SolarQuarter Magazine June 2017

Special Focus - Solar PV Module Technology

www.solarquarter.com

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Volume 06. l Issue 6

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June 2017

Solar Quarter • June 2017 1

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 2

INDIA’S MOST READ SOLAR ENERGY MAGAZINE

In dex

To book your space in the upcoming issue, please contact: Smriti Singh / Aishwarya Baile M: +91 7718877513 / 7718877514  E: bd.firstviewgroup.com

NEWS AT GLANCE � Indian

News ....................................................................... 4

� International

News .......................................................... 6

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS � 10

Regulatory asks on Solar and Digitalisation.............................................................. 8

� Solar

Power Industry in India: Trends and Analysis......................................................... 9

� How

far is China PV from Grid Parity?.................... 10

� City

Wide Rooftop Solar Growth in India needs more Focus.............................................. 12

� Emerging

Trends in the Wind Power Industry in India ............................................................ 15

� Price

vs Quality: A Tough Choice?........................... 16

� Feasibility

Assessment Approach and Cost Benefit Analysis of Canal Top Based Solar Project Compare to Ground Mounted Solar Project in India..................................................... 20

� How

Digitalization will Reshape the PV Plant O&M Landscape................................... 23

� Solar

PV Module: The Future Ahead...................... 25

� Steep

Tariff Fall can Keep Solar Growth Hanging on a Cliff.......................................... 29

� GST

Tax Burden Could Lead to a Hiatus in Indian Solar Growth................................... 21

PRODUCT FEATURE � Znshine � Spark

Solar................................................................... 13

Solar........................................................................ 30

� Waaree

Merlin - High Performance Photovoltaic Module Technology............................ 30

� Meco

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

.................................................................................. 33

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE � Manufacturing-Production

in Emerging Markets India – Opportunities and Challenges for PV Equipment Suppliers..................................................... 15 of GST on Solar Industry...........................................................18,19

� Mr.

Rahul Mishra, Ceo, Rays Future Energy India Pvt. Ltd......................................... 11

� Mr.

Brooks Wang, Sales Director of Apac, Longi Solar............................................. 17

� Mr.

Sunil Singh, CEO (Renewable Division), OPG Group............................................ 14

� Mr.

Pitamber Shivnani, President and Local Divisional Manager, Power Grids Division, Abb India Ltd........................................ 22

� Impact

� Growth

Opportunities in the Indian PV Market & Requirement of Indian Module Companies......................................... 32

� Mr.

Manish Gupta, President, North India Module Manufacturers Association (NIMMA)........................ 31

COMPANY FEATURE � NRG

Systems Mission is to Shape our Planet’s Future with Smart Technologies for Global Resource Sustainability and Climate Challenges............................................... 27

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 3

Indian News WAAREE ENERGIES SUCCESSFULLY COMMISSIONS SOLAR THERMAL PROJECT OF 210,000 LPD AT LEH LADAKH We are pleased to announce Waaree’s incredible achievement of completing the biggest Solar Thermal Systems Project at Leh Ladakh (J&K) territory. Leh, Ladakh has one of the most extreme atmospheric conditions where temperature ranges between -28°C to +34°C, it has limited resource of oxygen. Here Team Waaree has managed to install the solar thermal project on the highest Altitude. It has blessed 1250 + households with indigenous systems & made available near about 2,10,000 + Liters of Hot Water Per day to the local residents thus bringing smile on the human faces.

6,000 + Happy Consumers are now using hot water and have reduced CO2 emission of over 13,500 tons annually.

Mr.Nikunj Shukla, Head of Waaree Solar Thermal LLP with his team has set the milestone for Indian solar industry and achieved phenomenal results. The dynamic approach of the team has led to the execution of such a challenging project.

VIKRAM SOLAR HITS 1GW SOLAR MODULE CAPACITY IN KOLKATA India-based PV manufacturer and EPC firm Vikram Solar has expanded its module manufacturing capacity from 500MW to 1GW at its fab in Kolkata.

The majority of the expansion is in Multi/poly-crystalline modules, but there is some monocrystalline capacity, Ivan Saha, BU head, Solar Modules and CTO, Vikram Solar, told PV Tech at Intersolar Europe in Munich.

He added: “Ideally the whole 1GW can be configured for running mono, but in India the multi market is very strong. The economies of scale for mono are still under development in India – specifically for where projects are being bid at 4-5 cents per kilowatt hour. So in the Indian context we need to keep a healthy mix of mono and multi.”

CONFUSION’ AROUND INDIA’S GST TAX ON SOLAR CELLS AND MODULES After announcements that India will hit solar cells and modules with an 18% tax under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, some confusion has arisen about what level the tax will actually be set at.

The payback period of the project is anticipated to be 6 years. The project will be implemented in two phases — 120Mw in the first phase and the balance 380Mw within 2 years from the commercial production of 120 Mw i.e. three years from the start of the project.

INDIAN SOLAR PANEL MAKERS DEMAND ANTI-DUMPING DUTY AGAINST CHINA In a fresh attempt to bar Chinese solar panel makers from flooding the Indian market at an ultra-low price, the domestic companies approached the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping (DGAD), requesting an imposition of a duty on importers. The application has been filed against China, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The domestic industry via the Indian Solar Manufacturer’s Association (ISMA) pleaded that as the imports led to considerable damage to the indigenous sector; a retrospective duty should be imposed.

Business Standard recently reported that among other measures, anti-dumping is one of the attempts to filter out low-quality solar imports in the country.

GST COUNCIL MAY CLARIFY ON TAX RATE FOR SOLAR MODULES AT 3 JUNE MEETING The goods and services tax (GST) Council is likely to clarify on the tax rate applicable to solar modules at its next meeting in early June, which might reverse a decision to set an 18% rate on the key component of solar energy infrastructure, company executives say. Under the final GST rates, which take effect on 1 July, solar modules have been classified under an 18% tax slab; the present effective tax rate on them is zero.

The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has informally communicated to the sector that this might be an anomaly and that a clarification is likely to be issued when the GST Council meets on 3 June, according to companies.

SOLAR POWER PRICE SLUMP CASTS SHADOW ON INDIA’S GREEN FUTURE Solar power prices in India have hit rock bottom, but it is not all good news for the electricity-starved country as the phenomenon has hit investor confidence and threatens the country’s effort to push its green credentials. Cut-throat competition has driven prices down to unsustainable levels, undermining the booming sector’s viability, according to experts. After the United States withdrew from the Paris climate deal last week, India said it would stick to its huge renewable energy programme.

India is the headquarters of an international solar energy alliance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to reinforce the notoriously polluted country’s green credentials.

The secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has now said that the 18% GST on solar equipment could be an ‘anomaly’ and may be revised to just 5%.

SOLAR ENERGY BOOM TURNS TO BUST FOR INDIAN MANUFACTURERS

The confusion surrounds the fact that all renewable energy-based devices are set under the 5% tax mark in the latest GST proposals, but in a separate section solar cells and modules have been set at 18%. The taxes are due to come into force on 1 July.

Some of India’s biggest solar equipment makers are facing financial collapse, priced out by Chinese competitors as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government prioritises cheap power over local manufacturing despite his ‘Make in India’ push.

18% TAX UNDER GST FOR SOLAR MODULES TO INCREASE PROJECT COSTS

Though President Donald Trump is pulling the United States out of the Paris accord on climate change, India is sticking to its huge renewable energy programme. That has created a multi-billion-dollar market for Chinese solar product makers, who are facing an overcapacity at home and steep duties in Europe.

The GST Council’s decision to set 18% tax rate for solar modules as compared to a present effective rate of zero will increase overall project costs by about 12%, consulting Firm Bridge to India said in a note on Monday.

Bridge to India also said that the new rates would hit more than 10 gigawatt of ongoing utility scale solar power projects and pose a threat to their viability.

The firm, however, clarified that they believe long-term prospects of the industry would not be impacted by GST move as an increase in tax rates will be quickly offset by falling costs.

TOPAZ SOLAR POWER TO SET UP 500 MW UNITS IN ODISHA FOR RS 220 CR Kolkata-based Topaz Solar Power proposes to set up a solar module manufacturing plant in Odisha with an annual capacity to produce 500 megawatts (Mw) of solar panels.

This will be the first solar panel manufacturing facility in the state, which of late has identified renewable energy as a priority area. The project, which will come up on 5 acres of land in the vicinity of Bhubaneswar, is estimated to cost Rs 220 crore. Of this, Rs 80 crore will be in the form of equity with the rest Rs 140 crore being debt. Out of the total project cost, Rs 170 crore will be spent on imported equipment.

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India’s solar power generation capacity has already more than tripled in three years to over 12 gigawatt (GW) as Modi targets raising energy generation from all renewable sources to 175 GW by 2022.

BOOSTING ROOFTOP ‘PARKS’ CAN HELP INDIA ACHIEVE SOLAR ENERGY GOAL Recent newspaper articles have highlighted the rooftop photovoltaic (RTPV) sector’s sluggish growth in India. The articles claim that based on the present outlook, the 40 GW target for 2021-22 will not be achieved. Greenpeace India’s report shows that RTPV uptake in major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai has been abysmal. While the large-scale ground mounted solar parks have gathered critical mass in India with tariffs as low as Rs 2.44/kWh, RTPV is lagging behind significantly, comprising only about 1.46 GW of today’s 12.5 GW installed solar capacity. Statements from officials insinuating that Indians want to use their rooftops for alternative purposes such as drying clothes, sleeping and hosting parties are extremely misleading. RTPV systems can easily be designed with raised mounting structures, at low incremental costs, to keep enough free space and provide a cooling effect below. A deeper look into the problem reveals the major barriers hindering growth of RTPV in India.

Solar Quarter • June 2017 4

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 5

International News FINANCIAL AGREEMENTS OF SWEIHAN PHOTOVOLTAIC INDEPENDENT POWER PROJECT IN ABU DHABI WERE SIGNED JinkoSolar announced that in a signing ceremony held at the Emirates Palace, the financial agreements for the debt and equity fundingfor the Sweihan Solar PV Independent Power Project (the “Project”) were signed by the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (“ADWEA”), Sweihan Solar Holding Company Limited (“Sweihan”), a joint venture between JinkoSolar and Marubeni Corporation (“Marubeni”), and a syndicate of international and local banks. The agreements closed a US$870 million financing for the Project, an1,177 MW (DC) solar PV project with a 25-year PPA signed with ADWEA. The Project is expected to reach commercial operation date in April 2019.

“Today’s Financial Closing is the culmination of 18 months of hard work, determination and commitment from many people, from multiple Abu Dhabi Government stakeholders, the international PV investor market, the international and local lending community and related advisors,” commented H.E Abdullah Ali Musleh Al Ahbabi, Chairman of ADWEA.

FLISOM UNVEILS LIGHT, ROLLABLE AND CUSTOMIZABLE FLEXIBLE CIGS PV MODULE TECHNOLOGY In booth A1.110 at the Intersolar Europe 2017 exhibition in Munich, Germany, Flisom AG of Zurich, Switzerland - in which Tata Industries of the $103bn Tata group is a strategic investor and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) is a technology partner – is unveiling its new product range, including eMetal, eFlex and eRoll products.

Flisom has spent over a decade developing high-efficiency copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar modules using proprietary roll-to-roll manufacturing technologies.

Flisom’s products are based on the technology developed by its research partner Empa, which has achieved record conversion efficiency of 20.4% in a flexible CIGS solar cell.

CHINA LOOKS TO CAPITALIZE ON CLEAN ENERGY AS U.S. RETREATS China’s devastating pollution problems began here, in coal country, where legions of workers toiled and often died to exhume the rich deposits that fuelled the country’s sooty rise to economic power.

Today, these muddy plains are home to a potent symbol of China’s new ambition: to bypass the United States and cement its dominant role in clean energy.

On a lake created by the collapse of abandoned coal mines, China has built the world’s largest floating solar project, enough to provide light and air conditioning to much of a nearby city. The provincial government wants to expand the effort to more than a dozen sites, which collectively would produce the same amount of power as a full-size commercial nuclear reactor.

yield estimation. Solar cell efficiencies and photovoltaic module performances are typically only measured under standard lab conditions.

AIKO SOLAR BRINGING P-TYPE MONO PERC AND BIFACIAL CELLS TO MODULE MANUFACTURERS The vast number of announcements related to P-type mono PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) production in the last 18 months have primarily related to integrated cell and module producers shifting in-house production to the highefficiency cells, as conventional multicrystalline Al-BSF (Aluminium-Back Surface Field) solar cells reach efficiency limitations.

However, although some merchant solar cell producers have announced migration to PERC, these have been relatively conservative manufacturing capacity changes, which can include both multi and mono PERC cells. In other cases, some are migrating away from multi to mono PERC and even a sprinkling of IBC (Interdigitated Back Contact) and heterojunction (HJ).

However, China-based merchant solar cell producer Guangdong Aiko Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd (Aiko Solar) plans to be a major supplier of highefficiency P-type mono PERC and bifacial cells to PV module manufacturers around the world, after announcing major capacity expansion plans and the introduction of new products.

LIGHTWEIGHT ‘PRINTED SOLAR’ TOUTED AS A WAY TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY IN TIMES OF DISASTER Final trials of printed solar panels on sheets of plastic are underway at the University of Newcastle in the New South Wales Hunter region. Using conventional printing technology, electronic ink is printed onto clear plastic sheets with the finished product incredibly lightweight.

The creator of printed solar, Professor Paul Dastoor, said the emerging technology is expected to shine in disaster-affected areas. “What we do know right now is that if there’s a disaster the first thing people need is power,” Professor Dastoor said.

“Typically that’s generated by a diesel generator and you have to truck in fuel.”

JINKOSOLAR SMASHES SOLAR MODULE SHIPMENTS RECORD Leading ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JinkoSolar reported record PV module shipments of 2,068MW in the first quarter of 2017, exceeding guidance.

JinkoSolar’s record quarterly shipments are also an industry milestone, becoming the first module manufacturer to ship over 2GW of modules in a quarter. However, the global quarterly shipment record is not set to last long. JinkoSolar guided second quarter shipments to be in the range of 2.5GW to 2.6GW.

GERMAN COMPANY PLANS TO BUILD A 1 GIGAWATT SOLAR MODULE FACTORY IN EGYPT A German solar power company is planning to set up a modules manufacturing unit in Egypt using local raw material.

PV module manufacturer Astronergy said it was undertaking a transition away from 4BB (busbar) technology to 5BB to boost overall conversion efficiencies at its production plant in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.

PSE AG recently announced plans to set up a solar modules manufacturing facility with a capacity of 1 gigawatt at an unnamed location in Egypt. The facility will use Egyptian silica to manufacture solar cells and panels. The company will first run a feasibility study to determine if Egyptian silica can be used for manufacturing efficient solar cells and panels. For this study the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has sanctioned funds worth $594,000.

Upgrades to its five production lines at the highly automated factory in Frankfurt (Oder) are to start in June and the migration is expected to be completed by the end of July. Astronergy said that new modules under its ‘PENTA’ label would be available from summer 2017.

Upon the positive outcome of the study, the manufacturing unit would be established within 2-3 years. PSE AG is also expected to set up a one gigawatt solar power project using the panels manufactured which will be a true test of their efficiency.

“With our new PENTA modules produced in Germany, we are increasing our share of modules in the highest available power classes,” noted Paul Ji, managing director for Astronergy Solarmodule GmbH. “The price per watt peak remains the same for the customer, and modules will continue to be plus-sorted in 5 wattpeak increments.”

ALSOENERGY PARTNERS WITH SURVEY DIGITAL FOR SALES, INSTALLATIONS, AND SUPPORT IN EMEA REGION

ASTRONERGY MIGRATING TO 5-BUSBAR MODULE TECHNOLOGY

IMEC SOFTWARE MODELS DAILY ENERGY YIELD OF SOLAR CELLS Imec and EnergyVille have developed simulation software that accurately predicts the daily energy yield of solar cells and solar modules under varying meteorological and irradiation conditions.

“This record accuracy was obtained thanks to validation tests under controlled circumstances, such as wind tunnels, as well as from detailed data series with fine time granularity from PV modules in the field,” says Imec’s Hans Goverde.

Imec’s model combines optical, thermal and electrical parameters to provide detailed insight on thermal gradients in the solar module. The model integrates the effect of these gradients, resulting in a significantly better accuracy (root mean square error of only 2.5%) than commercially available software packages for energy

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For AlsoEnergy, the top selling independent monitoring provider for commercial PV in North America, this partnership is an opportunity to extend international coverage for sales and support.

AlsoEnergy, a leading provider of monitoring and SCADA systems for solar PV, is announcing a partnership with Survey Digital, a company specializing in sales, installation & commissioning, and maintenance for solar inverters. Survey Digital has been designated as a certified sales agent and service provider for AlsoEnergy in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

For AlsoEnergy, the top selling independent monitoring provider for commercial PV in North America, this partnership is an opportunity to extend international coverage for sales and support. AlsoEnergy has expanded international offerings over the past several years and the Survey Digital partnership will enable further market penetration in the EMEA region, providing localized sales and services for the AlsoEnergy product line. Survey Digital will also assume frontline support service for the existing AlsoEnergy install base in the EMEA region.

Solar Quarter • June 2017 6

PC42_SK_1571_Size 11 x 17 inches_Waaree Inverter_Magazine Ad

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 7

Industry Insights 10 REGULATORY ASKS ON SOLAR AND DIGITALISATION SolarPower Europe has today published our “Regulatory asks on solar and digitalization” to ensure that policy-makers support the transition to a fully digitalization solar offering. Thanks to the whole team for this pioneering document.

THESE ARE THE 10 POLICY ASKS 1. Remove barriers to the peer-to-peer trading of electricity, such as (but not exclusively) supply license requirements, concluding contracts between peers, network charging and existing and future systems for the delivery and billing of electricity.

2. Ensure that the implementation of regulation does not preclude new technologies and business models for the trading of and accounting for electricity, such as Blockchain and cryptocurrencies that create incentives for PV and enable prosumers to participate in energy markets.

3. Encourage regulation that allows aggregators to compete with conventional generators in all electricity markets and offer services in these markets via new or different digital technologies, such as Virtual Power Plants. Allow aggregators to combine resources from all voltage levels and use appropriate measuring equipment for the size of the installation.

4. Use digitalization to develop flexibility markets with more automated tools and standardized products, as well as standardized requirements for the provision of system services both behind the meter and at distribution and transmission level. Reform intraday and spot-markets to enable large-scale solar and solar-plus-storage plants to take on balancing responsibilities.

5. Accelerate the deployment of smart grid technology, so that more solar can be integrated into the system and both utility-scale and small-scale solar can provide services to the grid. In conjunction, reform incentives for network operators, to encourage them to implement smart grid technology as an alternative to strengthening cables and transformers. Also provide more funding to smart grid and smart market integration projects such as within the Connecting Europe Facility funding

SOLARPOWER EUROPE’S “Regulatory asks on solar and digitalization” were drawn up by the Digitalization and Solar Task Force, a group of members within the association working together to ensure that the solar PV sector in Europe makes the most of the opportunities arising from the digitalization of the energy system.

It follows the Solar industry’s seven commitments on digitalization.

An in-depth report on the market opportunities for digitalized solar will follow later this year.

instrument.

6. Reward the speed and accuracy that distributed energy resources such as solar and storage can provide in terms of grid support services.

7.

Accelerate

the

deployment

of

smart

metering

functionality, real-time measurement of consumption

SolarQuarter Trainings and Seminars

and grid feed-in, as smart metering is a catalyst for new solar business models. Ensure that consumers have access to their smart meter data and guarantee that the roll-out of smart meters will not discriminate against new and existing innovative solutions and solar prosumers.

Avoid imposing extra costs on smart meter customers, or mandating a single gateway for all energy data in and out of a building. Ensure that self-consumed electricity is not subject to taxes, fees or charges 8. Ensure that proposals within the market design package for metering and consumption data to be made available between DSOs, TSOs, customers, suppliers, aggregators and energy service companies are maintained. Guarantee

EPC CONTRACTING -LEGAL, COMMERCIAL, TAXATION & RISK ISSUES 27-28 July, Hotel Mirage, Mumbai

that state of the art and up-to-date data protection and cyber security standards are put in place.

9. Maintain provisions in the proposed revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive on a ‘smartness indicator’ for homes and ensure that on-site electricity generation is given a bonus within the methodology for setting cost-optimal minimum energy performance

GST for Solar Sector

4 August 2017, Hotel Pride, Delhi

requirements for new and renovated buildings. Ensure that this methodology takes a holistic view of sector coupling, so that excess PV electricity can be used and stored e.g. as heat via heat pumps, or hot water storage.

10.

Ensure

that

EU-level

work

on

standards

and

interoperability, within the Digital Single Market includes solar PV systems, smart buildings and smart grids.

Encourage the Commission to come forward with its ‘baseline’ standardized data format as soon as possible, which individual device or service manufacturers will then add additional features to.

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A Comprehensive Program with excellent agenda conceptualized to impart knowledge on the concept of Projects

Registration Contact:

Ms. Pratika Jathan M: 9920917136, E: register@firstviewgroup.com Solar Quarter • June 2017 8

Industry Insights SOLAR POWER INDUSTRY IN INDIA: TRENDS AND ANALYSIS In India, the total solar power generation capacity increased from 461 MW in 2011 to 6,763 MW in 2016. Over the last few years, the solar power generation capacity in the country has increased tremendously owing to favourable government initiatives coupled with development in manufacturing technology of solar panels.

Indian Solar Power Industry is anticipated to have double digit growth during next few years, due to the government’s policy to increase the share of solar power in the country’s energy mix and falling equipment (PV Module) costs globally. Moreover, solar power tariff in India has witnessed a drastic fall over the last few years.

The solar power tariffs in India have fallen in nominal terms from INR 15 /Kwh in 2009 to INR 2.44/ Kwh in 2017, due to decline in module prices and improvements in capacity utilization factor. This recent fall came in during the online bidding for a 750 MW solar power park being set up at Bhadla near Jodhpur with viability gap funding (VGF) from Solar energy corporation of India Limited. This comes after much brouhaha over tariffs falling to INR 3.25/ kWh (levelized) and INR 3.15/ kWh in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh and Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh respectively in the last three months.

The company Cumulative Capacity of Installed Solar Power Generation in India, 2011-2016 (MW) p r o v i d e s 6763 comprehensive syndicated research 3742 reports, custom 2632 2319 research services 1205 and data analytics 461 for diverse industry 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 verticals including Power, Oil & gas, Infrastructure, Trends of Indian Solar Power Tariff, 2011-2017 Chemicals, Water, 8.79 8.30 6.40 Automotive, IT & 5.41 4.42 3.43 Telecom, Consumer 2.44 D u r a b l e s , FMCG & Retail, 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Semiconductors & Electronics, Solar Tariff INR/Kwh I n d u s t r i a l Automation and meticulously assist and advise customers in meeting Equipment with offices in US, Canada, UK and India. their research and consulting requirements.

TechSci Research employs Industry Analysts and Consultants with vast industry experience to

By Karan Chechi, Research Director, TechSci Research (with inputs from Samarth Gupta)

However, the ever-declining solar power tariffs has encouraged good investments into the sector but have raised concerns over the long -term sustainability of the projects.

Trends of Indian Solar Power Tariff, 2011-2017 Improving manufacturing technology has led to the reduction in cost of solar panels which has resulted in reduction in cost of solar power generation.

The reduction in the cost of solar power coupled with strategic policy of the government has resulted in increase in solar power into the energy mix of the country.

To boost the solar power generation in the country, the Government of India has announced various policies and regulations, such as, accelerated depreciation, capital subsidy, Renewable Energy Certificate(RECs), Net Metering Incentives, Assured Power Purchase agreement etc. The schemes formulated by the government intends to reduce the capital expenditure in building a solar power plant, and subsidize the power generation to make it economically viable for the stakeholders involved in the solar power business.

ABOUT TECHSCI RESEARCH TechSci Research is a global market research and consulting company focused on providing research and consulting services to its customers worldwide.

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 9

Industry Insights HOW FAR IS CHINA PV FROM GRID PARITY? At the end of 2016, China National Energy Administration (NEA) published “PV Development Program for National 13th Five-Year Plan”, aiming to make solar energy grid parity, at consumer side, by 2020.

Based on China’s strategy and industry outlook, 2020 should mark the year when solar power gets to grid parity in China.

since 2015 pushing technological innovation and cost reduction across PV producers. To name some of the measures, efficiency requirement of PV components was clearly identified in subsidized projects Front Runner (FRP) and following Anti Poverty (APP), plus, tendering mechanism was introduced to both categories.

out; however, makers are still making more profits under lower FiT rates, thanks to more cost cuts along the production chain. For 2017, people are expecting demand and price fall after 630 deadline, as what happened in 2016. Many factories have set up outlook of prices and profits along the chain at lowest point 4Q2017:

Looking to China PV industry, it’s probably under more force of self evolution, thanks to unceasing

Poly, $10.6/kg (GM 10%), wafer $0.424/pc (10%), cell $0.17/wp (11%), module $0.30/wp (12%), BOS/EPC $0.60 (13%), LCOE: $0.075/KWh (11%).

This is almost same as average electricity price $0.075-0.081/KWh (mainly coal and hydrogen generation), consumer side, across the country. As national level electricity price is almost fixed along the time, we could find consumer side grid parity of solar power reached within 2017. Going further, it’s projected that solar power cost for next years until 2020 will be: $0.056/KWh*2018, $0.045*2019, and $0.038*2020. Annual reduction rate stays at range of 15%-25% with marginal effect at latter years, substantially lower than 10-15% of annual FiT cuts projected by government. As result, the whimper and panic coming out across the industry whenever a new FiT cut is announced would sound groundless.

In fact, given the fact that coal power plant on-grid price is at range $0.037-0.050/KWh in China, and shouldn’t change, 2020 is highly likely to see solar power parity with coal energy at on-grid side.

Looking to global market, we increasingly hear low price bidding for solar projects around the world. By end of 2016 and 1H2017 some sizeable projects in Middle East, India and south America have reached price range $0.03-0.05/KWh. Last Month, Jinko, the biggest module maker in the world (Bloomberg 2016) won a project of 1177MW in Abu Dhabi with price $0.0242/KWh.

CHINA PV FIT SCHEME 2017 VS. 2016 REGIONS

2017 FIT $/KWH

2016 FIT $/KWH

RED. RATE

Region I (west, north areas, abundant sunlight)

0.081

0.10

19%

Region II (mid, north areas, mediate sunlight):

0.093

0.11

15%

Region III (east, south, commercial areas, poor sunlight)

0.153

0.122

13%

DG system (cap. unlimited): Self consuming type, the excessive part sold to grid $0.052/KWh (no charges vs. 2016). Total on-grid type, follow above Fit rates.

However, there is a big difference between consumer side parity and on-grid parity. For the former, PV is still heavily dependent on subsidy incentives. For the latter, PV will see explosion of demand. According to development trajectory of PV industry in past years, more and more people believe solar energy would reach on-grid parity by 2020 in China. all, solar can’t become mainstream energy until high capacity and cost effective energy storage technology comes into mass application.

At the end of 2016, China National Energy Administration (NEA) published “PV Development Program for National 13th Five-Year Plan”, aiming to make solar energy grid parity, at consumer side, by 2020. To achieve that milestone, it sets for PV factories to bring down solar power cost by another colossal 50% from 2015 to 2020.

The target was sort of as expected by industry people, given a number of government backed campaigns

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frenzy of capacity expansion along whole production chain. Of course this heat would reach every corner of this planet where solar projects are underway, given the fact that China module production can supply 140% of worldwide demand (by end of 2016).

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, PV system cost dropped by an amazing 90% from 2007 to 2016, solar power cost went down at almost same pace. 2016 alone, PV power cost of global average dropped by 15% from $0.10/KWh down to $0.086/ KWh. It predicts another 20% down of solar energy cost in 2017.

Above picture shows China’s resolution to push down FiT going forward. There is no official voice yet of FiT cuts beyond 2017 but insight people suggest it would be at least 10% cut. In consequence, an interesting situation seems to surface that despite government is likely pushing hard on solar projects with rigorous subsidy cuts, even resulting in panic and rush installation among PV producers. It turns

It seems we are just stepping into a new space of market, whose dimension would make existing capacity look near to infancy. NEA record shows solar power output was 662milKWh in 2016 in China, only accounting for 1.1% of total generation. China’s 13th Five-Year plan aims to achieve 15% non-fossil energy generation by 2020, and 20% by 2030. However, as solar power, and other sort of renewable energy, hit grid with exponential growth of capacity, more and more people have come to cognition that the last stop to be completed is not cost, but energy storage technology.

By Xiaodong(Bond) Wang. Xiaodong is a solar energy enthusiast and a regular contributor.

Disclaimer: The views above are strictly those of the author and do not reflect those of any other organisation or individual or this publication.

Solar Quarter • June 2017 10

In Conver sation “WE NEED A SIMPLISTIC AND COHESIVE POLICY FRAMEWORK TO STREAMLINE THE SYSTEM”

MR. RAHUL MISHRA, CEO,

Rays Future Energy India Pvt. Ltd

TELL US ABOUT RAYS FUTURE ENERGY. WHEN WAS IT INCORPORATED? Rays Future Energy India Pvt. Ltd is Rays Power Infra’s new venture (functional and operational since May’17), shall be focusing on distributed solar generation including rooftop solutions, Energy Storage, E- Vehicle &; associated infrastructure and solar energy based products.

AS AN EPC ROOFTOP PLAYER, WHAT KEY CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE TODAY? We are an ISO 9001 & ISO 14001 certified leading integrated solar power company with presence across the entire solar value chain. As a leading solar energy company we have for long been able to face and surpass several challenges that has come our way and still continue to do so.

Some of the key challenges we face, as of today, are as follows:

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The existing variation in the policy framework between states and the center has needlessly complicated the growth evaluation system. We need a simplistic and cohesive policy framework to streamline the system.

Currently, small solar energy grids and solar home systems together produce about 1 GW of power-a very small part of India’s total renewable energy target of 200 GW by 2022. Major part of this target will come from rooftop solar energy and large scale renewable energy plants connected to India’s national electricity grid. Additionally,Rooftop solar needs more focus on net metering. Although 30 of the total 36 states and Union territories in India have net-metering policies, but they lack clarity in terms of model implementation, securing multiple permissions, untrained utility staff and lack of awareness stops severalsolar companies in getting expected results.

The Government also needs to take adequate measures in raising consumer awareness regarding solar power and its usage There exists several challenges with respect to grid integration- with the likelihood of power flow reversal across the network and erratic behavior of low voltage protection systems. Moreover, power from multiple small solar projects poses a challenge to grid stability.

Delay in subsidy also affect the growth and adoption of solar rooftop. On one hand it left those who had put up rooftop solar with the promise of early subsidies, highly disappointed and on the other hand, this bad news has spread fast.

WHICH STATES DO YOU BELIEVE LEAD SEE MAXIMUM SOLAR ENERGY INVESTMENTS THIS YEAR? The western state of Maharashtra, the most industrialized state with high electricity tariffs, sawmajor solar rooftop investments this year.

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF AGGRESSIVE BIDDING ON ROOFTOP EPC PLAYERS? DOES COST V/S QUALITY COMES INTO THE PICTURE? Healthy competition is always good as the market is huge. Competition breeds innovation. It makes stakeholders to come up with new ways, so as to optimize the costs & ensure maximum utilization of available assets.

Falling prices undoubtedly put EPC companies under a lot of pressure to make their projects more cost-effective and financially viable. To survive the competition, contractors have no option but to go for cutthroat pricing and cost-cutting measures, which should be accounted for, at all stages as per the demand of the market. This will not affect the quality as bidders have to submit large amount of PBG’s.

WHAT ARE THE MILESTONES YOU WISH TO ACHIEVE BY THE END OF THIS FISCAL? Our number of projects are on advance stages of discussion so we are hopeful that we can achieve 50 MW solar rooftop projects through private participation & Government tenders by the end of this fiscal.

Solar Quarter • June 2017 11

Industry Insights CITY WIDE ROOFTOP SOLAR GROWTH IN INDIA NEEDS MORE FOCUS Although, domestic manufacturers are manoeuvring through existing challenges in the sector, intensifying competition due to rapidly falling solar prices is becoming a cause for concern for the industry.

FALLING SOLAR TARIFF IS AN ISSUE Government has welcomed the tariff fall and indicated it as a right way for solar sector to reach grid parity with cheapest conventional fossil fuel, coal. However, uncontrolled fall, without any indication of cost stabilization in future is not a good thing. Indian solar tariff has fallen from Rs 10.95 to Rs 12.76 per kWh in 2020-11 to INR 2.62/per unit in 2017 (near about 90 per cent fall).

Even the current solar tariff is a 17 per cent decline from the previous month.

Decreasing solar tariff is making solar projects financially unviable, by shrinking down the ROI generation.

This is scaring off investors and

modules at a lower cost (Chinese modules cost $0.33-$0.36 cents/per Watt p, while Indian modules are priced at $0.35-$0.40 cents/per Watt p). Powered by industrial scale and Government backing, Chinese module suppliers are easily claiming larger market share in Indian solar market, than domestic players (8 out of 10 module suppliers in India are Chinese).

BESIDES FOREIGN CHEAP MODULES EATING UP THE DEMAND, Decreasing DCR category projects (under NSM Phase-II Batch-4, when only 25 MW was given to DCR from 225 capacity tendered).

Lack of financing (only Rs12,427 crore was added to renewable energy, from Rs54,336 crore cess in 31st March 2017).

And lack of having a policy framework that supports domestic manufacturing are piling up huge hurdles in front of Indian solar vision.

As the solar energy tariff continues to fall, there is a chance that Indian solar industry could lose investment options. Losing foreign investment at this nascent age can choke the industry and squeeze out the opportunities at hand. Besides that, there is also the question of existence of domestic manufacturers, as shrinking opportunities due to competition with cheaper Chinese modules is creating quite the stir in the industry.

TO REMEDY THE SITUATION To stabilize the situation and move forward towards the path envisioned, Government needs to freeze the solar tariff at the stage it is now. Giving a few breathing moments to the industry and supporting it to grow, will certainly bring comprehensive energy growth in the country. It will keep the existing investors interested and bring in new investment supporting growth.

Focus on domestic manufacturing and establishing control on foreign module imports is also important.

Statistics prove that India can save up to $40 billion within 2030, by stopping solar imports. That money could be used in industrial and infrastructural development changing lives within the country.

Imposing anti-dumping on foreign modules will also create demand for domestic manufacturers and assure quality control over renewable energy future.

Global solar sector is going through revolutionary shifts and new changes are coming with opportunities and often creating vacuums to be filled. If India wants to become a solar super power in the future, then the country has to make right decisions quickly, before opportunities fade away.

India’s solar growth has become a shining example and an inspiration for developing countries to venture in solar. With Countries investing huge in renewable energy ($286 billion in 2016), a plethora of new opportunities are in line, ready to be claimed in the market. And Indian solar growth showing an impressive trajectory reaching 12 GW of on-grid solar capacity, testifying the country’s readiness for growth.

Indian Government has taken decisions bold enough to characterize itself as one of the biggest solar players capable enough to tackle even the dominant players in the industry. Policy support in guise of net metering, solar park development, viability gap funding, and initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Power for All’ have provided support and introduced new demand for Indian domestic manufacturers.

Besides on-grid solar capacity enhancement, focus on rooftop solar growth has grown from 72 MW per year to 227 per year, raising awareness in the country.

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putting Indian solar growth on an unstable ground.

Although, Indian Government has identified the tariff drop as a forward step towards making ‘Power for All’ a reality.

However, with instability in the sector and future of the projects not secured (due to financial unavailability and investors hesitation), it is hard to see how we would be able to build an energy rich future for India.

Credits: Vikram Solar

EXISTING CHALLENGES SURFACING IN A SERIOUS MANNER Indian solar manufacturing sector is already in an unfair fight against Chinese module suppliers who are practically dumping solar

Solar Quarter • June 2017 12

Product Feature ZNSHINE SOLAR: WE INNOVATE PRODUCTS TO WIN THE INDIA MARKET the desert area. Depending on the type of installation and in response to the challenges to keep the solar panels dust-free, the use of ‘self-cleaning’ modules will substantially reduces the O&M cost. For this, we are introducing Graphenecoated modules, which, with a bit of rain, repels dust fall off module surface.

This alone gives our clients a comparative 2% - 3% higher yield over its lifetime.

Efficient PV power generation technology may not be able to completely subvert the current industrial ecosystem, but the efficient manufacturing technology leading the era of PV industry has come, and perhaps will rewrite the development pattern of the whole industry. Recently, ZNSHINE SOLAR (stock code: 838463), as the No. 1 solar PV company on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ),known as China’s NASDAQ the board for small-to-medium-sized innovative companies in China, heavily introduces ingenuity products：12- busbar module and Self-cleaning module,relying on the solid production technology and manufacturing technology. This marks that ZNSHINE SOLAR has made significant achievements in the parity supply of efficient modules.

India is a huge country with extreme and diverse climatic conditions. Under such extreme environmental conditions, it’s important to consider modules with higher specifications such as PID free, low temperature coefficient, Higher efficiency, Good Low light performance, minimizing Micro crack and hot sports, etc. These factors create a direct impact on consistent energy yields over the lifetime of the power plant.

In recent years, ZNSHINE SOLAR has successfully achieved diversified business, and constantly open up overseas emerging markets. In the development process, ZNSHIHE SOLAR always insisted on the development of the system for the actual application of the relevant modules of the environment.

Innovative technology as their duty, ZNSHINE SOLAR continuously upgrade the performance of various types of products, expect to contribute their own strength in the stage of high quality and efficiency of Chinese PV industry. ZNSHINE SOLAR will ensure the "quantity" of growth, while focusing on "quality" of the upgrade in the coming future.

ZNSHINE PV-tech Co., LTD., （NEEQ Code: 838463）, founded in 1988, is one of the experts in PV industry. In addition to manufacturing high-performance PV modules, ZNSHINE SOLAR dedicates to provide leading EPC services and works on projects development and operation.

ZNSHINE SOLAR is listed in BNEF Global Tier 1 PV Companies and Top 20 bankable PV companies. To date, it has become one of the world-renowned largest project developers and PV manufacturers with1.6GW module capacity and 5MW per capita output. Its excellent products and services with cost advantage bring the best value to all customers and company itself.

ZNNSHINE SOLAR is one of very few manufacturers that can guarantee all the above features under all climate conditions with their new 12- busbar modules. The latest released 12- busbar modules, 60 cells polycrystalline 325w, successfully passed the China Quality Certification Center (CQC) issued by the PV leader certification. It is the great recognition from a thirdparty professional certification party for the high efficiency, high reliability, high stability features of the new products. but also stimulated the forward momentum of ZNSHINE SOLAR to continue leading the PV manufacturing industry. The 12-busbar efficient polycrystalline modules conversion efficiency is up to 17.3%, exceeded 7-10W of the PV leader certification basis.

This also means that ZNSHINE SOLAR has become one of the first domestic self-produced 12- busbar module manufacturing enterprises, far ahead of the industry average and in the module packaging technology with "super leader" ability. Compared with the conventional modules, 12- busbar modules has a good weak light performance, which can increase the power generation of 3% and has a good temperature coefficient to maintain power generation in high temperatures environment. So, 12- busbar modules can create a more lucrative return on investment by its lower power attenuation rate and longer life in the full product life cycle.

The Self-cleaning Modules, using the latest graphene coating technology to combine graphene and PV glass, will increased by 5% of the output power of module power generation.In addition, it has a good weak performance and can effectively reduce the thermal resistance, increasing module life and power generation. The core point is the graphene film with high hydrophilicity, which endowed the PV glass with self-cleaning function, fully applicable to

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 13

In Conver sation “WE HAVE WON BID FOR 186 MW OF SOLAR OUT OF WHICH WE EXPECT 62 MW OF PROJECT TO BE COMMISSIONED THIS FINANCIAL YEAR” position should be stopped . We should move towards international practice.

MR. SUNIL SINGH, CEO (Renewable Division), OPG Group

The other challenges which the developers are facing are off takers not adhering to terms and conditions of the RFQ”S and the PPA after commissioning of the project.

WHICH STATES DO YOU BELIEVE LEAD SEE MAXIMUM SOLAR ENERGY INVESTMENTS THIS YEAR?

AS A DEVELOPER, WHAT KEY CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE TODAY? No proper co-ordination between different government agencies though they try their best.

The Reason for that is that every department is governed by their own sets of regulations and henceforth the differences , The bidding in the solar park also varies from state to state in terms of pricing size and nature which gets more complicated with the fact that the terms and conditions are one sided which is in the favour of sponsor ‘s of the bid or may be off taker , for example the developer guarantees can be forfeited for the reasons attributed to them but no accountability from the buyers side for the delay caused by them or attributable to them , the anti competitive and exploitation of the dominant

South Indian states but Uttar Pradesh can spring surprise, as it’s a power hungry state. the party which is ruling the central government and the state government are the same so it would not be a surprise that there would be a major thrust and interestingly the recent statement by the honourable energy minister of the federal government that Varanasi would be the first city in the world to be fully powered by the renewable sources

AS THE ASSETS BECOME OLDER, WILL AGGRESSIVE BIDDING TODAY BECOME A PAIN POINT FOR THE INDUSTRY A FEW YEARS DOWN THE LINE? Well if you see the recent bidding too much speculation is going there , till the time its falling in right place one is a winner but at the end gambling is dangerous history is a precedent for this - the

coal based power sector has gone through this cycle and if it continues like this there is lot of pain to be borne as once solar plant is built it’s is casting in the stone nothing can be changed except the interest cost, small unprecedented events like solar radiation not up to the mark, natural calamity, interest rate for any reason going north, DISCOMS delay, transmission line etc can have a catastrophic impact.

WHAT ARE THE MILESTONES YOU WISH TO ACHIEVE BY THE END OF THIS FISCAL? We would first Finish our 62 MW and create value to my investors and stake holders - We as a company don’t believe in capacity building rather we emphasise on self sustainable profitable model

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD FOR OUR READERS. Solar is going to change the energy spectrum and there are ample opportunities going to come in future if the industry exercises discipline and restrain, It’s like the 5 day cricket game where it’s important to remain on the pitch and for sure you will get balls to score runs and win the match as a company and developer.

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 14

Industry Perspec tive MANUFACTURING-PRODUCTION IN EMERGING MARKETS INDIA – OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR PV EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS Ecoprogetti srl is the leading manufacturer of complete Turnkey Line for module manufacturing.

Today there is no other company in world to design and manufacture all the equipments in own factory located in Italy. In India we have maximum market share of around 60 to 65% and we see that now

more n more companies from China trying to sell their machines at very low price which is making market more n more price sensitive. We have many customers in India who ordered the line from China and burned their hands and understood the quality and service support and the same customers are

coming back to us and ordering complete line. The market of PV Module manufacturing is becoming more n more tough all the end users of modules need low cost panels with very high quality and leaving very less margin with module manufacturer. The trend Mr. Rajen Shah will be more n more Managing Director, tough and the only way Ecoprogetti Production Process to over come this will India Pvt Ltd. by using good quality machines with long history of manufacturing with proper trained support. I am very sure that those module manufacturer who are looking at cheap machines from China will not be able to survive long in this emerging market.

Market in India is booming and Module manufacturer will have good time but they will have to come out of the mind set of using China made machine where they are not sure if that China based company will even last for next year due to heavy competition in China itself.

Sara Freed, NRG Systems Mechanical Engineer

We may look different, but we are still the same company you know and trust.

Our turnkey solar solutions are suited for all stages of project development and operation and thanks to our new Technical Services Partner Network, we are with you every step of the way, no matter where you are. nrgsystems.com

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 15

Industry Insights PRICE VS QUALITY: A TOUGH CHOICE?

WINNING IS QUINTESSENTIAL!! “#indiansolarmarket” and “#lowesttariff” are the most trending topics across the global renewable energy market for the past few years. The tariff once termed as irrational exuberance has now become economically rationale because of the favorable market conditions such as dip in module prices, strengthening of INR against the USD, readymade infrastructure facilities, cheaper financing cost etc. There are however certainly a lot of risks and assumptions made by developers during the bidding stage. It is often seen that developers have been making very aggressive financial modeling and assumptions therein to reach the intended IRR’s (Internal Rate of Return). A major risk that developer has to take into account while bidding is the module price. Greater the risk taken on the module price, better are the chances of winning.

Till date, all the bidders have enjoyed the benefits of plummeting module prices as it has in nearly every case dropped more than estimations.

Another factor that aids aggressive behavior is the targets of portfolio commitments which are either internal (by company) or external (to the investors). Resource utilization also drives a bidder to bid at very aggressive numbers to effectively utilize manpower. The strategy as seen in some cases is to create big teams anticipating upcoming projects or continuation of strong pipelines. In such a case, resource idling pressure also dictates that the winners rush to win. In case the bid does not go as planned and results in a failed attempt or gets delayed by a few months, the need to win becomes more and more predominant.

REVERSE AUCTION – GOOD AND BAD

aggressive bidding beyond logic that otherwise will not occur in a regular reverse bidding where it calls for a one time bid submission.

“TIME IS MONEY” The longer you wait, better are your returns. To take advantage of the module price downtrend, exchange rate variations etc., a solar developer waits till the last few months of PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) to start the execution. Then, the pressure is transferred to EPC contractor and further to OEM’s to supply and commission the project in very tight timelines. In such a case, quality goes for a toss. On a micro level, inspection time, manufacturing lead time along with a range of project essentials get squeezed to meet the timelines. EPC is one of the most important pegs in this whole wheel and with added pressure of pricing demands, EPC companies are forced to cut corners in order to make margins.

At L&T, we take great pride in building quality projects as we firmly believe in delivering with 100% commitment on performance and durability.

Through our robust solar project quality systems, we have been able to create 900 MWp of renewable energy across technologically diverse portfolio.

To infuse quality standards in a project calls for a minimum time period from an EPC player. For example, setting and curing of concrete normally takes over 21 days; however in case of time constraint an EPC provider may deviate from the operating procedure and decide to lower the curing to 7 days’ time. However a good EPC will deploy more resources at site to create more number of parallel working gangs for subsequent activities to keep the quality of construction intact.

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FINAL REMARKS Ultimately a conscious decision has to be made by the developer i.e. returns vs quality. By winning the project against tough competition and at competitive tariff, a developer is left to choose between a quality EPC player and incur an initial capex with promise of hassle free project execution and performance or opt for less capex initially but spend more time, energy and cost for the lifetime of the project. I think the choice is simple..!!

Tight Execution Duration

Attractive Added Returns Thin Returns Bidding Stage

Reverse auction seems to have aided in cutting corners by making bidders ‘Hyper-Optimistic’. One needs to understand that winning a project is just a short term success but running a project is the long term feat.

Indian Solar Industry has seen a lot of qualitative variation in plants constructed before and after implementation of reverse auctioning. If one observes closely, tariff did not get reduced purely by technological innovation/module pricing, it was also brought down by diluting/excluding specifications. Cost optimization has eaten away the module glass thickness, durable back sheet, requisite weight and galvanization of the structures, RCC inverter rooms, stone pitched drains, bitumen roads, peripheral lighting, boundary wall fencing, and a lot many more. This can be proved if one compares a Solar PV plant in India verses a one in Europe, the Middle East or even in China. No doubt, that reverse auction has helped in bringing down the cost of solar power to less than 2.5 INR/KWh, much faster than anyone expected, but, it also aids in a unreasonable behavior resulting into much

Solar PV is not as complicated a technology when compared to Nuclear, Thermal or Hydro power, but, the time factor is vital for delivering the quality project. The factors that make Solar PV a challenge are mainly time, terrain and technology. One has to bear in mind that the equipment will remain exposed to the sun, wind and rain for next 25 year and has to have that much added quality into it.

IRR Maximisation - Shorter Execution Timeline

Project Returns

The narrative of the solar industry has transformed from the not so viable to viable; from the expensive to affordable; from the highly subsidized to the subsidized and being at par with coal. Undoubtedly the solar technology is likely to play a key role in India’s current & future power scenario.

Photovoltaics have been known as a solar power source since 1965, and it has taken us nearly half a century to make it power the grid. With reference to Indian conditions, and installation of currently manufactured modules, inverters and other BOS, there linger a few questions on the longevity of this lot. Although Solar still remains an infirm power, it has managed to wipe off doubts on most questions thrown by conservatives. Now, that we have reached this stage, the focus must shift to durability and performance or in other words Quality.

EPC Finalization

Project COD

Timeline

MR. RAHUL BHARDWAJ

MR. SATHISH VELU

HEAD – BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT L&T SOLAR

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (WEST & SOUTH), L&T SOLAR

Solar Quarter • June 2017 16

In Conver sation “WITH THE GREAT SUCCESS IN CHINA, LONGI HAS SPREADED ITS BUSINESS TO INDIA IN THE YEAR 2015”

MR. BROOKS WANG, Sales Director of APAC, LONGi Solar

LONGI SOLAR IS A GLOBAL LEADER IN SOLAR INDUSTRY. COULD YOU PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR CURRENT BUSINESS PRESENCE IN INDIA? Longi solar is a world leading manufacture of high efficiency mono-crystalline cells and modules. It has shipped approximately 2.5GW products in 2016.

With the great success in China, Longi has spreaded its business to India in the year of 2015. At the same time, Longi signed a MoU with Andhra Pradesh government for setting up 500MW cells and 500MW modules production facility in Sri City. Besides the local production, Longi solar has been expanding its sales business and shipped tens of megawatts mono cells and modules to India market. We also keep good communication with those PV investment giants in India.

TELL US MORE ABOUT THE LATEST INNOVATIONS IN YOUR PRODUCT AND SOLUTION OFFERINGS FOR THE INDIAN MARKET. In this April, we have launched our new solar module named Hi-MO2, which creates a new era of high efficiency monocrystalline PERC bifacial power generation technology. For this new product, the

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power of 72-cell module reaches 360-365W, while the power of 60-cell module reaches 300-305W. The front side efficiency is equivalent to monofacial PERC mono cells by exceeding 21%. Meanwhile, the back side adopts a glass package, achieving bifacial light reception and power generation. It has an additional 8% to 25% power gain. This can help our customers to significantly lower their LCOE. Actually, the solar modules with lower power are the mainstream in the India market, such as 60-cell 270W module. But as the investors’ focus switched from initial investment to LCOE, there will be an urgent need for high efficiency monocrystalline PERC.

WHAT EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU SEE IN THE INDIAN AND GLOBAL MARKETS? India has made an exceptional commitment to solar energy by raising its 2022 target five-fold to 100GW and its Renewable Energy target to 175GW. The government has announced an unprecedented policy push and states are providing the necessary infrastructure. Under this ambitious target, India solar market has become the third largest PV market in the world. We believe that it will be the second one soon. And also, the cost of solar equipment will drop a further 30-40% due to technology advancements and improvement efficiency in the next few years. It increases the competiveness of solar power largely.

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGY NEW TRENDS IN THE MODULE INDUSTRY AND HOW HAVE YOU GEARED UP FOR THE SAME? For the cell technology, the most popular technology is PERC, especially bifacial PERC technology. We position a leading role in the industry. For the module industry, half-cutted and stacked wafer module will be gotten more promotion in the next few years. Our company has invested about 5% of annual revenue

in research and development, established institute of technology for and development of monocrystalline products throughout whole value chain, and introduced advanced research, development and production equipment as hardware foundation.

WHAT DIFFERENTIATES YOUR COMPANY’S OFFERINGS FROM YOUR PEERS? First, mono technology strength; Longi has been specializing in mono technology for more than 17 years. It is the largest supplier of mono-crystalline silicon wafers as well as mono-crystalline solar module in the world. Second, specialized in LCOE; We provide best LCOE (levelized cost of electricity) Solution. Due to the high efficiency, mono-crystalline module can achieve best LCOE by lower BOS, lower EPC costs and lower investment cost. Third, Financial strength, LONGi stands out from the market by its strong financial performance which has recognized by industry. At last, Reliability; Longi applies strictly quality control system and management system. As a result, we provide 25-year power warranty and annual power attenuation 0.55%, the output reaches 83.8% in the 25th years. The warranty standard is higher than other manufactures. We also establish the strategic cooperation with the leading solar enterprises such as HUAWEI, TBEA, NDNE, DuPont and UNSW.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD FOR OUR READERS. We are honored to cooperate with solar projects developers in India by providing best LCOE solution.

LONGi has continuously improved business throughout the whole value chain and actively explored overseas markets by establishing companies in the United States, Japan, Ireland and Germany, as well as production bases in Malaysia and India. In the meantime, LONGi will continue to supply customers with high efficiency monocrystalline cell and module with lower LCOE and better cost performance ratio.

Solar Quarter • June 2017 17

Industry Perspec tive IMPACT OF GST ON SOLAR INDUSTRY? All the doubts and concerns of Goods &Service Tax (GST) being introduced on 1st July 2017 has been put to rest by the announcement of GST council in its 17th Council meeting held on 18th June 2017.

The most awaited tax reform since the independence shall be introduced from July 2017.

India has come close to introduction of a comprehensive Indirect tax regime under GST. All existing Indirect taxes, barring a selected few, would be subsumed into the GST. Taxes on consumption or sale of electricity have been proposed to be kept outside GST. In such a case, the electricity generated by renewable sources would continue to be outside the GST regime. However, taxes on various capital goods, inputs and input services used for generation of renewable energy would be subsumed in the GST.

The GST council had announced the rates for goods and services on 18th May 2017. The solar panels, Solar water heaters and the machinery utilised in setting up of renewable energy plants are categorised under the 5% tax slab.

As of now, the renewable energy industries have been enjoying various exemptions and relaxations, however the GST regime to be successful needs keep the exemption list at bare minimum, as the whole system depends on the free flow of credits, any disruption in the chain shall fail the system itself.

Thus, focusing on its impact on Solar Industry, in the present regime, the import of Solar panels, PV modules are exempt from custom levies and batteries & power conduit modules are taxed at concessional basic customs rate of 5%, however under the GST regime in addition to the basic customs duty IGST of 5% shall be imposed on such imports.

Further, under the present regime the VAT levies are at the rate of 5.5% and the excise duties are exempt. Under the GST regime the same shall be taxed at 5%.

The procurement cost for setting up and operation of Solar energy plants shall be increased due to the imposition of GST on various capital goods, inputs and input services used in setting up and operation of the plant.

Electricity generated by solar energy is outside the purview of GST.

Mr. CA Madhur Harlalka

IMPACT OF GST ON THE SOLAR INDUSTRY RATE OF TAX

IMPACT

There is a lot of literature available on the internet on the impact of GST on the Solar industry- and no two opinions are the same. It would thus be practical to take a look at the GST Tariff and check what is has to say about Solar. The entries in Chapter 85 against the 5% tax bracket are as follows:

A company called Ezysolare has made an analysis of what could happen if the GST rate were 5%.

1. Solar Based Power Devices

It is clear that there would be an increase in Project Cost post-GST.

2. Solar power generating systems

The original table had put in a 5% rate against Services which the author has altered to 18% due to the fact that even a composite works contract under GST is taxed at 18%.

3. Solar lantern/solar lamp

INPUT TAX CREDIT

The following entries appear in Chapter 84:-

As per the GST Tariff, many goods and most services fall in the 18% tax bracket. Entities operating in the solar space would be paying input tax on materials and services at the rate of 18%. This would leave them with a substantial balance of Input tax credit at the end of each year. Section 54(3)(2) of the CGST law imposes a restriction on obtaining a refund of the balance lying in Input tax credit by mandating;-

1. Solar water heater and system 2. Solar Power based devices 3. Solar power generating system A plain reading of the above would indicate that anything to do with Solar would attract GST at 5% only. This view is further fortified by a tweet made

by DrHasmukhAdhia on May 28, 2017 wherein he specified that “ All solar equipments and its parts would attract 5% GST only”. So, 5% it is.

(ii )where the credit has accumulated on account of rate of tax on inputs being higher than the rate of tax on output supplies (other than nil rated or

fully exempt supplies), except supplies of goods or services or both as may be notified by the Government on the recommendations of the Council: As a result of this insertion, the balance lying in Input tax credit would have to be utilized for payment of output tax at 5% and will not be refunded. Due to the increase in the project cost and non-availability of refund of tax credits, entities operating in the solar industry would have no option but to add these costs to their pricing.

RECOMMENDATION Considering that the solar energy industry is critical for the country, all entities operating in this space should make an appeal to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the GST Council to permit a refund of their accumulated input tax credit at the end of every financial year.

The GST Council has fixed half the problem by imposing a comfortable rate of tax. They should now fix the other half by specifically permitting a refund of the accumulated tax credit.

PRE-GST

GST

% DIFFERENCE

RISE IN RS/WATT PEAK (WP)

Modules

0%

5%

5%

1.4

Inverter

5%

5%

0%

0

Mounting Structure

5%

5%

0%

0

Mid clamps and end clamps

5%

5%

0%

0

Cables

5%

5%

0%

0

Junction Boxes, connectors

5%

5%

0%

0

Earthing

5%

5%

0%

0

Conduits

5%

5%

0%

0

Services

15%

18%

3%

0.85

DEVICE

Mr. Mohan R Lavi Partner- GST K.P. Rao & Co

Source: http://www.ezysolare.com/blog/knowledge-center/gst-in-the-solar-energy-sector/

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 18

Industry Perspec tive IMPACT OF GST ON SOLAR INDUSTRY  Before analyzing the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the solar industry, it is imperative to take a look at the present indirect taxes regime governing the solar industry. The effective rate of excise duty on most solar devices and systems required by solar power projects is nil. The only exceptionis solar tempered glass and parts/raw materials for use in the manufacture of solar tempered glass which are subject to excise duty @ 6%.

Mr. Rahul Dhanuka, Principal Associate, Khaitan & Co.

 Further, the Value Added Tax (VAT) rates on the sale of solar devices ranges from 0% to 6%.

However, most states have an incentive policy in place granting various exemptions and rebates to solar power projects,thus effectively bringing

GST IS LIKELY TO MAKE A DENT ON THE MARGINS OF SOLAR POWER INDUSTRY PLAYERS.

down/neutralizing the VATincidence to zero.  In so far as service tax is concerned, there is no specific exemption in respect of services provided to a solar power project. Since the output of a solar power project i.e. the electrical energy is neither subject to excise duty nor VAT, service tax and VAT (wherever applicable) paid on procurement of services and goods as the case may be, is a tax cost in the books of a solar power project.  Under the GST regime, solar power based devices, solar power generating systems, solar lantern/lamps, solar photovoltaic modules and parts for the manufacture of the said items are proposed to be taxed at 5%. It is not clear as to the effect of each State Incentive Policy under the GST regime,especially in respect of power projects to be commissioned after the implementation of GST. Therefore,a rise in the effective rate of indirect taxes from zero to 5% on goods and around 3% on the services is imminent and is likely to escalate project costs.  Since the output of solar power projects i.e. electrical energy, is neither subject to VAT nor excise duty under the present regime and given that the electrical energy is also proposed to be kept outside the ambit of GST, the increased tax burden on input and input services under the GST regime would be an incremental tax cost in the hands of a solar power project operator.

Hence, unless the prices of inputs and/ or input services is reduced by suppliers under the GST regime, on account of increased input tax credit in the hands of the said supplier, GST is likely to make a dent on the margins of solar power industry players.

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 19

Industry Insights FEASIBILITY ASSESSMENT APPROACH AND COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF CANAL TOP BASED SOLAR PROJECT COMPARE TO GROUND MOUNTED SOLAR PROJECT IN INDIA

Canal Top (9 meter)

Canal Top (28 meter)

12.50

9.30

Canal Top (22 meter)

8.80

Canal Top (15 meter)

7.00

8.80

Ground Mounted Project

7.50

Canal top Project cost (width wise)

5.80

Presently, the unutilized roofs for roof top plant, barren and low vegetation land for ground mounted systems and Building Integrated Solar PV Plants have been using these unutilized locations for solar plant installation as these require large space for installation of power plant.

Hence, this is a great opportunity to tap unutilized area of Canal top and Canal bank for power generation through solar PV plant. There are few other unutilized locations like stretches of Canals, nearby area of Railway lines which can also be used for solar plant installation. From the above locations, canal tops are getting popular as these locations, along with utilization of canal can save the water evaporation during the hot, sunny and windy environmental condition. Following are the benefits by installing canal top solar power plants:

Canal Top (32 meter)

Canal Top (45 meter)

Canal Top (32 meter)

Canal Top (45 meter)

Graph 3.1: Project cost with increasing width for same MW project

ÂÂSaving water from evaporation ÂÂUtilization of canal top for installation ÂÂInfrastructure development in nearby vicinity of Canal

Ratio of project cost to increasing canal width 0.9 0.8 0.7

METHODOLOGY In first step, straight and parallel stretches must be located across the canal for proper installation of PV arrays. There are feet over bridges present in some trenches of canal needs to be detected before location of installation spots.

In second step, in canal top solar power plants, lots more steps to be taken like shadow casting objects like trees, vegetation available in the area, etc present along the stretch needs to be cut. Stone, pebbles, shrubs, needs to be clear for proper construction. Legal permission must to be taken if any reserved forest is present before cutting.

In third step, for construction, ground level of canal side to be checked before foundation casting for module mounting. This is one of the main issue occur in installation time. And mechanical strength of base, soil type should be surveyed.

0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 Ground Mounted Project

Canal Top (9 meter)

Canal Top (15 meter)

Canal Top (22 meter)

Ratio of project cost to increasing canal width

Graph 3.2: Ratio of project cost to increasing canal width

solar PV projects as the structures used must not be very heavy so as to prevent it from destructing the foundation of canal. Land survey is done to check whether it can withstand heavy structures

BENEFITS

COST ANALYSIS

ÂÂSaving of water from evaporation in hot climate condition

In fourth step, technology and type of tracker is chosen. This is based on the climatic conditions, solar irradiation and ease of tracker system. The structures should be easy to work with, as they are to be set up over a slope. Mostly fixed tilt type of modules are selected in canal top solar projects. The structure shall specially design as per Indian Standards to withstand under a wind velocity of 60 m/s.

The cost analysis shows that for the same MW of power installation, the installation cost of canal top projects is more than that of ground mounted. The cost breakups are shown below:

The methodology of ground –mounted is quite different from canal top projects. Groundmounted projects are located on the sites with maximum solar radiation to harness maximum solar energy utilizing barren lands, Ashdyke etc unlike canal top projects which aim at water from evaporation and utilizing canal tops. The site is located at such area where it should not disturb reserved forests, natural vegetation, wildlife, nearby villages, ecosystems etc. The construction of canal-top power plants is technically and structurally very different from ground-based

ÂÂProject Cost including specially DC/AC cable Length

Based on the straight stretch of canal, upper width of canal and ground level difference availability over canal are major factor to decide the following attributes

ÂÂModule Mounting structure Type ÂÂConstruction involving columns and rafter throughout canal top which varies with the width of the canal.

The canal tops canal with width from 9 m to 30 m is good for the installation. The structure tonnage is directly proportional to upper width of canal and accordingly costing varies. It has been analyzed that the comparative cost of the canal top project with increasing capacity decreases with the increase of canal width.

Graph 3.1 depicts that for same MW, canal project will cost more as compared to ground-mounted project. And with the increasing width the cost of project increases.

Graph 3.2 depicts that ratio of cost of project with respect of increasing width of canal top reduces.

Hence for larger width, construction cost as compared to be smaller with will be less and more modules can be installed as larger area is available. Hence, there will be more power generation.

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Canal Top (28 meter)

The canal tops solar PV projects are initiated with special purpose unlike ground-mounted PV projects. ÂÂUtilization of area for solar power generation

ÂÂPerformance improvement of power generation through solar due to cooling effect below the module. ÂÂEmployment opportunity for local. ÂÂReducing temperature losses and heat losses.

DISADVANTAGES ÂÂDesigning Issue:As PV panels have to be aligned in a uniform way, it would get difficult to achieve the same over a canal which would be curvaceous and changes its direction over a length. ÂÂStructural Steel Cost: As the structures would get base support only from its two ends it needs to be much stronger than in case it would have been installed on land, thus adding more cost. ÂÂPower Evacuation: Power evacuation of small capacity over a long path would be difficult and costly due to increased cable costs. ÂÂSafety of system: System spread over such a large length cannot be protected by boundary walls or fencing, thus security concerns are very major in such cases.

SCOPE The canal top solar projects have quite wider scope.

As far as these aims are concerned i.e. Utilizing canal tops, power generation, the panels are built over the canal is meant to ensure that around million litres of water does not evaporate. This is one of the efficient and cheapest ways of land use for solar installation.

Credits: Ashish Verma Analyst at AMP Solar India (AMP Solar group)

Solar Quarter • June 2017 20

Industry Insights GST TAX BURDEN COULD LEAD TO A HIATUS IN INDIAN SOLAR GROWTH Indian solar growth is a trajectory impressive enough to compete with dominant solar players.

Lack of an industrial backing could not stop India from introducing renewable energy installations within the country. Current solar power capacity standing at 12 GW, and 14 GW capacity projects under construction and 6 GW to be auctioned assured a quick solar growth within the country.

Besides the on-grid solar development, policies and schemes offering custom duty concession, tax holidays, excise duty exemption, and accelerated depreciation, for commercial and industrial sectors, have also led rooftop solar installations to rise from 72 MW per year to 227 MW per year. It is astounding that Indian rooftop solar has surpassed 1 GW capacity, and promising at least 75 per cent growth in 2017 over 2016.

All these show tangible progress, building up the future that will substantiate ‘power for all’ vision of Indian Government leaders. However, we are still nowhere near the countries (China, US) that already dominate huge parts of the solar product supply chain. And it is important to contend with these countries to claim a larger part of the industry, bringing profit to initiate socio-economic reform in the country.

Domestic manufacturing can help India build solar reliance. However, as India does not have systematically enhanced (fashioned through decades) industrial support that countries like

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China, US, Canada are backed by, Indian solar sector needs financial and policy support from the government to mass produce solar components, controlling the price of the products. For example, Chinese modules are still 8-10 per cent cheaper than domestically manufactured modules (Chinese modules cost $0.33-$0.36 cents/per Watt p, while domestic modules cost $0.35-$0.40 cents/per Watt p). This has created an unfair competition within the Indian solar industry.

Although, Indian solar sector has seen support in guise of Government backing, concessions, and waivers on sales tax, excise duty, basic custom duty, total custom duty have encouraged and allowed domestic manufacturers to go toe-toe with the foreign players, protecting Indian dream of solar reliance ( because, without domestic manufacturers our energy growth and security would be at the mercy of foreign suppliers).

LET US LOOK AT THE PRIVILEGES INDIAN SOLAR SECTOR ENJOYED: Excise Duty: The Excise Duty on Manufacture of Solar Modules (HS Code 854140) is Nil vide exemption notification no. 12/2012 dated March 17, 2012 Sales Tax: The Sales Tax in the form of VAT/CST has been Zero Rated/NIL/Exempted in most of the states namely Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh etc.

Basic Custom Duty: The Basic Custom Duty on import of Solar Modules (HS Code 854140) is Nil vide exemption notification no. 24/2005 dated March 1, 2015 Total Custom Duty: The custom duty on import of Solar Modules is Nil, since Basic Custom Duty is Nil and CVD (in lieu of Excise Duty) is Nil so, SAD (in lieu of VAT) is Nil. However, we fear that with 5 per cent added tax on solar modules, brought on by GST rates, the competition will intensify even more than it is currently now, cutting down the profit ratio considerably, forcing domestic manufacturers to sell modules at a loss. GST tax on modules will also increase overall project cost considerably, which will essentially make projects financially unviable (due to continuously falling solar tariffs), breeding confusion on ROI, thus scaring off investors.

Indian solar industry will eventually become a subsidy free sector, satisfying the energy demand and bringing profit in the country for socio-economic development. However, reaching such a position will take time. Currently India is at a nascent stage and needs support from Government for growth we have envisioned. Burdening this sector with taxes would not be the right path towards success. Waiving off taxes on modules on the other hand can help the sector grow and build solar capacities within the country to claim a piece of the global energy market.

Solar Quarter • June 2017 21

In Conver sation “ABB HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY INVESTING IN INDIA FOR THE LAST 60 YEARS AND HAS STEADILY EXPANDED ITS MANUFACTURING, ENGINEERING AND R&D FOOTPRINT”

MR. PITAMBER SHIVNANI, President and Local Divisional Manager, Power Grids Division ABB India Ltd.

LET’S BEGIN WITH A GLIMPSE OF YOUR COMPANY’S PRESENCE AND OFFERINGS IN INDIA? We have a strong legacy in the solar power industry.

Almost 50% of solar power generated in India passes through ABB equipment that is part of our cutting edge portfolio. We have a leading market position for solar invertors in the country and in September 2016 inaugurated a new solar inverter factory at Nelamangala in Bangalore to double local manufacturing capacity. This expansion followed earlier milestones when ABB became the first company in the country to double the solar inverter installed base to 2 GW within the short span of five months.

So far, we’ve commissioned approximately 12GW of solar projects across the country, which is approximately 15% of India’s solar generation.

Many of the projects are landmark ones such as the Canal Top solar plant in Gujarat, and the world’s largest solar power plant - a 648 MW plant - in Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu which was executed in just nine months. Our experience in executing and completing systems integration of large projects with the highest level of safety and in very short timelines is what differentiates us. We have also contributed technology and expertise to the first solar powered airport in Kochi, and the world’s largest single rooftop solar power plant for an educational institution in Punjab. In Rajasthan and West Bengal, we’ve installed solar powered battery storage providing access to electricity in 1,500 villages. Another innovation specific to India is the solar pump drive that is used by Indian farmers and also in water supply and fisheries.

ABB has been successfully investing in India for the last 60 years and has steadily expanded its manufacturing, engineering and R&D footprint.

Our portfolio is diverse; however for solar, we offer a comprehensive portfolio of products, systems, solutions and services that optimize the performance, reliability and return on investment of any solar installation – from residential rooftops to commercial and industrial applications and utility-gigawatt level power plants.

Our solar offering includes inverters, switchgear from the lowest to highest voltage levels, monitoring and control systems, grid connection, stabilization and integration products, as well as complete electrical balance of plant solutions. We also offer a wide range of support and maintenance services, remote operations and diagnostics that help solar installations deliver optimal performance.

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AT YOUR ORGANIZATION? ABB is energized and focused to lead the energy revolution taking place with the changing dynamics of renewables. One of the major influences on the power grid today is the rapid growth of renewable

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energy into the mix. Solar is undeniably the way forward for the country and this commitment to invest in clean energy is seen across the industry. As a leading technology provider, we are focused on innovating for the market needs, through products, systems and software. We also have some of the country’s leading experts in our consulting team to carry out various system studies, and recommend technical solutions.

Relying on decades of experience, we have products and solutions which offer customers a range of options in the era of clean energy, focusing on the current needs – distributed generation, power quality and stability, renewable integration, and high voltage transmission. Across all these areas we also apply our IoT solutions to create a smarter grid.

In distributed generation for example, ABB’s PowerStore plug and play microgrid is an innovation driven from India. It is a plug and play solution that consolidates all the elements of a microgrid into a single container. This installation will help ensure power supply resilience, power quality, sustainability and cost-effectiveness. It is also flexible and customizable according to the application – whether offgrid for villages or grid connected for industry.

We’re currently implementing the PowerStore microgrid in several places in India, and the product is also exported from India to several parts of the world. ABB will be installing a microgrid at our own Vadodara facility later this year.

Focusing on power quality and stability, solutions such as FACTS (Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems) and STATCOM help to improve the quality of power on existing installations.

There’s also state of the art control systems such as SCADA and Symphony Plus which offer unified control systems across solar plants and microgrids for effective power management. ABB’s invertor technology is also constantly being upgraded and improve reliability, and efficiency. Adding to that, plant management solutions, environmental management, software tools and lifetime support, are also part of the portfolio.

Strengthening transmission is important for the success of renewable energy and our pioneering HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) technology is the most environmentally friendly way of transmitting large amounts of electric power over long distances because it ensures that power is transmitted with minimal losses and without compromising reliability. Currently, two UHVDC links in India - the North-East Agra and the Raighar-Pugalur links will use this technology to transmit both conventional and renewable energy across the country.

We’re also seeing customers embrace a connected world and our ABB Ability™ portfolio of connected and software-enabled solutions offers insights at every level, from device, to system, to enterprise, to cloud. The data we provide is aggregated, secure and can be integrated with industry data and when processed using data big data and predictive analytics drives performance and productivity improvements. If fact, all that the offerings I’ve already mentioned have an IoT component to them.

TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE RECENT TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS IN YOUR SECTOR? The world has acknowledged the impact of climate change and the immense role that clean energy will play in this global shift. Advancements in technology have resulted in lithium-ion batteries and solar panels costing less making it gradually economically viable for adoption at a large scale.

However, with integrating renewables, the focus will

WE REMAIN FOCUSED IN OUR STRENGTHS - HVDC TO EFFICIENTLY DELIVER AND INTEGRATE RENEWABLE ENERGY INTO THE GRID, END TO END EBOP SOLUTIONS FOR SOLAR POWER PLANTS, AND TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS MICROGRIDS AND POWER MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS THAT WILL HELP INTEGRATE INTERMITTENT RENEWABLES. lie in how best to integrate, forecast and schedule power generation to ensure that the grid remains reliable and stable. We truly believe that solar technology will be a leading sustainable energy source for distributed power generation and will drive growth in mature and developing economies.

WHAT ARE YOUR GROWTH PLANS FOR THE INDIAN MARKET? WHAT ARE THE MILESTONES YOU WISH TO ACHIEVE BY THE END OF THIS FISCAL? The government aims to add 175GW of renewable energy to the grid by 2022 – of which 100GW will come from solar power and I’m very proud that our pioneering solutions are helping India bring clean power to millions of people. We’ve seen some important milestones already this year. Besides the Raighar-Pugalur link, we are implementing India’s first greenfield digital substation at Technopark in Kerala. This will be the largest Information Technology (IT) park in India and will need reliable, round the clock power so that 350 companies employing more than 50,000 people can work without any power outages.

We remain focused in our strengths - HVDC to efficiently deliver and integrate renewable energy into the grid, end to end EBOP solutions for solar power plants, and technologies such as microgrids and power management solutions that will help integrate intermittent renewables.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE LATEST TRENDS IN DEMAND FOR YOUR PRODUCTS & SERVICES IN INDIA? WHERE DO YOU SEE THE NEXT DEMAND GROWTH COMING FROM? We are definitely witnessing interest in digitalization initiatives and pilots from our customers. Going forward several of our products will have a software component supported by our recently launched industry leading portfolio of digital solutions and services called ABB AbilityTM. ABB AbilityTM provides tailored digital solutions and products for the differing needs of utility providers across power generation, transmission and distribution. From advanced diagnostics that prevent unplanned downtime to the control of individual coal-fired boilers, our industry-leading digital capabilities rely on decades of experience with utilities. From our solutions portfolio, topics of interest are virtual power plants, remote service, collaborative operations, and digital substations with lifecycle and distributed energy resource management.

Solar Quarter • June 2017 22

Industry Insights HOW DIGITALIZATION WILL RESHAPE THE PV PLANT O&M LANDSCAPE While the PV inverter market is relatively mature, the digitalized PV industry is in its infancy. Only a few leading equipment providers offer embedded intelligent software inside their equipment.

A digitalized smart PV plant provides several distinct benefits including: improved monitoring and information to operators, higher energy yields, lower failure rates, and lower O&M costs. All these valuable enhancements complement existing digitalization of the BOS on both the DC side and the medium voltage side as well. This means that monitoring is now possible on the complete PV plant level.

As more PV plants are connected to the grid, the need for customized management is also on the rise.

Digitalization of the O&M activity is becoming even more critical to provide highly efficient actionable information to further improve the performance of each PV plant at competitive costs. Web based monitoring solutions now complement traditional SCADA systems with even more analytical functions being added, thanks to the power of the cloud.

Since a PV plant has a lifespan greater than 20 years the back-end operations require strong relationships with equipment suppliers to ensure bankability of a PV project. Over the past decade, Schneider Electric has built a strong knowledge base of PV plant operations, and is considered the global O&M provider with the most affiliated fleet of inverter OEMs per GTMs Research Spotlight.

The transformation of O&M through digitalization is happening via the integration of #IoT in equipment

design, supported by SCADA, web monitoring, and data analytics. The roles are evolving to reflect these changes; asset managers can now count on global O&M providers like Schneider

Electric who can operate PV plant equipment under a single solid digital platform and enjoy lower cost of ownership and more competitive LCOE.

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+91 80235 68018 Solar Quarter • June 2017 23

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For Sponsorship & Exhibition Smriti Singh / Vipul Gulati M: +91 +91 7718877514 / 9920917193 E: bd@firstviewgroup.com

Solar Quarter • June 2017 24

Industry Insights SOLAR PV MODULE: THE FUTURE AHEAD A few years ago, Solar was considered experimental and was a niche industry in the huge sector of energy generation. However, all it took for the world to accept solar was a close inspection of green energy benefits that it offered. Today, Solar PV panels have a huge demand, global capacity additions nearly reached 77 GW, which is 34% yearon-year growth rate, and 2017 offers even a higher hope. In 2016, power generation form renewable sources (1,985 GW) surpassed coal based energy generation (1,951 GW). In 1977, solar panels cost $77 per watt p, and current cost $0.33-$0.36 cents/ per Watt p identifies more than 99% fall in prices.

These patterns lead solar panels prices to be $0.25-$0.26 cents/per Watt p at the end of 2017, displaying a 20% annual drop in costs. Battery storage systems are ready for list off, with promise of storing more power from the sun and save it for longer period. Even countries are investing more in renewable energy ($286 billion in 2016) than conventional fossil fuel ($130 billion in 2016). All of this points towards global acceptance towards solar energy and highlights the efforts to make it a mainstream energy source.

scale. A space agency is already working on Space Solar Power Systems (SSPS) project, which is meant to send solar panels near Earth orbit. The panels are supposed to harvest energy from the sun and send it through wireless energy transfer to our energy grids/base station via microwaves.

Obviously, the technology needs more work; however, the logic behind the process seems promising. And in future this technology could be a game changer saving huge amounts of money, space, and resources that we now spend on developing energy plants. The future of solar shows a plethora of possibilities.

The simplicity of the technology offers options that can be pushed into an array of development ideas. With rising global acceptance and technological improvement, we believe solar will lead us to a brighter future.

Although, solar technology seems perfect for mass adoption right now, the question ‘where to from here’ still surfaces. Let us highlight current improvements and developments of solar technology and try to anticipate the future of the technology.

BETTER ENERGY CONVERSION New technology like PERC, N-type, and Bi-facial cells are already being adopted in solar panel development to increase its solar energy generation efficiency.

However, researchers are always looking for a better way to convert more sunlight through solar cells. Solar cells have a limited capacity to harness energy from sunrays.

And much of the energy is lost as heat and dissipates in the environment. Research on developing materials (and adding them to the solar panels) that can harvest energy from unused spectrum of solar rays is the centrepiece of this new technology. This technology promises energy conversion capacity enhancement from 30 per cent to 70 per cent.

ENERGY WITH AESTHETICS With residential solar plant usage on the rise in the world (116% growth globally, US had 21% growth, and India showed 113% growth in 2016), improvements on rooftop plants have progressed far beyond imagination.

Recently, a company has developed a system to imprint images on the panels, without compromising their efficiency level. So, a future not far behind where all rooftop installation will present the option to the consumer, adding to their home décor ideas and choices. The technology is developed with active contributions from MIT talent pool, and is set to win our future world with style.

WIRELESS POWER Doesn’t sound fictional anymore, we have already learnt how to use magnetic fields (Inductive charging) to transfer energy without a wire. Wireless mobile charging is already pretty popular right now. And researchers are trying to use this technology to spearhead project, that are supposed to offer energy transfer solution on a massive

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 25

Top Products, Projects and Companies felicitated at India Solar Week 2017

WINNER QUOTES: � “These prestigious awards are an endorsement of the Hartek Group’s unmatched expertise in the solar domain. We owe our success to our unflinching commitment to quality and timely execution of projects. Having won the trust of key developers by creating immense value for them in terms of our seamless execution and services, we have stamped our excellence with our innovative project designs and project management techniques, focus on optimised engineering and coordinated teamwork.

We have connected about 600-MW solar power to the grid till date by aggressively capitalising on India’s solar overdrive. Given the favourable market scenario, sky is the limit for solar power in India.

Making the most of it, we bagged 1,025-MW solar grid EPC orders in 2016-17, a phenomenal increase of 733% as compared to our order size in the previous year. We are focusing on South India and other states with vast solar potential like Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to consolidate our position.

Rated among the notable rooftop solar installers in India with a 2% market share by Mercom Capital, we also aspire to take our rooftop solar business division to the next level to tap the huge opportunities brought by the rapidly growing market for rooftop photovoltaic plants. Having executed 13.75-MW rooftop projects so far, we are firming up our foothold by coming up with innovative solutions and attractive business models to capitalise on emerging trends.” Hartek Group. � “The India Solar Week Excellence Award 2017 has created a leading platform for recognition of established and emerging companies in the growing solar sector. Oriano Solar has emerged as a growing Solar EPC company contributing to both Utility-Scale and C&I Rooftop segment. To be recognized as ‘Solar PV EPC Company of the Year – Utility Scale (Less than 50 MW)’ for Oriano Solar is an important milestone in our journey.” Sachin Jain , Co-Founder & CEO, Oriano Solar.

Winners Announced for 7th Annual India Solar Week Excellence Awards

� “Thanks to the Organizing Committee for its recognition on Huawei FusionSolar Smart PV Solution and our customers’ trust, support and help to Huawei. For two consecutive years of 2015 and 2016, our global shipment ranked the first place. This cannot be separated from the customers and partners’ trust and support. Being customer-centric, Huawei continues to create more value for customers, for the Indian PV market and the global PV market, contributing to the healthy development of the industry. Through continuous technological innovation, by strengthening the industry’s unity and cooperation, Huawei strives to become a positive contributor to the global photovoltaic ecology.” Huawei FusionSolar � “Our many years of consistency, perseverance, dedication to quality and obsession with excellence have been recognized by the industry. Blue Bird Logistics remains committed to all stakeholders.

With 1 GW of logistics experience, Blue Bird Logistics is looking to close 2017-18 with another 1 GW, taking our total Solar Logistics portfolio to 2 GW” Blue Bird Logistics (P) Limited � “This is a proud moment for the India team and this award stands testimony to the great work JinkoSolar has been doing in the region. We are increasingly focusing on this market and doing our best to cater to the heavy demand.

We are committed to bringing the best products, technology and reliability to our customers here.”

Donald Leo, Managing Director- Asia South, JinkoSolar � “We are proud to be awarded this Solar Inverter Company of the Year prize. It manifests that our continued focus on technology innovation and

India Solar Week Excellence Awards were held on 22nd June at Hotel Holiday Inn, Aerocity, New Delhi.

SOLARQUARTER had received Nominations from all sectors of the industry.

The India Solar Week Excellence Awards were focussed on personalities, projects & products from companies that have set the new benchmark in the Indian solar sector.

dedication to Indian customers’ needs are widely accepted by the industry. We value this good reputation and will strive to get higher ROI for Indian customers with our products in the future,” Luke Lu, Indian Director, Sungrow � “We are happy to be honored with the Gold Award at India Solar Week 2017 in the category of “Best Performing Project of the Year” under 100 MW and below. Winning this award further demonstrates our commitment to furthering the cause of renewable energy and propagating its adoption for sustainable development”, Harish Kapoor, Group President-Corporate Affairs, ACME Group � “Tata Power-DDL has always strived towards achieving world class standards in the industry. We are honoured and proud to be recognized as one of the leading companies engaged in rooftop solar projects for two consecutive years. We firmly believe our efforts towards sustainable development of solar rooftop projects will be fruitful to the environment and the community.” Mr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power-DDL � “We are honoured and excited to receive the Gold Award as “Solar Inverter Company of the Year – Utility Scale (Domestic Manufacturer)”. We thank Solar Quarter for identifying our achievement and commitment to the government’s target of 40GW Solar by 2020. ABB is investing heavily to support the needs of green infrastructure in India by setting an example in the space of Solar, MicroGrids & Electric Vehicle charging Infrastructure. We also look forward to playing an integral part in the renewable energy revolution in India.” K N Sreevatsa, Vice President – Power and Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, Electrification Products Division, ABB India Limited.

Company Feature NRG SYSTEMS’ MISSION IS TO SHAPE OUR PLANET’S FUTURE WITH SMART TECHNOLOGIES FOR GLOBAL RESOURCE SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE CHALLENGES 35 years ago, NRG Systems revolutionized the way wind resource assessment was done. Today, this heritage of innovation informs everything that they do. The company, which is based in Vermont, U.S.A. and employs over 100 people, currently serves multiple stages of wind and solar energy project development and provides tools for a range of atmospheric remote sensing applications, including air quality management, weather intelligence, and aviation. You can find NRG’s sensors, measurement systems, and Lidar solutions in use by electric utilities, turbine OEMs, project developers, research institutes, and government agencies around the globe.

NRG Systems is owned by ESCO Technologies – a global provider of highly engineered products and solutions – and is part of the company’s Utilities Solutions Group. NRG is helmed by an eight-person Executive Team that is responsible for the company’s strategic leadership and planning. With decades of combined experience in energy and business, some Executive Team members have been key participants in the renewable energy industry since its inception.

Others bring diverse experience in sales, marketing, manufacturing, and human resources from other sectors.

NRG Systems’ mission is to shape our planet’s future with smart technologies for global resource sustainability and climate challenges. This May, the company launched a major rebrand campaign and became a publically held company for the first time in its history. These significant developments are both pivotal parts of NRG’s long-term growth strategy. Together, they strengthen the company’s ability to realize its mission through the continued investment in new products and the expansion of existing technologies into new markets.

As NRG enters into this new chapter, its main goal is to continue to be the partner of choice in their markets, including their traditional foundations of solar and wind resource assessment, as well as new markets that allow them to help their customers operate their sustainable resource projects more efficiently and profitably. According to David Hurwitt, VP of Global Marketing and Product Management at NRG Systems, “We always strive to create products and services that are simple – simple for our customers to acquire, use and profit from.”

As the number of companies within the renewable energy sector continues to grow, NRG Systems stands out for its longevity – a testament to its adaptability and capacity for creating new, cuttingedge tools that meet the needs of an ever-changing

NRG SYSTEMS’ MISSION IS TO SHAPE OUR PLANET’S FUTURE WITH SMART TECHNOLOGIES FOR GLOBAL RESOURCE SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE CHALLENGES. THIS MAY, THE COMPANY LAUNCHED A MAJOR REBRAND CAMPAIGN AND BECAME A PUBLICALLY HELD COMPANY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ITS HISTORY.

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market – and its dedication to quality. The company is ISO 9001:2008 certified and follows rigorous quality control guidelines.

Looking ahead, NRG plans to grow aggressively through innovative product and service development in their existing and new markets. They will accomplish this by listening carefully to the evolving needs of their customers as they continue to develop and operate projects in the global resource sustainability and climate change markets. This will allow NRG to continue to build on its strong heritage in the wind industry while also expanding their presence in markets such as solar, meteorology, and air quality.

Hurwitt said, “Innovation is central to this strategy, but our recent acquisition by ESCO Technologies will afford us the opportunity to grow through mergers and acquisitions when the right opportunities present themselves. We will also expand our service offerings as customers look to us not just for products, but fully integrated solutions that allow them to focus their resources and attention on other aspects of their businesses.”

ACCORDING TO DAVID HURWITT, VP OF GLOBAL MARKETING AND PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AT NRG SYSTEMS, “WE ALWAYS STRIVE TO CREATE

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Since its founding, NRG has been committed to providing exemplary customer service. At a product THAT ARE SIMPLE – SIMPLE level, this means creating tools that are easier to use and more complete than those offered by FOR OUR CUSTOMERS TO competitors. NRG listens carefully to their customers to develop integrated systems that meet their needs ACQUIRE, USE AND PROFIT while streamlining their workflow. The company developed its Solar Resource Assessment System FROM.” so that customers have everything they need for solar site assessment in one turnkey solution.

All of the System’s ASSESS EQUIPMENT components ship HEALTH together, simplifying installation schedules and saving customers time and money.

In a more traditional sense, NRG Systems’ customer service offerings include inthe-field support and training programs.

They also have a sales team, dealer network, and technical service partners that span the globe. No matter where their customers are, NRG is ready to meet their needs at all stages of project development and operation.

Hurwitt says, “Our customers consistently tell us that our people are a great source of competitive advantage.

Because we have been a part of the Renewables industry since its earliest days and nearly onethird of our employees have been with us for over a decade, there is a strong connection between our people and our customers.

They know we care, we stand by our products, and spend a lot of time traveling the world to work with them directly on their projects.”

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 27

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 28

Industry Insights STEEP TARIFF FALL CAN KEEP SOLAR GROWTH HANGING ON A CLIFF India has successfully surpassed 1 GW milestone for rooftop solar growth, showing near about 113 per cent growth in 2016 over 2015. This is a considerable growth factoring in the lack of industrial environment in India. Although, Central Electricity Authority of India’s (CEA) latest plan to add about 24 GW rooftop solar capacity within 2027 will help in speeding up the installation capacity, executing the operation will need more than just Government backing.

Statistics show that rooftop potential of the country stands up to 1,24,000 MW. And more than 30 per cent of which can be easily covered if only 1.3% of the total household in India is made solar compatible. This news alone should serve as an incentive for Government and private entities to gear up the rooftop installation in cities and rural areas. However, India is still struggling with adopting solar in the major cities.

Although, Government has offered a 30 per cent subsidy for rooftop installation and focused on netmetering (30 of the total 36 states and UTs in India have been identified to have net-metering policies), cities in India are failing to lead the rooftop solar revolution. Cities like Mumbai, Chennai, and even Delhi which had shown promise as becoming a favorable environment for rooftop solar growth, but has failed to continue the progress. And if we consider the set target which is 40 GW by 2022, current 1 GW capacity may fail to convince us of success in reaching the target.

ANALYZING CITY WISE ROOFTOP SOLAR GROWTH CAN HIGHLIGHT THE DRAWBACK: Delhi has an estimated solar potential of 1.25 GW, while the city’s official target is 1 GW by 2020 and 2 GW by 2025, surprisingly the city has only installed 35.9 MW of solar rooftop capacity. And about 3 MW of that capacity is from residential installations.

Similarly, Tamil Nadu, which has Rs 20,000 subsidy in store for domestic consumers, has also been unsuccessful in making progress. State’s rooftop solar target is 350 MW, out of which nearly 2 MW have been installed. These scenarios clearly illustrate the lag in rooftop solar growth. Current 1 GW of the Indian rooftop solar capacity consists of 377 MW industrial, 263 MW commercial and nearly 260 MW residential installations. This explains that rooftop solar growth is concentrated on large scale utility sector and commercial installations, which is

inadvertently keeping the common people from the solar revolution. This is a problem, since the core purpose behind solar revolution is to spread light to the furthest corners of the country.

Surveys and polls show significant public interest in accepting solar. However, lack of awareness of schemes, policies, details on the benefits of solar energy, has been the hurdle in path of spontaneous rooftop solar adoption. Although there are 300 million homes in India, only a meagre percentage of that number has capable roof to hold solar panels successfully. Bringing in nodal agencies to spread awareness and involve common man can work wonders easily. However, current issue of GST taxes on solar modules is something that would require a bit more focus of Government.

Indian solar industry has enjoyed ‘0’ percent tax on excise duty, sales tax, basic and total custom duty till now. However, with GST now marking 5 per cent tax on solar modules, it is evident that solar module manufacturing cost would increase, making domestic modules costlier than foreign modules (already 8-10 per cent costly).

Therefore, as it seems, there are multiple variables at play here that influence rooftop solar growth in India. In order to gain positive results, and reach 40 GW by 2022 target, Government must realign its actions with the vision of making India solar reliant.

- Credits Vikram Solar

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 29

Product Feature SPARK SOLAR’S 5 BUSBAR TECHNOLOGY BOOST SOLAR MODULE EFFICIENCY BENEFIT OF 5 BUS BAR ON SPARK SOLAR PANELS 5 bus bar modules are the latest technology in the market and they have several benefits over 3 bus bar or 4 bus bar modules.

Spark Solar dedicates itself exclusively to the business of solar energy. Spark Solar panels are designed and manufactured to the highest standards of quality performance and durability. It upholds high quality and environmental standards at every stage. Spark Solar is head quartered in Mumbai, manufacturing world-class crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels.

The main building blocks are high-performance polycrystalline solar panels and world-class customer service. Spark Solar manufactures solar panels for grid-tie and off-grid power generation and a network of authorized Spark Solar installers and distributors, along with engineering, procurement and construction services for utility-scale projects.

The bus bars are the metal lines you see going down the cells of the solar panel. They are the wires that connect each cell to the other, allowing the current to flow. Since each cell is generally just over a half a volt, the bus bars wire them together in series to create the higher voltages needed to be a usable solar panel. For a typical 60 cell, 20V nominal solar panel, that equals around 32Vmp (maximum power point voltage).

HIGHER OUTPUT PER CELL = HIGHER EFFICIENCY As the distance between adjacent bus bars is shorter in 5BB modules, the current path is shorter leading to higher output. Additional busbars creates lower resistance between cells. Ohms Law tells us that as resistance (ohms, R, or Ω) go down, the current (amps) goes up. And when current goes up for the same voltage, power (which is volts times amps) goes up.

FEATURED PRODUCT Spark Solar has started shipping their new, higher efficiency 5 busbar solar panels. The five busbar PERC cell technology can boost cell efficiency by as much as two percentage points. “High power in the smallest space with maximum durability”

The result of the additional busbars is that the solar panels are about 2% more efficient. This means that they can output 2% more power in the same size solar panel. As their manufacturing process gets more and more efficient, they can increase the wattage of their standard 60 cell solar panels.

LOWER RESIDUAL STRESS IN 5 BUS BAR CELLS= LOWER DEGRADATION When conductors are soldered onto solar cells to assemble them into solar modules, the soldering activity leaves behind residual stress in the cells. Over time the residual stress converts into micro-cracks which ultimately reduces the generation. Due to shorter distance between the bus bars in 5BB cells, the residual stresses are lower in 5BB modules by up to 10%. Hence long term generation of 5BB modules is superior as degradation is lower.

Today significant losses occur during stringing the cells in a module by using standard 3 or 4 busbar technology. Simulations demonstrates that the multi-busbar design allows higher cell and module efficiencies compared to 3 or 4-busbar cell design, and in the same time reduces the amount of silver needed for the front electrode.

WAAREE MERLIN - HIGH PERFORMANCE PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE TECHNOLOGY India’s premier multi-diverse technology group having forte in multifarious verticals such as Solar Energy, Waaree Energies has entered into a tie-up with USbased Merlin Solar for incorporating the American company’s ‘Merlin’ technology into its production process. Merlin technology was founded in 2012 by the team of scientists & engineers based in Silicon valley (United states of America). The Conventional forms of solar deployment which rely on aluminumframed-tempered-glass constructs are the industry work horse. However, their weight and rigidity prevent their use in applications that demand rugged, lightweight, flex tolerant, and aesthetic appeal. This has limited their use primarily to large grid connected solar farm applications.

Waaree Merlin™ delivers innovative crystalline silicon based solar solutions which address demanding deployments such as on metal roofs, auxiliary power for transportation, flush mounted residential solar, and military applications. Merlin Solar Technology Inc.® is a Silicon Valley based innovator of photovoltaic cells and modules. MSTI® FX Series PV module line is a bold innovative product designed for a wide range of PV applications, including transportation, RV, marine and commercial. The MSTI® BR Series PV module line is created for commercial rooftops, ground mount and residential. MSTI® GX Series PV module line is specially constructed for applications such as commercial/ residential roof-tops, car ports, metal roofs and other weight sensitive environments.

Waaree By Merlin

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Waaree Merlin™, an innovative metallization and cell interconnect technology that improves the efficiency and lowers the cost of installing solar modules. Waaree Merlin transforms solar modules into less expensive, higher power panels. Waaree Merlin modules are lighter, produce more power, and are more rugged and durable. 10% reduction in total installed system cost compared to conventional systems Up to 80% less silver than traditional three busbar cells and modules Up to 50% lighter in weight, making it easier to install, transport and allows placement of panels in areas where traditional panels could not be installed 3-5% power increase per module compared to standard modules Increased durability and flexibility improves dynamic loading performance and reduces breakage during transportation and installation Flexible grid eliminates three busbar cell metallization, increasing fill factor and reducing shading losses, resulting in higher current and increased efficiency Wide, flexible grid connecting tabs allow for durable cellto-cell connections, improving reliability at the same time as their high conductivity increases module efficiency Easy Integration Merlin metallization and interconnect technology works with any standard solar cell. Module manufacturers can use the same screen printing equipment to print the segmented fingers on the cell Waaree Merlin technology improves the way cells connect by eliminating the need for stringing and tabing. The thin connecting strip running along the width of the grid provides a highly flexible and durable way to connect cells. Cells can now be connected more closely together making the module smaller than a conventional module. A common source of module failure occurs when ribbons break due to metal fatigue caused by dynamic loading conditions during shipping or in the field. The flexible connecting strip at the end of each grid solves this problem.

MERLIN BACKGROUND � Founded in 2012 by a team of scientists and engineers based in Silicon Valley � A unique blend of Semiconductors and PV expertise � Developed an innovative grid type system to collect energy from PV cells and interconnect the cells to form the module circuit � Acts as an exoskeleton reinforcing the cell � Results in flexibility and durability within the module never thought possible � Allows module form factors never achievable until now � Domestic and international manufacturing

WAAREE MERLIN TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES THE WAY CELLS CONNECT BY ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR STRINGING AND TABING. THE THIN CONNECTING STRIP RUNNING ALONG THE WIDTH OF THE GRID PROVIDES A HIGHLY FLEXIBLE AND DURABLE WAY TO CONNECT CELLS.

Solar Quarter • June 2017 30

In Conver sation “NIMMA PROMOTE AND IMPROVE THE MANUFACTURING AND TRADING”

MR. MANISH GUPTA President, North India Module Manufacturers Association (NIMMA)

WHAT ROLE NORTH INDIA MODULE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION (NIMMA) IS PLAYING FOR THE UPLIFTMENT OF THE MODULE INDUSTRY?

NIMMA Promote and improve the manufacturing and trading / marketing strategies of Solar PV Module in a more efficient manner and to maintain a healthy business environment amongst the members by providing necessary support to new startups, govt. support, information sharing, joint development and promotion, international contacts, sharing latest development. Also Organize and arrange lectures, meetings, symposia, seminars, workshops for promoting exchange of views among members on Solar PV Module at regional and international levels.

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF MAKE IN INDIA ON THE MODULE INDUSTRY AND HOW INDUSTRY IS BENEFITED BY IT? To support the domestic PV industry, the Government has declared a number of measures. The ‘National

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Manufacturing Policy’announced in 2011 was merged with the ‘Make in India’ initiative launched in 2014 and a host of incentives were announced specifically for PV module and BOM manufacturers.

Exemption from custom and excise duty comprised the bulk of incentives. The exemptions were also extended to equipment purchased for manufacturing the aforementioned components. In addition, under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS), announced by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), 20% and 25% subsidy on capital expenditure has been announced for entities establishing cell and module lines in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and Non-SEZs, respectively. Reimbursement of excise duty and countervailing duty is also applicable for capital equipment purchased for Non-SEZ units.

Further, for high technology units, such as fabrication units (wafer manufacturing facility), reimbursement of central taxes and duties have also been provided.

Services Tax (GST), which waives 12% countervailing duty and 5% VAT on solar components produced domestically.

Other than announcing DCR auctions for government installations, there is no concrete policy proposal yet, access to financing at competitive rates is something many manufacturers are looking for. Unless there is scale it seems like an impossible task to compete with Chinese manufacturers on price.

WHAT ARE THE CURRENT BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACED BY THE SOLAR PV MODULE MANUFACTURES? HOW THESE ISSUES CAN BE RESOLVED?

Facilitating access to low cost and longer tenure finance for the manufacturers is a must. There should be adequate incentives towards R&D and commercialisation of novel technologies to support polysilicon and cell manufacturing. Government should also support large-scale pilot projects engaging research on P-type Monocrystalline Passivated Emitter Rear Contact (PERC) Silicon cells, Multicrystalline Passivated Emitter RCT (PERCT) technology and N-type Mono crystalline Silicon cells should be financed and encouraged via publicprivate cooperation. Also additional support to the development of manufacturing clusters with fully integrated manufacturing plants and skill building facilities are some of the policy levers that can lead to a robust PV manufacturing industry in India.

Modules produced in India generally cost around 10% more than Chinese imports, and the recent flurry of record-low auction bids – such as that last seen in Bhadla – can only come to realization with the use of cheaper Chinese solar panels. To combat this wide and growing imbalance, the government’s “Make in India” program aims to offer 20-25% capital subsidies and other incentives to domestic manufacturers.

The Viability Gap Funding (VGF) mechanism is also a form of subsidy that has enjoyed some successful uptake. Also can support through the Goods and

WHAT INITIATIVE IS TAKEN TO PROMOTE AND IMPROVE THE MANUFACTURING AND TRADING / MARKETING STRATEGIES OF SOLAR PV MODULE IN A MORE EFFICIENT MANNER.

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Industry Perspec tive “GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES IN THE INDIAN PV MARKET & REQUIREMENT OF INDIAN MODULE COMPANIES” Notwithstanding the higher rates of interest and local on-ground difficulties, Indian module makers need to establish themselves as globally relevant players through proven performance and consistent quality delivery.

DuPont through its extensive field studies across geographies, environments and applications has demonstrated that proven and reliable materials correlate to robust panel performance in outdoor environment.

Recent studies conducted by leading institutes in India, like IIT Bombay, have shown higher incidences of premature degradation. This is a cause of significant concern considering the 100 GW vision and billions of dollars funding that are potentially waiting to be invested in India.

There is a need to understand PQR (proven materials, quality and reliable manufacturing processes) and its importance in sustaining the growth momentum in India’s solar sector.

Adherence to strong manufacturing practices, field proven and reliable materials such as DuPont™

Tedlar® PVF films, the only backsheet materials that has 25+ years proven performance in the field, and DuPont™ Solamet® metallization pastes setting the pace of innovation, are key to achieving 25+ years of performance.

Towards this, DuPont collaborates with Mr. Rajaram Pai, industry stakeholders Business Leader – (Developers, EPCs, South Asia, Module Makers, Financial DuPont E&C Institutions etc.) to raise and Photovoltaic awareness and advocate Solutions about the importance and correlation of materials to power generation, system lifetimes and overall LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity).

With solar installations expected to grow at CAGR of 51% over the next 5 years and India’s target of achieving 10% of its total energy mix through renewables by 2022 (IESS 2047), it is imperative to go with the proven leader in advanced photovoltaic materials. What you will get is proven power and lasting value you can count for the long term, for greater peace of mind.

“GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES IN THE INDIAN PV MARKET & REQUIREMENT OF INDIAN MODULE COMPANIES” Indiais well prepared for reaping the benefits fromthe country’s high insolation level and has set challenging ambitions in regard to solar PV renewable energy.

The stakes are extremely high for India’s prosperity and the renewables industry must not fail to deliver on expectations.No doubt, to achieve the targets latest technology and module components will need to be implemented.

In terms of maximizing power yield, Agfa’s nextgen backsheet UNIQOAT contributes directly by offering reflectivity of over 90% - the highest reflectivity of mono-backsheet in the market. Additionally, UNIQOAT adds by-design to the reliability and durability of solar modules: its single layer structure totally eliminates the risk of delamination, a wellknown risk associated with traditional multi-layer backsheet. Cost is key for solar PV’s competitiveness

and again the mono-layer concept of UNIQOAT offers great potential.

It is manufactured in a one-step process with specific functionality added in-line during the PET extrusion process by surface modification.

The total backsheet structure consists of Mr. Cesar CAMPOS one single layer with Head - Business Unit one surface modified to Functional Foils, ensure high adhesion AGFA to EVA, reflectivity and UV-blocking, while the opposite side is well armed to face the air environment. The traditional cell side and air side layers are fully integrated in the PET. Today, Agfa’s UNIQOAT is already a valid alternative for the traditional fluoropolymer backsheet structures and Agfa is committed to continuously develop solutions that target more Watts per dollar- a commitment that is expressed in Agfa’s recently introduced Q-factor.

For this, deep scientific insights are required not only about chemistry and polymers but about the sum of effects of the physical, chemical and electrical interactions that take place between the components of module when subject to environmental conditions. It is a complex equation that Agfa feels it is well positioned to solve.

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Product Feature MECO “SOLAR POWER METER MODEL 936” MECO Solar Power Meter is a portable meter used for measuring Solar Power or Solar Irradiance. It uses High sensitivity Silicon Photodiode to measure solar power. Solar Meter can also detect Solar Tilt Angle with Orientation.

FEATURES

APPLICATIONS

 Solar power measurement with Orientation and

This instrument is designed to measure solar power in the range from 400 to 1100 nanometers.

It Measures the solar power and transmission up to 2000 W/m2. Solar Power Meter has Max / Min / Avg and data hold functions to indentify locations with maximum or minimum power. The good spectral range, orientation and angular detection of meter allow users to conduct the most precise quantitative measurements of Solar Power Radiation.

 Auto change for measuring range

 Solar radiation measurements  Solar power research for location of the solar panels or solar water heater  Physics and optical laboratories  Meteorology  Agriculture  Windows performance – calculation and verification of the heating or heat reduction caused by direct sunlight.

Tilt angle  Easy measurement for rate of daylight penetration  Auto power off with disable function  Instantaneous display Ave/Min/Max values  20 points memory  Socket of tripod mounting  Magnetic mount  Backlit LCD and 4 digits triple display

MECO “SOLAR MODULE ANALYZER (PHOTOVOLTAIC I-V CURVE TESTER) MODEL 9009” The MECO Solar Module Analyzer Model – 9009 is a portable analyzer used for testing, maintenance and finding efficiency of various parameters of solar panel and cell.

Analyzer can be used to design Solar System to generate specific power. It can identify Solar Power System requirement, best angle of Solar Panel installation and Broken / Worn-Out cells.

Solar Module Analyzer 9009 can scan solar cells/ panels upto 60V and 12A maximum. The portability of this device means that it is also useful in quality assurance at various stages on the production line and can be taken from one site to another. When used in the installation of solar panels, solar panel analyzer assists in determining the proper inverter size as well as optimum power output position of panels and helps to identify defective cells or panels that have worn out over time.

Solar Module Analyzer is supplied with user friendly

The solar panel analyzer also provides the user with current and voltage (I-V) test curves, maximum solar power (Pmax) as well as current (Ishort, Imax) and voltage (Vnow, Vopen, Vmax). Solar cell/ panel efficiency (%) is also easily determined using the unit.

Size 100 Records, Large LCD backlight, Communicate

software for Data Storing and Analysis. Users can store data (.CSV/.TAB) that can be read in MS Excel and print Waveform / Graph via printer.

OTHER FEATURES Max. Solar Panel Power (Pmax) search by Auto-Scan : 60V, 12A, Best Resolution of 1mV-1mA, Memory with PC via USB Cable, Manual AC Adaptor & Rechargeable Lithium Battery, I-V Curve with Cursor to Display each Data Point.

MECO “SOLAR SYSTEM ANALYZER MODEL 9018BT” The MECO Solar System Analyzer is a portable analyzer used for testing, monitoring, measuring, analyzing and troubleshooting various parameters of Solar System.

Analyzer draws I-V curve with parameters such as Voc, Isc, Vpm, Ipm with efficiency (%) calculation for solar system. This analyzer comes with Remote Solar Detector for measuring and monitoring solar irradiance and temperature. The Analyzer and Remote Solar Detector is connected by Bluetooth Wireless technology (Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Class 1).

Solar analyzer has Intelligent Test Logic with no personal attendance required.

Solar System Analyzer waits and tests the system until appropriate sun light Irradiance is detected. The system continuously monitors DC output of Solar System and AC power output of inverter; calculate Efficiency of DC to AC power conversion and maximum output power. The analyzer can be used for quality control at production line, warehouse or site of installation, maintenance of solar panels, identify requirement of solar power system, verify best angle of installation and for Research and Development.

Analyzer is supplied with user friendly software for Data Storing and Analysis.

Users can store data (.CSV/.TXT) that can be read in MS Excel and print Waveform / Graph via printer. Users can generate test report with testing data and curves of information. This report can be viewed by browser and printed out. Report can be varied according to the selected curve items (OPC/STC/OPC, STC).

OTHER FEATURES: Max. Solar Panel Power (Pmax) search by Auto-Scan : 1000V & 12A (12000W capability), Memory Size 512KB (3980Mod, 320 REC, 3980 PWR or 3980 IRR files), Series Resistance of solar panels, with Data logging/ Open function the I-V curves of the solar system can be analyzed/ recorded for period of time (eg.60min.), conversion of I-V curve under OPC to data under Standard Test Condition (STC) based upon IEC standard, users can setup series number of solar panels so that parameters of many panels can be measured in single measurement, irradiance and temperature of the solar panels can be continuously measured, monitored and recorded, provide OPC and STC test reports for verification of solar panels performance (OK or NO OK), Large LCD backlight, AC Adaptor & Rechargeable Lithium Battery, I-V Curve with Cursor to Display each Data Point.

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Solar Quarter • June 2017 33

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“FIRSTVIEW MEDIA VENTURES PVT LTD” PVT LTD, Office No. S 09 C1, 2nd Floor, Haware Centurion Complex, Nerul (E), Sector 19 A, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India 400 706.

Contact : ChanDan guPta Tel: +91 22 2771 7143/ 50 Email: subscribe@solarquarter.com

Payment Details : I have enclosed a cheque/ DD no.__________________ for Rs. ___________________ along with this form.

Or wire-transfer the amount to the following account: FIRSTVIEW MEDIA VENTURES PRIVATE LTD Name of Bank AXIS BANK LIMITED SWIFT Code: AXISINBB386

Account No: 911020047384733

RTGS/ NEFT IFSC Code: UTIB0001365

Branch Code: 1365 (Nerul East, Navi Mumbai, India) PS: Please send a confirmation to subscribe@firstviewgroup.com.

Publishing : FIRSTVIEW MEDIA VENTURES PVT LTD For Advertisement Bookings; Vipul Kumar / Ms. Smriti Singh E: bd@firstviewgroup.com M: +91 99209 17193 / 7718877514

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India Contact: Arjun Prasad Sah Mobile: +91- 88267 48995 E-mail: arjun@linuo.com

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