SolarQuarter October 2014 Vol3 Issue10

INR 300
Monthly Print Edition
Volume 03 I Issue 10 I October 2014
www.solarquarter.com
News
Page No 2
Project News
India pipeline reaches 4GW with 500MW Telangana tender
70 MW solar power project to be set up by SunEdison
Indias new state of Telangana has launched a

500MW solar tender. This tender adds to a 4GW
pipeline of solar development contracts across India. The state of Telangana currently suffers from
blackouts and has formed the solar auction to help
meet its power deficit.
and 15-year prices. The deadline for bids is the 26

September, with the bid process scheduled to be
complete by 23 November. The tender will allocate
PPAs through competitive bidding.
SunEdison has announced that it has signed an

agreement with Antofagasta Minerals S.A. to set
up 69.5 MW solar photovoltaic power project at
one of the latter copper mine in Chile.
The Telangana solar auction matches its now

neighbour state, Andhra Pradeshs 500MW solar
tender deadline 17 September. However, because of the larger 200MW limit, and the flexibility
in bidding, the Telangana auction is expected to
receive more interest, although Andhra Pradeshs
auction also has a longer 12 month development
deadline.
Antofagasta plans to use solar power to meet a

part of the electricity demand at its Los Pelambres
mine.
Solar power project developers can bid for 25-year

Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) from the state
utility, Southern Power Distribution Company of
Telangana Limited (TSSPDCL). Bidders can bid a
universal tariff for the continuation of the 25-year
PPAs, or they can bid to split the tariff into 10-
This would not be the first clean energy initiative

to be implemented by Antofagasta for the Los
Pelambres mine.
The mine operators, from the very beginning, had

a clear plan to implement sustainable energy solutions. After the solar power project, the mine operator plans to use hydro power as well. By 2015,
30% of mines energy supply would come from
renewable energy projects.
Antofagasta needs to invest in renewable energy,
as it reported a 5% increase in CO2 intensity between 2012 and 2013.
Indian State Telangana Issues 500 MW Solar Power Tender
Worlds largest single rooftop solar power project commissioned in India
Telangana has issued a large solar power tender

in an attempt to bridge the gap between power
supply and demand.
L&T Indias largest EPC Company in the solar

power market has just commissioned the worlds
largest single rooftop solar photovoltaic power
project. The 7.52 MW solar power plant has been
commissioned in the northern state of Punjab.
power project located in Rajasthan.
Larsen and Toubro reported that it has already

commissioned or is working on solar power projects with total capacity of 400 MW.
Punjab has some of highest power tariffs in the

country. Being an agricultural state, power supply
to the farmers is of paramount importance, while
industries and commercial users are low on the
priority list.
The Telangana government has issued a tender to

install 500 MW solar power capacity. The projects
will be allocated through reverse auction, and the
winners are expected to be announced by the end
of this month. The new state, which was carved
out of Andhra Pradesh has, urged the central government for assistance in power supply. The state
requires about 4,000 MW of demand every day,
while it can arrange for only 3,500-3,600 MW.

A 1,000 MW solar power project planned before
the division is planned in a district which now sits
insides the borders of Telangana. This motivated
the Andhra Pradesh government to announce its
own 1,000 MW solar power plant.
The state also announced an ambitious plan to
add 5,000 MW solar power capacity and 4,000
MW wind energy capacity by 2019.
This includes the largest solar thermal power plant

in Asia Reliance Powers 125 MW linear Fresnel
The company has also worked on several other

solar power projects under the National Solar Mission.
State News
Gujarat solar power model for Odisha
Green think tank revived in Delhi to tap solar power
After making solar power a success in its own

state, the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) has decided to support
other states in replicating similar models.
The union governments elaborate agenda for renewable energy has led Delhi government to make
the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Management Centre which will act as a think tank for
solar energy projects in Delhi more active.
tion. It has about four to five environmental engineers and renewable energy experts, and will act
as the nodal agency coordinating matters between
the ministry of new and renewable energy and the
Delhi government.
EERM was earlier under the environment department and not very active in delivering renewable
energy projects.
Since the union governments focus is on solar

power, it was decided that EERM will be moved
under the power department who have better expertise to propose solar projects that can be implemented successfully in Delhi.
The autonomous body will provide technical support to the Odisha government to generate five
MW of electricity through roof-top solar power
plants in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
The rooftop plants will be set up on top of 120
buildings in the twin cities by Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (GEDCOL).
GEDCOL has earmarked land to set up three solar

parks at Rengali, Manamunda and Bhawanipatna.
It is estimated that about 270 MW of solar power
could be generated by setting up projects on these
identified land plots, sources said.
The Centre has also asked the state to identify
land to set up an Ultra Mega Solar Power Plant
(UMSPP), which will have the capacity to generate
more than 100 MW.
It has now been moved to the power department

with the objective of analyzing how building rooftops can be used to maximize solar energy genera-
Karnataka Government launches a scheme to allow farmers to

set up solar power plants
Tata solar Power bags order from JNNSM
Karnataka Government on launched a scheme that

allows farmers to set up small solar power plants in
their farms and sell electricity at the tariff fixed by
Karnataka Energy Regulatory Commission.
Tata Power Solar (TPS) has won one of the largest

orders of JNNSM phase-2 batch-1. The company
will supply the entire module requirement for the
20 MW (AC) project to be built by ACME Solar, a
leading solar power developer in India.
Energy Minister DK Shivakumar said that it would

be covered by the Surya Raitha Scheme, under
which government will also supply solar pump sets
at subsidised prices to overcome the power crisis
being faced by farmers due to a huge gap in demand and supply.
The Union Government has allocated one lakh

pump sets to all the states in the country, he said.
The farmers would get subsidy up to 90 per cent,
out of which 30 per cent would be borne by the
Union Government, Mr Shivakumar said.
The pump sets would be useful for farmers to get
assured water for their fields and be useful in places where electricity is not available, he said.
Rahul Budhwar, Vice President, Manufacturing

and Business Development, Tata Power Solar said
that ACME and EDF awarded the business to us after a rigorous selection process. This is a testimony
to our superior and world-class manufacturing capabilities we have built over the last 25 years.
Manoj Kumar Upadhyay, CEO, ACME Solar, said

that modules constitute the single largest component in a solar power project, upwards of 50% of
the total cost.
ACME Solar goes through a very tough process of
approval for module manufacturers. Tata Power
Solar had recently announced a 60% increase in
their module manufacturing capacity, and the Bangalore facility now has 200 MW module and 180
MW cell production capacities.
National News
ReneSola to provide 10-MW solar modules to Indian firm
India proposes ultra mega scheme to scale solar PV
Solar photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturer

ReneSola Ltd has inked a contract with an Indian
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)
firm Juwi India Renewable Energies Pvt. Ltd. to
supply 10 megawatt (MW) of its Virtus solar modules to the latter.
content requirements (DCR) to use domestically

constructed equipments at its homegrown solar
projects.
A new proposal by Indias Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) wants to wed those factors into a self-sustaining formula for steep and
sustained economic growth. The scheme is called
Ultra Mega Solar and the secret ingredient is
economies of scale.
and 1 gigawatts of capacity.
As per the agreement, ReneSola will provide the

modules in Sep and Nov 2014. The delivery will be
rolled out from the companys original equipment
manufacturing (OEM) facilities in India.
The project will be constructed by an Indian firm,

Atha Group, which is engaged in mining, steel
manufacturing, power and renewable energy businesses.
The scheme plans to establish 25 solar parks in

the next five years, which would allow for the deployment of 20 gigawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaic systems. Each individual solar park would have
space for installation of between 500 megawatts
The draft proposal describes the Charanka Solar

Park in Gujarat as a pioneering first-of-its-kind
large scale solar park in India with clear land and
transmission connectivity.
Juwi India will utilize the solar modules at a utilityscale project based in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
The MNRE mentioned the solar parks in Gujarat

the Charanka Solar Park and Rajasthan Bhadla
Solar Park as models for the parks to be constructed as part of the Ultra Mega Solar scheme.
This is in line with Indias applicable domestic
Solar anti-dumping plan dropped by India before Modi meets

Obama
India has dropped plans to impose an anti-dumping duty on solar panel imports, a move that is
likely to help mend frayed commercial ties with
the United States before Prime Minister Narendra
Modi meets President Barack Obama this month.
Days before Modi took office in May, a quasijudicial body ordered the imposition of the duty
on panels imported from the United States, China,
Taiwan and Malaysia to protect domestic solar
manufacturers. The order issued had set duties of
between 11 and 81 U.S. cents per watt following

an investigation which started in 2011. The ruling had to be published by the Finance Ministry
within a stipulated time frame to take effect.The
move over solar panels comes two days after the
Modi administration said it was trying to speed
up clearances for all pending patent applications
and working on an intellectual property rights (IPR)
policy seen by analysts as another step towards
smooth things over with Washington.
NTPC may be forced to tap international solar power suppliers

Countrys largest power company NTPC may be
forced to tap international solar plant suppliers
due to shortage in domestic capacity.
NTPC was laying emphasis on developing a solar
power portfolio and had invited tender for 1,000
MW of solar power project open to only domestic
suppliers. NTPC Chairman Arup Roy Choudhury
said that we have already invited tender for 1000
MW. But, after discussions we have indications
that the available capacity to supply by domestic
solar plant could be only around 300MW a year.

NTPC has an aggressive target and aims to set up
3,000 MW of solar power projects over the next
3-3.5 years, he said. If domestic supply is unable to
meet our demand then we may consider overseas
suppliers.
NTPC was in talks with states like Madhya Pradesh,
Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, who are keen on
developing solar energy parks, Choudhury said.
News
Page No 3
National News
East Central Railway to tap solar energy to light up crossings
Concerned over frequent mishaps at unmanned

gates under the East Central Railway (ECR), railways has decided to further improve safety measures at both manned and unmanned railway
crossing gates under the five divisions of the zone.
According to ECR GM Madhuresh Kumar, railways
would tap solar energy for adequate lights at both
manned and unmanned railway crossing gates in
the zone.
Railways have identified the most critical un-
manned gates in ECR. Proper lights could avert

mishaps on tracks at unmanned gates during night
GM Kumar said. Under the new plan, the ECR is
likely to engage people for intensive counselling
to semi-literate or illiterate people in remote areas
about the need to follow safety measures while
crossing unmanned railway gates, he said, adding
safety awareness is a must for every person for
crossing both manned and unmanned gates.
Delhi Plans to Spur Rooftop Solar With U.S. Style Policy

Indias blackout-prone capital introduced a policy
for households and businesses to earn credits for
solar power produced on rooftops, planning to
replicate a model that sparked booms in the U.S.
and Japan.
The Delhi policy follows a pilot program set up in
Gandhinagar, the capital city of Modis home state
of Gujarat, where residents lease their rooftops to
private solar utilities and get paid 3 rupees (5 U.S.
cents) for every kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. The Delhi regulator didnt say what tariff
consumers would get for surplus credits, only saying they would be paid per the rates notified by
the commission from time to time.
The capital could install 2 gigawatts of solar on its
roofs by 2020, roughly equal to what the whole
of India has built to date, according to a July 2013
report by advisory Bridge to India Energy Pvt. and
Greenpeace.
7.52 MW rooftop solar unit commissioned by L&T in Punjab

L&T Construction said it has commissioned a large
rooftop solar plant of 7.52 MW at Amritsar.
More than 30,000 panels have been erected on
the rooftop of a shed spread over 94,000 sqm.
The energy generated from the unit is being fed
to the local grid through a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the state distribution company
under the New and Renewable Sources of Energy
(NRSE) Policy.
L&T said it has used the multi-crystalline module
technology and central inverters to optimise effi-
ciency.
Since the modules were to be placed on fragile
asbestos roof sheets, lightweight aluminium structures were used for mounting the modules and
water proofing techniques followed to avoid leakage.
L&T said it has also erected a permanent network
of aluminium walkways on top of the roof sheets
to create a safe working environment for execution, operation and maintenance.
Now, sell solar power to discoms

On September 2, Delhi took a huge leap in renewable energy generation Power watchdog Delhi
Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) announced regulations for net metering of renewable energy, giving Delhiites a chance to become
renewable energy suppliers. The regulations outline how people can generate renewable energy
in their premises, and then reduce their electricity
bills by the amount of power they supply to the
grid. While the net metering regulations apply
to all forms of renewable energy like solar, hydro
and wind, in Delhi only solar generation is feasible.

Many households and organizations already generate solar power for their own consumption, but
the new regulations will allow them to supply to
the grid and receive energy credits or adjust the
units supplied against their electricity bills.
To become a renewable energy generator, a person will have to apply to their areas discom for a
connection to the renewable energy system. The
discom will then allow the connection after analyzing transformer-level capacity.
Telangana set to turn towards solar power

The Telangana southern and northern power distribution companies have decided to go ahead
with a proposal to set up a 500 MW capacity solar
power plant in Adilabad district.The selected bidder would set up the solar power generation units
by getting all clearances and permissions from local bodies and the Centre. The developers would
set up the units on build-own-operate basis and
supply power through inter connectivity to the
substations for a period of 25 years. This is the first
time that the state is moving ahead with a concrete
plan to add solar power to the energy generation
mix in the state.All the 10 districts of Telangana
have been reeling under power shortages, espe-
cially during the past few months. Even during the

monsoon, the power distribution companies have
been imposing three to six hour power cuts both
in urban and rural areas. 60 megawatts of clean
energy to be generated by 30 floating solar power
in Japan Kyocera Corp. and Century Tokyo Leasing Corp. are partnering to build two massive solar
power islands that will float on two reservoirs and
generate about 2.9 megawatts of energy.One of
the water-mounted mega solar power plants will
be built to reside on the surface of Nishihira pond.
It will generate about 1.7 megawatts of energy,
which would make it the worlds largest floating
solar plant, according to the announcement.
Suzlon Energy eyeing at EPC contracts in solar power segment

Suzlon Energy is eyeing engineering, procurement
and construction business in the solar power segment.
A lot happened in the past six years. While the cost
of putting up solar photovoltaic plants dropped
steeply from $3 to 60 cents per panel space
needed to produce a watt of energy Suzlons
fortunes dropped, too, after its acquisition of German company REPower for $1 billion, just before
the global economy collapsed.
Under the exercise, the company is selling chunks
of its business to its European subsidiary Senvion

and paying off debts with the proceeds. Net profits, Tanti has said in statements, are visible in two
quarters.
Sources in Suzlon have said that the company has
enough land-plus-transmission infrastructure to
support creation of 80-100 MW of solar PV capacity. Land for another 300 MW can be quickly
mobilised, as the company has agreements to sell
in place.
Page No 4
Interview
Advanced Energy provides power and control

technologies for a range of high-growth,
precision power applications
Mr. Oliver
Behrendt ( Managing
Director AEI Power India Pvt. Ltd ). Designated
as the Managing Director
of Advanced Energy Industries, India Mr. Oliver.
Behrendt holds a Degree
in Electrical Engineering
and a Masters in Business
Adminstration. Hes having more than 20 years of
experience background
in the electronic industry,
specially with semiconMr. Oliver Behrendt, ductors, electronic manuManaging Director
facturing and PV
AEI Power India Pvt. Ltd .
industry.
1. Advanced Energy recently launched a

new AE 3TL 40/46k inverter. Could you tell
us more about this product?
The three-phase AE 3TL 40/46 inverter is available in two power levels: 40 kW for 400 VAC,
and 46 kW for 460 VAC voltages.
It is best in class with our proven and most
solid UltraEta inverter technology.
It features high power output at a weight of
just 68 kg.
It complies with protection class IP 65 and is
the only inverter on the market that is passively
cooled. Therefore, the string inverter is maintenance-free and ideal for decentralized outdoor
concepts.
It has very high full- and partial-load efficiency.
Even with partial loads, the efficiency is greater
than 98 percent, which accelerates return on
investment.
The wide input voltage range of 350 to 1000
VDC enables flexible, modular planning.
DC junction boxes and DC string fuses can be
included as attachable boxes to the inverter due
to its modular design.
Four-channel string monitoring is possible
with no extra hardware, and the inverter has an
integrated data logger.
2. What impact does this product have on
your overall project portfolio and business
strategy for India?
tributed generation PV segment, the expanding rooftop market, and small- to mediumsized PV plants up to 2 MW. The ease of installation and maintenance-free design make
it especially attractive.
3. From the developers point of view,
what key characteristics of an inverter
should be kept in mind while investing in
their projects?
The developer should always consider a reliable inverter from a reputable manufacturer
to harvest the maximum energy from its PV
plant. Specific inverter selection criteria should
include:
High DC-to-AC power ratio up to factor 1.75
High efficiency, even with partial-load conditions
Broad MPPT range to ensure fast amortization
MPPT tracking speed and accuracy, which is
more important than the number of trackers
Maintenance-free operation
Easy, online monitoring
4. Post commissioning, what are the key
issues faced by developers related to inverters?
Advanced Energy provides power and control

technologies for a range of high-growth, precision power applications.
The major problems are mainly due to unstable

grid conditions and grounding of DC cables
which, in turn, affects the inverters. Secondarily, internet connection failures can hamper
monitoring and control of the inverters.
The inverter product line, and specifically the AE

3TL 40/46 model, further strengthens AEs presence in Indias dis
5. What is your USP which gives Advanced

Energy benefit over other competitors in
the field?
Advanced Energy Indias sales and service structure, without any intermediate distribution
network, is the most influential benefit to our
customers. Our customers can reach us directly
for any sales, service, or technical inquiry. We
also have customer-responsive R&D right here
in India.
Apart from that, our best-in-class, technically
superior string inverters, with their field-proven
design topology and architecture, offer flexible,
scalable building blocks that provide real value
with maximum power generation, a complete
system approach with SmartHybrid controller
communications, monitoring, combiner boxes,
and more.
6. According to you, what can the Government of India do to support the upstream PV manufacturing in India?
ABOUT THE COMPANY :

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc.
(Nasdaq:AEIS), is a global leader in innovative power and control technologies for
high-growth, precision power conversion
solutions. REFUsol, which Advanced Energy acquired in April 2013, will now operate as Advanced Energy in India. With the
acquisition of REFUsol, Advanced Energy
incorporated the companys three-phase
string inverters into its product portfolio
as the AE 3TL line. Advanced Energy offers a full suite of inverter products, ranging from single-phase string inverters to
award-winning three-phase inverters and
utility-scale central inverters. Advanced
Energy inverters are available for worldwide distribution.
and cost-effective solutions from the renewable

energy sector, shall be the key influencing factors for growth in solar energy here.
8. Finally, what are Advanced Energys
market expectations from India in terms of
growth?
Founded in 1981, Advanced Energy is a worldwide organization with a unique ability to deliver on expectations across industries because we
bring a broad product portfolio, robust global
infrastructure, decades of technology leadership and a track record of outstanding service
to each new business challenge and customer
engagement. Advanced Energys presence in
the global PV market as well as in India is very
significant; we are well positioned with the right
products to satisfy the market. Our regional activities here continue to pay off.
The Indian government has a legitimate goal to

use forward-looking technologies with a quick
and valuable return on investment. Supporting
local, high-tech research, development, and
manufacturing here in India is one way to accomplish this goal. Increasing local content requirements across the entire solar value chain,
not only PV modules, might be an appropriate
method to encourage this support.
7.What do you think will be the key influencing factors for the growth of solar energy space in India?
The central and state solar missions, with newly
introduced feed-in tariff policies, specifically for
solar, have become a source of interest for all
in the renewable energy market in India. Continued government support, along with creative
Product Photo
News
Page No 5
OFFGRID NEWS
Alabama Steel Company move towards Off-Grid with Solar
Apel Steel Corporation in Cullman, Alabama (US)
contracted Ace, LLC Solar to move them off-grid
with a PV solar power generating system. The
340kW system was designed and developed to
generate 470,213 kWH of AC electrical power annually to meet 98% of the energy requirements for
the heavy machinery and plant operations and is
expected to save Apel Steel more than $3,000,000
on its electric bills over the 30-year life expectancy
of the system.
The system was installed by Ace, LLC Solar, based

in Pulaski, Tennessee (US). The 1088 Suntech panels were mounted on 45 Solar FlexRack Series G1L
racking systems, which are factory pre-assembled
and developed to adapt to any terrain. They are
also certified to withstand heavy wind, rain and
snow loads.
Yingli4You launched In Australia for rooftop solar installers

The Australian arm of the worlds largest PV maker,
Yingli Solar, has announced a new digital quality
control program aimed at raising the benchmark
for the nations rooftop solar industry. Yingli4You,
launched by Yingli Green Energy Australia, is described as an educational, incentive, technical and
project management package to help the module
makers partner installers to raise industry standards.
Installers can maintain a database of installations,
add location-based tags to installation images and
orientation and pitch image grabs. They can also

log Yingli inventory via a barcode reader and verify
the compliance of a solar PV installation against
Clean Energy Council (CEC) standards.
The website and app also allows installers to process product warranties online and to verify the
authenticity of Yingli Solar PV panels. The Clean
Energy Council has recently launched its own solar
consumer guide, to help ensure households and
businesses install the PV system best suited to their
needs.
Rooftop solar plant installed in Coimbatore
Business solar rooftop installations to be encouraged by Chinese government
Tata Power Solar has installed a two Mega Watt

(MW) rooftop solar plant for Murugan Textiles at
Palladam. According to a press release, the system
has been installed on the roof of a building that
houses the spinning machinery and a warehouse.
The plant is to have totally three MW and work for
another one Mega Watt will begin next year.
China, the worlds largest solar production market,

is expected to guarantee further industry growth,
with the announcement of legislation that will encourage the installation of rooftop solar panels on
business and commercial rooftops.
Large energy users will be encouraged to utilise
rooftops and unused ground spaces to install solar
panels, with excess power outage to be distributed
to nearby customers. This will reduce power costs
City Union Bank conducted a cut and soiled notes

exchange mela on Wednesday and Rs. 14.50 lakh
worth fresh currency notes were issued to the public, according to a press release from the bank.
The Coimbatore unit of Kirloskar Brothers has won
the Gold Award given away by ASSOCHAM (Innovation Excellence Awards 2014) for its advancement in the area of science and technology. In
2011, the workers at the plant took 60 seconds
to assemble a pump and it was brought down to
17.25 seconds in April 2014.
Indian State Plans To Cover 300 Government Buildings with

Rooftop Solar Power Projects
Governments across Indian states seem to be
scrambling to launch programs to set up solar
rooftop projects after the success of such projects
in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modis home
state. The latest state to join the bandwagon is the
southern state of Tamil Nadu, which has had years
of supply-demand issues in the power sector.
The Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency
(TEDA) has announced plans to set up solar rooftop projects at about 300 government buildings
across the states. The state government is sup-
posed to allocate this capacity among project

developers by 2015. However, the implementation of the policy is almost certain to be delayed.
Of the 3,000 MW capacity, about 12% has been
reserved for the rooftop segment.Compared to
Tamil Nadus targeted solar power capacity, Indias
cumulative installed capacity stands at 2,821 MW.
Thus, the target may seem quite ambitious but the
government has also implemented policies to create supply for solar power.
and carbon emissions, especially in industrial zones

reliant on large amounts of fossil energy.
Ahead of the announcement, which is expected
later this month, major Chinese solar manufacturers saw their stocks increase in value, with Trina
Solar seeing a growth of 8.1%. Competitor JinkoSolar Holding co. also saw also saw an increase of
7.1%. China is still aiming to install 8 gigawatts of
distributed solar power by 2015.
450 MW solar power to be generated in Delhi through rooftop

An internal survey reportedly carried out by the
city administration has revealed that 2.25 lakh
square metre space on the roof-tops of government buildings could be easily utilised for setting
up solar panels in the national capital. The survey
is said to have suggested that the setting up of
the solar panels would help the administration to
generate about 450 MW of electricity, which is
one-tenth of the average power consumption of
the entire city.In a recent meeting, lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung directed his officers to identify
those government buildings having clear roof tops
of more than 100 square metre for setting up of

solar panels in the national capital. He said that the
exercise would enable power department to work
out a detailed plan for roof top solar photovoltaic
projects in an integrated manner.
The power department on its own asked the Public
Works Department to identify government buildings having rooftop area of about 500 square metres. The power department has suggested that
the PWD should also identify hospitals and schools
and colleges which were getting 100 per cent
funds from the city administration.
Page No 6
Interview
India Is A High Growth Market For Solar And

Chp: Fortum
Mr. Manoj Gupta

VP - Solar
Fortum India
Mr. Manoj Gupta is the Vice

President Solar for FORTUM
in India. Prior to joining
FORTUM, he was the Head
Business Development
for Solar Projects with the
biggest solar power developer company. After having
more than 6 years exposure
in Industrial
sector, Manoj has dedicated
himself in Renewable Energy sector ( wind & solar) for
past 11 years. He has more
than 17 years of experience
in Industrial and Renewable
Energy sector. Manoj holds
a B. Tech Degree in
Electrical and Electronics
Engineering from NIT
Calicut, Kerala.
ABOUT THE COMPANY :

Fortums purpose is to create energy
that improves life for present and future
generations. Fortum provides sustainable
solutions that fulfill the needs for low
emissions, resource-efficiency and energy
security, and deliver excellent value to
their shareholders. Their activities cover
the generation, distribution and sales
of electricity and heat as well as related
expert services. Fortums operations focus
on the Nordic countries, Russia, Poland
and Baltic Rim area and now in india.
In the future, the integrating European
and fast-growing Asian energy markets
provide additional growth opportunities.
In 2012, Fortums sales totalled EUR 6.2
billion and comparable operating profit
was EUR 1.6 billion. We employ approximately 10,400 people. Fortums shares
are quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.
1. Indian solar dream seems to get bigger

every day. How have the things developed
at Fortum this financial year?
Fortum is closely observing the development
in Solar in India and we appreciate the various
announcements so far by MNRE, specially with
respect to Solar park concept wherein Nodal
agency will provide land and Power Evacuation.
We hope our dream will also become bigger
along with Indian solar dream. Presently, we
are developing 10 MW project under NSM-II,
batch-1 and also evaluating other solar opportunities available in market today.
+
What will be your growth strategy for solar
business in India? Are you looking at more
acquisitions?
Fortum sees India as a market with potential
owing to its geographical location and high
energy requirements. Our aim in India is to
evaluate investment opportunities contributing
to the development of Indias energy infrastructure. We believe that Fortum has a lot to offer
to the rapidly developing Indian energy market
based on our long track record in sustainable
power and heat production and our energy
market competence.
As far as our growth plans are concerned, we
have studied the market in detail, and now we
are getting ready for our next phase. In June
2013, we acquired a 5 MW solar power plant in
Rajasthan to understand the Indian energy landscape. The companys short term ambition is to
quickly build a sizeable photo-voltaic (PV) solar
portfolio across states to gain experiences in
different solar technologies. Going forward, we
aim to strengthen our focus on solar through
organic and inorganic way, however one

needs to evaluate, compare the investment rationale based on ground realities and potential
return on the investment
2. According to you what are the barriers
for solar sector development in India?
We believe JNNSM has injected the solar momentum in our country and definitely the government has put up a commendable effort.
The southern and western part of India have
witnessed significant traction in rooftop installations but equally challenged with open access charges. We believe such barriers block
the momentum of the solar revolution in our
country.
We also feel that there needs to be a uniformity between state solar policy and central ministry directives. There are also disparities in solar
policies across states, which makes the growth
potential restricted for the country. Therefore,
differences in issues like land acquisition, approvals from state electricity board etc. have
never allowed the nation to take off in the solar space, few states succeeded and rest are
lagging behind.
3. Solar market is growing at a rapid pace.
Which state, according to you, will see
maximum growth in solar installations?
India is itself a heaven for solar energy. There
are multiple states in the country which offers the comfort of 300+ days of sunshine.
We would definitely rate Rajasthan among
the preferred for solar installations as we have
already experienced the solar potential of the
state. However, we should not forget states
like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh

and Tamil Nadu which offer equal business potential to the solar power developers.
4. Besides solar, what are the other growth
markets in todays low carbon economy?
What other opportunities do you see in the
Indian market?
India has plethora of opportunities considering
the high energy needs. We want to utilise the
opportunities by having a stronger foothold in
other sustainable technologies as well.
Fortum has a strong expertise in CHP with existing fleet of 27 operational CHP plants in Europe and Russia. CHP contributes 33% of total
power production and 83% of the total heat
production at Fortum.
India is strategically positioned for CHP offering with the government focussing to create
more industrial clusters. CHP will also equally
relevant to the existing clusters which are facing a challenge to expand further due to the
pollution issue. CHP is a proven technology to
cut down pollution atleast by many folds. Apart
from this, we have another area of expertise in
hydro which contributes 26% to Fortums power generation and we are also keen to tap this
opportunity in India in the longer run.
5. As an investor and developer of project
into clean energy, what sort of project returns do you expect from the projects you
undertake?
We have been operating in the business of
power generation successfully for more than 90
years. And we have experienced success whenever we have invested, as our approach towards
the business with long-term agenda and our
global standards have contributed immensely to

our success.
However, every project is a business investment
for us but the returns are calculated based on
factors like locations, local demand, transmission losses, state government policies, lands and
many more. Hence every project brings different statistics.
6. CSR is growing buzz in the industry.
Besides financial returns, what are social
returns of clean energy projects? Any projects you remember that have had a significant impact on the society?
Fortum strongly believes in giving back to the
society. Especially in a country like India, where
energy needs are enormous, it is imperative to
come up with solutions that meet its demands
without hampering the environment.
With this principle, we have equipped three
schools around our Bhilwara (Rajastan) plant
with solar-enabled infrastructure early this year.
Amidst the heat wave in Rajasthan, where mercury goes beyond 45 degree Celsius in summers, we are glad to witness that our effort has
brought relief to the lives of 1200 students from
these schools. The attendance rate in these
schools during summers has improved significantly in comparison to the previous year.
This initiative has also inherited the sense of
energy utilisation among these young kids and
made them realise the values that solar energy
can bring into our lives.
We have always wanted environment friendliness to be a way of life and thus took this initiative to empower the community as a whole.
Page No 7
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Interview
Page No 8
The successful development of any project

is also to an extent the responsibility of the
project developer or the IPP
Mr. Vineet Mittal

Vice Chairman,
Welspun Renewables
Energy Pvt. Ltd.
1. Welspun is associated with the renewable industry for a very long time. How has
been the journey so far?
global industry stalwarts like General Electric

and Asian Development Bank will be channelled towards setting up these projects.
Our growth has been in direct correlation with

the growth of the overall sector since past four
years. We commenced working on our vision
of lighting up India with clean and sustainable
energy nearly four years ago. Since then we
have been developing some of the largest solar capacities that states like Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharashtra have
ever seen. Our rapid expansion of solar power
projects across the country has gained us the
market leadership position with 328 MW (DC)
commissioned capacities. Through these projects we have mitigated over 648633 tons of
CO2 emissions
3. What sort of returns do you expect

while investing into renewable energy
projects? Do financers look at any risk
premiums involved with the sector given
the weak financial positions of the Discoms?
During this journey, we have laid an imprint on

the industry by commissioning one of the largest solar projects in the world the Neemuch
151 MW (DC). We have set benchmarks in project execution by consistently delivering ahead
of commitments. Our innovations and best
practices in project development have won us
recognition from the Prime Minister of India and
the industry alike. Post commissioning, our projects have been numbered among Indias highest performing power plants.
To asses any investment one needs to foresee

the importance of the sector in the overall
national development plan and renewable
energy industry holds a prime position. Both
private investors and financial institutions recognize this, more so since the government has
announced their commitment to exponentially
build up the solar capacity.
With a project pipeline stretching across eight

states, we are now building mega capacity wind
projects. In the next three years the organisation
would be leading Indias solar and wind revolution with a commissioned capacity of 1.75 GW.
Given that each state is obligated to fulfill its

RPO targets, there are abundant opportunities
to set up solar power projects. The quantum
of solar power projects in any given states
energy basket is still miniscule, hence payments are comparatively easily managed. If
the quantum was to increase to lets say 20%,
we would be witnessing a similar scenario as
experienced by existing thermal projects.
We have been analyzing state wise power scenario in the country and basis which we have
developed projects in states where there is a
stronger payment security mechanism. However, the government needs to take constructive steps in allying the fears of the financial
institutions.
2. Recently Welspun announced that it is

going to invest more than Rs 15K cr in solar, wind energy segments. Could you tell
us more about your investment strategy?
4. Welspun also provides EPC services. Is

this a business segment you are looking
to develop in the renewable space or will
you evolve into a pure-play IPP?
We have been building a pipeline of 1.75 MW

solar and wind power projects across the country Given that these capacities comprise of
projects of varying scales, their commissioning
dates will vary from within this year to next few
years. The financial closures of these projects
will hence be achieved according to respective
project schedules. The funding received from
Our venture into renewable energy segment is

through two of our entities Welspun Energy
Pvt. Ltd. (WEPL) and Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt. Ltd. (WREPL).
While WREPL as an independent power devel
oper (IPP) has been bidding and setting up Indias largest clean energy projects; on the
A serial entrepreneur, Vineet is known for visionary leadership and execution abilities. As
Vice Chairman of Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt. Ltd., his strong emphasis on generating sustainable clean energy has led to the organizations success. An alumnus of Harvard
Business School, Vineet is a significant contributor in developing strategies and policies
for emerging economies. Vineet is on B20s Green Growth Action Alliance & World Economic Forums (WEF) Steering Committee on Infrastructure and Urban Development. He is
a member of Solar Energy Advisory Council, MNRE (Ministry of New & Renewable Energy)
and was felicitated twice as The Solar Power Man of the Year in 2014 & 2012 and as
Entrepreneur of the Year at The Madhavrao Scindia Leadership Awards 2009.
other hand WEPL is the leading builder of renewable energy projects through its strong Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC)
capabilities.
WEPL has built some of the largest solar capacities the states have seen the Neemuch 151
MW (DC), Phalodi 55 MW (DC) or the Chitradurga 19 MW (DC) projects. The best practices
and innovations developed by WEPL have been
recognised widely; the Golden Peacock Innovative Service Awards and IPPAI Power Award in
Innovation as two recently won recognitions.
Committed to Indias energy security, WEPL is
lending its specialist services to other IPPs. The
organisation is now building Maharashtras
largest solar project of 50 MW under PPP model
for Maharashtra State Power Generation Co.
Ltd (Mahagenco). Apart from ground mounted
projects the EPC company has recently built
three rooftop projects for prestigious institutions Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,
Medanta Medici City Hospital and Ansal University.
5. How should the project developers evaluate EPC service providers? How can they
minimise some key project risks?
The right EPC partner not only ensures that
the project is commissioned as per committed
deadlines but also ensures that necessary plant
performance standards are achieved during operations. Our EPC company, Welspun Energy
has for the last four years, built projects in varied terrains in India. Its worth mentioning that
these projects were consistently commissioned
well before the committed deadlines and are
counted among MNREs top notch generating
plants. While partnering with an EPC player, it
is essential to evaluate the strength of its engineering team. WEPL for example, has patents to
its name and has been repeatedly recognised by
the industry bodies for its innovations in project
development.
The successful development of any project is
also to an extent the responsibility of the project developer or the IPP. However, during the
site construction phase an EPC organisation can
look at the following measure:
Building relations with local communities: a holistic development approach has to be adopted.
The EPC player needs to build strong relations
with the neighbouring communities and resident government agencies. This helps in garnering support for the project. Ensuring plant
performance: given the magnitude of investments involved it is necessary that the most optimum solar technology be used. A reasonably
experienced EPC company will have identified
the foremost technology manufacturers. WEPL
has been working with global Tier 1 technology manufacturers, this has ensured that all of
its projects are counted among the best performing projects in the country, as adjudged by
MNRE.
Strengthening local vendor base: most solar
projects are developed on barren tracts of land,
away from human inhabitations. In this scenario, it is critical that a chain of multiple vendors be created. IN addition to this WEPL has
also carried out extensive training programs for
both the vendor and his employees. This helps
in ensuring they are kept on par with the latest
technology development and best practices in
project development. Strong safety mechanism
at the site: a typical solar site during construction period hosts heavy machinery. It is imperative that necessary safety mechanisms are put
in place. It is due to these stringent measures
that all of WEPLs projects sites have achieved
accident free status.
6. Please let us know about the status of
your major projects in the country. What is
your expected commissioned portfolio by
the end of this fiscal?
Spread across five high wind velocity and irradiation sites, WREPLs solar and wind projects are
in advanced stages of development. Our major
thrust is on building mega scale wind projects
in Rajasthan and Karnataka. On the other hand
the Punjab and Tamil Nadu solar capacities are
progressing well. Given the size of these capacities, the actual commissioning dates will extend
to next few months to the coming years; well in
line with the 1.75 GW target.
News
Page No 9
Finance News
Tamil Nadu sets solar power price
Finance Committee approves additional solar panels in Meriden
The electricity regulator for Tamil Nadu set a price

for solar power producers after failing for the past
two years to attract investments to a state that
gets about 300 days of sun a year.
Tamil Nadus state-run distribution utility will pay
Rs.7.01 a kilowatt-hour for power from solar photovoltaic plants and Rs.11.03 a kilowatt-hour to
plants using solar-thermal technology, according
to an order on the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commissions website.
The states solar policy, introduced in October
Members of the Finance Committee of the City

Council unanimously approved plans for two more
sets of solar panels in South Meriden. The plans
from a California-based company, SolarCity, to
add panels on the east and west sides of Evansville
Avenue include a potential energy savings for the
city of $1.8 million over 20 years. One set of solar
panels at the citys water pollution control facility
would save an estimated $328,000 over 20 years,
while a set at the Meriden-Markham.
2012, ordered large energy consumers to source

at least 6% of their electricity from solar a rule that
was challenged by companies in court. Tamil Nadu
has only built 109 megawatts of solar plants to
date, according to the order.
The latest tariff, which plants will be able to earn
for 25 years, assumes investors wont claim accelerated depreciation tax benefits. For those that
do, the tariff drops to Rs.6.28 a kilowatt-hour for
photovoltaic plants and Rs.9.88 for solar-thermal
plants.
Electricity generated at the water pollution control facility would be used at the plant, and the
second set of panels will take care of the fairly
minimal need for electricity at the airport. Mayor
Manny Santos asked councilors if there had been
any discussion on potential glare from panels at
the airport. Having gained support by the Finance
Committee, the proposals will now go before the
Wallingford Planning and Zoning Commission, because the airport property straddles the town line.
Jakson Power plans Rs. 700-cr investment in solar energy projects
A university in Australia receives $9 million for solar energy

research
Jakson Power today outlined the companys plans

to invest about Rs. 700 crore in setting up solar
power farms, taking the companys installed capacity to 200 MW over the next two years.
Part of the Jakson Group, Jakson Power, which is
engaged in the manufacture of diesel gensets, solar energy-based products, solar power farms and
the hospitality sector, today announced the setting up of their office in Telangana to market their
products and services.
Five major solar energy research and development

projects being undertaken by researchers at the
Australian National University received more than
$9.1 million in new funding. The grants came
from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency
(ARENA), an independent agency established by
the government in 2012, as part of its strategy to
increase the use of renewable energy technologies
in Australia by making them competitive with conventional energy sources. In the first stage, ARENA
Sameer Gupta, Managing Director of Jakson

Group, said that the company, which had a turnover of Rs. 1,500 crore last fiscal, is aiming at revenues of about Rs. 2,500 crore over the next two
years.
Currently, the company has an installed capacity
of 30 MW of solar power generation, 20 MW in
Rajasthan and 10 MW in Uttar Pradesh. We are in
the process of setting up 30 MW more in UP.
is making a $21.5 million investment in 12 cutting

edge solar projects, with the funds being matched
by over 6.5 times worth of contributions from
other partners. The projects led by ANU scientists
include research to make it easier to manufacture
solar cells, research into making silicon solar cells
and solar modules more efficient and affordable,
and two projects to facilitate the commercialisation of high-temperature solar thermal technology.
India not to impose anti-dumping duty on solar panels
SunEdison Closes $160 Million Fund With Barclays and Citi
Side-stepping a Commerce Ministry investigation,

the Finance Ministry did not notify its recommended anti-dumping duty on imports of solar panels
from four countries, including the U.S. and China.
Owing to the Finance Ministrys inaction, the window that was available to India for slapping these
restrictive duties aimed at protecting the struggling domestic industry has lapsed. The Commerce
Ministrys quasi-judicial ruling had to be published
by the Finance Ministry for which it had a stipulated timeframe of 3 months.
SunEdison, Inc. a leading provider of solar energy

solutions and services, announced today that is
has closed a$160 millionfund for distributed generation projects inthe United States with Barclays
and Citi. The lease pass-through fund represents
a unique structure that will provide the tax equity
for 40 U.S. projects. The portfolio includes a mix
of ground-mounted, rooftop and canopy photovoltaic systems with an average size of 1.1 megawatts per project. The funds innovative financial
structure is designed to enable efficiencies for the
Following a three-year long investigation, the

Commerce Ministry had proposed to the Finance
Ministry in May restrictive anti-dumping duties in
the range of $0.11-0.81 per watt on solar cells imported from the U.S., China, Malaysia and Chinese
Taipei. The investigation had upheld the Indian solar panel manufacturers contention that the subsidies the U.S. and Chinese competitors receive from
their governments allowed them to dump their
products in India at artificially low prices.
tax equity investor. The investment structure will

allow SunEdison to accelerate the growth of its
distributed generation portfolio for commercial
and industrial customers, a segment where SunEdison enjoys a leading market share position in
the United States. The vice president of project
finance, North America at SunEdison said that we
are excited to complete this new fund with Citi
and Barclays. SunEdison is pioneering new financing structures and cutting-edge solar offerings
with top tier partners.
Global Outlook
Page No 10
Warren Buffetts decision to
invest $2 billion in order to
buy photovoltaic farm.
Four Major
Innovations In
Solar
The future is not the fossil fuels, but the solar energy that is accessible in limitless quantity. Everyone
is aware of this fact, and thats the main reason
almost all the major economies such as United
States of America, China, Russia, Japan, India, etc.
have started paying more diligence towards developing solar energy stations than they used to pay
in previous years.
They want to make an investment in solar energy
today so that they can enjoy an impeccable future
tomorrow. Last year could be considered as one
of the best years in terms of global investment in
solar energy, but nevertheless 2013 is over, so the
world will have to move forward. Recently Google
Inc. invested close to $280 million in order to develop a competent solar solution. It has already
announced another $94 million investment in the
month of December, which shows how actively
the world is moving towards solar energy.
These are just couple of examples out of hundreds

of small and large initiatives taken by various countries, companies and individuals across the globe.
On the basis of these initiatives, one can predict
that if last year was one of the best in regard with
solar investment, then this year can be better than
that. Here are four major innovations that have
taken place in the solar energy sectors over the
past few yearsFinancial innovation:
Solar energy has transformed into one of the most
trusted industries over the past few years. Everyone is aware of its potential and future need;
therefore, no one has any doubts about the returns that solar industry can offer in the future.
Due to this fact, solar financing or arranging funds
for residential solar has come out as a major financial innovation in this industry.
Another example can be of Warren Buffetts decision to invest $2 billion in order to buy photovoltaic farm. He is considered as one of the most intelligent and thought-provoking investors. He knows
what is right for him better than others.
Its not a hidden fact that solar plant installation

and solar energy production requires a lot of funding. No private or public entity wants to put its
working capital in something that will give returns
in the long run.
If he has decided to put this much of money in

solar power development, it means that he knows
the future belongs to solar not fossil fuel and todays investment will whip up a lot higher returns
for him and the rest of the world in the future.
Thats the main reason all the major companies

have started asking for public funding for solar
energy production, which is similar to any normal initial public offering or bond issue. Its ideal
to put it similar to a public bond issue keeping
Bloomberg, Jim Rogers, Chairman a

Energy recently said that if the cost
and installation kept coming down and
er management through combining so
battery technology is introduced, then a
tion could be created for backing up ene
Global News
China adopts new policies to support solar energy

The National Energy Administration of China has
released a new policy document that details the
countrys plans to embrace clean energy more aggressively through new financing schemes that are
focused on distributed solar power.
China has plans to see some 14 gigawatts of installed solar energy capacity through distributed
power and utility-scale projects by the end of
2014. China is adopting new financing schemes
to accelerate adoption of solar energy. The country will be introducing new financing plans that
are similar to those being used by companies like
SolarCity. Companies that install photovoltaic systems and banks are also working on forming better partnerships that will foster the adoption of
solar energy among homeowners and businesses.
The policy document also outlines plans to launch
an initiative that is heavily based on solar energy.
This initiative involves the adoption of new construction standards with an emphasis on energy
efficiency. The initiative will also focus on the construction of more affordable homes and transportation hubs.
Dubai homes to be powered by solar energy

The regulations to govern solar power connection
in Dubai homes and businesses are in the final
stages of development. Dubai aims to feed more
solar power into its main grid, currently heavily dependent on gas-fired turbines - as part of its strategy to diversify resources. Once this happens, the
cost of electricity for homes may be reduced considerably but it will be finalised once the system is
ready to use.
Solar power will help meet the citys power de-
mand while turning it further away from non-renewable energy sources. Sunlight or solar radiation is abundant in the clear skies of the UAE and
is increasingly being harnessed for conversion into
electricity. In the coming 16 years, Dubai aims to
reduce gas use to 71 per cent, and mix its energy
sources by depending 12 per cent on nuclear energy, 12 per cent on clean coal and five per cent
on solar power.
Work Begins on Massive Solar Power Plant in Nevada
Construction has begun on a $1 billion solar

power generating station in the Mohave Desert
that officials say will produce enough electricity to
power about 80,000 California homes when it is
completed in 2016.
The 250-megawatt project, dubbed Silver State
South, will capture solar energy with panels spread
across almost 4 square miles of federal land south
of Las Vegas, according to a fact sheet obtained
Friday from a First Solar representative.
Kornze said in a statement that since 2009, the

BLM has approved more than 50 renewable energy projects around the country. When completed,
it would be the same size as the largest solar project in the state, a 250-megawatt plant that First
Solar is building on Moapa Paiute tribal land along
I-15 north of Las Vegas. That project broke ground
in March.
Japan to construct worlds largest floating solar power plants

Kyocera Corporation, Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation and Ciel Terre have announced theyll
be teaming up to build the two largest floating
solar power plants in the world. Kyocera expects
to have the two solar plants up and running by
the beginning of April next year. Kyocera, a solar panel company, recently constructed 28 solar
power plants.
The two new plants will be located at Nishihira
Pond and Higashihira Pond in Kato City, in the
Hyogo region.The new floating system will be
constructed from a series of newly updated solar

panels, on top of a newly patented bracketing system. The brackets keep these very expensive solar
panels from sinking to the ocean floor, and also
allow for easy cooling of the panels. Theyll allow
easy access for any necessary repairs.
Plans are underway to develop a large series of
solar plant all across Japans ocean borders to produce some 80 MW of renewable power by the end
of the year.
Russias Largest Solar Power Plant Opens in Siberia

On September 4, a solar power station opened in
Siberias Altai republic has become the biggest facility of its kind in Russia.
The Kosh-Agachskaya plant, which has a capacity
of 5 megawatts (MW), will be the first of five solar
power facilities to open in the region by 2019, the
Kremlin said .
The project, which has a price tag of more than 5
billion rubles ($135 million), will bring Altais total
solar power output to 45 MW, the statement said.

Russias previous record holder for solar-power
generation was a plant in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan that was opened in 2013 and
has an output of 2 MW.
According to the Energy Ministry, Russia could
obtain four times the energy that it currently consumes per year if it properly utilised renewable
sources, especially insolation and wind power.
China policy is promoting rooftop solar in worlds top market

China is trying to spur rooftop solar installations, a
policy that would help the nation making most of
the worlds panels to also become its biggest market this year.The National Energy Administration
asked local authorities to identify projects where
power can be delivered to nearby customers, provide extra subsidies for public organizations and in
rural areas and allow more projects to qualify for
subsidies, according to an agency statement dated
Sept. 2. China is targeting this year to add 8 giga-
watts of solar energy for small users and 6 gigawatts for larger projects, which would make it the
biggest market for photovoltaics. The smaller projects would be used by industrial and commercial
companies with large rooftops it said. The largest
consumers of electricity are also being encouraged
to develop solar projects as a way to reduce their
energy costs. Installations of solar panels will be
promoted on public infrastructure such as railway
stations and airport terminals.
Global Outlook
Page No 11
and CEO of Duke

of solar panels
d a proper powolar energy and
a suitable opergy in future
in mind its potential, lack of risk and

ability to generate
a return over a long
time. Most of the companies tend to generate funds through third
party payments and use
that payment to transform
solar energy into electricity.
The payback of the funds is
done in the normal way just
like any other public funds offering.
A few major companies in U.S
have used this way to generate funds, for example the leading solar installer SolarCity closed
$54 million bond offering in 2013.
It was the first such offering in the
industry. The company is planning to
come up with another
$200 million in securitized debt offering this
year. Another example
can be of Vivint Solar,
which recently closed
two rounds of financing
that generated total $540
million. These are just a few
examples, and the world
will see a lot more such bond
offerings in coming months.
Residential solar:
Its slightly a new concept, but
if you clearly have a look at the
previous years data, then you
can understand that the growth
potential in residential solar is
limitless. So far it has grown with
a steady rate, but it will soon take
a flight as the need of electricity is
increasing, despite limited availability
of fossil fuels to generate electricity.
Recently GTM Research collected the
data of residential solar financing market in U.S, after executing ample analysis, the firm came to the conclusion that
residential solar market of U.S amounted
to $1.3 billion in 2012, while it will cross $5.7 billion mark by 2016. The residential solar energy
market is going to increase with the rapid pace in
the coming years. As per the research work conducted by GTM Research, U.S will add another
4,400 MW capacity this year, which is all set to
surge heavily over the coming years.
It becomes very difficult for home-owners to get in
touch with government authorities directly in order to install solar kit on roof-top; hence, the concept of third-party power solar model has become
very popular. They work not only professionally,
but also respond very quickly and serve in a userfriendly way. Due to this approach of third-party
model has got a lot of popularity in U.S.
The only risk associated in this model is nothing
but the clash between central and state authorities over various issues. If the government can
take care of this issue, then there is no other thing
which can stop the growth of residential solar
power concept in coming months.
Storage-backed solar:
What if you could store your solar energy and use
it whenever you want? Doesnt it look fascinating?
Take it in a similar way that people use in terms
of their bank account. They deposit money; they
get interest, and they can use it as and when they
want. How about this concept getting implemented in solar energy sector.
Intermittent generation has not been very supportive to various renewable energy technologies, but
recent innovations in terms of energy storage in
solar power industry have narrowed down the gap
between reality and expectations.
According to Steve Hellman, President EOS Energy
Storage, Introduction of battery storage in the
solar industry will prove to be very cost-effective
in the long run.
He thinks that present trends may not be supporting cost-effective energy storage, but soon time
will change and then it will become one of the
most preferred means to use solar energy. In this
series of innovations, Hitachi; well-known manufacturer of batteries is planning to manufacture
1-MW lithium-ion battery that can store renewable energy.
According to the company, these batteries will

be installed on high-voltage powerlines. With the
help of these batteries, power generation companies will be able to store the excessive energy generated on the line and deliver it to the grid as and
when required.
The leading solar sector company SolarCity has
already started distributing energy storage tool
to various commercial customers. They can save a
lot of money in times of higher demand by saving energy through these batteries. Currently, Tesla
Motors; electric vehicle company is manufacturing
and providing these batteries with a minimum
lease period of ten years.
Utilities investing in solar:
Its the fourth highest rated innovation that has
taken place in the solar sector over the last some
time. Its very easy for customers to avoid centralized power grid station for their power needs
through roof-top solar plant installation.
While interviewing with Bloomberg, Jim Rogers,
Chairman and CEO of Duke Energy recently said
that if the cost of solar panels and installation kept
coming down and a proper power management
through combining solar energy and battery technology is introduced, then a suitable option could
be created for backing up energy in future.
Normally investor-owned utilities are considered as
a threat for customers, but they can also be oppor-
tunities. If the solar utilities can add value to investors and customers by adding new services that are
time-saving and cost effective, then a lot of inefficiencies can be sorted out. Quite a few utilities
have already shown willingness to invest in solar
energy through utility leasing programs and unregulated subsidiaries. If the national government
can give it a try along with the support of state
government, then surely an easy, cost-effective
and long lasting way can be found out. It will not
only lead to hassle-free solar energy production,
but also save a lot of unnecessary funds that can
be utilized in other important projects.
So these are four most important innovations that
have taken place in solar energy sectors over the
past couple of years. Its just a starting and the
data that is visible in terms of investment made
by government and several organizations and installed capacity of solar energy. Coming months
will bring in a lot such numbers.
Fossil fuels are going to last one day, but solar energy is unlimited, provided all the countries make
use of it in an efficient manner. Last few years have
been tremendous in terms of growth of solar energy. It can be seen in the form of above-mentioned
innovations that have taken place.
If everything goes in line, then by the end of current year many more innovations will take place in
solar energy sector.
Industry Insight
Page No 12
With Antidumping Case Behind it,

Indian Solar Industry Looks to Refocus
on Growth
By Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-Founder of Mercom Capital Group, llc.
Aug 28, 2014

3,500
Annual Solar Installations
Annual Installations (MW)
1,000
986
1,004
900
Cumulative Solar Installations
3,000
2,500
800
2,000
600
1,500
400
1,000
172
200
0
12
2009
2010
500
Cumulative Installations (MW)
1,200
2011
2012
Data derived from MNRE, Mercom Project Tracker & Public Sources
2013
2014F
Source: Mercom Capital Group, llc
The optics were less than ideal - the Trade and

Commerce Ministry, lobbied by manufacturers,
pushed for duties while the Renewable Energy
Ministry opposed them, giving the perception that
the government and solar industry are out of
touch with the daily suffering of the citizens and
businesses dealing with regular power shortages.
Although this affected the short-term outlook on
installation growth, the end result was good and
the new NDA administration was able to take decisive action, making a pragmatic, big picture decision that will remove uncertainty and help put the
solar industry back on track for sustainable, longterm growth.
According to Mercom sources, to make up for

antidumping case, the government has assured
domestic manufacturers a guaranteed market by
providing adequate offtake through government
programs, which will employ domestic content requirements.
A draft policy guideline for Phase II, Batch 2 projects was recently announced, which continues the
117%
YoY Change
400
An overhaul of the pricing mechanism, away from

CERC tariff base, to a more market-based tariff
mechanism
An increase in the size of the batches from a current 1,500 MW, and State-specific auctions where
NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) will handle
the bidding process for states while states with an
NVVN payment guarantee will purchase power,
provide land and infrastructure. According to our
checks, Andhra Pradesh may be the first state to
take on this program with 1,000 MW, while other
states are showing interest.The Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will also be working on the development of solar parks of 500 MW
or more by providing support of $20,00,000/MW
(~$33,333/MW) and an NVVN payment guarantee, for states that provide land and infrastructure.
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka could be first in line as they
have supposedly already identified lands for solar
parks.
If the upcoming policy is laid out with long-term
visibility and a focus on healthy yearly installation
growth, which appears to be the direction of the
next draft policy, it could effectively shift the Indian solar market into the next gear. Most of our
sources indicated that the new Power Minister is
extremely engaged and wants to go big on solar.
Industry Perspective
In our conversations with developers, manufacturers and investors, there were divergent views on
100%
76%
53%
36%
300
50%
7%
200
0%
100
-50%
-34%
-46%
-68%
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
Data derived from Department of Commerce
the current state of the market. Developers are optimistic that there is a new policy in development
that is expected to be much more robust in terms
of installation targets, and a more sustainable tariff
structure which they see as a game changer.
2011-12 2012-13
2013-14
-100%
Source: Mercom Capital Group,
mercial rooftop projects, investors indicated they

would look to provide financing on these projects
as long as they were bundled into portfolios of 8
MW and larger.
Policy Updates
Developers are relieved by the anti-dumping decision and welcomed a new level of certainty in the
market. One developer mentioned that there is a
significant difference between quoted and delivered pricing under the DCR category in the previous Batch which may result in cancelled projects,
while aggressive bidding in the open category may
lead to projects being sold due to unviable project
economics.
Of the manufacturers we spoke to, some were
positive about the increase in exports. Module
manufacturers indicated that cell availability is low,
with high prices and onerous payment terms, and
lamented that profits are elusive if they buy cells
domestically.
Without these, they could compete with imported

modules. Manufacturers were optimistic that the
new administration will bring about much-needed
change as they see government officers working
with a renewed sense of responsibility indicative of
the new administrations priorities.Investors were
also more positive, with many confirming that they
are becoming increasingly comfortable investing in
Indias solar market.
Some big possible changes in the upcoming revised draft may include:
150%
124%
Instead of protectionist measures, some manufacturers indicated that removal of duties on imports
of raw materials like glass, copper interconnect,
encapsulant film and backsheet, along with a 5.5
percent value added tax in Karnataka state and 5
percent central sales tax in other states, can cut
their overall cost of production by about 8-10 percent.
The Indian government let the August 22, 2014

deadline lapse on the proposed imposition of antidumping duties on cells and modules manufactured in China, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Unites
States, indicating that there will be no anti-dumping tariffs placed on components imported from
these nations. Indias solar industry is collectively
breathing a sigh of relief that a potential disaster
has been averted and projects that were stalled
can now re-start. However, the drama surrounding
the anti-dumping case, which was entirely avoidable, brought project development in the country
to a standstill with developers essentially stopping
the procurement process due to uncertainty surrounding the case.
200%
152%
Exports
500
India Solar Installations (MW)
Indian PV Exports (2003-2014)
600
YoY Change
Approximately 500 MW of solar have been installed so far this year. We are lowering our 2014
forecast slightly - to approximately 900 MW - as
delays caused by elections and the uncertainty that
surrounded the anti-dumping case have slowed installations. It appears 2014 will be the third consecutive year solar installations have been stuck
around the 1 GW mark.
status quo, with policies developed under the UPA

(former) government. However, the new administration has assured us that there will be a revised
draft in the coming months, which will have the
stamp of approval of the solar-friendly NDA administration. There is some good news for Indian
manufacturers - they are exporting more. Almost
$270 million (~$1,620 crore) in solar exports were
registered in FY 2013-14, a 152 percent year-overyear growth, and another reason to avoid trade
disputes and retaliation. Most of the Indian exports
were to the European market taking advantage of
the EU-China trade dispute which set a price band
for sale of Chinese modules in Europe.
US$ in Million
Major developments in the Indian solar market

over the last three months have been dominated
by general elections, the anti-dumping case and
the recent release of draft guidelines for Phase II,
Batch 2 of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar
Mission (JNNSM).
Banks, on the other hand, continue to express

concerns about state policies due to both low tariffs and the more important concern of off-taker
risk, with several states behind in payments and
continuing to maintain poor credit ratings. Some
investors mentioned that they are lending to projects with tariffs above 6 (~$0.1) as long as developers were experienced and off-takers were credible without evacuation issues.
Imported modules from well known brands were
preferred by investors. Other risks cited were land
acquisition issues, aggressive bidding, with several developers bidding for state projects and then
dropping them for higher tariff projects (such as
the JNNSM projects), and lack of RPO enforcement. All investors we spoke with viewed antidumping and DCR unfavorably, as they see project
IRRs significantly affected, making most projects
unviable. Investors had a positive view of the new
Energy Minister who they see as knowledgeable
and hands-on. When asked about financing com-
MNRE: Phase I Batch 1

PPAs for Batch 1 projects were signed for 610 MW
(140 MW-PV, 470 MW-CSP). All 140 MW of PV
projects have been commissioned, but only one
50 MW CSP project (of the original 470 MW due
to be commissioned by May 2013) has been completed.
The CSP developers, who had earlier received an
extension until June 30, 2014, filed a petition before the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
(CERC) in March asking for a further extension,
along with a tariff revision. The CERC referred the
case to MNRE, which sent a technical team to inspect the project sites. The MNRE expert committee has submitted its report and a decision on the
extension will be made by the end of August.
Phase I Batch 2 - 310 MW of the 340 MW Batch II
projects have been commissioned to date, with the
remaining 30 MW delayed.
JNNSM - Phase II Batch 1
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) opened
bids for the allocation under Batch 1, Phase 2 of
JNNSM. Under the DCR category, power purchase
agreements (PPAs) were signed for 22 projects
totaling 375 MW. Under the non-DCR category,
PPAs were signed for 25 projects totaling 375 MW.
Of the signed PPAs, developers canceled 20 MW
under the DCR category and 30 MW under the
non-DCR category. The deadline for completion of
the remaining projects is May 2015.
JNNSM - Phase II Batch 2
The MNRE recently released draft guidelines for
the implementation of 1,500 MW grid-connected
solar PV projects under Phase II, Batch 2, of
We are revising our 2014

forecast to approximately
900 MW as - delays caused
by the elections and uncertainty that surrounded
the anti-dumping case has
slowed installations
Industry Insight
Page No 13
JNNSM. The selection of these projects is to be carried out by NVVN, through a tariff-based reverse
bidding process (the bidding process was changed
from tariff-based to viability gap funding VGF in
the previous batch, and has subsequently been
brought back again).
Rajasthan: 60 MW of solar projects have been
installed so far under the Rajasthan state policy,
including the 20 MW that was commissioned in
April 2014 out of the 75 MW solar projects that
bid in March 2013. Of the remaining 55 MW, only
30 MW is expected to be commissioned in 2014.
The state recently released the draft Rajasthan Solar Energy Policy, 2014. It aims to achieve 25,000
MW capacity in the next seven to eight years
through grid and off-grid projects and the devel
Exports are up for Indian

manufacturers
ranging between 8.20-8.40 (~$0.13-0.14)/kWh,
PPAs were signed in December 2013 after a delay
due to land acquisition problems during the election period. According to our sources, only a small
number of these projects will be commissioned
within the year and the rest will be commissioned
by the first quarter of 2015.
The government of Punjab also recently approved
a policy on net metering for grid interactive rooftop solar projects.
India Solar PV Installations (MW) By Location (as on Aug 28, 2014)

Gujarat
Rajasthan
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Andhra Pradesh
Tamil Nadu
Karnataka
Uttar Pradesh
Odisha
Punjab
Jharkhand
Haryana
Chhattisgarh
West Bengal
Goa & UT
Uttarakhand
New Delhi
Arunachal Pradesh
Kerala
6.66 (~$0.11)/kWh the lowest bid price and 7.34

(~$0.12)/kWh as average bid price.
The state also revised its solar policy on May 22,
2014, (renamed Karnataka Solar Policy 20142021) with the main objective of adding a minimum of 2,000 MW of solar power generation by
2021, in a phased approach. It is targeting 1,600
MW of grid-connected, utility-scale projects and at
least 400 MW of grid-connected rooftop projects.
Based on this new policy, Karnataka Renewable
Energy Development Limited (KREDL) invited RfPs
for solar projects totaling 500 MW with bid submissions due by August 20, 2014.
Uttarakhand: The government of Uttarakhand
has issued a request for selection for procurement
of solar power from grid-connected solar PV power projects for aggregate capacity of up to 30 MW
through a tariff-based competitive bidding process
under its Solar Power Policy 2013.
Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu has petitioned the Supreme Court against last years order of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, which stated that the
state government could not order specified consumers to buy solar power.
Note: Dollar-rupee conversions were calculated at
$1 = 60.
Total PV Installation
2,697.5 MW
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
About Mercom Capital Group

Mercom Capital Group, llc, is a global communications and consulting firm focused on Cleantech, Healthcare IT, and financial communications.
Mercoms consulting division advises companies
on new market entry, overall strategic decisionmaking, and provides custom market research.
Mercom delivers highly respected industry market
intelligence reports covering Solar Energy, Wind
Energy, Smart Grid and Healthcare IT.
800
900
1,000
Source: Mercom Capital Group, llc
opment of solar parks by private developers. The

state wants to promote solar parks by investing
up to 26 percent equity (including cost of land)
in joint ventures formed for the development of
parks with a capacity of 1,000 MW or more. The
government plans to offer special customized incentive packages for plants above 500 MW on a
case-to-case basis.
Uttar Pradesh: The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) signed PPAs for 110 MW
solar projects in December 2013; 50 MW of these
projects are expected to be commissioned by December 2014. A Request for Proposal (RfP) was
announced this month to set up 300 MW of solar
PV projects. The projects will be allotted through a
reverse bidding process.
The successful bidders with project capacities of
less than 25 MW will have to commission projects
within 13 months, and those with capacities of
more than 25 MW will have 18 months to commission projects.
Andhra Pradesh: The government of Andhra
Pradesh decided to allow any company to set
up a solar project in the state at a tariff of 6.49
(~$0.11) per kWh, including those who did not
participate in competitive bidding for 1,000 MW.
PPAs have been signed for only 147 MW of PV
projects under competitive bidding, according to
Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APTRANSCO). Out of this, only 25 MW have
been commissioned this year.
The DISCOMs i.e. Southern Power Distribution
Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APSPDCL)
and Eastern Power Distribution Company of
Andhra Pradesh Limited (APEPDCL) are intending
to procure 500 MW of solar power through a competitive bidding route.
The state has also allotted a 500-acre site in Anantapur district to set up a 100 MW solar project.
The land will be allocated to the firms interested
in setting up solar power units through the New
Renewable Energy Development Corporation of
Andhra Pradesh lease, not extending beyond 33
years, with the rent fixed at 10 percent of the market value of land assessed at 2,00,000 (~$3,333)
an acre every year.
Punjab: Punjab opened bidding for about 250
MW of PV projects last year. With average tariffs
Indias solar industry collectively breathes a sigh of

relief that a potential disaster has been averted and
projects that were stalled
can now re-start
Kerala: Under the 10,000 Rooftop Solar Power

Plants Program, approximately 7,000 installations
have been completed so far. The remaining 3,000
installations may take another year to be commissioned. These projects are up to 1 kWp in size and
for captive use.
Madhya Pradesh: To date, 175 MW of solar projects have been installed under Madhya Pradeshs
state policy.
Haryana: A 5 MW solar project developed under
the state policy is expected to be commissioned
during 2014. A tender inviting bidding for 50 MW
solar projects was issued in April this year.
The state has approved the Haryana Solar Power
Policy 2014. The policy aims to achieve megawattscale grid-connected solar power projects, rooftop
grid interactive SPV system, small capacity grid solar power projects and devices, promotion of solar
thermal collectors and provision to install metering
equipment among other things.
Maharashtra: There are 170 MW of solar projects
installed under Maharashtras state policy.
Gujarat: Gujarat has over 890 MW of solar projects installed under its state policy. Recently, 30
MW were commissioned out of a 50 MW project
developed by a power company to meet its RPO
obligation. The remaining 20 MW is expected to
be commissioned by the end of this year.
Indias Appellate Tribunal for Electricity dismissed
an appeal by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. (GUVNL) to reduce the solar-power tariff as devoid
of merits, according to a copy of the judgment.
GUVNL, the bulk buyer of power in the state, had
signed 88 contracts for a total of 971.5 megawatts
of solar capacity with the developers starting in
2010. Last year, it filed a petition seeking to lower
the rates, citing the excessive profits of plant owners who benefited when solar equipment prices
plunged after contracts were signed. GUVNLs attempts to revise tariffs agreed to under 25-year
contracts threatened to stall investments.
Chhattisgarh: Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL) announced bid
results for solar projects totaling 100 MW. The
lowest bid price was 5.54 (~$0.09)/kWh, and the
highest 7.81 (~$0.13)/kWh. CSPDCL will sign 20year PPAs with the successful bidders.
Karnataka: The state has 51 MW solar projects installed to date, including the 30 MW already commissioned of the 60 MW solar projects announced
in Batch I. Of the remaining 30 MW, 10 MW is
expected to be commissioned this month and 20
MW in early 2015. A 10 MW CSP project, under
Batch I, is expected to be commissioned in 2015.
There were 130 MW of solar projects announced
in Batch II for which the PPAs are signed and the
projects are to be commissioned within 12 months
of the date of signing.
Recently, the state also announced financial bids
for solar projects totaling 50 MW in Batch III, with
7.74 (~$0.13)/kWh the highest bid price and
Our reports provide timely industry happenings

and ahead-of-the-curve analysis specifically for Clevel decision making. Mercoms communications
division helps companies and financial institutions
build powerful relationships with media, analysts,
local communities and strategic partners. For more
information, visit: http://www.mercomcapital.
com. To receive Mercoms popular market intelligence reports, visit: http://mercomcapital.com/
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Raj Prabhu, CEO and CoFounder of Mercom Capital

Group, llc.
Page No 14
Industry Insight
Playing with Fire
By Staubli Tec Systems India Pvt Ltd.
Why allegedly compatible PV cables are so

dangerous
This time, the warehouse burnt down completely.
The solar system on the roof of the warehouse
had caught fire again. It was the third fire on the
450-square-meter photovoltaic system within the
time of just a few weeks. Although the fire service
had quickly managed to get the other fires under
control, this time they were just too late. The fire
had been started by a PV connector becoming too
hot. The results: a disaster for the company and a
compensation claim against the installer.
Minor Cause Big Impact
Every fire is a fire too many, states Dr. Heribert
Schmidt, Project Manager at Fraunhofer ISE. The
institute deals with the fire risks of PV systems and
reports that, over the last 20 years, there have
been 350 fires in the 1.3 million PV systems currently installed in Germany. In 120 cases it was the
solar system that caused the fire. There was major damage in 75 cases, with the building burning
down completely in 10. Schmidt continues: Fires
are often caused when inexperienced installation
teams install systems on a piecework basis. If the
solar connectors are fitted with combination pliers
instead of a special tool, or if noncertified connector systems are used, then the weak point is built
in from the beginning. System operators should
not be making false economies.
The connectors were to blame for the burnt-out
warehouse, too. They became so hot that they
caught fire. However, the PV installer had only
meant well. He chose plug-in cables that the manufacturer claimed were compatible with the
module junction boxes. The saving compared to
original cables added up to a few hundred euros.
It gave the installer the breathing space he needed
to win the bidding war among PV providers. Looking back, he explains: The plug-in cables fitted
perfectly, and at first glance you could see no difference in terms of color and finish. Now he faces
a civil suit, the outcome of which could cost him
his livelihood.
Mostly, Compatible Does Not Mean Compatible
Everybody should be aware that TV and UL certifications are invalidated if the cable systems fitted
are not consistently from a certified manufacturer.
Both testing bodies do not approve of combining
connectors of different makes. In the case of the
catastrophic fire, the installer had relied on the providers assurance that its connectors were compatible. He now realizes that that was little more than
advertising speak without any real backing. Roman
Brck from TV Rheinland explains: Currently,
the compatibility of PV connectors can only be
guaranteed for products in the same range from
the same manufacturer or products from contract
partners using the same materials and informing
one another of any planned changes.
TV Rheinland examined crossover connections
with PV cables, and its interim report includes
some sobering results: The connector temperatures in the cross connections were significantly
higher than the maximum levels. It was also interesting that resistance of the cross connectors
started off very low when first fitted, but increased
substantially over time. Where the same connector ranges were fitted, resistance remained virtually consistent. In mixed systems, compliance with
the IP degree of protection is made more difficult
by a number of factors, including connector tolerances, as the connectors are often too loose. The
consequences: line losses, considerably increased
temperatures or even fire risks, deformation of
connectors resulting in altered air and creepage,
and thus the risk of electric shock.
Legal Implications Can Be Massive
Roman Brck comes to the following conclusion:
Crossover connections can be found in many PV
systems and can lead not only to technical but
also to legal problems. Among other things, the
uncertain position of combined PV connector systems from different manufacturers in the event
of a guarantee claim means that inspectors of PV
systems are required to report these combinations
as a fault.Manufacturers will accept no liability
for mixed systems. Alongside breakages, deformations, and the fact that live parts can be left
unprotected and exposed, the best-case scenario
is reduced yield for the system operator. However,
there is also the possibility that, as time goes on,
these connectors could come to melt and catch
fire.
Even if the connectors appear to fit, there is the

possibility that tensile and twisting forces, contamination, and mutual influence of materials (casing, seals, connector pins [tolerances unknown],
etc.) do not comply with standards and would be
flagged up in an inspection.
Market Leader Targeted by Forgers
Cross section through MC connector with Multilam:

Fortunately, this fire did not spread ...
The Swiss company Multi-Contact is one of the

pioneers in the field of PV connectors. These PV
connectors have been used millions of times all
around the world. The company has defined de
facto standards with its MC3 and MC4 PV connectors. As with all Multi-Contact products, the
real technical finesse lies in the gas-proof connection between the pin and the socket using Multilam technology. The copper-alloy contact strips
consist of numerous Multilam links. They allow
electrical contact to be made via a number of conductive contact surfaces. Each Multilam link forms
an independent, spring-loaded power bridge, and
all the Multilam links arranged in parallel reduce
transition resistance and therefore power loss
within the circuit as a whole.
It is not surprising that market leader Multi-Contact is constantly targeted by product forgers.
Multi-Contact makes a distinction between plagiaries, also known as forgeries or illegal copies, on
the one hand, and imitations or authorized copies
on the other hand. Forgeries are designed to make
the customer believe he has an original product
in his hand. Forgers use the original name or the
original logo. Multi-Contact takes very severe action against these companies. Multi-Contact is
also supported by Aktion Plagarius e.V., which
awards negative prizes to fraudsters every year:
Cheap copies do not happen by accident. The
forgers act willfully. They are unscrupulous and
only after one thing: money. They copy the finished product, which is successfully established in
the market, and minimize their own business risk.
Temperature increase of mated connectors from different manufacturers:
The manufacturers have less legal recourse against

imitations, which can look very similar to the originals. They are often purported to be compatible. However, Multi-Contact categorically refuses
to accept any liability if these third-party products
are used. Markus Mller, Key Account Manager at
Multi-Contact Deutschland, notes: If you consider the importance of the quality of the connectors
for the safety of a PV system and its yield, I believe
our position is understandable.
Illegal copies of the MC3 and MC4 connectors are
cropping up more and more often, most of them
from Asia. It is difficult to differentiate these lowquality copies from the original just by looking at
the outside. But on a technical level, the forgeries often demonstrate considerable shortcomings
when it comes to quality. And the most critical of
these relate to safety. Top of the list of faults are
a lack of UV resistance and high resistance levels.
Resistances that are too high can lead to the connector overheating and cause a fire risk. Where the
systems are not completely destroyed by fire, these
connectors reduce effectiveness. The weather is
often given as an excuse for a gradual reduction in
power yield, but in reality the connectors are often
to blame. At the same time, if water penetrates
into a connector with a faulty seal, it can travel
toward the module as a result of the capillary effect and cause flashovers that can cause expensive
damages. It soon becomes clear where the real
risks are when these losses are set off against the
savings made during installation.
When People Rely on Their Solar Systems
The subject is even more important if we consider
cases where the solar system is the only source
of power. PV systems help improve the quality of
life for many people living in rural areas all over
the world. For example, solar systems allow better medical care and help people communicate
with the rest of the world. While the failure of a
solar system mostly affects us in our pockets, in
these countries it can lead to major problems and
dangerous situations.This is why the current systems need to be exemplary in terms of reliability
if knowledge of the added value they provide is to
become more widespread among the population.
Quality connectors make an important contribution to photovoltaics becoming a success even in
the most remote corners of the earth.For safety
reasons, Multi-Contact recommends not using
forgeries. Consumers who have been offered MC3
and MC4 connectors and unwittingly received illegal copies have the right to replace the connectors
free of charge. The costs are borne by the installer
or retailer responsible for the deception.
Press Release
Tata Power Solar ranked as the top

Indian solar player
Ranked #1 third-party EPC player as well as #1 domestic module supplier
for 2014
Bangalore, India; 17th September, 2014: Tata
Power Solar, Indias largest integrated solar
player, has been ranked as the leading domestic player in the India solar industry for 2014.
As per the India Solar Map 2014, released by
Bridge To India, a leading consulting firm in Indias Cleantech market, during 2013-14 Tata
Power Solar emerged as the largest third-party
EPC player as well as domestic manufacturer
of crystalline PV modules in India. Commenting on the map, Dr. Tobias Engelmeier, Founder
& Director, Bridge To India, said, Our annual
India Solar Map is a detailed and easily comprehendible analysis of the market shares of
Indias solar players. We interact with the EPC
companies, module and inverter suppliers and
project developers to distill a reliable snapshot
of the state of the industry. Over the last 12
months, Tata Power Solar has been the most
successful company in executing third party
(i.e. discounting own projects) EPC contracts
in India. Among the domestic module suppliers category also, it is the leading player.
The company has been particularly successful at winning large, public sector projects
one of the key growth drivers in the future.
For more details on the map, click here. Tata
Power Solar is ranked #1 for 2014 (in the last
12 months) and #3 for cumulative third-party
EPC, rising from a ranking of #9 cumulative
third-party EPC in 2013. This makes Tata Pow-
er Solar one of the fastest growing third-party

solar EPC players in the country.
In the module manufacturing segment, Tata
Power Solar has reaffirmed itself as a pioneer and leader among domestic crystalline
PV modules manufacturers. The company is
ranked #1 domestic manufacturer for 2014
and the only Indian manufacturer among the
top 10 module suppliers for the Indian market.
Commenting on the result, Ajay Goel, CEO,
Tata Power Solar, said, We are extremely happy with the findings of the report by Bridge To
India. We have been growing aggressively over
the last couple of years and this achievement
is a testimony to the results we have accomplished during this period.The company has
completed several prestigious EPC projects,
including 50 MW for NTPC and commissioning of a 3 MW project for South Indias largest
rooftop solar plant. They have recently won
two orders to supply domestically manufactured solar panels, under DCR, to L N Bangur
group and ACME Solar (a subsidiary of EDF
Energy).
Tata Power Solar is the only Indian company
whose modules are ranked as Tier 1 in Bankability by GTM Research and has been successfully certified by Potential Induced Degradation (PID). Last year they added an additional
module manufacturing capacity of 75 MW
taking the total capacity to 200 MW.
Industry Insight
Page No 15
Solar Module
Price Trends
The global solar module price trends have not
been that fluctuating for the last five years. If one
pay a close attention to the price of solar panels of
last five years, he can find that most of the time it
was flat. Its the first time when they have started to rise. The entire world had to face financial
turmoil during 2007-08, which not only affected
banking and other financial institutions, but also
to solar equipment providing companies. A lot of
companies went on to become bankrupt due to
less demand and decreased prices. As the price of
solar panels has again started to rise; therefore,
those manufacturing companies and their investors can feel happy about this trend.
If you try to look at this change from a different
angle, then you can experience a different situation altogether. Where manufacturers and their
investors are happy with price rising trend in solar
panel segment, developers and a few other environment groups dont want it to happen. The reason is pretty simple, with the increment in the price
of solar modules, the price of overall consumption
of solar energy will increase.
It is already a little higher than the fossil fuel as of
now and inclined price curve in solar module will
further increase the price of solar energy, which
all the developers and environment groups dont
want in order to maintain a continuous growth in
solar energy demand.
Right from the financial crisis in 2008, the price of
solar modules has been under immense pressure
especially due to two reason, falling renewable
energy subsidies and global over-capacity. Due to
a marginal shakeout in the industry, demand and
supply are again falling in one line, which is resulting into the price hike. As per the inputs given by
a few manufacturers, the overcapacity is declining,
which is good for them. It is a broad scenario, but
if you take into consideration the data reported by
companies over the last few months, then you
can figure out that they are trying every bit possible to survive in the market. There are a few new
companies which have even decreased the pricing
of solar installation in order to compete with other
companies. As per the information provided in the
recommendation given by the Renewable Energy
Target review panel, there are rumors that subsidies for small-scale systems may get cut in the near
future, which has also played a significant role in
increasing the demand.
Solar module pricing trends across the globe:
Various important aspects of solar module pricing
trends over the last some time can be understood
with the help of below-mentioned pointsSolar Panel Pricing Trend in Japan and China:
Due to a new minimum European report price followed by trade disputes with China has played a
major role in bringing supply back on track. Japan has already introduced enough measures in
order to take the demand of solar panel on new
heights. Average selling price of solar panels has
increased in China, according to a report published by Hanwha SolarOne. It is one of the biggest manufacturers of solar panels in the world.
Recently it published a report, according to which
the average selling price of solar panels among
top-notched manufacturers in China was $0.62$0.68 per watt.
Trina Solar, a major solar module manufacturer
of China, reported a significant surge in average
selling price of solar panels over the past few
quarters. According to one of the spokespeople
of the company, the sales and profitability of the
company increased in the first quarter of 2014, as
compared to the same period of 2013. The main
reason behind this surge as per the company was
increased average selling price and decreased cost
per watt.
One other Chinese player Jinko Solar recently
stated while announcing first quarter financial
and operational performance of the company
that main sources of YOY increase in total revenues were improved average selling price of solar
modules, increase in electricity revenues and shipment activities. According to Qu, Chief Executive
Officer and Chairman of the company, The cur-
rent year has been phenomenal so far, and we are

experiencing strong demand across all the major
geographical areas. We expect it to continue in
coming months as well. He further added that
Canada, Japan, China and U.S. were expected to
generate maximum revenue in coming months.
The demand could continue going up in remaining
part of 2014.
Biggest market in solar panel segment:
According to Qu, China has the potential to remain on top for many years. The average solar
module installation in the country is 11 GW to
12GW as of now, but as the time progresses, it
can touch 14 GW mark.
Major reasons behind improved pricing of solar
pricing over the past few months:
The improved pricing of solar panels has brought
smile on the face of a lot of manufacturers and
their investors, whereas it has also drawn a line
of worry on developers and various environment
groups. The important point here is that the price
of solar panels has affected profitability of a lot of
organizations. The main reason behind this price
surge can be the elimination of over-capacity. Another reason of increased prices of solar panel as
per told by Yingli Solar was EU-China trade agreement. It imposed pre-specified fees on all the import transactions of solar panels, which automatically made the end product very expensive. The
decision was taken by the Chinese government
after a lot of European manufacturers complained
about the unfair competition practices.
If you talk about the pricing trends of solar modules in Europe, then you can clearly see that the average sales price of solar modules in Europe surged
by 25% in the fourth quarter of the previous year
as compared to the prices of solar panels in the
first quarter of the same year. The main reason behind this astonishing price surge was nothing but
the initiative taken by the organization, in which
it sold all the solar panels in more than their minimum import price.
The current state of solar energy is quite competitive. A lot of corporate houses, companies and big
market players are trying to enter into the industry
after realizing its long-term bright future. Government is also under pressure to keep the pricing of
solar energy within pre-specified limitations, so
that public doesnt face any problem affording it.
Government has been so defensive right after the
financial crisis, in order to keep the momentum
going on. The government doesnt want to give
subsidy to ensure that the competition in the market remains in control. If this situation continues
for some more time, then there are strong chances
that solar power prices will have to compete with
fossil fuel, that too without any government subsidy by the end of this decade.
The world has seen a price surge trend lately in
solar energy field, but still there are a few solar
module making companies which think that pricing of solar modules can be kept under control.
The only condition is to follow economies of scale
and continuous cost saving concepts over the
coming years. Hanwha SolarOne stated in its annual full year report that it expected the prices of
PV products to go down in coming months as the
supply of PV products would increase as compared
to demand. At the same time, the manufacturing
cost would also decrease in coming time due to
improved technology.
Road Ahead:
There was a report titled PV Technology and Cost
Outlook, 2013-2017 was published recently by
GTM Research. As per the analysis done by various market experts, the above-stated research firm
came with a conclusion that solar panel production cost of industry giants such as Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, Renesola and Yingli Green Energy would
fall significantly over the next few years. In the
fourth quarter of 2012, the cost of solar production was 50 cents per watt, while it would decline
to 36 cents per watt by the end of 2017. Some of
the main drivers of cost reduction will include advanced metallization solutions, diamond wire saw-
ing for PV wafers and increased automation rather

than manual labor. It will reduce not only the cost,
but also improve the productivity and efficiency of
the organizations.
According to Shyam Mehta, Author of the report
and Senior Analyst at GTM Research, PV cost reduction roadmaps of the past are no longer relevant for the present. Few years ago, the production cost used to come somewhere around $1 per
watt, and soon there will be a time when it will

be 36 cents or even lesser. The industry lacks in
setting-up a realistic goal for module supply chain
for next five to ten years, situation will improve significantly as soon as it will come over this problem.
It is important for manufacturers, developers, investors, installers and other related parties to set a
realistic goal and then follow it willingly in order to
maintain a balance between demand, supply and
cost of power to people.
Press Release
Schneider Electric unveils

two new inverters at REI Expo 2014
New Delhi, 5 September 2014: Schneider
Electric India launched two products Conext
CL and Conext XW+ at the Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo 2014, India Expo Centre,
Greater Noida in the National Capital Region.
Conext CL is a new line of three-phase string
inverters, while the new Conext XW+ is the
next-generation version of the Conext XW hybrid inverter. Both products come from Schneider Electric Solar Business a global leader in
solutions for solar power conversion chain.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Anurag Garg, Vice
President, Solar BU, Schneider Electric India
said, The Conext CL addresses a wide range
of customer needs and is the ideal solution for
commercial buildings, carports and decentralized power plants, while the Conext XW+ is a
single solution for grid-tie backup and off-grid
solar for homes, businesses and communities.
At Schneider Electric, we are accelerating our
investment by transferring global technology
to India, increasing our local R&D capabilities
and manufacturing locally in our world class
facilities. The launch of these new inverters
further reinforces our commitment to the Indian market.
Conext CL
The Conext CL offers high flexibility (an integrated wiring box with five configuration
options gives customers installation flexibility
and lowers costs by eliminating the external
DC combiner box cost, and 10-to-90-degree
tilt angle allows flexible mounting); easy installation and service (lightweight 45-kg inverter
with detachable 16-kg wiring box makes

mounting easy and fast); high ROI (98.4%
peak efficiency, designed for high uptime providing customers maximum energy harvest
from their solar plants); high reliability (electrolyte-free design works in harsh environment
too).Built for decentralized architecture, with
full grid support features, a broad range of
Schneider Electrics low and medium voltage
products and industry leading system capabilities, Conext CL is backed by Schneider Electrics global service infrastructure and expertise
in energy management.
Conext XW+
The new Conext XW+ is the next-generation
version of the Conext XW Hybrid inverter
a hybrid inverter specifically designed for
backup power for homes and businesses, residential retrofit of grid-tie solar with backup,
residential self-consumption, off-grid homes
and businesses, community electrification and
micro-grids. With the Conext XW+, one can
simplify system installation with the Conext
XW+ Power Distribution Panel, integrate Conext MPPT solar charger controllers, AC couple
with compatible PV inverters, and monitor battery resources with the New Context Battery
Monitor. Moreover, with Schneider Electrics
new Conext ComBox, one can monitor and
configure an entire system seamlessly from a
PC or tablet device.
Industry Insight
Page No 16
Reliable Renewable
The solar energy industrys nascent stage makes it possible to mold it and prevent a slowdown in momentum due to quality and sustenance issues.
By Mr. Subir Pal, Head Discrete Automation and Motion

at ABB India
The sun floods the earth with over 5,000 times

the energy we consume on average. So it was only
a matter of time till this energy that innovators
have used for powering cookers, irrigation pumps,
de-salinators, datacenters, cement plants or even
cities became relevant for governments, globally.
Solar energy is abundant, clean, and modular for
installations of any size, and with some tweaking,
for any application.
Commercializing solar energy also has its challenges. Land acquisition, infrastructure, storage,
and financing, intermittent nature, grid integration, to name a few. The price of solar photovoltaic
systems has fallen substantially over the past few
years, marginally reducing cost issues. These challenges can be overcome or compensated through
technology and policy, while expertise and experience gain relevance over long term.
Countries across the world have been progressively tapping renewable resources, and they provide us with several case studies to learn from. For
example, Germany benefited from open access
but did not allow volume based reduction. On the
other hand China only recently started focusing on
distributed generation. Whatever the approach, a
study of these examples reflect a commitment to
quality assurance and energy stability. This is done
with a view to long-term investment to bring maximum profitability, making quality one of the key
success imperatives.
Over the last four years, Indias solar generation capacity has reported a compounded annual growth
rate of over 250 percent, making the country the
fifth largest producer of solar energy in the world
with over 2,600 megawatts capacity. As the Indian
solar market ramps up, it needs to have a greater
focus on quality and sustenance in order to ensure
safe and efficient project operations and maximize
returns to producers and consumers.
made solar competitive. Since 2009 the average

cost of solar PV systems has more than halved,
while oil prices have risen by 36 percent, globally.
In effect, solar energy has the potential to insulate
an economy from energy price fluctuations a big
concern for India.
Technology should not only help extract maximum
value from resources, but also do this consistently,
reliably and over an extended period of time. On
utility scale, reliability of core technology components is a key concern. Sites (solar plants and wind
farms) are remotely located and any breakdown
of critical components that affect generation can
be extremely costly. Also, the viability of such
projects are based on these plants functioning
without trouble for 20 - 25 years. Therefore long
term performance of the core technological equipment such as the inverter in case of solar and the
converter/ generator for wind turbines can really
make or break long term viability of a project. This
is often overlooked by EPC vendors whose decisions tend to be based on short term consideration
that focuses on contractual obligations rather than
life time performance. Such short-term approach
can be detrimental to the industry. Plant operators
whose business model is dependent on deriving
benefits over the entire lifecycle of the plant face
the prospect of declining returns arising from frequent failures.
Industrial adoption
Despite having the fifth largest electricity generation capacity in the world, over 300 million people
in India are not connected to the grid and another
300 million have unreliable power. Load shedding
in the southern states have adversely impacted
industry output and diesel generators have been
an expensive stopgap. Such an environment has
driven growth of captive power plants (largely
thermal) that now contribute 16 percent of all
power generated.
Immediate vs. long term benefits

Developing nations are usually faced with a difficult decision - to balance other infrastructure
needs in the pursuit of a sustainable energy model. So decisions for solar energy with limited funds
entail judicious choices with an outlook towards
quality and reliability.
As with many other industries, technology and
policy support are the two elements that will see
the industry through from incubation to commercially viable. Over time, cost reductions due
to technology advancements and volume, have
Captive thermal power plants are uneconomical

below a certain size and whether to reduce dependence on the grid or to comply with state solar
power policies, captive solar plants are gaining acceptance in industry. Companies with excess generation are even eligible for Renewable Energy Certificates, additionally assisting state governments
meet state RPO targets. As utilities and industries
increasingly adopt solar as a source of energy, the
demand will spawn equipment manufacturers in
the emerging market ecosystem small, and lacking experience. These could be vulnerable to business closure or end up becoming takeover targets.
This raises complexity in long term service and

support commitments. It is necessary to evaluate
an equipment vendors past credentials and future
vision to maximize value from investments in the
new technology. The existence of an extensive ser-
vice network would count as a critical aspect in

selecting the right partner.
If India is inviting the world to bring their manufacturing to our country, we must provide them
with the power to do so. Current transmission and
distribution infrastructure will have to be strengthened, while facilitating captive renewable energy
generation will be critical in bringing a sustainable
balance to the energy mix.
Sunny rural India
The sun is democratic, and so it is only fair that
benefits of solar energy are enjoyed by everybody
companies to farmers, those connected to the
grid to those who arent.Significant subsidies on
solar pumps for irrigation were announced as a
part of the Union Budget FY15. Farmers who are
not connected to the grid are obvious beneficiaries
of this technology. But on tracking load shedding
patterns one observes that a lot of farmers who
are connected to the grid do not have power during the day making solar pumps proposition just
as valid for them.
The state government of Karnataka recently announced plans of rolling out what it calls the solar
farmer scheme. Under this scheme, a farmer using solar-powered irrigation pump sets can use as
much electricity as he needs, and then feed the
surplus to the grid. This way, apart from making
farming independent of the grid, the state government provides less power at subsidized rates (farm
sector accounts for an estimated 38-40 percent of
total power consumed in Karnataka), amounting
to significant savings over the years. Such projects
will be effective only with the adoption and adaptation of new technologies by India that would
enable the grid.
To provide a perspective, a mature market like
Germany has close to five million small producers
individuals and cooperatives accounting for
around half of the countrys installed renewable
energy capacity. In India, we have close to 250 million individuals associated with farming, if five percent of them invest in solar pumps, we could have
12 million empowered energy producers!
Besides empowering individuals who produce
solar energy, the industry has the potential to
improve lives through employment generation. A

recent report by a key player in the Indian solar
industry that examines the ideal solar road map for
India through comparative analysis of four distinct
scenarios of solar power generation residential
rooftops, large rooftops, utility scale projects and
ultra-mega projects estimates creation of up to
670,000 jobs in India over next 10 years.
Reliability crucial for success
It is true that the growth potential in renewable
energy field has attracted a lot of attention from
mushrooming technology vendors. This has resulted in a confusion over choice of vendors for the
core components from a plethora of new entrants.
It is necessary to understand that the renewable
energy sector is still young and many of the technologies are yet to stabilize. There is no historical
record available for long term performance of
many of these vendors. At the heart of these technologies is power electronics and depth of research
and development in this field is the key ingredient
in producing the most reliable equipment for the
emerging sectors. Fortunately, there are a couple
of leading names that have proven track record in
diverse power electronic applications such as the
variable speed drives, HVDC, power inverters that
have proven over the years in critical applications.
This expertise is essential in robust design that can
withstand the test of time.
It must be remembered that some of these core
components could comprise only 5-6 percent of
the entire plant and compromising on these for
upfront cost considerations is a very short sighted
approach. Companies like ABB that have pioneered many breakthroughs in power electronics
technology are considered long term reliable partners for critical equipment that is in the heart of
solar and wind farms built by the most reputed
plant builders and plant owners across the world
and in India. In a short span of four years, ABB has
attained leadership position in the solar inverter
market with, a third of the total installed base in
the country for grid tied solar plants. Customers
not only count on us for product quality, but the
entire package that includes market expertise and
services that maximize uptime.
Industry Outlook
Page No 17
Emerging Solar
Energy
By Mr. Abinav Gupta,
Founder & CEO, SunSwitch India
The government is starting to deliver on the

hopes it has raised about meeting the countrys
maximum energy requirements by the summer of
2015. Multiple initiatives have been taken by the
central and state governments to fulfil the upcoming energy demands. The solar policies, including
net-metering, have been announced by various
states like Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil
Nadu, Punjab and Haryana which should provide
a boost to the upcoming solar era. Now Delhiites
with solar rooftop systems will be able to supply
excess solar energy to the grid. This will earn them
energy credits, which can be adjusted against their
electricity bills. On September 2, 2014 the Delhi
Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) announced the Net Metering for Renewable Energy
Regulations.
Evolving net-metering model regulation for
rooftop based solar PV projects
In the coming years we could see thousands of
renewable energy producers feeding the grid or
supplying electricity to consumers through local
mini grids. Millions of consumers will be generating their own electricity and feeding the surplus
to the grid. The fact is we are just beginning to
realize the potential of the renewables to open the
energy market and democratise energy generation
and consumption.
Here are certain corrective measures taken by
The fact is we are just

beginning to realize the
potential of the renewables to open the energy
market and democratise
energy generation and
consumption.
Government to boost the solar energy Market in
country.
In 2014 Budget government has allocated Rs. 500
crores for solar power projects.
Focusing on the importance of solar power, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in his maiden Budget
speech has announced that he will allocate Rs 500
crore for solar power projects. New solar power
projects will be started soon in Rajasthan & Ladhak. The largest monetary outlay was assigned for
the development of the largest solar power projects in the world. The project is likely to achieve
the capacities between 2,000 MW and 4,000 MW
upon their completion, would be located in J&K,
Gujarat, Rajasthan & Tamil Naidu.
Government plans biggest solar-power auc-
Evolving net-metering model regulation for rooftop based solar PV

projects
Particulars
Tamil Nadu
Andhra
Pradesh
Punjab
Eligibility
HT tariff
II-A, HT
tariff III, LT
Tariff IA, LT
tariff I-C, LT
tariff II-A,
LT tariff II-B,
LT Tariff V
as specified
in the commissions
retails tariff
order in
force
Consumers
with threephase supply will be
preferred
All Consumers
Up to
90% of
electricity
consumption at the
end of the
settlement
period
Up to
90% of
electricity
consumption at the
end of the
settlement
period
Tariff for
excess generation
75% of
solar tariff
approved
by TNERC
APPC rate
set by
APERC
Restriction
on grid
penetration
30% of
the local
transformer
capacity
50% of
the nearest
distribution
transformer
rated
capacity
Not Specified
Eligibility
for RECs
Not eligible
Not specified
Not specified
Maximum
system size
Not specified
3kW for
singlephase
consumers
80% of the
sanctioned
load of the
consumer
on the AC
side
Cap on
banking
of surplus
powers
Delhi
Uttarakhand
Kerela
All Consumers
All Consumers
Multiple initiatives have

been taken by the central
and state governments to
fulfil the upcoming energy demands.
tion of 1,500 megawatts.
Up to
90% of
electricity
consumption at the
end of the
settlement
period
Up to
90% of
electricity
consumption at the
end of the
settlement
period
Not specified
Target
capacity
4,000 MW solar power projects to set up by BHEL

at Rajasthan.
Rs. 9.20
per kWh
15% of the
distribution
transformer
rated
capacity
APPC rate
of Rs. 1.99
per kWh
50% of the
distribution
transformer
rated
capacity
Not specified
Not specified
Sanctioned
load of the
consumer
100kW for
projects
with
battery
3MW
Month of
order
Nov-13
Mar-13
Aug-13
Feb-14
Aug-13
Order
Status
Final
Final
Draft
Draft
Final
Draft
APERC: Andhra Pradesh Electricity Commission; TNERC; Tamil Nadu Electricity

Regulatory Commission
Source: State Net metring guidelines
Indian Government plans to auction 1500 MW of

solar power capacity in its biggest tender yet, saying photovoltaic may supply solar power as cheaply as coal 5 years earlier than it expected. Power
Minister Piyush Goyal says solar electricity may become cost competitive with fossil fuel-based grid
power by 2017, instead of 2022.
An ultra Mega solar power project (UMPP) with a

cumulative capacity of 4,000 MW will be set up
in Rajasthan in the sambharsalts Limited (SSL) area
close to Sambhar Lake about 75kms.The plant
shall be set up in two phases over a period of 7
years with phase I comprising 1,000 MW & the
balance 3,000 MW in subsequent phases. With an
estimated plant life of 25 years, generation potential of the 4,000 MW solar plant is estimated to
be 6,400 million units of (solar) electricity per year.
Solar energy projects for 25 villages in each Odhisa
district
In order to meet the power demand and promote
solar energy in the state, the Odisha government
has initiated the process of identifying at least 25
un-electrified or power starved villages in each district for implementation of solar Photo Voltaic (PV)
projects on a pilot basis.The pilot scheme, to be
launched by the Union ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) will have solar PV (photo voltaic) based home systems that would be provided
to every household in two villages/hamlets in every
Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha constituency. Each household will be provided with a 10-200 watt peak solar PV system enough to provide power to 3-5 LED
lights, 1-2 fans, provision of mobile charging and
running other small appliances at the discretion of
the household.
Rooftop solar panels on 300 government
Buildings in Tamil Nadu
The work on installing 30 kW solar plant in secretariat would begin shortly. With the installation of
300 seven KWp solar plants and 30 KWp plants
in secretariat, the government buildings would
be nearly generating 34.08 lakh units of energy
a year. As per the Tamil Nadu solar energy policy
2012, the government envisages to add 3,000
MW to the grid. All the new government buildings
would be constructed with rooftop solar system
while existing structures would get these units in
a phased manner.
Today, Indias power mix is still dominated by coal,
which makes up around 60% of installed capacity.
Solar stands at just around 1%. With the National
Solar Mission, launched in 2010, India defined an
ambitious national goal of installing 20 GW of
grid connected solar power by 2022. Since 2010,
however, the fundamentals of energy supply in India have changed significantly. Solar was around
seven times as expensive as coal to produce per
kWh in 2010. This has changed to a factor of less
than two.
Indias power mix is still dominated by coal but
solar is ready to go mainstream
Initially, ultra-mega power projects will help to
bring down the cost at a faster rate; but greater
emphasis needs to be on distributed solar.
Now the need to increase the use of renewable
energy sources for sustainable energy development has been recognised by the government. It
is expected that, 2040-50 may finally be the decade when the installed renewable energy capacity
in India would overtake the coal based installed
capacity. Government has already taken various
corrective measures to meet Indias tremendous
energy needs, as the Indias energy needs can be
met entirely by solar and other renewable sources
in the near future.
With the National

Solar Mission, launched
in 2010, India defined
an ambitious national
goal of installing 20 GW
of grid connected solar
power by 2022.
Page No 18
Company Updates
ISO Certified for quality, safety and environmental management, Nuevosol adds CE Marking to its
credentials.
Nuevosol a leading turnkey mounting solutions
provider has successfully implemented international standards for quality, health and environment
management. Nuevosol has recently undergone
an audit of the same, and the processes have been
certified to be in line with these standards.
As a turnkey mounting service provider, Nuevosols
activities involve, design, supply and installation,
which at every stage require quality assurance systems, to ensure durability and reliability. ISO 9001
provides guidelines to implement quality management systems for manufacturing and services.
Nuevosol over its 450 MWs of experience in past
3 years has implemented more than 75 projects
across India, these quality management processes
specific to solar mounting structures have been in
practice and have been derived from this experience. These quality norms form the base of the
25-year durability for solar structures. Manufacturing quality is intertwined with installation quality
which in-turn impacts the integrity of the struc-
tures. Customized stringent quality check lists at

every stage of design, manufacturing and installation and procedures to ensure the adherence to
checklists form the corner stone of these quality
assurance plans.
OHSAS 18001 standards for safety, and health
of the employees working in manufacturing and
services have been implemented by Nuevosol.
Constructing solar power plants involves working
in harsh climatic condition and difficult terrains
in remote locations all over the country. Erecting mounting structures and mounting modules
involves movement of machinery, use of heavy
equipment and handling of steel profiles, which
are heavy and have sharp edges. Apart from these
working with electrical equipment and cabling
works have heavy risk for human safety. These
need to be performed by skilled workforce and the
installation procedures should be framed with due
consideration to the safety of workmen. Health
care facilities are minimal in many remote loca-
tions where solar power plants are constructed

and Nuevosol has implemented norms to ensure
that hygiene, health and safety of the workmen
are of utmost importance.
Nuevosol as a part of its export business, has a
sales line for mounting solutions in Europe and the
Middle East. To assist the bid for bring rapid international exposure, Nuevosol has also implemented
CE marking norms and has been awarded the CE
certificate by external auditors. CE marking certification opens up several oppurtunities for Nuevosols roof and ground mounted products in the
European countries. In a similar manner Nuevosol
is also acquiring credentials for entry into Japan,
which has even stringent design, quality, and packaging norms for solar products.
management systems compliant with ISO 14001,

which ensure the process involved in manufacturing, transport and installation of mounting structures have minimal carbon foot print.Nuevosol
environment consciousness is inbuilt in every stage
of execution. Nuevosol supplies more than two
lakh tones of steel, and used most of the road
networks to transport these to remote locations.
Manufacturing involves usage of heavy power and
it makes it essential to design for manufacturing
ease to reduce the time to manufacture and therefore the fuel consumption. The logistics network
has to be optimized and using of green certified
logistics providers is of importance. ISO 14001,
Environment management principles have been
implemented by Nuevosol in all of these processes
and has been certified for the same.
Solar industry, is playing the key role in Indias run

for renewable and sustainable energy, and Nuevosol being a frontrunner in the Industry has taken
up the responsibility to implement Environment
SunSwitch India launches New Range of Solar

Powered Products for Indian market
~Launched the products at the 8th Renewable Energy Expo 2014
~Launches Solar Home Lighting System (HLS), Solar Retrofits for Home Inverters
~Attractively priced solar products to light up Indias rural areas and underserved consumers
~Targets Rs. 1o cr revenue from solar business by
FY 2015
New Delhi, 05 September 2014: SunSwitch India,
a full service provider of solar energy solutions, today launched a new range of solar powered products to strengthen its foothold in the rapidly growing solar sector to cater tothe needs of both urban
& rural markets in India. As a part of their business
and growth strategy in solar business, the company has introduced unique and innovative products
which are modular Solar Home Lighting Systems
(HLS) and Solar Retrofits for Home Inverters.
SunSwitch India Pvt. Ltd. - the innovative start upin

solar energy solutions is offering solutions that
shall enable rural electrification through innovative
products that are cost effective and durablesupported by the large after sales service network.
SunSwitchwill introduce the new range of solar
products in a phased manner across the DelhiNCR/
UP region. As a part of its marketing drive, the
company is planning to add many new dealers
and distributors to increase the footprint. With the
launch of the new range of solar powered products, SunSwitch India is targeting to reach revenue
of Rs. 10 cr.inthe solar business by FY 2015.
Speaking on the occasion on the launch of solar
products, Mr. Abhinav Gupta, Founder & CEO,
SunSwitch India, saidWe are delighted to launch
these environment friendly and efficient products.
We intend to address critical areas of unending
power deficit.
Keeping in mind the deprivation of availability

of power in the sub-urban as well as rural India,
SunSwitch India has developed solutions to address these problems by developing AnantUrja (12
V) and Surya Dhani (3.25 V), our two Solar Home
lighting systems based on Li-Ion battery technology. These are modular systems, wherein the customer can invest in pieces and add components to
his system over a period of time, as and when his
budget allows. We have also launched Pakshak
which is an unbeatable solution for retrofitting
Home Inverters with Solar charging facility. We are
positive about the potential use of these products
for our target audience.
The company is utilizing its in-house design and
modernmanufacturing infrastructure to bring to
the market these product ranges that comprises of
various components like Conversion kits, Domes-
tic lighting system etc. company hasregional cum

sales office presence in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
About SunSwitch India (www.sunswitch.in):
Founded in November 2013 by Mr. Abhinav Gupta, Sun Switch is a privately held company and is
part of a Steel Conglomerate called M/s. Ambica
Steels Limited, Indias biggest speciality stainless
steels long products producer. SunSwitch employs
over 20 power professionals and has been growing rapidly since its inception.
The companys core competency lies in delivering
turn-key solar rooftop projects on EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction). It firmly believes that the demand-supply gap in the power
sector of India can hardly be met through the
conventional sources of power, without causing
serious environmental and economic degradation.
Tata Power Solar ranked as the top Indian solar

player Ranked #1 third-party EPC player as well as
#1 domestic module supplier for 2014
Bangalore, India; 17th September, 2014: Tata
Power Solar, Indias largest integrated solar player,
has been ranked as the leading domestic player in
the India solar industry for 2014.
As per the India Solar Map 2014, released by
Bridge To India, a leading consulting firm in Indias
Cleantech market, during 2013-14 Tata Power Solar emerged as the largest third-party EPC player
as well as domestic manufacturer of crystalline PV
modules in India.
Commenting on the map, Dr. Tobias Engelmeier,
Founder & Director, Bridge To India, said, Our annual India Solar Map is a detailed and easily comprehendible analysis of the market shares of Indias
solar players. We interact with the EPC companies,
module and inverter suppliers and project developers to distill a reliable snapshot of the state of the
industry. Over the last 12 months, Tata Power Solar
has been the most successful company in executing third party (i.e. discounting own projects) EPC
contracts in India.
Among the domestic module suppliers category
also, it is the leading player. The company has been
particularly successful at winning large, public sector projects one of the key growth drivers in the
future. For more details on the map, click here.
Tata Power Solar is ranked #1 for 2014 (in the last
12 months) and #3 for cumulative third-party EPC,
rising from a ranking of #9 cumulative third-party
EPC in 2013. This makes Tata Power Solar one of
the fastest growing third-party solar EPC players

in the country.
In the module manufacturing segment, Tata Power
Solar has reaffirmed itself as a pioneer and leader
among domestic crystalline PV modules manufacturers. The company is ranked #1 domestic manufacturer for 2014 and the only Indian manufacturer among the top 10 module suppliers for the
Indian market.
Commenting on the result, Ajay Goel, CEO, Tata
Power Solar, said, We are extremely happy with
the findings of the report by Bridge To India. We
have been growing aggressively over the last couple of years and this achievement is a testimony
to the results we have accomplished during this
period.
The company has completed several prestigious
EPC projects, including 50 MW for NTPC and commissioning of a 3 MW project for South Indias
largest rooftop solar plant. They have recently won
two orders to supply domestically manufactured
solar panels, under DCR, to L N Bangur group and
ACME Solar (a subsidiary of EDF Energy).
Tata Power Solar is the only Indian company whose
modules are ranked as Tier 1 in Bankability by GTM
Research and has been successfully certified by Potential Induced Degradation (PID). Last year they
added an additional module manufacturing capacity of 75 MW taking the total capacity to 200 MW.
Industry Insight
Page No 19
Whats Stopping The Indian Solar Boom?
By Col (Retd) Ajay Reddy
Miya, Bibi raazi, Qazi also raazi.

The Developer is ready to invest. The EPC player is
ready to construct. The Govt has a Policy in place.
But why isnt the marriage taking place?
Studies indicate that the sun produces enough energy in one minute to power mankinds needs for
one year. The problem is that we are not able to
harness this energy. Imagine a world of abundant
power, where we can use limitless lights, fans,
ACs, induction heaters for cooking, ovens, electric
irons, electric cars, electric scooters, et all!!
Will that ever happen? Given the present situation,
this is most unlikely. But why? There is ample sunlight, isnt there?
Just sunlight is not enough!! We need technology
affordable technology to be able to harness this
sunlight. I use the word affordable, because, cost
is what seems to be reining in the proliferation of
this technology.
Solar technology is still expensive in comparison to
other forms of electricity generation. For an investor to come forward to invest in this technology
and expect a decent return over time, is questionable. To overcome this challenge and to be able
come up to the standards of Germany (32,000
MW of installed solar capacity) and the US (7,700
MW), the Govt of India (which is at 2000 MW)
has come up with several incentives to enable an
investment friendly climate and bring solar costs
down.
One plausible way to bring down costs is to allow more raw material makers to thrive, increase
competition and thus bring down the costs in the
entire value chain of the solar industry. The solar
industrys principal component is the solar module,
whose core component is the solar cell.
Manufacturing of the cell and its primary component, the solar wafer is an expensive process,
which is not undertaken in India (there are very
few manufactures of solar cells in India) and if this

industry is incentivised and allowed to blossom,
there is a good chance that the Indian solar module maker will not have to look abroad for solar
cells and thus module costs may find a quick reduction, thereby reducing the costing of the entire
industry. Easier said than done?
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission set to
itself a clear goal of 22,000 MW of solar installation by 2020. The JNNSM phase 1 was a runaway
success, with the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy having successfully surpassed its first intermediate milestone of 500 MW of Solar PV installations in phase 1 by 2013. MNRE is now looking at
phase 2, which is targeting 2000 MW of Solar PV
installation by 2017.
Parallely, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in conjunction with State ERCs announced
Renewable Power Purchase Obligations (RPOs),
compelling HT consumers to buy a percentage of
their annual consumption from solar power (and
other renewable power too) as an obligation. This
was a wonderful policy which would certainly ensure the growth of the solar industry.
A wise man once told me, just throwing pieces of
marble doesnt make a Taj Mahal. Perseverance is
needed. While the govt has set these targets for
polluting industries, and renewable power purchase obligations are in place, who will enforce
these RPOs? Is there any state in the country
whose SERCs have started penalising the HT consumers for not adhering to the RPO obligations
spelt out by the CERC?
Frankly, the solar RPO scheme is underperforming.
It started very well with a huge demand for Solar
RECs. Since there werent sufficient solar plants
operating in the REC mode, the cost of REC trading in the first few month was superb. It greatly
encouraged Promoters and Developers to come
forward to establish REC solar plants.
But the procedure for establishing an REC plant is
Premier Solars 14 MW Solar Plant in Jharkhand
A wise man once told me, just throwing pieces of

marble doesnt make a Taj Mahal. Perseverance is
needed. While the govt has set these targets for polluting industries, and renewable power purchase obligations are in place, who will enforce these RPOs?
a mile long. One needs a Connectivity Approval, a
Pollution Control Approval, Nodal Agency Approval, Chartered Engineer approval, MNRE approval,
Panchayat Approval, MRO approval, Industry approval, SLDC approval, NLDC approval, Open Access Approval, Transmission line estimate approval,
CEIG approval, (and many more which I am not
able to list out), each of which is story by itself. A
total of 224 signatures needed for approvals and
sanctions! There is a huge ambiguity and cloudiness in the minds of every officer regarding the
process, with each table trying to interpret the existing guidelines and apply the existing template of
wind, hydro and thermal to solar plants.
The worst part is that plants established three
months ago have not yet got Open Access Approvals and are losing a valuable amount of investment each day of delay. Unlike wind, solar plants
operate only in the day. The scheduling of power
is more or less predictable with the mornings and
afternoons generating low power and the daytime
generating a substantial amount of power. But instructions from the regulatory commission (or its
interpretations) equate wind and solar sectors and
expect a constant generation in 24 hours (which is
obviously not possible). In absence of a clear regulation and lack of logic and clarity, any developer
finds it an uphill task to go solar.
In the case of Solar Plants taking the REC or RPO
route, the developer relies on two incomes. One
from the PPA that he gets from the private party
and the second from the RPOs. Just the Private PPA
at Rs 6 per unit (the current rate of electricity) or
below is not viable for Solar Developers. The Solar
Developer opting for this route needs the income
from the RECs too, to break even early and to call
the investment worthwhile.
green evaluation, the lower the REC would go,

since there is a huge line of REC developers already
virtually queued up outside the Electricity Boards,
seeking clarity in REC regulations. As and when
the SERCs put in a mechanism for enforcement of
RPOs and the policy on Open Access solar trade is
stamped clear, the solar energy will be the order of
the day and power woes of the country will begin
to wane.The Solar Key lies in the hands of the Electricity Regulatory Commission. It is they who will
decide if solar energy becomes an accepted entity
in Power Pool or remains a far off dream.
Just sunlight is not

enough!! We need technology affordable technology to be able to harness this sunlight. I use
the word affordable,
because, cost is what
seems to be reining in the
proliferation of this
technology.
Its a macro economic outcome. Enforcement of

RPOs by the ERCs, would increase the Demand for
RECs, which in turn, should lower the price of the
solar electricity generated for the PPA holder and
hike up the REC price for the developer- a winwin situation. This will encourage the developers
to come forward and establish more solar plants.
More demand for solar plants, coupled with smart
governmental incentives to encourage growth of
component supply chain market, will push prices
of power plant construction down. This will aid
creation of more solar plants and the abundant
supply thus created will push the prices of solar
electricity down in the long term, thus achieving
long term power parity goals.
From the developer perspective, the faster we construct our solar plants, the higher return on equity
we can expect, since REC demand is certainly going to be high in Feb and March, since the obligated entity has to complete his annual purchase
by 31 March each year.
The more an indecisive Developer delays his go-
Mr Col (Retd) Ajay Reddy
Industry Insight
Page No 20
Energy Storage Holds Future to Energy

Efficiency Importance of Lithium-Ion
Technology in Energy Storage
By Mr. Manoj Kumar Upadhyay
Founder & Chairman - ACME Group
In 1880, Thomas Elva Edison claimed After the electric light goes into general use, none
but the extravagant will burn tallow candles.
It has been over 130 years of cutting-edge technologies and inventions that have tried to make
this claim turn into realty. However, 20% of the
worlds population lives without access to electricity.
One-third of rural and over 5% of urban population in India has no access to electricity and the
areas covered reel under the impact of erratic supply. Whereas, the electrified area faces the challenge of ensuring contiguous energy while efforts
are done to store energy to be used in the non-lit
hours.
The industries and infrastructure struggled with
this challenge and adopted the less-efficient
modes at energy storage at KW-scale that are polluting or hazardous with high content of heavy
metals and acid. The problem is evident from the
fact that the total amount of diesel-led power is up
to the tune of 50 GWh.
Solution
Over the last one decade, the telecom industry
has helped the energy industry through introducing the chemical engineering marvel of Lithiumion based energy storage systems (ESS) that have
been powering our mobile handsets, cameras and
laptops for over a decade.
This solution holds key to the future of energy
management.
The advent of such new-age technologies have
helped the increase in focus on the green energy
generation and have brought us to a stage where
the industry and infrastructure developers look towards green energy generation at captive as well
as utility-scale with contiguous power supply. This
has further helped the industry eliminate or decrease the dependence on grid-connected or fossil
fuel led energy generation.
While we have not begun leveraging it completely, we definitely have realized its true potential.
Companies like ACME, Samsung, and others are
leveraging this technology to develop solutions in
the MW-scale that can provide back-up to the ul-
tra mega power projects in renewable space thus

helping the renewable generating units provide
contiguous power supply.
This technological breakthrough is a boon to the
various other important fields like distributed generation for the rural areas, telecom, defense, transport, utilities and many others.
Advantages and Comparison
The advantage of LIB ESS and its efficiency is further highlighted when compared with the existing
range of Lead-Acid batteries that have been in use
for decades.
The existing solutions have a lot of disadvantages like energy inefficiencies, pollution, recurring
maintenance, frequent replacements. They also
lead to increase in the cost of energy owing to
the limited charging cycles, slow charging capability, operating temperature conditions and short
life. Over and above, the Lead and Acid content
is environmentally hazardous and does not have a
reliable disposal mechanism.
The most prominent USP of this technology is its
lifecycle. Whereas any conventional ESS has a
cycle-life of 400 cycles, the life of a Lithium-ion
system is over 4,000 cycles i.e equivalent to over
a decade. The cost advantage of the diesel-led
power generation compared to the new-age energy storage is way less, levelized over the life of
the solution.
The technological advancements of the LiB ESS
also make it suitable for use in varied temperature
range and 85% recovery capacity after 12-months
of idle storage.
Please find below a chart displaying the advantages this energy storage solution has over the
conventional energy storage applications.
Applications
This only manner this problem can be eliminated
by the hybrid model of Renewable Energy generation clubbed with LiB Energy Storage Technology.
This hybrid solution rewards us with contiguous
energy with least reliance on any fossil fuel generated energy.
This solution comes to the rescue at hostile terrains
where conventional means of energy resource is
not viable. The transport industry has already be-
gan utilizing the benefits of LiB ESS to their advantage and few industry leaders have committed
several billion dollar investment to fully exploit this
technology.
This disruptive solution is the best suited application to make the renewable energy reliable and
the grid stable at the same time in the backdrop of
the vision to install 20,000 MW solar capacities by
2022. This form of energy storage solutions will
truly revolutionize the way we manage our energy
needs and help in bringing the renewable energy
to the mainstream of energy in the country while
the country aims to increase its percentage share
in the overall power generation. It reduces carbon
footprint and promotes green solution with builtin CSR for industrial users.This technology will also
play a major role in supporting businesses as well
as critical operations. Remote areas that have limited / no connectivity to national supply can benefit
the most. They also find their application in Pumping Stations for Water and Oil Pipelines, Oil Fields,
Lighthouses, Sewage Schemes, Defense Installations, Islands, and places like Hospitals, Operation
Theaters where loss of supply can endanger lives.
The solution can also be extended to several other
applications such as Process Industries, Commercial Buildings, Banks, Dairies, Cold Storages, Agriculture Pumps, Water Pumping Stations and so on.
The customized Solutions can be created at any
power level from Kilowatt to Megawatt.
About ACME
ACME is an integrated green technology solutions
provider with more than 10 years of deep domain
expertise in the Indian energy industry with a business focus on 3Es i.e. energy generation, energy
conservation and energy management.
Being an energy company and having industry
leading engineering expertise, ACME provides solutions for any conceivable need for energy.
Our game-changing LiB Energy Storage Solutions
are ideal for use in sensitive environments, as well
as under extreme conditions.
You can count on ACME to meet your high standards. We continue to push the boundaries, bringing our vast engineering expertise from large-scale
projects to the new range of LiB Energy Storage
Solutions.
These efficient, economical and environmentally
friendly systems offer a reliable power supply if local grids fail. For all these reasons and more, facilities all over the energy industry depend on ACME
LiB technology for a constant source of power and
assurance of maximum productivity.
Press Release
Sterling & Wilson bags the BMGI-Energize Power Sector
Awards 2013-2014 for Excellence in Solar EPC and Innovation in Solar Energy
Mumbai, July 16, 2014:Sterling & Wilson part of the 148-year old Shapoorji Pallonji
Group - has been awarded the prestigious
BMGI Energize Power Sector Awards 2013-14
second year in succession, for Excellence in
Solar EPC and Innovation in Solar Energy.
Energize 2013 - 2014 has been organized by
Talwar Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (TSPL), in association
with ETNOWand knowledge partner BMGI a
world renowned strategy consulting firm. Sterling & Wilson, which was recently recognized
by the world renowned IHS solar research as
Indias leading solar EPC in 2014, stepped into
elite league for the second year in succession,
alongside recipients of the award under other
categories which included Indian Power Sector
giants such as NTPC and B.E.S.T.
BMGI-Energize Award 2013-2014 is instituted to recognize those organizations and
individuals, who have made and are making a
difference to Indias energy sector. The evaluation committee evaluated the applicants on
the contributions made by each applicant in
adopting the ever best practices to meet timely
completion, cost escalation/optimization, Human resource management, technology use,
project design, impact on stakeholders, identification & mitigation of project risks, apart
from focus on innovation that the applicants
introduced for aiding solar power generation

in terms of cutting edge technologies, business models, methods, processes. The intense
evaluation also included scrutiny of financials,
project performance parameters, client satisfaction, processes, technology, EHS, carbon
footprint reduction of the applications to decide the winners.
Sterling & Wilson emerged as the organization
adopting the best practices as per the above
in the two categories earmarked for the solar power industry and successfully won the
award for Excellence in Solar EPC and Innovation in Solar Energy for the year 2013
2014 in Mumbai this year.
Mr. Ajoy Mehta, IAS, Managing Director of
MSEDCL, presented the prestigious award to
Sterling and Wilson. The award was received
by Mr. Bikesh Ogra, President, Solar Business
of Sterling & Wilson Limited.
Speaking on the award, Mr.Bikesh Ogra said,
It was indeed a moment of great pride to have
received the award for Excellence in Solar EPC
and Innovation in Solar Energy. At Sterling &
Wilson, excellence is a deliverable that goes
unsaid with our strong service commitment to
clients and it motivates us toalways strive to
provide superior solar EPC services in line with
International standards.
Page No 21
Industry Insight
About NOVONOUS
Solar Energy Market

in India, an US$ 41.73
billion Opportunity
By Ambarish Kumar Verma , CEO, NOVONOUS
India has the worlds fifth-largest electricity generation capacity which stood at 250.25 GW as of
31st July, 2014. The power sector in India is highly
diverse with varied commercial sources for power
generation like coal, natural gas, hydro, oil and
nuclear as well as unconventional sources of energy like solar, wind, bio-gas and agriculture. The
demand for power has been growing at a rapid
rate and has overtaken the supply, leading to power shortages in spite of manifold growth in power
generation over the years.
Renewable energy excluding large hydro power

constitutes for only 12.91% of overall installed
capacity in India. The total solar energy potential
in India is 1,00,000 MW. India till 31st July 2014
has been able to achieve only 2753 MW of solar
energy installed capacity which is only 2.95% of
the overall solar power potential.
The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE),
Government of India has set a target of achieving
overall solar energy installed capacity of 20,000
MW by 2022. To achieve this target, India will have
to add 17,353 MW of solar energy installed capacity by 2022.
A recent study called Solar Energy Market in India
2014-2022 launched by NOVONOUS, estimates
that India will have to invest US$ 41.73 billion in
the solar energy market till 2022. This provides a
huge opportunity for Indian as well as foreign players to invest in this sector.
As per 2011 census, 43% of rural households still
use kerosene for lighting purpose compared to
6-7% in urban areas. As of 31st May, 2014 out
of total 597,464 inhabited villages in India 25,982
villages are yet to have access to electricity.
Solar energy can be used to make a difference
in these segments by providing electricity where
the demand is without the need of setting up any
transmission infrastructure.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)
has planned to focus on key areas using solar
technology like rooftop solar PV, off-grid lighting
systems, solar city scheme, solar water pumping,
solar powered telecom towers, solar water heating systems, solar cookers and steam generation
systems, industrial process heat applications, solar
air conditioning / refrigeration, solar water purifi-
cation/desalination and concentrated solar power

(CSP) plants.South Indian states Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have planned
to add 12,500 MW in next few years which represents direct investment opportunity of US$ 16.67
billion. Indias exports of solar PV cells and modules have fallen after FY 2010-11 majorly due to
fall in prices by about 80% (US$ 3/watt to US$
0.6/watt) during 2010-13 in international markets. The major reason behind this was the huge
increase in capacity build-up by Chinese manufacturers backed by a US$ 43 billion subsidy and soft l
oans from Chinese government. Indias solar PV

cell export improved in 2013-14 at US$ 282.58
million which was US$ 106.94 million
in 2012-13.
Germany, United Kingdom, Netherland, Japan and
Belgium were the top five nations importing Indian
solar PV cells in 2013-14. India exported solar PV
cells worth US$ 245.00 million to these five countries which represents 86.70% of the overall solar
PV cell export from India in 2013-14. The exported
quantity to these five countries was 1.62 million
solar PV cells which represents 30.04% of overall solar PV cell export from in India in 2013-14 in
volume terms.
Indias solar PV cell import decreased in 2013-14 at
US$ 711.12 million which was US$ 827.07 million
in 2012-13.
China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and South
Korea were the top five nations exporting solar
PV cells to India in 2013-14. India imported solar
PV cells worth US$ 684.41 million from these five
countries which represents 96.24% of the overall solar PV cell import in India in 2013-14. The
imported quantity from these five countries was
14.49 million solar PV cells which represents 94%
of overall solar PV cell import in India in 2013-14
in volume terms
Incentives offered by government like GBI (generation based incentives), AD (accelerated depreciation), exemption from excise duty and allowance
of 100% FDI (foreign direct investment) in Indian
solar energy market is expected to provide the sector much needed boost in the coming years.
NOVONOUS helps
organizations
diffrentiate
themselves, break
entry barriers, track
investments and
develop strategies by
providing business
intelligence that works
for their business.
Market Statistics
Page No 22
REC balance reaching 10 million

The recent trading session of the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) was concluded on 27th August at the Indian Energy Exchange Limited (IEX) in
New Delhi and the Power Exchange India Limited
(PXIL) in Mumbai.
In case of non- solar RECs demand fell by almost
200% as compared to last trade session and supply grew by close to 6%. Non Solar price continued to remain at floor (INR 1,500 per REC). The
total solar RECs issued in August was 613871 and
of which only 1163 were redeemed. The prices remained flat at INR 9300/ REC.
Power Markets
The electricity traded in the spot market at Indian
Energy Exchange (IEX) increased in the month of
August to 2.5 BUs (Billion kWh), almost 8% higher
than 2.3 BUs traded in the previous month and
7% higher over 2.3 BUs traded in the same month
last year. An average of 80 MUs was traded on
a daily basis, again an 8% increase over 74 MUs
traded last month.
As regards the demand and supply of power, the
spot market received purchase bids of 4.72 BUs
while the Sell bids were only 3.01 BUs, clearly indicating that demand surpassed supply this month.
Consequently, the average Market Clearing Price
(MCP) for the month went up to ` 4.49 per unit, up
by 19% from ` 3.76 per unit in July14.
Press Release
Infineon Consolidates Leading Position in Power
Semiconductors; Growth DespiteWeak Market;
Number One for the First Time in MOSFET Segment
Neubiberg, Germany September 8, 2014
Infineon Technologies AG consolidated its
position as global market leader in power
semiconductors last year. With a market share
of 12.3 per cent, the company came in first
for the eleventh time in a row, according to
a study carried out by IHS Inc (NYSE: IHS), a
business information provider. Infineon also
took the lead for the first time in the market
for MOSFET power transistors. These are very
compact switches that are required, for example, in energy-efficient power supply units.
The global market for power semiconductors
dropped by 0.3 per cent to around 15.4 billion US dollars in 2013. Despite this weaker
environment, Infineon increased its turnover,
thereby boosting its market share by 0.9 percentage points compared to the previous year
to 12.3 per cent. In the MOSFET power transistor segment, the company enlarged its market
share by 1.6 percentage points to 13.6 per
cent, thereby becoming the largest provider
in this segment for the first time. Infineon
also gained market shares in the submarkets
for discrete IGBT power transistors (first place
with 24.7 per cent) and IGBT modules (second
place with 20.5 per cent).
Infineons strategy proved right: By taking the
step from product-oriented thinking towards a
systems-level perspective, we are offering our
customers just the right products to become
even more successful. Our continuous gains
in the field of MOSFET power transistorsare
impressive evidence of this. Even in a weaker
market phase, we have managed to continue
on our growth path,saysDr. Reinhard Ploss,
CEO of Infineon Technologies AG.
Power semiconductors are available as dis-
cretes, as modules or assembled as stacks,

depending on the area of application. They
control and convert electrical power ranging
from just a few watts tomultiple megawatts.
Typical areas of application include the power
supply of servers,notebooks, smartphones,
tablets, consumer electronics and mobile communications infrastructure. In addition, power
semiconductors are an important element in
the electronic controlof drive systems of all
kinds (for example in pumps, ventilators and
compressors) and are also used for the motor control of high-speed, regional, suburban
and underground trains. Inthe automotivesector, they are used in the powertrain, comfort
electronics (power windows, etc.) andsafety
systems (electronic power steering, etc.). They
are also a fundamental element of hybrid and
electric vehicles.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions
addressing three central challenges to modern
society: energy efficiency, mobility, and security. In the 2013 fiscal year (ending September
30), the company reported sales of Euro 3.84
billion with close to 26,700 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA
on the over-the-counter market OTCQX International Premier (ticker symbol: IFNNY).
Further information is available at www.infineon.com
This news release is available online at www.
infineon.com/press
The increase in demand and the consequent rise

price of power could be attributed to a couple of
reasons i.e. scanty rainfall and consequent reduction in hydro generation, coal and gas shortages
and increase of agricultural load in some States.
The inter-state transmission congestion was also
lower over last month as about 200 MUs could
not be traded this month as compared to 223 MUs
lost in July.
Short Term Power Markets
Total share of the short term market transactions
in the fiscal 14 continued to be 11% of the total
generation in the country. The volume transacted
compared to last year increased from 98.94 BUs in
FY 13 to 104.64 BUs in FY 14.
In the short term, the volume traded through traders or directly between Discoms was about 50%
of total short term transactions whereas, IEX contributed 28%. Volume of electricity transacted
through power exchangeswitnessed an increase of
about 30% over 2012-13 volume.
Whereas, the volume of UI continued to witness a
decline and in the last year.
Page No 23
Upcoming Events
AZINDIA2014_Solar Quarter_5,6x8,34inch_Layout 1 24.06.14 14:55 Seite 1
India's Largest Exhibition

and Conference for the Solar Industry
Bombay Exhibition Centre, Halls 5 and 6
Mumbai
Intersolar India is your gateway to one of the most
promising solar markets in the world.
Network with over 8,500 potential business contacts from
the Indian solar industry
Stay up to date with the latest trends and technological
developments
Boost your brand visibility with an established B2B event
Bookings open for Sponsorships & Exhibition,

Contact :Mr Vipul K, M : +91 9920917193
E: vipul@firstviewgroup.com,
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SolarQuarter October 2014 Vol3 Issue10

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SolarQuarter October 2014 Vol3 Issue10

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INR 300

Monthly Print Edition

Volume 03 I Issue 10 I October 2014

70 MW solar power project to be set up by SunEdison

Indias new state of Telangana has launched a

and 15-year prices. The deadline for bids is the 26

SunEdison has announced that it has signed an

The Telangana solar auction matches its now

Antofagasta plans to use solar power to meet a

Solar power project developers can bid for 25-year

This would not be the first clean energy initiative

The mine operators, from the very beginning, had

Indian State Telangana Issues 500 MW Solar Power Tender

Worlds largest single rooftop solar power project commissioned in India

Telangana has issued a large solar power tender

L&T Indias largest EPC Company in the solar

power project located in Rajasthan.

Larsen and Toubro reported that it has already

Punjab has some of highest power tariffs in the

The Telangana government has issued a tender to

while it can arrange for only 3,500-3,600 MW.

This includes the largest solar thermal power plant

The company has also worked on several other

Green think tank revived in Delhi to tap solar power

After making solar power a success in its own

Since the union governments focus is on solar

GEDCOL has earmarked land to set up three solar

It has now been moved to the power department

Karnataka Government launches a scheme to allow farmers to

Tata solar Power bags order from JNNSM

Karnataka Government on launched a scheme that

Tata Power Solar (TPS) has won one of the largest

Energy Minister DK Shivakumar said that it would

The Union Government has allocated one lakh

Rahul Budhwar, Vice President, Manufacturing

Manoj Kumar Upadhyay, CEO, ACME Solar, said

India proposes ultra mega scheme to scale solar PV

Solar photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturer

content requirements (DCR) to use domestically

and 1 gigawatts of capacity.

As per the agreement, ReneSola will provide the

The project will be constructed by an Indian firm,

The scheme plans to establish 25 solar parks in

The draft proposal describes the Charanka Solar

The MNRE mentioned the solar parks in Gujarat

This is in line with Indias applicable domestic

Solar anti-dumping plan dropped by India before Modi meets

between 11 and 81 U.S. cents per watt following

NTPC may be forced to tap international solar power suppliers

solar plant could be only around 300MW a year.

Concerned over frequent mishaps at unmanned

manned gates in ECR. Proper lights could avert

Delhi Plans to Spur Rooftop Solar With U.S. Style Policy

7.52 MW rooftop solar unit commissioned by L&T in Punjab

Now, sell solar power to discoms

and wind, in Delhi only solar generation is feasible.

Telangana set to turn towards solar power

cially during the past few months. Even during the

Suzlon Energy eyeing at EPC contracts in solar power segment

of its business to its European subsidiary Senvion

Advanced Energy provides power and control

1. Advanced Energy recently launched a

Advanced Energy provides power and control

The major problems are mainly due to unstable