Markets & Policy

Under the Solar Energy Policy 2022, the Indian state tagets installing about 3 GW of utility-scale solar, 720 MW of distributed generation, and 280 MW off-grid capacity from fiscal 2022-23 to 2026-27.

The state of Bihar has started accepting bids from lithium battery and solar module manufacturers to set up factories under its preferential procurement incentive scheme. To be eligible, the bidders must meet the minimum qualifying criteria and be willing to set up at least 25 MW of solar module production capacity and 50,000 of lithium battery output per year.

JinkoSolar claims that it has shipped 8 GW of solar modules to India, following record-breaking performance in recent quarters.

If Solar Energy Corp. and NTPC can successfully execute tenders for standalone energy storage systems, it could drive investment, support domestic manufacturing, and facilitate the development of new business models, according to a newly released report.

Ivan Saha is back at Vikram Solar, where he worked between 2013-20 as the president and chief technical officer.

In 2021, China installed 21.6 GW of residential PV, which accounted for nearly 40% of the total annual installation figure of 54.9 GW. Spool back to 2018, and the residential segment clocked in at a mere 3 GW – less than 7% of the total for the year. Vincent Shaw in Shanghai reports on how changing market priorities caused a spark that quickly became a fire.

Solar cell and module prices have increased by more than 40% over the last 18 months, driven by polysilicon prices. However, bid tariffs has remained lower than what is needed to mitigate the rise in module prices. The risk of lower returns is significant for 4.4 GW of projects that have been awarded over the past 18 months, with tariffs below INR 2.2 ($0.028)/kWh.

ReNew Power, United Nations Environment Programme, and Self-Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA) have launched a program to train women salt pan workers in Gujarat as solar technicians. Under the initiative, 1,000 women salt pan workers will be trained as solar panel and solar pump technicians.

A 5 MW open-access solar project in Karnataka is India’s first fractionally owned, ground-mount PV plant. Bengaluru-based Pyse is financing the INR 26 crore ($3.3 million) project through its investment platform, which allows retail investors to own a stake for as little as INR 10,000.

A new report recommends a differential pricing mechanism for pumped-hydro energy storage (PHES) projects in pumping (off-peak operation) and generating mode (peak operation). The pricing mechanism for PHES should be based on specific use cases like peak load shaving and the smoothing of renewable energy generation.