ISA workshop outlines opportunities for solar inverter manufacturers

KOLKATA, INDIA: The India Semiconductor Association (ISA), in association with Government of West Bengal, Webel & West Bengal Green Energy Power Development Corp. Ltd (WBGEPDCL) organized a workshop on solar inverters today in Kolkata.Debesh Das, Honorable Minister of Information Technology, Government of West Bengal inaugurated the workshop and highlighted the need to strengthen solar inverter manufacturing capabilities in the State of West Bengal.

The workshop was attended by manufacturers, system integrators, power developers, researchers, academia, key policy and decision makers. It brought together experts from the industry the government to provide a comprehensive techno-commercial perspective on solar inverters and discussed the opportunities, challenges and issues faced by the manufacturers and the solar PV based power developers.

Few facts on solar power industry in India:
• Worldwide solar cell production reached a consolidated figure of 9.3 GW in 2009.
• Increasing investments in production capacity of polysilicon, emergence of Thin Film technology and reduction in material consumption per silicon solar cell, are expected to drive the reduction in the cost of solar systems.
• The capacity in India is currently estimated in excess of about 400 MW for cells and about 1,000 MW for modules. Based on the interactions with the industry, the capacity of PV cells and modules in India is estimated to cross 750 MW and 1250 MW by the end of year 2010.
• The production in India for year 2008-09 is estimated at 175 MW of cells and 240 MW of modules. A large proportion of the production was exported.
• According to the Annual Report of MNRE (2008-09), there are about 15 players in cell manufacturing, over 20 players in modules and more than 50 in solar assembly.

Commenting on the workshop, Dr Pradip K Dutta, vice chairman, ISA said, “India offers a large market for the solar inverters, however domestic companies need to improve product design and expand their capacities to be able to compete at a global level."

Rajiv Jain, chief coordinator-Solar PV Industry, ISA, said, “We at ISA work closely with the government and the industry to facilitate creation of the conducive policy framework and the ecosystem that will help local companies tap the growing market."