By Jaisankar Unnithan& Sachin Murdeshwar
Intersolar Expo 2016 (All pics by Suresh Unnithan)
Mumbai: Exactly a year ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted “The sun is the source of all energy. The world must turn to solar, the power of our future”. The message was loud and clear. India and the World have taken it with all seriousness it deserves. Modi, addressing a conference on Energy in France last year explained India’s initiatives on Solar Energy and said “We (India) want to bring solar energy into our lives and homes, by making it cheaper, more reliable and easier to connect to grid”. He had also said India “has capacity of 4GW and we have set a target of adding 100 GW of solar power by 2022.”
The recently concluded Solar Energy expo in Mumbai confirms Modi’s moves have started paying. Over 250 exhibitors from more than 40 countries across the globe displayed their expertise in the three-day show that commenced on 19th of this month. Intersolar India, expo held in Hall No1 of the Bombay Exhibition (BEC), Mumbai was not just another trade fair. The expo provided not just the knowhow of solar energy, but provided a broad understanding of the industry. The expo had manufacturers, consultants, knowledge providers and project implementation experts as exhibitors.
The exclusive seminars on different aspects and innovations in Solar Energy production could energise the young entrepreneurs who were eager to enter the business. The lectures on Indian solar market and private roof-mounted installations could expel many misconceptions.
There were deliberations on session the government’s plans to install over 100 GW of solar energy by 2022. The session also addressed the question “What Makes a Project Successful?”
Developers and consultants shared their experiences about what has made past projects succeed or fail. In the presentation series Project Financing with Indian Characteristics, financial experts appraised the current challenges in the area of project funding and outline funding opportunities presently available. The internationally renowned exhibition for wind energy, HUSUM Wind, got parallel representation with a shared booth at Intersolar India.A day of the specialist conference was dedicated to different aspects of wind energy with international experts along with Dr. Robert Habeck, Minister of the Energy Transition, Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Areas for the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Dr. Florian Wessendorf, Managing Director, Solar Promotion GmbH, Germany
In a session titled Residential Rooftop Systems – System Design and Field Experience in India offered visitors the opportunity to find out more about private roof-mounted installations. Experts, market analysts, architects and decision makers all set to share their experiences with regulations, client expectations and technical problems.
Another conference highlight: Experts from operations and maintenance discussed on the question Operation & Maintenance – a Burgeoning Business in India? It addressed uncertainties, risks, challenges and other factors which companies in this field face in the Indian solar market.
A central focus of Intersolar India was smart renewable energy – the combination of energy generation, storage, grid integration and energy management. The Presentation on Smart Renewable Energy emphasized on Microgrids – Serving Unconnected Remote Village Communities to Grid Connected City Consumers. Sushil Reddy, a graduate of the IIT Bombay Energy Science Department was the stalwart at the presentation. In summer 2016, he traveled 7,000 km through five Indian states on his solar-powered electric bike to raise awareness of the potential of solar energy.
Jaisankar Unnithan, Business Editor APN in conversation with a German Official
For the second time, the Canopus Foundation is joining forces with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE to honor projects that supply communities in developing countries with electricity.
Dilip Nigam, Director, National Solar Mission, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), India and Veena Sinha, Director at the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy opened the discussion on Business to Government Forum. The Narendra Modi government announced an incredibly ambitious plan for India’s fledgling solar sector.
Nigam said , from the current solar power generation capacity of 4 GW (Gigawatt), India wants to enhance its solar power production to 100 GW by 2022—with a target of attracting a staggering $100 billion into the sector over the next seven years.
Taking in consideration Japan’s SoftBank, along with telecommunication major, Bharati Enterprises, and Taiwan’s electronic goods manufacturer, Foxconn, Mhaharashra State and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced plans to invest $20 billion for setting up 20 GW solar power project in the country.
Power majors like Adani Power, Reliance Power and SunEdison, have also committed investments of over $5 billion for setting up solar power plants in India.
With the solar industry on the growth track, products and services offering Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities will play a large role in driving down costs and increasing productivity, states Dan Bigelow, Senior Director of Infiswift, a company in enterprise IoT solutions for solar companies.
“The Sun delivers almost 4 million ‘exajoules’ of energy to the Earth and solar photovoltaics (PV) harness the Sun’s power to generate electricity through sunlight hitting pv cells that free and stir up electrons which then collect on conductive plates to create electricity. Wind and solar — PV energy systems have the highest copper content of all renewable energy technologies – besides being the fastest-growing renewable-based markets, while significant growth is also expected in thermal concentrating solar power. Kolkata-based Tamra company is highlighting use of copper in its “Photovoltaic Ribbon” products for increasing solar module efficiencies in the solar power sector,” according to Kusum Sharma, DGM, Business Development, TAMRA in Gurgaon.
Canada is offering expertise in photovoltaic and solar thermal applications through its various companies and one such is AMP Solar which is seeking to bid/acquire solar projects with Government PPAs, besides being a one-stop-shop for commercial and industrial customers through OPEX mode. Another company – Canadian Solar – with total project pipeline of 13.5 GW and two manufacturing facilities in Ontario, is running its solar modules efficiently in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
From Korea to India comes its ‘Photovoltaic Backsheets’ — comprising ‘Tri-laminated “sandwich” of polyester film between a special white PET and FPE layer called “SPE’ –that displays high performance of maximum permissible system voltage of over 1,500 VDC, high durability against outdoor conditions, according to Vincent Choi, Vice-President, sales & Engineering, SFC Co Ltd, Korea, who also highlighted three other similar products called KPE, TPT and TPE at the EXPO.
Trees highlight greenery and a solar photovoltaic system called “SMARTREE” was showcased at the EXPO to emphasize its uniqueness for malls, plazas, townships, hospitals, hotels and industries in having a small ground footprint for installation, durability with 5KW capacity, Grid Interactive and Off-Grid solar PV, besides also being used as a hub for street lighting, CCTV mounting, signboards and shades. “It’s a solution for urban India and costs Rs five lakhs with a single access tracker that tracks the sun’s movement, said Siddharth Malik, Managing Director, Megawatt Solutions Pvt Ltd, Delhi.
Intersolar Expo: A conference in progress
Brijesh Nair, Deputy Project Director Intersolar India, MMI India Pvt. Ltd., was bullish of the prospects of Solar Power sector.
India simply needs more power. Between April 2014 and March 2015, for instance, the country had to deal with a 3.6% deficit in peak hour energy supply (the period when demand for power is significantly higher than the average supply level). Power requirement in India is estimated to grow at an average of 5.2% during the 10 years between 2014 and 2024, according to a report by Tata Power. Currently, India requires 1,068,923 million units of electricity annually but the supply falls short by 3.6%.
All of this demand isn’t likely to be met by traditional energy sources. India’s coal-fed power plants—which contribute to nearly 60% of the total production—have been grappling with periodic fuel shortages. Domestic production of coal hasn’t quite kept pace with demand, which alongside expensive imported coal, has made things difficult. “By 2018 several states will achieve parity between grid tariffs for commercial and industrial users and the LCOP (landed cost of power) from utility scale projects, providing an impetus for further growth,” Tata Power’s report said. A utility scale power plant sells power to electric utilities and not end-use consumers.
“Thereafter,” the report added, “we expect that additions under central and state policies will decline with capacity additions being driven by parity.”
Simultaneously, there’s been a steady decline in solar power prices—on the back of cheaper solar panel costs and lower financing costs—that has made the sector increasingly attractive to investors.
By 2019, according to some estimates, India could achieve grid parity between solar and conventional energy sources. That’ll mean that solar power will cost less than or equal to power from conventional sources.
Dr Rashi Gupta delivering a lecture on Energy efficient Lithium Battery
Some 240 GW of this can potentially come from just two states—the western desert state of Rajasthan (142 GW) and Jammu and Kashmir (111 GW) in the north—while others like Madhya Pradesh and Maharashta could produce over 60 GW each.
The chart below lists the states with the most commissioned solar projects and the amount of power they can potentially produce.
Unlike a number of other infrastructure projects, there seems to be no dearth of land for solar power projects, with more than 467,021 sq km of wastelands in the country.
A report by consultancy firm Mercom Capital Group said that the government’s increased targets have “thrilled the sector, but the industry is pragmatic and realises that while 100 GW looks great on paper, the last five years have resulted in only 3,000 MW (3 GW) in solar installations, with last year’s installations at less than 1 GW.”
Between 2009—when India had about 0.006 GW of solar power installation—and 2015, the country’s total solar power capacity grew exponentially. As acclaimed energy expert Margareta Wolf points out “The use of solar energy offers huge potential for natural resource and climate protection and for the expansion of renewable energies on the road to a future-oriented energy supply.”