Mohanka additionally mentioned how present demand and coverage in each the US and India provide an opportune second to develop, and why, he believes, the export of PV manufacturing might comply with within the footsteps of India’s growth in IT Industry providers internationally.

Steady shift in direction of Indian modules

Asked why Gautam Solar is planning the extension, Mohanka mentioned there are two major drivers. Firstly, the Indian authorities is supporting the home Indian market by way of its bold web zero targets, which goal to put in 500GW of renewable vitality capability by 2030.

It can also be supporting the highest home module producers by way of the Approved List of Module Manufacturers (ALMM), a coverage which constitutes an try to cut back India’s dependency on imports. At its top, the coverage required Indian photo voltaic installations to make use of modules equipped by corporations with ALMM accreditations, all of which have been Indian corporations.

However, india failed to satisfy its 2022 renewable vitality goal amid shortages of photo voltaic modules, resulting in the ALMM being lifted in February, although Mohanka believes it’s prone to come again once more by March 2024.

Even with out ALMM, there are many authorities initiatives in India that are mandated to take Indian made modules beneath the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) insurance policies.

India’s DCR has two tranches, one which requires each cells and modules to be made in India, whereas the opposite requires greater than 50% of the module’s parts to be produced regionally, so both the cell itself, or no less than half of its constituent components, have to be made in India.

Mohanka provides that there’s “not a very stable relationship” between India and China, the world’s main photo voltaic producer, making it difficult for India to rely closely on Chinese imports. Beyond this, a perceived unpredictability on China’s half has inspired challenge builders in different nations to look to India as a brand new supply of photo voltaic modules.

“They have all started at least considering or taking Indian modules even when it is not mandatory,” says Mohanka.

Gautam Solar is at the moment utilizing imported photo voltaic cells in its module making, however Mohanka mentioned the corporate shall be discussing whether or not to additionally arrange a cell manufacturing plant relying available on the market surroundings when planning for its subsequent monetary 12 months.

Exports to the US booming

The second driver of Gautam Solar’s manufacturing facility growth is the US imposing restrictions on Chinese-made modules, resulting in demand for Indian-made modules inside the US and driving a big export marketplace for Indian producers.

Once US market demand grows, Gautam Solar will then take into account organising a producing facility within the US, aiming to capitalise on the Inflation Reduction Act incentives supplied by the US authorities for organising manufacturing inside America.

“Our first priority is to get to a market scale to reach 1GW of supplies to the US,” says Mohanka.

The US market makes traceability extraordinarily necessary beneath its compelled labour restrictions, so Gautam Solar has diversified its upstream feedstock similar to polysilicon away from China to a costlier provider, particularly to cater for these restrictions. However, for the Indian market, all of Gautam Solar’s polysilicon remains to be coming from China at current.

“The next IT industry of India”

Through flourishing shipments to the US specifically, India is establishing an “extremely good quality brand name in the export market”, says Mohanka. He even means that the PV manufacturing business could possibly be “the next IT industry of India”, with IT having been amongst the strongest exports from India for a few years.

There are supportive authorities initiatives such because the ALMM and the Production Linked Incentive scheme, through which the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) invitations bids for PV module and cell manufacturing inside India. There are additionally duties on cells and modules imported from China.

However, India additionally has a number of free commerce agreements with Southeast Asian nations, together with Malaysia, from the place Chinese corporations are nonetheless sending their photo voltaic modules to India obligation free, says Mohanka. This circumventing has been highlighted to the federal government and Mohanka expects some type of preventative motion to be taken.

Contrasting the US market demand for Indian modules versus the Chinese product circumventing its approach into India, Mohanka says it was “one step forward and one step backwards”.

“Gautam Solar is very focused on filing patents for the process that we use to manufacture the solar modules,” he provides. “Because right now the entire world and possibly India is also dependent upon China in the process to manufacture. So, we are focused on developing indigenous technologies that can help us to manufacture by using our own in-house developed machines and automations to give us a good grip on the products.”

From Mono PERC to n-type TOPCon

Gautam Solar’s capability growth will embrace each mono passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) and n-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) expertise, which Mohanka claims are the “most acceptable” applied sciences in India proper now. Furthermore, there’s a excessive availability of n-type TOPCon cells.

The two kinds of applied sciences have been additionally chosen as a result of it’s simpler for a cell producer making mono PERC cells to develop to n-type. Such a producer may also produce a better wattage utilizing n-type TOPCon, however keep the identical the module dimension, while additionally protecting the identical glass and different components of invoice of supplies.

Mohanka says this comparatively easy expertise transition turns into extremely enticing for utility-scale engineering, procurement and development contractors as a result of extra energy might be produced with out taking on additional area by way of repowering current installations. This demand is drive by each land and rooftops being amongst the largest constraints for PV improvement in India at current.

“Through the entire chain, looking at cells, module makers and developers, from the raw material to the end customer, this is an incremental change but the technology is giving you much higher returns,” says Mohanka.

The swap to new n-type TOPCon merchandise does require modifications to components of the equipment, such because the stringers, in addition to the product branding. However, another new PV applied sciences require altering the complete manufacturing facility setup, says Mohanka, suggesting that the transition to n-type TOPCon modules shall be extra simple than different technological modifications.

The home business is “extremely upbeat”, says Mohanka, however the market can also be consolidating in India and may even see a narrowing down to some prime producers which can be financially steady, as a result of PV module manufacturing is a heavy capital expenditure enterprise and equipment must be modified usually.

Mono PERC equipment, for instance, has a lifespan of between one and two years. Stability can also be wanted for corporations to maintain investing into their programs with out getting throttled by the oscillating fortunes of the market. Nonetheless, the current REI Expo in Delhi demonstrated that the home business has grown enormously and Mohanka describes it as a “celebration of sorts”.

“I would say that these are good days for Indian solar module manufacturers,” he says.