The Indian solar glass maker posts revenue of INR 168.16 crore for the first half of FY2020-21, generating profits (after tax) of INR 12.19 crore. 

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is eager to ramp up deployment of solar-powered dryers, cold storage and charkhas across the nation’s 600,000 villages.

The latest edition of the Global Off-grid Solar Market Report by the World Bank and GOGLA has called for regulatory and financial support to help off-grid distributors create jobs lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 To catalyze R&D and make India self-reliant, the government is supporting restructuring of science and technology infrastructure at universities to cater to industries’ high-end requirements.

The state-run hydropower company is targeting 340-350 MW of generation capacity in the 1.5 GW tender being held by SECI and state utility Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikash Nigam Limited. NHDC has opened a global tender to seek a panel supplier.

The latest project is another African opportunity for the India-based EPC player after successfully commissioning Nigeria’s first solar-plus-storage hybrid power plant, which is also Africa’s largest battery energy storage system.

Launched in November 2015, the alliance aims to collectively address key challenges to the scaling up of solar energy in member countries that fall between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. The Alliance is now supported by 68 member countries, and a further 20 countries are in the process of becoming members.

With the latest acquisition, the total operating renewable portfolio of the joint venture between Adani Green Energy and the French oil and gas major has reached 2,353 MW. 

Although the Wiki-Solar website ranking only provides a snapshot of PV project engineering, procurement and construction contracts outside of China, it is nevertheless a useful indicator of the changing global solar market landscape. Swinerton was the largest solar EPC contractor outside China in 2019. Of the top 11 companies, three are based in India, three in the United States, another three in Spain and two in the United States.

The Solar Mapper uses artificial intelligence algorithms that compile data extracted from satellite images. It can estimate site solar potential and indicate the most suitable technology.

The developer secured the grid-connected solar capacity in a 700 MW auction by state utility Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited which had a tariff ceiling of INR2.92/kWh.

The 18-meter long solar cell-clad trailer is said to enable fuel savings of 5-10% in Sweden. Swedish thin-film manufacturer Midsummer is a partner on the project.

The Portal for Renewable Energy Action Assessment Metrics is an online rating system which enables businesses to self-assess their renewable energy consumption.

The U.S. based researchers have developed a new wide-bandgap perovskite layer – called Apex Flex – which they claim is able to withstand heat, light, and operational tests, and at the same time provide a reliable and high voltage. With this material, they built tandem solar cells with 23.1% power conversion efficiency on a rigid substrate, and 21.3% on flexible plastic.

Power Minister RK Singh has revealed interest from manufacturers in developing more production lines even before incentive schemes being drawn up by the government are taken into account.

Bids are invited from Indian manufacturers to supply 32,102 kW of modules for the state-run engineering major’s Chad project in Africa. Bidding closes on October 26.

The U.S. president issued a proclamation on Oct. 10 that cites the impact of imported bifacial panels on U.S. solar manufacturing, while also raising the scheduled fourth-year tariff rate from 15% to 18%.

Rajendra Khandalkar, group head of supply chain management at infrastructure EPC services company Sterling and Wilson, speaks to pv magazine about learning from the Covid-19 crisis and the importance of smart supplier management to bolster company resilience.

Developers have until November 10 to submit bids for the grid-connected, ground-mounted solar generation capacity. The project will be set up on a build-own-operate basis in Kalahandi district to meet the electricity needs of the town.

The solar manufacturer will expand its annual encapsulant manufacturing capacity by 1.35 GW and backsheet production by 1 GW.

Pune-based SM Auto Engineering, in technical collaboration with Taiwan based Gotech Energy, will set up a state-of-the-art plant in Pune to design, develop and manufacture advanced battery packs and battery management systems for electric vehicles.

A new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (Ieefa) and JMK Research estimates India to have about 11.6 GW of operational wind-solar hybrid capacity by 2023.

Magenta’s tie-up with the app-based electric scooter rental service provider is aimed at setting up EV charging infrastructure in Maharashtra, and later nationwide.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India has issued a call for expressions of interest to supply clean energy to isolated off-grid communities and warned components will probably have to be transported manually.

Swiss-based SmartHelio claims to have witnessed a near 200% jump in demand for its deep-data driven solar asset management solution, which plugs into solar panels or energy storage systems. Sales of the internet-of-things enabled, cloud product have leapt in the last six months.

With a huge market and relevant manufacturing advantages, the country aspires to become a giga-scale manufacturing destination for the breakthrough PV technologies across the value chain.

The International Solar Alliance signals India’s hope to be a global competitor in emerging technologies and cement its place as an institution builder. But how does India’s vision translate into domestic policy? Has India led by example? 

There is a need to innovate and pay attention to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), SMEs, and residential society consumers to activate the next leg of growth in the rooftop solar market.

India’s entire solar industry is dependent on Chinese imports to function. Hence, there is a comprehensive need to relook at the current policies and focus on building wafers and ingots capacity that will be used to manufacture the cells and eventually, modules.

The government needs to rationalize and ensure uniformity of Deviation Settlement Mechanism (DSM) regulations across the country for the seamless integration of renewable energy.