the case of a power plant under fixed area, a power plant in cold & cloudy zone is expected to perform best during winters owing to reduced temperatures. Both the power plant on an average generate from 14.59 to 14.70 percent more in winters compared to summers. However when comparing both the plants, it was found that mono based power plant annually generates 8.8 MWh more. Further an annual boost of 0.50 percent is realized while utilizing mono crystalline technology over poly crystalline technology. The difference in temperature losses follows a similar pattern to the generation curve i.e. the difference is lower during and around monsoon season (average of 519 units) and higher during other months (average of 628 units). A total savings in temperature losses of 7 MWh was realized in power plants utilizing mono crystalline modules (refer Figure 3).

Figure 4: Energy generation in cold & sunny zoneâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; power plant based on fixed area

Power plant based on fixed capacity

Comparing the results of fixed power plant, the difference in the energy pushed to the grid by a mono based power plant is 0.57 percent or 9.8 MWh more than the poly crystalline plant. Further, an approximate of 8.32 percent in winters and an overall average of 5.86 percent of energy could be saved from temperature losses if mono crystalline modules are utilized. The power plant during summers experiences a boost in PR up to 0.52 percent while an overall boost of 0.45 percent is expected. Overall, a boost in specific energy yield of 0.03 kWp/kWh could be obtained by utilizing mono crystalline module.

Figure 3: Energy generation in cold & cloudy climatic zone â&#x20AC;&#x201C; power plant based on fixed capacity

Cold & Sunny climatic zone Power plant based on fixed area

Deemed to be the ideal region for installing a solar power plant, cold and sunny zone are found at specific location in Northern India (around Leh) & the Aravalli range in Western India. They are identified with pleasant summers and extreme winters with fairly clear sky throughout the year. While plants at other location performed better during winters, the plant installed at cold & sunny location was found to be maximum in summers and monsoons due to its clear weather. In winters however, the reduced irradiance coupled with the cloud in the region results in the drastic reduction in the energy output (as high as 32 percent). Comparing the results for fixed area, we find that the overall generation utilizing mono crystalline module is 48 MWh more than poly crystalline module. Further the temperature loss in a mono crystalline plant stays at 13.85 kWh/kWp, which is 0.79 kWh/kWp less compared to that in a poly crystalline based plant. The PR gain by utilizing mono crystalline module is 3.10 percent more than that of poly crystalline module.

Figure 5: Energy generation in cold & sunny climatic zone â&#x20AC;&#x201C; power plant based on fixed capacity

While, part 1 and part 2 covered the technical analysis of the study, the final part will explainthe financial aspect of the same. n

VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

SARAL INDEX ADDS AN EDGE TO SOLAR ROOFTOP Power Minister RK Singh launched the State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index (SARAL) in August on the sidelines of the Review Planning and Monitoring (RPM) Meeting with States and State Power Utilities in New Delhi.

The SARAL index comes at an opportune time for the sector, and states, with rooftop solar lagging behind other categories when it comes to targets. Out of a 100 GW target for solar by March 2022, gridconnected rooftop solar is supposed to be 40GW, a figure that is over 90 percent pending on date.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) acknowledges that achieving our rooftop solar targets will require an ecosystem that ensures information symmetry, access to financing and clear

market signals. Thus, the SARAL index, that evaluates Indian states based on their attractiveness for rooftop development.

The SARAL index currently captures five key aspects (i) robustness of policy framework (ii) implementation environment (iii) investment climate (iv) consumer experience (v) business ecosystem.

These aspects have also been assigned

different weightages.

Each of these aspects has a number of individual scoring indicators or subparameters, ensuring an index that captures pretty much every parameter that matters. The idea is to encourage some friendly competition among states, with each state able to assess the initiatives taken so far, and what it can do to improve its solar rooftop ecosystem. The hope is that this will help states to channelize investments that can eventually help the sector grow.

For the record, Karnataka leads the index right now with a SARAL score of 78.8, followed by Telangana (72.2) and Gujarat (67.9) respectively. Jammu and Kashmir bring up the rear with a score of 14.4.

RE FAR FROM OVERTAKING COAL IN INDIA

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Iterating that renewable energy sources were unlikely to overtake coal as the major source of power generation in India any time soon, state-owned Coal India Ltd said the energy migration would happen “differently” in the country as compared to many other countries switching to renewables.

“The question is can renewables take over coal completely in our country?

Not in the near future at least. It would not be an exaggeration to state that Coal India Ltd (CIL) is synonymous with India’s energy scenario,” CIL chairman Anil Kumar Jha said in his speech to shareholders at the company’s 45th annual general meeting.

“The energy migration scenario in India would be different compared to many other countries which have been switching to renewable sources,” he said.

CIL produces around 83 percent of the country’s black fuel. Jha said for the first time in its history, the miner’s production and off-take of coal had surpassed the 600 million tonnes mark. Its coal production clocked 606.89 million tonnes while the miner supplied 608.14 million tonnes of the fuel in 2018-19. While the production rose 6.97 percent, the off-take went up by 4.8 percent as against the figures for SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

the previous 2017-18 fiscal.

In July, we reported that even as the government continues its push for renewables, coal-fired power is expected to remain the main source of energy for the next decade or so, Power and

New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh had informed the parliament.

The capacity of coal-based generation would increase from the current about 195 gigawatts (GW) to 238 GW by March 2027.

UPDATES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

NIMMA REGRETS LACK OF PROMISED ACTION

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SEPTEMBER 2019

The North India Module Manufacturer Association (NIMMA), an industry association for primarily SME solar module manufacturers in Domestic Tariff Area, made a fervent plea for a level playing field and sensible regulations at a press conference in New Delhi on Sept 4, 2019.

The body counts close to 35 members, mostly in the SME sector.

Solar modules, where close to 20 percent of supply is met through domestic manufacturers, is according to NIMMA office bearers one of the best opportunities to encourage domestic manufacturing.

Unfortunately, government actions have not followed words as the SME sector has been discriminated against, according to the association.

Thus, while over 90 percent of all SME’s involved in module manufacturing are located in the DTA (Domestic Tariff Area), almost all the large manufacturers are located in SEZ’s.

NIMMA’s contention is that despite the imposition of safeguard duty last year, actual benefits & tax incentives have been given only to SEZ Units on the raw materials, components, consumables and services on all inputs, giving them a clear advantage over SME’s in the DTA for selling in the domestic market. This is one reason why despite being much more labour intensive and matching large manufacturers on quality, the share of SME’s in solar modules is barely 10 percent of domestic market share or barely 2 percent of the total national market for modules.

NIMMA office bearers contended that SEZ’s, which are meant to be export oriented, are taking advantage of government conditions on domestic outsourcing to steal an unfair march on SME manufacturers, an issue where the government, despite agreeing in principle with NIMMA’s demands in 2018, has yet to act almost two years after it was raised.

A key area highlighted was the matter of input credits in the new GST regime.

Whereas in DTA areas, even though units were entitled to take input tax credit, SME’s end up locking working capital in GST payment for goods required for manufacture at the time of import SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

only, with a time lag between actual manufacture and a case for claiming it back as input credit. SEZ based units, with no such GST obligations, steal a big advantage in capital costs.

The industry body also has a grouse with the sword of ‘inspector raj’ hanging over them in the form of the extra MNRE certification that has been mandated, besides BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification on quality. Adding another layer of regulation and inspection costs, they claimed that conditions like insisting on domestic sourcing of cells too and for module testing, created a piquant situation for module only SME manufacturers as large module manufacturers tend to manufacture cells too, unlike SME’s. This places SME manufacturers at a decisive disadvantage as their certification is contingent on the same cell being used at all times, something that can be very difficult in a tight market for domestic manufactured cells.

Importantly, tenders being floated for

projects by the government have started incorporating onerous turnover and earnest money deposit conditions, again a situation that seems designed to thwart the efforts of smaller manufacturers to make a dent in the sector.

Making a plea for the government to consider their demands simply from a perspective of employment generation and domestic manufacturing, the SME body concluded that they hope to see the government make a move before the next hearing for their petition filed in the High Court.

Solar modules, unlike cells, are a low technology item that has a large manufacturing base in the country.

Despite that, capacity utilisation levels for SME’s range between 25 to 40 percent, killing expansion plans. There is certainly a case for the government to consider the demands made by SME manufacturers, as the potential for employment generation as well as replacing imports and dependence on China is high here.

PRODUCTS ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Solgaard Launches SHORE-TEX Collection Made From Upcycled Ocean-Bound Plastic Solgaard unveils a new collection of unisex bags and backpacks crafted in the brand's exclusive proprietary SHORE-TEX fabric made from upcycled ocean-bound plastic.

Ensuring Solgaard's 360-degree approach to responsible sourcing and ethical business practices, the introduction of SHORE-TEX will also see the company introduce a new revolutionary zero-waste shipping solution whereby all new Solgaard products will be shipped in water-resistant, reversible tote bags with a biodegradable zip tie.

accessory was thoughtfully designed to accommodate and safely organise one's personal items and essentials. As with all Solgaard accessories, the Solar Sling was designed to seamlessly integrate with the SolgaardSolarbank (power bank + solar unit) and Solarbank Boombox (power bank + solar unit + Bluetooth speaker.)

SHORE-TEX Lifepack (USD 195)

THE COLLECTION: SHORE-TEX Daypack (USD 95)

Following its initial debut on Kickstarter in October 2018 – the responsibly sourced and ethically produced everyday backpack is engineered to enhance the lives of today's global citizens by addressing their everyday needs. The convenient features integrated into the revolutionary eco-friendly Daypack design include hidden passport pockets, secret strap pockets, stretchy side pockets for reusable water bottles, and dropproof laptop storage.

SHORE-TEX Solar Sling (USD 55 – USD 125 including Solarbank)

A convenient, compact and on-trend driven fanny pack

The flagship solar powered and anti-theft backpack by Solgaard is now also available in the brand's revolutionary new SHORETEX textile fabric. Lifepack is compatible with SOLARBANK, SOLARBANK BOOMBOX, and includes the Solgaard patented anti-theft cable lock.

Solgaard's pioneering innovations follows the previous pledge by the company to remove five pounds of plastic waste from the ocean for every product purchased. By the end of 2019, Solgaard is already committed to pull a minimum of 136,000 pounds of ocean-bound plastic, with a goal to remove 1 million pounds by the end of 2020.

In a commitment to further revolutionise its supply chain and sourcing practices, Solgaard removed all single use plastics from its shipping processes as of May 2019 and will have eliminated all single use plastics from its entire supply chain in 2020.

Created by Solgaardfounder and sustainable product entrepreneur, Adrian Solgaard, SHORE-TEX is made from plastic waste collected from beaches and riverways in the Philippines.

Upon collection, the plastic is then cleaned, processed into flakes and heated into pellets, before being stretched into a yarn like fiber and woven into a functional fabric.

“We are empowering our fellow global citizens to shop responsibly with SHORE-TEX™ and choose sustainability without giving up premium quality said Adrian Solgaard, founder and CEO of Solgaard. "Our mantra, 'sustainability that's accessible to all', remains at the forefront of everything that we do. Solgaard's mission since inception has been to offer premium products that improve your life on the go - all of which are ethically made, sustainably sourced, and at accessible price point.”

VOL 4 l ISSUE 01 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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PRODUCTS REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Garmin Launches Fenix 6 Series Solar-Powered Watches

Watch brand Garmin, which has made a name for itself in designing multifunctional smart watches, has launched its new iteration in the Fenix series - the generation 6 watches.

Leading the pack is the Fenix 6X Pro Solar which features a transparent lens that doubles as a solar power cell. The battery system on the watch can be charged using the energy generated by the solar cell on the 51 mm dial.

Being a smart watch, users can check how much solar energy the watch has generated on the solar input screen of the device, with details about the energy input provided on a detailed hour by hour basis.

According to the manufacturer, the battery system translates to an estimated 21 days of battery life, plus 3 days from solar charging— provided that the user is outside in the sun for at least three hours every day. That number drops a bit to 15 hours of continuous GPS and music.

The Pro Solar also sports a 1.4-inch display, a roughly 36 percent increase from the Fenix 5X. On top of the usual preloaded GPS and music storage, the brand is also adding Pulse Ox blood oxygen saturation tracking, which it uses to estimate body energy levels in combination with heart rate, sleep, and activity data.

Under the hood, Garmin is also updating its heart rate sensors to support all-day stress tracking, underwater heart rate for swimmers, advanced sleep monitoring, and heat-and-altitude adjusted VO2 max.

Price start at USD 600 for the Fenix 6 and Fenix 6S watches in the collection. The Fenix 6X, which is a step up in battery life but minus the solar charging, starts at USD 750. Meanwhile, the Pro Solar will retail for USD 1,000.

Continental Solar Backpack by DESIGNATED

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SEPTEMBER 2019

The Continental Solar Backpack is sustainability, technology, and style to follow you wherever you need to be. Spacious enough for all your everyday needs but small enough to moonlight as a briefcase or messenger bag the Continental is designed for youto navigate the modern landscape.

The bag comes with cutting-edge CGIS thin-film photovoltaic solar panel technology. The slender, lightweight panels demonstrate outstanding absorption of sunlight and flexibility suitable for an advanced, comfortable backpack. Thus, expanding the bags functionality from a luggage carrier to a charging unit capable of charging phones, laptops, and other devices. The solar panels allow the user to charge devices during the day as well as power banks to store up battery power for later. Internal and external USB charging ports are also available on the bag.

The Continental Solar Backpack is constructed with a high-strength ballistic nylon exterior, and a luxurious yet hardy interior. The back pad and straps both exhibit anti-chafing, moisture-wicking properties for superb comfort.

The juxtaposition between tactical and deluxe fabrics enhances the bag’s style with a sleek, high-end appearance that thrives in any setting.

The bag’sorganiser system was formulated to keep all of the user’s belongings in orderly locations that are easy to remember and access. With ample space, numerous pockets, and clever compartments of all sizes for various electronic devices and gear that a user might carry.

The Continental Solar Backpack moonlights as a briefcase or messenger bag, thanks to its stabilised shape, side handle, and detachable shoulder strap. For superior security and ease of mind, a TSA-approved Travel Sentry lock bolts the main compartment’s zippers down to further prevent theft and espionage. The backpack’s exterior is water resistant for drizzles, while a waterproof rain cover is included for downpours.

The bag was initially launched on kick-starter, but is now available through the company’s online portal and retails for USD 269.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

PRODUCTS ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

V-Guard SSAL PR Solar Water Heaters The SSAL PR seriesof Solar Water Heaters is a revolutionary product line from V-Guard. The devices are made from high-quality components and come with international technology offering the best in quality, technology, performance and service. The SSAL PR series water heaters save a substantial amount on electricity bills and other fuels, making them a worthy investment for a lifetime.

The Evacuated Tube Collector System on the devices facilitates high-efficiency absorption and utilisation of solar energy, with minimum heat loss. The evacuated tubes are the absorber component in the solar water heater function. They absorb solar energy converting it into heat for use in water heating. Each evacuated tube consists of two glass tubes made from extremely strong borosilicate glass.

Helping in lower electricity bills, and reducing the carbon footprint and still be in a win-win situation as there'll be no compromise in the continuous flow of hot water.

These water heaters can withstand a pressure of up to 4 kg/cm2, making them suitable for use in high rise buildings. They are also compatible with pressure booster pumps which adds to their versatility.

The devices are compact in size, low height, lightweight which all make it easy to install and transport. The storage tank is made of food grade SS304L with Aluminum Stucco cladding and the high quality PUF insulation minimizes the heat loss of water inside the tank.

The water heater is available in different capacities which range in 100, 125, 150, 200, 300 Liters Per Day (LPD)which are sufficient for two to three people on the lowest 100 LPD model and as many as eight to nine people on the maximum rated 300 LPD model. The product can only be purchased through a company dealership and the official company website and customer service can help the customer find the nearest location and the provide assistance with selecting the ideal model. The estimated cost of the product is Rs 25,000.

Gautam Solar Group Company

Galo Energy Pvt. Ltd.

Fast Charge & Discharge 2500+ Cycle Life

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CertiďŹ ed as per IEC Low Weight-High Performance

/ Meets Govt. Norms / Max Protection BMS

2 Lac+ Supplied

Lithium Ferrous Phosphate Battery Pack

Galo Energy Pvt. Ltd. D-120 & 121,Okhla Phase 1,New Delhi-110020, INDIA Contact No: +91 6398500016 / 9310141976

info@galo.co.in www.galo.co.in

OPPORTUNITIES REI SPECIAL ISSUE

Safety Manager (Operations & Maintenance) at Sterling and Wilson Solar Ltd.

IN, Delhi | Professional | Full-Time Exp: 12-16 years The candidate is required to have work experience in HSE for O&M for solar power plant and global exposure is essential. Candidates must possess experience in endto-end construction safety and must possess & full-time degree in electrical engineering with NEBOSH certification and diploma in HSE from recognize institute.

The salary package for selected candidate will be in the range of Rs 15-20 lakhs (pa) Key responsibilities and duties will include: Implement approach of working together to achieve zero harm environment.

Assure contractors compliance to HSE requirements by implementing HSE Program.

Encourage and create an environment for discussions of incidents, their causes and recommendations of safe working practices.

Ensure that recommendations are implemented, and shared across the portfolio of projects to prevent recurrence.

Ensure a zero tolerance approach to unsafe practices.

Review Method Statements incl. risk assessments, and ensure that contractors involve workers in Job Safety Analyses.

Establish and implement a program of examinations to document contractors compliance.

Liaison and assist with monitoring of contractors implementation of environmental requirements. Act on occasion as the Community Liaison Officer.

Apply Here: https://bit.ly/2kv1BCf

Assistant Lead Engineer/Engineer At Vestas

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SEPTEMBER 2019

IN, Chennai | Professional | Full-Time Exp: Min. 8 Years working experience which include 4-5+ years of relevant work experience with proven technical leadership of complex multi-disciplinary projects SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 01

A relevant Master's or Bachelor's degree (Preferably Mechanical, Aeronautical, Electrical, Production & Wind Energy engineering).

The salary package for selected candidate is not disclosed Key responsibilities and duties will include: Ownership of assigned product(s) from within the Wind Capture Product portfolio.

Robust engineering to ensure 100% reliable and performing products over the 20 year design life cycle.

Defining the performance requirements/characteristics and monitoring infield performance for the different Wind Capture Portfolio Products.

Driving current product(s) across the entire Wind Turbine product portfolio as appropriate (ownership of the relevant business cases).

Owning and improving the current products.

Participating in the creation of the technology strategy for future Wind Capture products.

Providing pro-active and reactive repair solutions for damaged systems.

Field support experience including Fault-finding and Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of mechanical / electro-mechanical systems and implementation of field repairs.

Perform fleet operational monitoring.

Apply Here: https://bit.ly/2kxjaBz

Regional Legal Resource at ReNew Power

IN, Delhi | Professional | Full-Time Exp: Advocate/Law graduate of 3-4 years of experience in Renewable Energy/Real Estate legal support.

The salary package for selected candidate is not disclosed Key responsibilities and duties will include: Well versed in the property laws and carrying out due diligence of title for purchasing agricultural land in various states.

Coordination skills with external advocates which includes briefing and submitting title documents for DDR. Preparation of MIS for inter department communications.

Willing to travel across Rajasthan state for coordination with local counsel for completion of Due Diligence.

Briefing and coordinating with practising counsels for pursuance of litigation across India.

Drafting of documents for purchase of land.

Liasioning/coordinating with government departments for seeking approvals for execution of title documents and running projects Apply Here: https://bit.ly/2m0g49D

EVENTS 3RD EDITION OF GLOBAL SUMMIT ON RENEWABLE ENERGY & EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

website : www.renewableenergy.euroscicon.com Location : Maryland, USA START DATE : 09-Sep-2019 Phone : +1 800 8416480 END DATE : 10-Sep-2019

RENEWABLE ENERGY INDIA EXPO 2019 website : www.renewableenergyindiaexpo.com START DATE : 18-Sep-2019 END DATE : 20-Sep-2019

E-mail : renewableenergy@lifescienceevent.org

E-mail : Pankaj.sharma@ubm.com

THE BIG 5 SOLAR

INTERSOLAR INDIA 2019

website : www.thebig5solar.ae

website : www.intersolar.in

START DATE : 27-NOV-2019 END DATE : 29-NOV-2019

Location : DUBAI Phone : +971 4 445 3609

START DATE : 27-NOV-2019 END DATE : 29-NOV-2019

Location : Greater Noida, India Phone : +91 99 90962410

Location : Bangalore, India Phone : +49 7231 58598215

E-mail : jessicascopacasa@dmgevents.com

E-mail : feth@solarpromotion.com

SIGMA SUMMIT 2020

THE ENERGY EXPO

website : https://sigmasummit.com

website : www.theenergyexpo.com

START DATE : 06-FEB-2020 END DATE : 08-FEB-2020

Location : New Delhi, India Phone : +91 93549 33450

START DATE : 12-FEB-2020 END DATE : 13-FEB-2020

Location : Miami, USA Phone : (305) 412-0000

E-mail : Info@middleeastelectricity.com

E-mail : mail@TEE2019.com

MIDDLE EAST ELECTRICITY 2020

THE SOLAR SHOW MENA 2020

website : https://www.middleeastelectricity.com

website:https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/solar-show-mena

START DATE : 24-APR-2020 END DATE : 25-APR-2020

Location : Dubai, UAE Phone : +971 4 4072470

START DATE : 13-APR-2020 END DATE : 14-APR-2020

Location : Cairo, Egypt Phone : +971 4 4402535

E-mail : Info@middleeastelectricity.com

E-mail : Abdelbasset.hfd@terrapinn.com

RENEWX 2020

6TH SMART CITIES INDIA 2020 EXPO

website : www.renewx.in

website : www.solarindiaexpo.com

START DATE : 24-APR-2020 END DATE : 25-APR-2020

Location : Hyderabad, India Phone : +91 98707 46073

E-mail : sheetal.rathod@ubm.com

SNEC 14TH (2020) INTERNATIONAL PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION AND SMART ENERGY website : www.snec.org.cn

START DATE : 25-MAY-2020 END DATE : 27-MAY-2020 E-mail : info@snec.org.cn

Location : Shanghai, China Phone : +86 21 33685117

START DATE : 20-MAY-2020 END DATE : 22-MAY-2020

Location : New Delhi, India Phone : +91 11 4279 5000

E-mail : ravim@eigroup.in

THE 9TH (CHINA) SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTED ENERGY AND BIOMASS POWER

website : www.distributed-energy.cn Location : Shanghai, China START DATE : 16-JUN- 2020 Phone : +86 21 50185270 END DATE : 18-JUN- 2020 E-mail : power@ronco.com.cn

PROVIDING COMPLETE TURNKEY

SAND TO ENERGY SOLUTION

TURNKEY SOLUTIONS & CONSUMABLES FOR LITHIUM CELL, MODULE AND PACK MANUFACTURING LINES ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM FOR SOLAR PLANTS TURNKEY SOLUTIONS FOR SOLAR WAFER, CELL, MODULE MANUFACTURING ALL TYPE OF INVERTERS & CHARGE CONTROLERS FOR SOLAR POWER PLANT EV CAR CHARGING SYSTEM POWER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT DEVICES

Bergen Solar Power and Energy Limited floor, Plot No. 21, Institutional Area, Sector 32, Gurugram, Haryana, India-122018 Tel : +91(0124) 4986400-416 | Fax : +91(0124) 4986405 Email : pv@bergengroupindia.com Web : www.bergengroupindia.com nd

We invites you to visit our booth no: 3.40 Hall no: 3 to see Products of advance Technology

Renewable Energy India Sep. 18-20, Greater Noida Booth No.: 3.64

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