Business

Insolation Energy Raises $2.5 Million From EARF

Indian Solar Module Maker With 700 MW Annual Production Capacity Gets Loan From World Bank Backed Energy Access Relief Fund

Anu Bhambhani
  • INA has secured a loan of $2.5 million from SIMA managed EARF fund to expand its business
  • The company operates 2 solar panel manufacturing facilities in Rajasthan with combined capacity of 700 MW
  • It is reportedly aiming to expand its annual module production capacity to 1.2 GW, and cell capacity to 500 MW over the next few years

Solar module producer from India's Rajasthan with 700 MW annual production capacity, Insolation Energy Limited (INA) has secured $2.5 million as external commercial borrowings (ECB) from the World Bank backed Energy Access Relief Fund (EARF) to fuel its manufacturing expansion.

In a stock exchange announcement, INA said, "The said ECB will be utilized for the manufacturing activity and modernization of our company and its wholly-owned subsidiary aiming for growth and expansion for the company."

EARF is a fund managed by the Netherlands headquartered impact investing firm Social Investment Managers and Advisors (SIMA) that provides unsecured, subordinated and low-cost subsidized loans to companies with viable business models prior to COVID-19. Apart from the World Bank, other EARF funders are the British International Investment (BII), Green Climate Fund, Development Finance Corporation of US (DFC), Shell Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, IKEA Foundation, among others.

In January 2023, INA started trial runs of its new high-tech manufacturing plant with 500 MW annual capacity to produce solar panels with mono and bifacial half-cut cell technology using M6, M10 and G12 wafer sizes with power output of 540W and above. This fab is now fully booked for the next 2 months, the company had previously stated.

The new fab operated by INA's wholly-owned subsidiary Insolation Green Energy Private Limited, joins its already operational 200 MW production fab taking the group's overall annual manufacturing capacity to 700 MW.

Reportedly, the Jaipur based company targets to increase its annual solar panel production capacity to 1.2 GW and that of solar cells to 500 MW in the next 2 years to 3 years.

The company went public in September 2022 with an initial public offering (IPO) that was over-subscribed 183.07 times receiving bids worth INR 40.57 billion ($495 million), as against the IPO size of INR 221.6 million ($2.7 million), according to local media reports. It is listed on the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (see India PV News Snippets).