From pv magazine International.
The director of a Bangladeshi renewables company has accused Indian solar panel manufacturers of dumping sub-standard products across the border and called for poor quality modules to be banned.
Speaking at the 17th Solar Bangladesh Expo taking place at the International Convention City Bashundhara this week, Shahinur Nabi, from Sustainable and Renewable Energy Ltd (SREL), told pv magazine India is dumping low-quality solar panels and dubbed polycrystalline products shipped by Bangladesh’s neighbor “a total waste”.
Nabi said such products should be banned. “Solar panels having efficiency below 19% have to be blocked to save investment in [the] solar industry,” he said, adding SREL uses 410 W Trina Solar panels in its projects.
Quality concerns
The question of sub-standard solar modules and other PV equipment is becoming a major concern for the Bangladeshi solar industry. Visitors to the Expo spoke of a need to stop poor quality solar imports entering the country.
One visitor, Shamim Ahsan told pv magazine most of the solar panels shipped to Bangladesh are of poor quality. “The efficiency of these panels is below … average,” he said, adding a national standard should be set and the import of sub-standard products halted.
The introduction of net metering in the country prompted several quality-related enquiries to exhibitors at this year’s show, from large building owners and potential industrial solar rooftop buyers.
High interest
Nuher L Khan, MD of Bangladesh-based solar project developer Joules Power Ltd said interest in PV from private sector clients was at a record level. That was demonstrated, said Khan, by the low electricity tariff of $0.0798/kWh bid by a consortium of Saudi conglomerate Aljomaih, UAE-based water company Metito and Chinese developer Jinko for a 50 MW solar project at Rangunia. A rival group led by Joules Power offered $0.0875/kWh.
“These efficient pricing and investments from such leading local and international firms signify how important it is to deploy high quality equipment to maintain the asset quality over the 20 years span of the PPA [power purchase agreement],” said Khan.
While such low solar electricity tariffs will keep solar project commissioning similarly tight, it is important developers do not disregard quality in pursuit of ever lower bids, added the Joules Power MD.
Failure rates
Quality concerns were voiced by Debdeep Majumdar, project manager for engineering, procurement and construction services provider Exelon Bangladesh Ltd.
“It’s time for Bangladesh to join the rest of the world and recognize that a PV system, no matter the size, is a real power station that should last for decades,” said Majumdar. “Selection of Tier 1 modules with [the] correct BOM [balance of materials] can save investment and ensure project return. Nowadays we observe higher damp-heat failure rates in modules.” He added: “Inverters having no proper warranty contract leads to downtime [on] a project.”
The Bangladeshi government has already drawn up standards for solar panels, inverters, charge controllers and batteries and has taken steps to mandate its requirements.
A senior official at the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority said a proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Commerce to include solar panel, inverter, charge controller and battery standards in the country’s import policy order for 2018-2021.
By Syful Islam
This article was amended on 18/10/19 to reflect Shahinur Nabi’s comments were made directly to pv magazine.
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