Quantum leap likely in solar/PV power installations in India

BANGALORE, INDIA: Industry leaders and experts from the solar PV industry announced that the industry has seen more than 300 percent growth of MW capacity solar/PV installations in the last two years.

A number of proposals for setting up large and small solar/PV power plants have been submitted by public and private sector companies to achieve the 1100MW target of Phase I of the National Solar Mission (NSM), estimated at about Rs18,000 crore of investment.

Participating at an interactive panel discussion and curtain raiser for SOLARCON India 2010, India's largest solar energy focused business and technology event, prominent industry leaders such as N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, chairman, Solar Energy Manufacturers Association of India and chairman of Solar Energy Society of India (AP chapter), Ramesh Subramaniam, COO, Titan Energy Systems Ltd, Gautham Nalamada, CEO, Photon Energy Systems Ltd, Hari Surapaneni, president and CEO, Solar Semiconductor Ltd and Steve Belkin, COO, Sunflower Solutions, said that grid connected solar/PV plants provide a clean platform to increase power production in the country.

Sathya Prasad, president, SEMI India and Convener, SOLARCON India 2010, announced that SOLARCON India 2010 will focus on the theme - 'Achieving 1000 MW of solar generation capacity by 2012 followed by 20,000 MW by 2022'.

Setting the context for the panel discussion on the occasion he said: "Recent policy and planning announcements and the launch of the NSM by the Government of India suggest a clear recognition that PV will play an increasingly prominent role in India's energy strategy. Large solar/PV power plants are just taking off with about 10MW of current installed capacity. The industry and all the stakeholders now need to focus on successful implementation of projects under NSM.

"This year's edition of SOLARCON India will bring together the best professionals from industry, government, academia, as well as financiers to discuss key implementation aspects and challenges ahead. Today's panel will kick start this discussion by highlighting the key opportunities and challenges in setting up solar/PV projects and sharing key learnings from real implementation."