SOLARCON India 2013: Charging solar industry to innovate, collaborate and execute

BANGALORE, INDIA: SOLARCON India 2013, the fifth edition of India's premiere solar-focused technology and business event themed on "Balancing Energy Supply & Demand in the Region-The need for a complete PV eco-system from materials to power generation" organized by SEMI India.

The event is supported by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. (KREDL), and the Government of Karnataka was inaugurated today in the presence of Ms. Amita Prasad, IAS, Energy Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka and Tarun Kapoor, IAS, Jt. Secretary, MNRE at the KTPO Exhibition Complex, Bangalore.

Prof. Dr. Roland Schindler, executive director, Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems; Prof. Chetan Singh Solanki, National Center for PV Research & Education at IIT Bombay; K. Subramanya, chairperson, SEMI India PV Advisory Committee, and M.B Dyaberi, IAS, MD, Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd also graced the ceremony.

Ms. Amita Prasad, said, "Innovate, collaborate and execute!"

"Solar power has the immense capacity to bring in stability to the fluctuating electricity tariffs in India as it is cheaper than thermal and domestic coal. States have realized that solar sector is positive as most solar radiation in the worst part of India is better than the best part of Europe. Solar is a serious area to work for large scale projects in India. We can add large capacities to rooftop solar projects and I am glad that states have understood the momentum of the big future of the grid connected roof tops," said Tarun Kapoor.

K. Subramanya, said: "Standardization of the solar products is necessary. Bankers need to be involved to increase budgetary support. Technology up gradation is essential. Respectability for the sector needs to be attained. As investors are looking for uncertainty, solar lobbying is required to be made".

Dr. Harish Hande, MD, SELCO India and winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, in the inaugural key note said: "Off grid is the market for India. Innovation, resilience, guts to fight the challenges are the key takeaways for the solar industry leaders. Social engineering will alone make this industry succeed. Solar power industry can apply the insights taken from the business models existing in other industry sectors."

Prof. Pradeep Haldar, professor at the State University of New York (College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering) and CTO of the US Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium, added: "Innovation and entrepreneurship are to be encouraged at social level. Solar industry needs to innovate and create market opportunities to survive with the impending challenges. Government support is highly critical. Supply chain across the solar industry segment needs to be kept intact."

JNNSM Phase 2 updates
On the inaugural day, addressing the "JNNSM Phase - 2 (2013-2017) Policy Initiatives and Implementation" in a session, Tarun Kapoor, added: "Developing manufacturers, system integrators, entrepreneurs was the mission of JNNSM Phase I. With initiatives and implementations in Phase II we would take India to the first five countries in the world in terms of solar power production. States are taking a better lead today. For the Phase II, 800 MW is the off-grid target. The thrust areas include energy access, diesel replacement, telecom towers, new innovative product, cooling, cold storage, water purification, space heating and water pumping."

Speaking on the plans for off grid projects, he said: "JNNSM - II envisages development of cumulative capacity of 1000MW for off-grid solar power and target of15million Sq.M. collector area. The targets include improved energy access in remote areas, heating/cooling applications that would encourage employment generation opportunities, replacement of diesel and Kerosene: Telecom Towers, solar cities and solar cookers and steam generating systems."

Speaking on the implementation perspective, Dr. Ashvini Kumar, director, Solar Energy Corp. of India, added: "To scale up the JNNSM Phase II objectives, we have institutional arrangements on board, namely SECI, Solar Energy Research Advisory Council and Solar Energy Industry Advisory Council. These collectively aim at planning and executing integrated programs on development of solar energy technologies to achieve commercialization. These would be able to own, operate and manage both grid and off-grid power stations. They will promote R&D and assist MNRE in executing the mission objectives through appropriate mechanism. Although there are the issues of implementation - connectivity norms, metering norms, business model-tariff and PPA etc., performance, we are sure with our collective effort we would be able to transform them into opportunities."

ith the aim of facilitating the state's role in empowering the domestic PV manufacturers to help them in their internal growth and in positioning India as a global leader not only in consumption of solar technology, but also as a provider, Ms. Bettina Weiss, president, SEMI India said: "Our conference theme this year reflects SEMI's view that PV manufacturing must complement the growth in solar PV adoption in India. 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. In the last few years, a large chunk of solar PV installations in India have been based on components sourced from international suppliers and at different cost points. India must not become solely a consumer of solar technology as it has much to offer the world as a manufacturer."

At SOLARCON India 2013, companies will present their products on an exhibition space spread over 60,000 square feet. More than 4,000 national and international trade visitors are expected to attend India's largest solar industry centric event this year.