Solar Trailblazers Surat- A Tribute To The Distance Travelled In Solar Manufacturing In India

At the first session of Solar Trailblazers in Surat, on Jan 30, a panel on Solar Manufacturing placed the spotlight on the distance India has travelled , and the challenges that lie ahead.  Perhaps fittingly, the discussion was held in a city that has been a leader when it comes to solar manufacturing in India, Surat. Moderating the panel was Prasanna Singh, Group Editor and Co-Founder, SaurEnergy. 

Joining Prasanna was Sachin Agrawal, CEO, Solitech Solar, Shashank Walia, Sales and Marketing from Cosmic PV Power, Ankit Tripathi, GM (Module Sales) at Solarium, and Kumar Abhishek, Head Sales and marketing (North) at POM Power. 

Panelists offered a wide variety of perspectives  on issues ranging from the government incentives for the sector, to the risk of overcapacity, to future challenges and the need for differentiation in the market today. 

Thus, while Sachin Agrawal predicted a reckoning in the form of consolidation at some stage in the near future among the industry's 140 odd manufacturing firms in ALMM today, Ankit Tripathi offered a view that in a market that was still growing, more players will only help convince more customers to go for solar. Shashank was confident that with time, firms will learn to differentiate based on quality, besides other benefits ranging from quality of warranty to product innovation. 

Panelist's acknowledged the current focus on education of prospective customers over direct sales, besides the Chinese connection for inputs that make really distinct product claims a challenge. But with more backward integration, the situation would change. Sachin warned off the risks that come with sourcuing from tier 2 or tier three manufacturers, while making a case to look beyond the lowest proce for the Indian consumer. 

Kumar Abhishek of Pom Power made a verty valid point on how as installed capacity ramps up, matters like recycling would also take centre stage and possibly become a factor for consumers and industry.     

Panelists expressed confidence that after China, India will be the most competitive market for solar manufacturing, and the wide gap in prices linked to domestic cell making would also narrow down with time. The PM Suryaghar scheme was acknowledged as a game changer for creating retail demand, with no rush to shift subsidies to energy storage, as some have started saying.  

Despite coming off a great year in terms of sales or other milestones like a public listing (Solarium) or a strong order book (Solitech Solar), it was good to see an industry that had not lost sight of the distance each firm still plans to travel in terms of driving scale, backward integration or building strong brands.