Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

pv magazine’s Quality Roundtable at the 2018 Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo, took place in front of a packed audience. It discussed current problem areas; how solar developers and solution providers can improve the quality of Indian solar PV installations; and innovative financial instruments to reduce the cost of debt and scale up infrastructure investment.

The 12th Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo opened its doors today; the booming music and bright sunshine mirroring India’s ambitious goals to become the biggest RE market in the world. In the opening conference, the government’s commitment to renewables was underlined, while BNEF said the country will have one of the highest penetrations of solar and wind, globally, by 2050. Companies are also starting to look to India for manufacturing opportunities, although the landscape is still filled with uncertainty.

Of the total 9,538 MW of solar capacity commissioned between October 2017 and September 2018, Adani bagged the lion’s share at 11%, followed by Acme (7.5%) and Renew Power (7.3%), finds Bridge to India. The analyst company also tracks tariff trends between 2016 and now.

By adopting resource efficiency measures, the Indian PV solar manufacturing sector can reduce its material requirement from an estimated 12 million tons to 8.2 million tons by 2030. The resource-efficient approach will also increase efficiency to more than 30% from 6% in 2018, according to a study conducted under the European Union’s Resource Efficiency Initiative (EU-REI) Project.

After a pre-bid meeting with solar power developers on September 6, India’s Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is looking to amend the tender document, which it hopes to upload to its website in the coming days, following approval from the ministry, according to a SECI spokesperson.

Following hot on the heels of Exide Industries, lead acid battery maker, Indian-based Amara Raja Batteries Limited has said it will set up a 100 MWh lithium ion assembly plant in Andhra Pradesh. The company aims to establish a foothold in the energy storage market for electric vehicles.

The award of the nation’s first solar project quality certificate may signal a renewed determination by the federal authorities to crack down on low-quality panels – with Far Eastern imports firmly in their sights.

In a major development, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has reduced its solar manufacturing tender size from 5 GW to 3 GW, and curtailed the minimum bid capacity from 1 GW to 600 MW. The size of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), however, remains unchanged at 10 GW.

By double stacking a perovskite-silicon solar cell and using the cell in a glass-on-glass bifacial solar module, scientists model that a 30-36% efficient solar module can be attained.