India's first industry-guided white paper on Solar PV unveiled

By siliconindia   |   Friday, 10 April 2009, 01:57 IST
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Bangalore: SEMI India, A part of SEMI, the global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chains for the microelectronic, display and photovoltaic industries, today announced an outline and vision for the Indian solar market, including growth opportunities and potential, socio-economic development benefits, the current market situation and public policy needs. The SEMI India white paper entitled 'The Solar PV Landscape in India – An Industry Perspective', suggests that India can play a leading role in the global photovoltaic (PV) and solar industry. The paper was developed by the SEMI India PV Advisory Committee, represented by industry leaders from all sectors of the solar PV supply chain and was released by K. Subramanya, CEO, Tata BP Solar. The paper highlights numerous drivers for PV in India, including the country's rising energy needs, persistent energy deficit situation, and the country's over dependence on fossil fuels for energy generation. India is already home to nine photovoltaic cell manufacturers and nearly 20 module manufacturers, and the country benefits from an abundant endowment of solar radiation, averaging 300 sunny days per year. Effective public policies in support of PV manufacturing and wider adoption could substantially reduce India's dependence on fossil fuels for power generation, and produce enormous socio-economic benefits. With the paper, SEMI India has attempted to build consensus among industry players and evolve a strong collaborative model that could catalyze the growth of the PV industry. In his comments after releasing the paper, Subramanya said, "This is the first paper of its kind, presenting the Industry view of the transformational potential of PV in India, highlighting challenges and making a call for action. A collaborative effort between the Government, industry, academia and other stakeholders, can result in the creation and execution of a shared vision for PV, with benefits across multiple dimensions. If the recommendations are pursued with vigour, India, with its combination of market, industrial and research infrastructure and advantageous geographical location, could well write the future and lead the world in solar PV. " Also present at the event, Dr. Madhusudan Atre, President, Applied Materials India, said, "I am pleased that SEMI PV has considered India to be an important growing region. The first of the position papers from SEMI India PV presents the industry perspective on the challenges, opportunities and benefits of solar PV in India. Various focus areas - in the areas of productivity, standards, cost, total systems solutions, environment health and safety, IP and workforce development - need to be addressed. It is an initial step in the direction of creating a robust PV ecosystem and is a call for collaborative participation from industry, government, academia and other stakeholders to grow the Indian PV industry, and address the country's present and future energy needs." Some of the key challenges facing the growth and development of PV in India as identified in the paper are need for closer industry-government co-operation; common industry standards; focused, collaborative and goals-driven R&D for the technology to achieve scale and for India to attain technology leadership; financing infrastructure, models and arrangements to spur the PV industry and consumption of PV products; investment in training and development of human resources to drive industry growth and PV adoption; intra-industry cooperation in expanding the PV supply chain, in technical information sharing through conferences and workshops, in collaborating with BOS manufacturers and in gathering and publishing accurate market data, trends and projections; and build consumer awareness about the technology, its economics and usage. The paper also offers recommendations for the above mentioned challenges and call for action including the creation of a common Government-Industry vision to establish India as a PV world leader; development of effective financing infrastructure and models that will motivate large-scale PV adoption and investments in the PV industry; expanding the deployment of PV in off-grid applications; and expanding grid-connected PV generation on a large scale. In his comments, Sathya Prasad, President, SEMI India, said, "There is a great untapped potential for off grid PV technology deployment in India's many rural areas, based on real needs for lighting and electrification, powering irrigation pumps, providing backup power for the growing network of cell towers, as well as other urban applications. By making available this off-grid source of power, many of the 450 million people in India who now rely on kerosene and other fuels to light their homes could enjoy a significantly higher quality of life. Effective public policies in support of PV manufacturing and adoption could substantially reduce India’s dependence on fossil fuels for power generation, while producing enormous socio-economic benefits like the creation of tens of thousands of jobs across the entire supply chain, from R&D and manufacturing to installation and maintenance."

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