From America to India: How GameChange Solar Found Its 2nd Biggest Market

US-based solar company GameChange Solar, which has built its niche in solar trackers, balance of system, and transformers, has lately found India to be a haven for its equipment, especially solar trackers. The company, headquartered in the US, has around 15 GW of supplies in India for several solar projects across the country.

However, buoyed by the high uptake of solar trackers in the Indian utility market, the firm has eyed boosting its supplies and installations here. For the company, India has emerged as the second-largest market after the United States (US). The large-scale adoption of solar, GW-scale solar parks in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and other parts of the country, along with the rise of FDRE and RTC projects, seems to have given a new ray of hope for the company.

“If we talk in terms of capacity, after the US, India has emerged as the second-largest market. India offered us huge opportunities in the solar sector. Currently, we have around 5 GW of solar projects commissioned with our trackers. By the end of this year, the numbers are likely to scale up to 10 GW, and next year, this may surpass 15 GW, creating new records,” Vikas Bansal, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GameChange Solar’s International Business, told Saur Energy.

The Entry to India

Akin to other overseas firms, GameChange Solar ventured into the Indian solar market in the last decade. The company, which started its journey in 2012 in the US, officially entered the Indian solar market around 2015-16. One of its earliest clients, Tata Power, bolstered the confidence of the firm to expand.

Off late, the company is working in Khavda with its solar trackers for a 750 MW solar project developed by NLC India. It has also bagged multiple solar projects from NTPC, Sterling & Wilson, among others, to aid them in producing solar optimally from their solar parks.

However, akin to its competitors like Nextracker or other Chinese solar tracker firms, solar trackers in India and globally often confront the issue of extra space. As per estimates, for every MW of a solar project, solar tracker-based projects demand around 30%-40% additional space. However, solar tracker firms are now seeing the rise in RTC and FDRE tenders as a boon for their business.

FDRE, RTC Projects & Trackers 

“In India, currently, around 50% of utility-scale projects are using solar trackers to ensure optimal solar generation. Now, with FDRE, RTC, or solar-plus-storage projects, solar trackers are set to become more significant. This is because the morning and evening generation would become crucial to capture and maximize. Use of solar trackers can also reduce dependency on, and CAPEX for, storage devices,” Bansal added.

The company, which also produces Balance of Systems like solar structures for the US market, has planned not to bring that product to the Indian market due to stiff competition in the sector. However, it has recently introduced its solar transformers, which are now manufactured in India. The firm believes that the rise in grid requirements for solar and mushrooming data centers are likely to spur its growth.

Challenges 

Similar to other tracking firms, GameChange Solar is likely to face challenges related to lack of awareness, and cost-effectiveness, which could influence developers’ decisions to adopt the technology to boost their production. Fluctuating BESS costs, prices of other materials, terrain conditions, and other factors are also expected to play a crucial role in developers’ decisions regarding this technology.

Meanwhile, many developers have opted for trackers to improve system efficiency, mitigate the impact of strong winds, and ensure optimal generation during cloudy periods as well as in the mornings and evenings. Tracking firms claim that for every 1 MW of a project, the use of solar trackers could increase energy output by around 14%–20%. A combination of software and hardware often plays a key role in optimizing generation.