By Ranjana Konatt | Editor
The 13th Edition of the Renewable Energy India (REI) 2019 Expo proved to be a worthy platform for both National and International stakeholders to exhibit their proficiency and technological advancement within the scope of energy management. The Expo was held from September 18th to the 20th at the India Expo Centre, Greater Noida and the three-day mega-event saw over 750 exhibitors. Over the years, REI Expo has been looked-up to as having a strong reputation as Asia’s largest and most comprehensive expo within the field of renewables and technology. This year, leading associations participated – to name a few: the Indian Bio Gas Association; the Indo German Energy Forum; Solar Business Club; All India Solar Industries; APVIA; Indo German Chamber of Commerce; Skill Council for Green Jobs; and the National Solar Energy Federation of India.
Commencing with an opening ceremony, the first day was graced by key dignitaries, to name a few – Justin Wu, Head – APAC, Bloomberg New Energy Finance; Somesh Kumar, EY India Power & Utilities Leader; Ajay Mishra, Special Chief Secretary, Energy Department, Government of Telangana; Manu Srivastava, Principal Secretary, New & Renewable Energy Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh; Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India; and Rajneesh Khattar, Group Director, Informa Markets in India.
The event hosted discussions where industry leaders engaged in riveting conversations. Manas Trivedi, Senior Manager, Exicom Tele-Systems Limited, spoke on the current scenario; future trends in technology concerning the performance and cost-related aspects within the value chain in India. He said: “The government has been very clear concerning promoting electric mobility.” Elaborating, he said that at a macro level, it is essential for companies and the industry to have a voice without being oblivious to what’s happening globally. “It is essential to take global cues and apply it to India,” he said. On the other hand, Rashi Gupta, Founder Director, Vision Mechatronics, offered a different perspective. She said: “India is a unique country, no solutions developed abroad apply to us.” Making a very strong yet relevant statement, she said: “Our conditions are nothing like how it is abroad and we work on a different scale and the industry needs technology that is customised.” While she was assertive, she did also say that India is a price-conscious market.
Ananthakrishna GR, GM, Sales and Marketing, Allied Moulded Enclosure Products India Pvt Ltd
“Allied Moulded is a US-based company which is over 55 years old. We are set up in the US and have been in India for the past seven to eight years. During the event, we have a special focus on our Fiberglass Reinforced Polyester (FRP) enclosures and non-metal enclosures for solar systems. We have fibre re-enforced polymers that are most suitable for outdoor environments. Having an Expo for the solar industry is effective. Our enclosures are high-quality and are certified even for exposure to UV rays, and we stand guarantee for all our products.”
Amit Gupta, Director, Legal and Corporate Affairs, Vikram Solar
“Vikram Solar is one of India’s leading module manufacturers and solar EPC solutions providers. At REI 2019, we launched a new line of high-efficiency MBB half-cell modules. This module series is an upgrade of Vikram Solar’s existing 5 BB half-cell module and a new addition to the company’s product portfolio. The modules will house 144 half-cells and would have maximum power up to 415 Wp in monocrystalline technology. This new series would be available in the market from January 2020 and would offer increased light harvesting by reducing the inactive area of solar cells and internal resistance to yield higher field performance.”
Bharat Bhut, Director, Goldi Solar Pvt Ltd
“We are one of the leading manufacturers in India. One particular technology within the solar segment is the glass-to-glass module. The dual glass module offers a module conversion efficiency of up to 17.16%. Last year, we began doing EPC and this year we are entering into IPP – hence we will also be an integrated solutions provider. In addition, Polycrystalline Solar Panels are in high-demand but we also see Monocrystalline panels picking up. We hope for support from the state government as government policies have a major role in the market.”
Ashutosh Yadav, Head – Business Development – India, Meteo Control India
“Meteo Control has recently established its presence in India with an office in Ahmedabad. As a company, we provide service and support to our customers. We are showcasing our monitoring, control and other solutions for power plants, i.e. monitoring, forecasting and related services. As the market is growing, people are moving towards the use of new products. Today, the industry is focused on price rather than giving technology preference. Moreover, people are also focused on short-term rather than long-term goals that hinder the adoption of new technology.”
Ashok T, HEAD – Solar BU, India, Fronius
“We are a string inverter manufacturing company. We have big inverters that find application in the solar sector. Our experience at the REI Expo has been good. A new product launch that we are showcasing here at the expo is the Fronius Tauro – a robust commercial inverter built for a maximised profit. The inverter allows flexible system planning, minimises the balance of the system (BOS), it also helps reduce costs even during extreme conditions. The innovative double-wall construction and active cooling technology allows the Fronius Tauro to be placed in direct sunlight while still ensuring continuous yield.”
Bharat Patel, Solar Inverters and Accessories, MJ International
“Our company was established in Taiwan in the year 1997. This is the first time we are exhibiting here at the REI Expo in Delhi – and now we plan to work pan India. We have the on-grid solar inverters and also do OEM work for clients. The market demand for solar-powered products is increasing and we see a steady 30-40% increase each year. We have our sales and distribution in three to four countries, and we see our sale numbers growing day by day. Our applications are in the commercial and domestic sector and today, especially we see the solar industries being deeply influenced by government policies.”
Nisha Goswami, Sales, Axitec
“We are a German company; this is our second time at the REI Expo. The solar sector in India has begun to show promise and Axis Storage is a premium product by AXITEC. The facet that makes us different is that with our products, our client gets a 15year manufacturer warranty and an 85% linear output warranty after the 25th year. We deal in solar panels for residential, commercial and the agricultural sector. The overall market demand or our products are good and because quality customers are available in the market, we understand about quality and the challenges within the sector.”
Tushar Chaudhary, Assistant Manager, Business Development, Renewables – TUV India
“We are a well-established company that has been functioning for over 30-years, and we have offices in over 26 locations. We provide inspection, certification and testing in India. Chennai is the place from where we handle our renewable sector. Within the scope of renewables, we provide services right from the planning stage, right to the time when the transactions are executed. We address issues concerning feasibility during the construction stage of a project.”
Sachin Bhalla, VP Marketing, Luminous Power Technologies
“As a company we are showcasing our solar battery and panel solutions. We are presently also providing training to 30,000 electricians on how to install and work with these products and also to ensure that they are certified solar installers. We have multiple projects wherein our panels and batteries are used. As a company, we take up an approach that involves direct client education.”
Sunil Joshi, Business Head – Products, Sileaf
“Our experience at the REI Expo has been getting better every year. This is a place where representatives from the solar industry come together to discuss and learn from one another. We at Sileaf Technologies are manufacturers of DC water pumps. We focus on DC water pumps as they are our flagship products. Our pumps are 0.5 to 5HP and have a BLDC motor with a true MPPT controller. The pumps have a head range of 10 to 150M and give an output that is 25% higher as compared to AC pumps. All our products are manufactured in India and we are one of the few companies who have been successful in using the motor for our pumping activities.”
Aayushman Goyal, Sr. Manager – New Product Development, Ganges Internationale
“At REI, we are showcasing our robotic dry-cleaning systems being used for cleaning panels. Our system does not use any kind of water and is fully-automated. With the modules we can see that these are self-charging batteries, hence there is no human effort. We have already installed the robot at a few sites in India. Having this kind of system will reduce human effort and will help clean the panels regularly, improving the efficiency of the system. The next five years is all about the O&M sectors.”
Rohit Kumar, Head of the Indian Subcontinent – Renewable Energy Corporation – REC India
“REC is a Norwegian company and we started in 1996. We are a fully-integrated player within the solar segment. One particular kind of technology is heterojunction technology – the concept is not new but we are taking the existing technology and introducing half-cut cells. The monocrystalline based heterojunction (HJ) cell will use Meyer Burgers ‘SmartWire’ (SWCT) cell connection technology.”
Neelaksh Pathak, Business Development, Solar, HPL Electric & Power Ltd
“We began doing business in the solar sectors three years back and have recently upgraded our line-up of products. We have a ThreePhase and Single-Phase net meter. The meters include a single metering unit for bi-directional energy measurement with a separate registration for import and export. Also, we have AC combiner boxes, cables, lighting arrestors all as a part of our upcoming projects. In comparison to last year, we have seen a lot of change – people are gradually moving to EV charging and are entering into the rooftop segment.”
Kuldeep Walujkar, Director, Corros Metals Pvt Ltd
“Corros Metals Pvt Ltd was established in the year 2007 and is located in Pune, Maharashtra. We are the manufacturers of galvanised structural steel materials and we manufacture all kinds of model mounting structures – especially for solar utility-scale power units. Some of our products within the solar application segment include – solar mounting structures, utility-scale module mounting structures, single and dual-axis tracking structures, solar pumps mounting structures, and rooftop solar structures. Apart from the utility-scale, we also cater to rooftop structures that range from 1KW to 500KW. We produce and manufacture all our products in-house. We have cold forming lines, state-of-the-art fabrication facilities, plasma cutting facilities and also a hot-dip galvanising unit.”
Richard Moreth, Head of PV Sales, Vitronic
“Vitronic is a company based in Germany, we are a privately-owned company with around one thousand staff. To be specific, we are involved with the production of photovoltaic solutions where we focus on eliminating a manual vision inspection. Optical quality inspection is critical for high-quality and uniquely classified products in photovoltaics production. With 30 years of experience in industrial automation and almost 10 years in photovoltaics production as well as more than 1000 successful system implementations at 70 plus end customers, Vitronic has developed the VINSPEC Solar product line to provide a customised inspection solution for every relevant production step.”
Bimlesh Kr. Singh, AGM, Sales and Marketing – Technical, LS Power Control Pvt Ltd
“LS Power Control Pvt Ltd works in the sector of electrical equipment and manufacturing and has been functioning for the past 40 years. We have a complete range of electrical panels and provide end-to-end solar power solutions. Our motto is to augment the power production through solar energy and as a company we are presently developing a PAN India network for EPC services. We have a dealer network in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Our services are EPC, project planning, trading of solar modules, feasibility report, energy audits, installation and commissioning, and operation & maintenances. A key stressor within the industry today is the cost to which there are various processes associated with costs. Overall, the market demand for solar applications are stable”
