Israeli developer of module cleaning robots Ecoppia has announced its field-proven panel cleaning solution has been selected by Indian solar developer Azure Power for a 450 MW solar project in Rajasthan, India.
The agreement with Azure was signed in October. The project is now reaching advanced stages and is scheduled to go live at the beginning of Q1 2021, the company stated.
Ecoppia told pv magazine that it will implement its E4 solution at Azure’s Rajasthan site. The E4 product is operational since late 2013.
In the product selection, Azure team carried out due diligence on factors such as reliability of the solution, no damage to the panel, clean track record (as there were few fire events caused by other robotic solutions), financial strength to withstand 25-year commitment, and [the company’s] manufacturing facility in India, Ecoppia said.
Ecoppia offers fully autonomous, water-free robotic cleaning solutions for PV modules, ideally for large-scale PV installations located in dry and arid regions. The company assembly line is at Punjab, India
It claims to have secured over 10 GW of new projects over the last four quarters alone despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic’s unique challenges, maintaining a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 280% in the last six years.
Azure Power is part of a long list of leading energy players, realizing the need for automated operations and management (O&M). While tariffs become lower, the solar industry understands just how crucial efficient O&M can be to remain profitable.
With a growing project pipeline, Azure Power needed a robust solution to cope with the mass while maintaining optimal performance, creating a clean-green energy production.
“We are thrilled to be working with such a company that sets high targets both in terms of volume and quality,” said Jean Scemama, CEO of Ecoppia. “We see this long-term partnership as one of the growing signs that the solar industry is revolutionizing towards automated O&M,” he added.
The project deepens Ecoppia’s market share in India. Earlier this year, the company landed a deal from Finnish clean energy company Fortum for its different solar projects in India, totaling 427 MWp of production capacity.
Ecoppia will equip the Fortum developed projects in the Pavagada (Karnataka) and Bhadla (Rajasthan) solar parks with its connected and environment-friendly E4 robotic cleaner.
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