Impressive PV installation growth in India, now in the region of 1.5 GW, and growing, has been overshadowed by the fact that PV manufacturing in India, like in many other parts of the world, is going through a deep crisis with cell and module manufacturers having to restructure and re-target their businesses and plans. This seemingly paradoxical situation has played out across the global PV market due to over-capacity, bloated inventories, intense cost competition and scaling back of solar targets in key PV growth regions.
Against this backdrop, SOLARCON® India 2013 will re-affirm, besides the enormous role for solar in power hungry India from power plants to rooftops and off-grid applications, the crucial need for investments and commitment in both R&D and manufacturing to sustain the demand cycle and to enable Indian industry to compete superior quality and competitive pricing.
Balancing PV supply and demand within regions provides greater economic benefits, reduces carbon emissions and the costs of transporting PV products, making a case for a strong regional manufacturing industry, said Bettina Weiss, VP Business Development, SEMI. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), clearly calls out, as one of its objectives, the need to build 4-5 GW of solar manufacturing capacity in the country across the entire value chain, from materials to electronics, to enable price competitiveness, greater value addition and innovation. Phase 2 of the JNNSM will also further emphasize the importance of a robust domestic PV manufacturing eco-system.
The event will feature PV materials suppliers, equipment manufacturers, system integrators, electronics providers, project developers and other eco-system enablers who will meet, debate, explore new opportunities, assess the challenges and evolve plans for the future of the industry in India.
Leading technology experts, visionaries and policy leaders will address the conference including Dr. Harish Hande, Managing Director, SELCO India and winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Prof. Pradeep Haldar, Recipient of the US President's Excellence in Research Award and CTO of the US Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium, Shri Tarun Kapoor, IAS, Joint Secretary, MNRE on JNNSM Phase 2 and Dr. Ashvini Kumar, Director Solar Energy Corporation of India who will present and interact with the industry on implementation perspectives. There will also be opportunity to meet and hear leading global technology & market analysts such as Dr. Finlay Colville of Solarbuzz and technology experts from Fraunhofer ISE. Represented at the conference will be industry experts from organizations such as Applied Materials, Bonfiglioli, Citel, Dupont, Enerparc, First Solar, Jinko Solar, Lanco, L&T, Mahindra, Spire, Tata Power Solar, Tata Steel and Welspun, among others and analysts and financiers from Bridge to India, Emergent Ventures, IDFC Bank and IREDA. Indian cell and module manufacturers such as Emmvee, HHV and Solar Semiconductor will participate in a discussion on revitalizing Indian manufacturing and on the most promising growth segments and opportunities for Indian companies including rooftop PV.
Besides national policy makers and industry leaders, PV momentum is going to be increasing driven by state level policies and the conference will have a session on the Role of States in PV growth featuring developers active under state policies and key representatives from the southern states, all of which have announced attractive solar policies and from states such as Chattisgarh and other parts of the country where pioneering work in solar PV has been undertaken. A session entitled, Opportunities for Independent Power Producers under Indias REC mechanism will be moderated by REC trading leader, REConnect, and will bring the focus to bear on this important market enabler.
SEMIs position has been that an economy the size of India must not become solely a consumer of solar technology, and that it has much to offer the world in terms of materials and engineering expertise, innovation, product learning and from the vast field experience it can bring. Building a local manufacturing base has huge benefits for the nation's economy – as a generator of jobs, in creating locally suited technology and from an energy security viewpoint.
Two conference discussions reflecting this focus are entitled, Balancing PV supply and demand in India: Re-invigorating Indian Manufacturing and Perspectives on building a complete solar PV eco-system in India. The first of these will bring equipment & materials suppliers and Indian manufacturing leaders together and the latter will examine the components of skills development, financing, end user and product perspectives to discuss what it will take to truly ignite a dynamic local ecosystem in India.
A one-day workshop on PV Standards – from Materials and Manufacturing to Systems will be held on 2nd August with experts from UL, IEEE, SEC and SEMI and the industry leading a discussion on the need for standards, greater Indian focus and participation in global PV standards development and steps ahead.
