India

Covid-19 disruption has been cited as the chief culprit as imports from China, Thailand and Vietnam slumped from April to January, but safeguarding duty also appears to have had an impact, with unaffected imports from nations such as Myanmar, Chad and Russia on the rise and Malaysian trade keeping steady.

Developers have until May 27 to submit bids for NTPC’s projects anywhere in India. BHEL is seeking module supply partners for an aggregate 750 MW of panels.

The UK-based flexible solar film developer is expanding into the Indian market with Thermax as its market development and manufacturing partner.

The PV plant—to be set up in the state of Gujarat for a private utility—will supply power for INR2.22/kWh for 25 years.

Projects selected in the procurement exercise will sell power to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) under a 25-year PPA.

India had installed 6.8 GW of cumulative rooftop PV capacity by the end of 2020, with consumer-owned systems accounting for about 72% of the total, according to Bridge to India.

Indian scientists tested four kinds of phase change materials (PCMs) for solar module cooling in building-integrated photovoltaics. The PCMs were encapsulated with the PV system and the building envelopes and were also found to be beneficial to the thermal comfort inside the buildings.

Tata Power Solar, a PV manufacturer and EPC contractor, has added new lines to its factory in Bangalore, India. It is widening its product range to include half-cell and bifacial mono PERC panels.

A national production-linked incentive scheme introduced to encourage domestic manufacturing will now encompass solar. The PV policy will reportedly offer increased rewards for the production of more efficient panels and for Indian content–although it is not clear how.

Nearly 19 GW of renewable energy capacity tendered by state body the Solar Energy Corporation of India is on hold due to electric distribution companies’ unwillingness to sign the power purchase agreements. Manufacturing-linked solar projects alone account for a 63% share of the capacity in limbo.