Manufacturing

The government should consider offering a 50% capital subsidy for setting up R&D and quality testing infrastructure within the manufacturing units and a 200% super-deduction for the R&D expenditure on new and clean solar technology development. Simultaneously, it should look at implementing tariff barriers on imports for at least four-five years.

Scientists in Japan demonstrated a hard-carbon electrode that can greatly increase the capacity of a sodium-ion battery. With further work on the long-term performance, the discovery could make sodium-ion batteries better able to compete on energy density with their lithium-ion counterparts.

The Chinese manufacturer, which has a central and string inverter factory in Bengaluru, sold a minimum 3 GW of the cumulative sales last year alone. Going forward, it has a strong order book for the upcoming solar capacity too.

The result was confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH).

A new report says the imposition of safeguard duties and basic custom duties is only a partial solution to help the domestically produced solar modules remain competitive with imported panels. The government needs to adopt a long-term strategy towards PV manufacturing that supports backward integration and sustained innovation.

The Indian manufacturer has unveiled Series 6 mono-PERC modules in 120, 144, and 156 half-cell versions with claimed efficiency between 18.34% and 21.02%.

Manufacturers have until January 11 to bid for the supply of an aggregate 8,352,000 quantity of multicrystalline and mono PERC silicon solar cells using five bus bars.

The West Bengal-based solar cell and module manufacturer, which incurred an INR 28.95-crore loss in FY2018-19, has posted an INR 6.56-crore profit for FY2019-20. 

Ankit Kapasi and Kishore Ganesan from SOFIES India are working on Solar Waste Action Plan (SWAP) project in India, which is looking to investigate both the technical and economic feasibility of a PV module recycling system in the country. The pilot has been funded by Signify Foundation and Doen Foundation. The team at Sofies is working closely with technology partner Poseidon Solar and has recently established the first PV recycling pilot plant in September 2020. The duo spoke to pv magazine about their plant’s techno-commercial feasibility and the Indian eco-system’s readiness for PV module recycling.

The 919.73 kWp captive solar plant at the module manufacturer’s Falta unit in West Bengal uses multiple PV technology advancements, including its own SOMERA monocrystalline, half-cut and full-cut cell panels.