Que: By when the Insolation Energy’s newly built 500 MW solar module manufacturing facility will be operational? And what is the specialty of this facility including quality check parameters, investment, module type, etc?

Ans: The new facility will be commissioned by the first quarter of FY- 2022-23. It is unique in the sense as it will be one of the most advanced and latest module manufacturing set up. This facility will be fully automatic and will be able to handle multi busbar cells with bigger sizes of 210*210 mm. With the new facility in place, we will be able to supply 550w+ modules and even 600w+ modules. Traditional/Transparent/ Glass to Glass/ Bifacial & Half Cut cells modules with minimal cell to module losses and stringent quality standards will be manufactured at the upcoming facility.

Que: Shed some light on Insolation Energy’s various module offerings for Indian customers.

Ans: Currently, our module range includes sizes from 40 W to 450 W. We are supplying both polycrystalline as well as mono perc modules. We are also manufacturing 144 half-cut cell modules. Apart from modules our product range also includes tall tubular solar batteries from 40 Ah to 200 Ah. We also offer solar pcu from 750 VA to 15 KVA. All our products are backed by the standard guarantee and warranty conditions.

Que: How much capacity of modules you have supplied as of now and what are your FY2022 targets?

Ans: Till date, we have supplied 250+ MW of solar modules. In the last financial year 2020-2021, we have supplied approx 100+ MW of modules. This year our target is to supply 200 MW+ and a further 500 MW in the next year.

Que: How do you see the current market scenario w.r.t. demand, pricing, raw material availability, etc for domestic module manufacturers?

Ans: It is very tough to predict the market scenario in the short term because the price of key raw materials is highly volatile. In the first and second quarter of FY 21-22, we saw an exponential rise in the cost of glass which subsequently came down a bit in the last month.

Coming to wafers and cells, there has been a substantial increase in the price of polycrystalline in the last 2-3 months which is being attributed to excessive demand from India since the rest of the world has stopped using Poly modules. Predicting the price is not something that we’d speculate in at the moment.

After the imposition of BCD, the costs may go up or the producers in China may decide to reduce the raw material prices by some extent due to demand adjustment in the beginning of FY 22-23.

Que: Being a manufacturer from the MSME sector, what are your key suggestions for policymakers in order to provide a boost to the renewable energy sector in India?

Ans: There are a lot of expectations from policymakers foremost is the immediate implementation of the proposed BCD on solar panels. Almost all of our raw materials are taxed but the finished good i.e. panel is duty-free! which eventually makes domestic panels expensive. There is a sort of policy paralysis for this sector, we need strong long-term policy so that the sector can flourish, and with big players foray into the green energy business India’s renewable energy ambitions will get a boost. Our market is still dominated by imports in this sector and there is a lot of scope for new big players who will drive the pace and India will become an exporter rather than an importer of solar components. At INA we are committed to providing maximum to the renewable energy sector.

Que: What are your investment and expansion plans in the next 2-3 years?

Ans: Currently, our manufacturing capacity is 200 MW. We are expanding it to 500 MW by the first quarter of the next financial year. We further plan to increase this to 1GW in the near future.

Que: COP26 concluded sometime back, how do you see this development from India’s perspective?

Ans: India has promised to cut its emissions to net-zero by 2070. Net-zero or becoming carbon neutral means not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. India promised to get 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. India has also agreed to phase down the use of coal in the coming years. To achieve this, we not only need a robust policy roadmap but also a robust manufacturing base. This has to be backed up by robust finance as well. To sum up, we see a brighter future for renewable energy in India in the coming years.