Solar Cables in India becomes a Big Business with Gigawatt Market

Solar Power in India is growing by leaps and bounds with the federal and state governments heavily promoting solar energy production.India is set to become a gigawatt market in 2012 with around 400 MW already installed by 2011.The ancillary industries around the main solar power market are set to grow at a rapid clip as well.One of the unlikely sectors in solar products in India is the growth of solar cables.Note solar power plants require a lot of wire and cabling to connect thousands of solar panels to each other and to solar inverters.Besides solar power plants also require interconnection with the power grid.While today most of the solar cable is imported from outside,there is potential for a solar cable manufacturer to build a domestic capacity as well given the rapid growth expected in solar power.

State of Solar Energy In India

States are forging ahead to push Solar Energy on their own.Gujarat has been a trailblazer in this regard with The State has already received proposals for setting up around  365 MW of Solar Power.Gujarat through its own RPS and Feed in Tariff incentives is targeting 1000 MW by 2013.Rajasthan too is trying to exploit is massive solar insolation potential but its state policies have little clarity or direction yet.The state has signed around 1524 MW of Solar Project with 49 Developers.The Solar Policy Draft Proposal is mostly vague with a target of 10-12 GW  in 10-12 years with around 500 MW in the next 2-3 years.Rajasthan is set to see massive solar installation despite its government’s vagueness from the Federal JNNSM subsidy.Other states in India like UP,Delhi and Maharashtra have recently started making some moves but remains to be seen how good they are at implementing.Delhi seems to be on the way to implementing a smart policy of promoting small roof top solar residential installations.

Gujarat

Gujarat has been the biggest promoter of Solar Energy in India amongst all the other states.The State has already implemented a clear and forward looking Renewable Energy Policy with emphasis on Solar Energy.It has signed PPAs with a number of solar project developers under its State Solar Subsidy Scheme.While other states are looking mainly towards the federal subsidy scheme JNNSM to push Solar Energy Generation,Gujarat is looking to push Solar Energy on its own.Gujarat now has reportedly acquired 3000 acres at Charnaka village in Patan District which it will give to solar project developers to install solar panels.In the First Phase of this projects,80 Developers will install 1-45 MW Solar Plants to generate 500 MW capacity.The next phase will feature another 500 MW of capacity.

Rajasthan

The Desert State of Rajasthan has  seen an equal amount of interest by solar investors that Gujarat has.Though the government has not spelled out the Solar Subsidy Policy clearly as of now,it has got hundreds of megawatts in initial proposals from Solar Developers.The government their has given out large tracts of unused,desert land to solar developers in the western districts of Barmer,Jaisalmer which border Pakistan.The Renewable Energy Policy will probably be set out by the end of the year when these large projects can move forward to the next stage.Transparency and clarity in Policy like Gujarat will help Rajasthan go a long way in promoting Solar Energy.

Rajasthan has set up Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RREC) to promote Solar Power in the state.The state has signed around 1524 MW of Solar Project with 49 Developers.The Solar Policy Draft Proposal is mostly vague with a target of 10-12 GW  in 10-12 years with around 500 MW in the next 2-3 years.There are little specifics with a proposal to invite bids for 100 MW of Solar Power divided equally between Solar Thermal and Solar PV.Besides the state has managed to migrate 66 MW of Solar Projects to the Federal JNNSM scheme

Uttar Pradesh

India’s largest state in terms of population suffers from the worst power cuts in the country with cities like Kanpur,Meerut,Agra facing brownouts of 8-10 hours on a regular basis.Having a diesel generator or a lead acid storage device is a must for households in these states making it a prime demand source for solar energy.The state recently came out with a tender for 100 MW of solar installations at a  electricity tariff of 4.74 rupees ($0.11) a kilowatt-hour.The EOI at the UPPCL website mentions a bundled/standalone rate for the solar power to be supplied.As it is evident no one can make money at this tariff from standalone it would mean bundling of solar with cheaper power sources.Again the EOI is vague and short on details with just 2 paragraphs.

Lapp sees big growth in India

Cable manufacturer Lapp India expects a significant jump in business from the emerging solar-energy sector.“Cables are a key component of solar panels and modules,” says Mr Srinivas P. Kamisetty, Managing Director. “With huge Government thrust and subsidies for solar energy, this sector has huge business potential for us.”The company expects business of €7-8 million this year from solar power plant installations in India. Last year, it was hardly €1 million.