Vikram Solar

The crystalline solar cells and modules manufacturer—which has 200 MW of cell line and 250 MW of module line capacity—has secured orders equal to full production capacity for both cells and modules till March 2020.

The government’s move to slash corporate tax rates to 22% from 30%—and to 15% for new manufacturing companies—has largely been hailed by the solar industry even as it feels impact will be limited.

High levels of interest in floating solar installations in the Indian market was demonstrated on the second day of the Renewable Energy India Expo, which concludes today in New Delhi. The pv magazine Future PV Roundtable addressed the theme in a full-house conference session, where many questions were raised about module and array durability and performance, along with monitoring, O&M and safety considerations.

The project—commissioned for food processing firm Keventer Agro—is spread across 250×70 m2 and uses 6240 numbers of Vikram’s high-efficiency 345Wp monocrystalline modules.

The plant was conceived under viability gap funding scheme for Ministry of Defence establishment to set up 300 MW of grid-connected and off-grid solar power projects at their locations.

With India losing major solar markets to stiffer competition from cheaper products, it’s high time to change the game by playing on quality and innovation—according to Vikram Solar Chief Financial Officer Rajendra Kumar Parakh, who spoke to pv magazine on the challenge of shrinking markets before Indian solar manufacturers.

While India’s recent union budget announced steps to create an electric vehicle market, the solar sector still has issues that have not been addressed.

Indian solar manufacturers are facing a double whammy with USA removing preferential trade status for India and safeguard duty imposed by India nearing fall to 20% from July 2019. Struggling to find domestic as well as export markets, they expect the government to focus on policy direction, not just expenditure.

With Narendra Modi’s government stunning pollsters with another huge victory, the solar industry expects renewable power momentum to be maintained with steps including anti-dumping duty on solar module imports, a national policy for rooftop solar and an emphasis on easing private-sector participation in the power sector.

U.S.-based PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) has found that Vikram Solar’s Somera monocrystalline silicon and Eldora polycrystalline silicon PV modules met and exceeded international quality and performance benchmarks.