Spotlight on cells – 10-2025

Building a domestic manufacturing industry has been a key policy focus for India, with strong policies to ensure Indian-made modules are competitive and able to meet domestic demand. Since the introduction of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM), India’s module manufacturing capacity has grown to more than 100 GW, and module imports are declining. The upcoming expansion of the policy to require cells as well as modules to be in made in India is pushing manufacturers into this sector with ambitious plans.

Cell manufacturing is still in the early stages, with current manufacturing capacity estimated at around a quarter of module manufacturing capacity. With cells requiring more complex processing and costly equipment to produce, this edition explores some of the potential difficulties cell makers may encounter as they scale their production lines.

Indian solar also faces challenges on the ground, as pv magazine India’s Uma Gupta writes. Large-scale installations must contend with land constraints, harsh climates, and technical faults. Gupta spoke to several industry insiders about how they are dealing with these problems.

Further south, millions of Australians are turning to rooftop solar plus battery storage for their home energy needs. Tim Lamacraft of the Smart Energy Council charts the impressive progress Australia has been making thanks to its citizens’ enthusiastic embrace of low-cost, clean energy.

And pv magazine Australia’s Ev Foley reports on how the vast country is making use of its many big batteries to ensure a stable and reliable grid. Australia is the third-largest market globally for large-scale energy storage by capacity, with a current approximate capacity of 14 GW and a pipeline of 154 GW. The battery boom is apace.

Other topics in this issue:

• Leading in Las Vegas: US solar stocks saw double-digit growth in August, plus growth potential despite near-term challenges.
• China’s balancing act: The effects of new production and pricing controls on the upstream sector.
• Equipping a new supply chain: Indygreen Technologies  helps Indian manufacturers find the right equipment suppliers.
• Power delta in Bangladesh: Signs of a market with huge potential if the right pieces fall into place.
• New solar and storage scrutiny: ESG compliance across solar and battery storage supply chains.