First annual Solar PV Conclave releases the much awaited report.

SolarIndiaOnline.com the online partner for the conclave.

The India Semiconductor Association (ISA), the trade body representing the Indian Semiconductor driven industry launched the report on “Solar PV Industry : Global and Indian Scenario” along with the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) at the inaugural session of the first annual Solar PV Conclave 2008 held in New Delhi. The conclave was supported by MNRE, TiE and Sandisk. SolarIndiaOnline.com was the online partner of the conclave.

Padma Vibhushan Dr. V Krishnamurthy – Chairman of NMCC was the chief guest of the show and released the report with Shri. V Govindarajan, Member Secretary, NMCC. Dr. Krishnamurthy said that NMCC has provided a National Solar Mission to Prime Minister and asked to give Solar a special status like Atomic and Space research.

Mr. Shubhranshu Patnaik, Executive Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, presented the report findings in the first session of the conclave. The study provides the current status and future trends in solar PV manufacturing, technology, R&D, market dynamics, financial aspects and industry challenges. It also benchmarks the government policy initiatives and market drivers in leading countries in this sector. The support and guidance of NMCC and other stakeholders has provided ISA with an opportunity to present a comprehensive report and credible data on the solar PV industry.

The executive summary of the report will be available on SolarIndiaOnline.com in the coming weeks.

The conclave was concluded with CEO Panel discussion on Driving towards Grid Parity: Innovations and Roadmap. Key industry players like Moserbaer, Reliance, Applied Materials, Titan Energy were the part of the conclave. The Conclave organized by ISA brought together domestic and global leaders in the solar PV space to discuss the international and national policies and focus on developing India's strengths.

R – Power plans to invest over Rs. 600 billion in Renewable Energy

Possibilty of setting up Concentrating Solar Plant by R- Power
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)-promoted Reliance Power (R-Power) is planning to invest over Rs 600 billion (Rs60,000 crore) in renewable and alternative energy resources such as hydroelectric, wind, solar and fuel cell-based power.
At the AGM of the company, Mr. Anil Ambani, the Chairman said, “Recent initiatives announced by the Government of India for Grid Interactive Multi-Megawatt Solar Thermal Power had given a boost to the solar power market in the country”. Adding, he said that R-Power is considering the possibility of setting up a one-of-its-kind, 100 MW grid interactive concentrating solar power (CSP) plant through an exclusive alliance with a technology provider.
Plans in other renewable energy sector include 500 MW of wind power over the next 3 years, and about 2000MW from hydroelectric energy
The global financial crisis would not affect the company's fund-raising plans as its balance sheet was well capitalised through money raised from its recent initial public offer (IPO). The company had mobilised around Rs 11,500 crore through the IPO.

Moser Baer receives Rs 415 cr from global investors

Moser Baer India's wholly owned photovoltaic (PV) subsidiary has received in full the agreed capital injection of Rs 415 crore from a consortium of global investors to fund the capacity expansion of its high efficiency crystalline silicon and thin film solar verticals.
The company currently has an annual capacity of 120 Mw, including 40 Mw of amorphous silicon Gen 8.5 thin film modules. The investment is intended to fund the expansion of the crystalline silicon cell manufacturing to 180 Mw and amorphous silicon thin film to 120 Mw.
Earlier this month, the company had announced signing of definitive contracts with global investors, including Nomura, CDC Group, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, IDFC PE and IDFC. This straight equity transaction values the company’s PV business at over Rs 6,350 crore ($1.44 billion) while the investors are entitled to a 6.5 per cent stake in the business.

ISA to release first ever report on Indian Solar PV industry.

Solar India Online - the online partner.

The India Semiconductor Association (ISA), the trade body representing the Indian semiconductor driven industry will launch the "ISA- NMCC report on the Solar PV industry: Global and India scenario, 2008". The study has been supported by National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) and Government of India. ISA has carried out this study in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The report will be released at the first annual ‘Solar PV conclave 2008' to be held on September 29, 2008 at New Delhi. The conclave will include sessions on topics like policy framework, financing, market applications, roadmaps and innovation related to the industry. SolarIndiaOnline.com is the online partner for the event.

Padma Vibhushan Dr Krishnamurthy, Chairman, NMCC will inaugurate the conclave. Senior Government of India officials including Mr. Govindarajan, Member Secretary, NMCC and Mr. Deepak Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will be among the key speakers at the conclave.

Poornima Shenoy, President, ISA said, "ISA has strategic aspirations to map the value chain for Solar PV in the country. Our members in the chip design, EDA and Solar PV space are demanding increased activity in this area. India has the opportunity to being a fore runner in this field.” Key industry players like Applied Materials, Moser Baer, BEL, and Solar Signet have provided invaluable inputs.

New investments in semiconductor sector nearly Rs. 55,000 crore.

Government's new policy for semiconductor fabs and eco-system units has led to a flow of investments in this sector, which has attracted three new solar photovoltaic (PV) proposals worth nearly Rs.55, 000 crore in the last two months. With that the overall proposals under the scheme reached to 14 with a total investment of about Rs.1, 36, 000 crore.
New investments plans came from Vavasi Telegence which would invest about Rs.39,000 crore for solar photovoltaic and polysilicon unit, EPV Solar, which has plans to invest about Rs. 4,000 crore for solar photovoltaic unit and Lanco Solar, with an investment of Rs.12,938 core in solar PV and polysilicon unbit.

A committee of experts had its first meeting to evaluate the projects from technology standpoint. Moreover, experts inputs is critical in evaluation of the projects as Special Incentive Package Scheme (SIPS) which notified last year to encourage investment for semiconductor fabrication and other micro nano technology manufacturing industries, has emphasized on latest technology.

Earlier, proposals had also came from Reliance to start a semiconductor wafer fab worth Rs.18, 521 crore and Videocon to set up a LCD fab of Rs.8, 000 crore. Apart from that, Moser Baer PV Technologies, Titan Energy Systems, KSK Energy Ventures, Signet Solar, Phoenix Solar India, Tata BP Solar India, Solar Semiconductor, and TF SolarPower have proposals to invest in solar PV space.

Solar Light replaces Moon Light to beam a village.

In Gudda, a village with very little, residents are literally beaming. Just two years ago, villagers had never seen light after dark, unless it came from the moon. Then, solar light arrived and changed everything.
About Gudda
• Location: Gudda is about 300 miles southwest of Delhi
• Population: About 500 people live in the village
• Work: Most residents are farmers and sheep breeders
• Main crop: Millet
• Other facts: Water is scarce and there is no power except for solar electricity
The light is powered by a solar panel on the roof that charges a battery. Panels can be seen on almost every rooftop in Gudda. Ram, the man credited with the transformation, doesn't have a high school degree. But he did attend an institution about an hour away called Barefoot College, established 35 years ago with an emphasis on helping India's rural population find solutions for their problems among themselves.
On a recent visit to the main college campus, a group of village women was hard at work making solar cookers, which can boil a liter of water in eight minutes. They are part of the "Women Barefoot Solar Cooker Engineers Society" -- six women who came together and started their own business.
People of Gudda say the Solar lights have allowed them to increase their business by a third. The panels also have powered up the only DVD player and television in the village. The villagers say that they now feel empowered and less reliant on a far-off government.
Nobody in the village knew what artificial light was, and now, every home in the village has Solar Lanterns.

Photon Energy Systems becomes SolarIndiaOnline.com Associate

Photon Energy System joins hands with SolarIndiaOnline.com and has become its associate. Photon Energy Systems Limited (Photon), an ISO 9001 : 2000 certified unit, was established in 1995, as a private company, to manufacture Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Modules, PV Systems and Solar Thermal products. It is headquartered at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, with marketing offices in India (Bangalore, Pune, Ludhiana, Coimbatore and Raipur) and overseas (South Africa).
The company commenced operations in 1997-98, with financial assistance from Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA). The initial capacity of 3.0 MWp has been increased to 30 MWp currently. It has also planned to increase the capacity to 50 MW by July 2008 and further to 100 MW by mid 2009.
SolarIndiaOnline.com is excited to have one of the Solar Industry leaders as their Associates.

Solar signals to direct Delhi Traffic.

New Delhi: The Capital is now looking at installing solar-powered traffic signals at major intersections in the city. With this, traffic jams caused by signals rendered non-functional due to power failure or heavy rain may soon become a thing of the past. The traffic police is also installing invertors for back-up at major points.

The technology is expensive — the main reason why the traffic police has stayed away from it — and also high on maintenance. Apart from the usual checking of bulbs and wires, the solar panel put up on every signal also needs to be cleaned on a regular basis. But, the signals are not dependent on power supply and will ensure that traffic movement doesn’t get affected by power cuts.

Experts feel that a futuristic technology, solarisation, is an efficient means, provided the power is efficiently stored. The traffic police will need to ensure that signals are operational at night too, and this can only be done if the power absorbed during the day is stored. Solar powered signals are more energy efficient. So, the operational costs will be lower.

Once the technology is tested, the signals will be introduced at all the 702 signalised intersections in the city in a phased manner. The traffic police is, reportedly, in talks with a Bangalore-based firm for the same, but a final decision is still awaited.

The signals are made of maintenance-free LEDs, which offer clear visibility even during adverse weather conditions. They are eco-friendly and consume very little power, fitted with countdown timers to save fuel and reduce pollution levels. They also have vehicle actuated traffic controllers for better efficiency.

The first lot of solar signals were installed in the Capital a decade ago in 1998, at three intersections — Chandgiram Akhara crossing in north Delhi, Moolchand crossing in south Delhi and IGI crossing near the airport. These signals were later also tried out on National Highway-8 by the traffic police. Of all these, only one solar powered signal — at Chandgiram Akhara — is still functional.

GREEN LIGHTS ON DELHI ROADS

No of signalised intersections - 702

No of more signals to be added | About 25

No of solar signals in city - 1 (3 istalled)

Solar energy can meet all the world's energy demands.

"The Solar Energy resource is enormous, and distributed all over the world, in all countries and also oceans. There is thus an enormous resource available from photovoltaics, which can be used everywhere, and can in principle cover all the world energy demand from a renewable, safe and clean source,” said Daniel Lincot, the chairman of the five-day European Photovoltaic Solar Energy conference held in Valencia.
Lincot, the research director of the Paris-based Institute for Research and Development of Photovoltaic Energy, said solar energy was growing rapidly but still made only a "negligible" contribution to total energy supply. Last year the world production of photovoltaic models represented a surface of 40 square kilometres (16 square miles) while meeting the electrical consumption of countries like France or Germany would require 5,000 square kilometers, he said.
Under current scenarios, Photovoltaic models will represent about 1,000 square kilometers by 2020 accounting for about only 3.0 percent of energy needs in the 27-member European Union, he added.
Over 200 scientists and Solar power experts have signed a declaration calling on the accelerated deployment of photovoltaic power which was launched at the conference. More than 3,500 experts and 715 sector firms took part in the gathering, billed as the largest conference ever organized in the field of photovoltaic conversion of solar energy. Germany and Spain are the world leaders in solar energy power. Germany has 4,000 megawatts of installed capacity while Spain has 600 megawatts.

Moser Baer to raise Rs4.11bn

Moser Baer India Ltd. has announced that its wholly owned photovoltaic (PV) subsidiary has entered into definitive agreements to raise Rs4.11bn from a consortium of global investors, including Nomura, CDC Group, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, IDFC PE and IDFC.
This huge investment will help in Moser Baer growth plans. The investment will significantly be used to fund the expansion of the Crystalline Silicon Cell manufacturing to 180 MW, presently it is 120 MW and Amorphous Silicon Thin Film to 120 MW from 40MW.
Mr. Ratul Puri, Executive Director, was very much excited with the growth in their PV business. This funding allows Moser Baer to develop a significant global multi-technology platform and consolidate their leadership position on the global photovoltaic business.
Moser Baer’s previous private equated funding transaction was Rs. 4bn in November 2007. In all, wholly owned subsidiary would have been raised to Rs. 8.11bn for private funding. The transaction values Moser Baer's PV business at Rs. 63.5bn (US$1.44bn).

DuPont opens solar business in India

DuPont has opened a solar-materials business in India to help capture part of the rapidly growing market.
DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions will sell films, resins, encapsulant sheets, flexible substrates and conductive pastes for both crystalline silicon and thin film modules to the Asian nation's solar industry.
The company expects the photovoltaic market to grow by 50 percent in "each of the next few years," and expects some of its industry sales could top $1 billion within the next five years.
"Driven by India's geographical location, government incentives to promote renewable energy and increasing energy requirements in the country, India will emerge as a large manufacturing base for photovoltaic cell and module production," Balvinder S. Kalsi, president and chief executive of DuPont India, said in a news release.