Speakers on Day 1 of the TaiyangNews Solar Technology Conference.India 2025 (STC.I) see India emerging as a key player in global solar manufacturing as the number of players and capacities has been quickly increasing
Indian manufacturers are mostly focusing on scaling mainstream technologies like TOPCon, but are also investing in, or looking into, advanced solutions like HJT and XBC
Though few Indian research institutes are focusing on solar, and manufacturers mostly collaborate with European researchers, there is increasing interest, with IIT Mumbai advancing quickly in the field of perovskites
Collaboration and policy support remain critical to building a resilient ecosystem along the silicon module value chain
As the world looks to diversify from a single manufacturing/supplying nation for its solar PV supply chain — opting for a China+1 strategy, India is vying to fill this space. With a supportive government, long-term vision, public finance opportunities, and a vast domestic market, things look promising.
Despite the good intent and growing interest of solar PV manufacturers to operate on a multi-GW scale, domestically produced Indian products are still not cost-competitive with their Chinese counterparts. To delve into the challenges and the opportunities available to Indian solar manufacturers, TaiyangNews organized its first Solar Technology Conference.India 2025 (STC.I), a 2-day event on April 10-11, 2025, in New Delhi, India.
STC.I, the 1st physical event of TaiyangNews, brought together representatives of all leading solar PV manufacturers from India, along with production equipment and material suppliers, technologists and scientists from all over the globe that are working on creating a resilient solar manufacturing industry in India.
Setting the tone for the conference, TaiyangNews Managing Director Michael Schmela emphasized that solar PV technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace — outstripping all other energy technologies — due to its versatility, not only being a cost leader but also fitting to any applications from small distributed systems to large centralized power plants on- and even offshore. With the global sector expected to reach an annual TW deployment level likely by the end of this decade, he underscored that sustainable growth would hinge on grid infrastructure and energy storage solutions.
Prof. Dr. Peter Fath, the CEO of RCT Solutions, an engineering company that aids solar PV manufacturers around the globe in establishing factories, shared his global visions and local realities for the Indian market. He sees potential for India to become a low-cost manufacturing hub. India today touts 76 GW of operational solar module production capacity and targets 30 GW polysilicon capacity by 2027, but to him, it looks unlikely to be achieved.
While India’s solar manufacturing costs are 13% to 15% higher than those of the Chinese across equipment, materials and financing, its cost base fares much better than the European Union (EU), where capital expenditure and labor costs inflate costs by as much as 70%. According to Fath, module production costs in India are €17 ct/W compared to €14.6 ct/W in China, and €24.1 ct/W in Europe.
Fath emphasized that Indian companies should focus on scaling up mainstream technology to further narrow the cost gap with the Chinese and invest heavily in R&D for advanced technologies like heterojunction (HJT) and XBC technologies. He also suggested that they build their own intellectual property (IP) portfolio. This will enable the development of a strong domestic ecosystem for the sustainable growth of the industry.
While presenting the current state of affairs of the Indian solar PV manufacturing industry, the CEO of the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), Subrahmanyam Pulipaka, projected the country becoming a 160 GW solar module manufacturing market by 2030, doubling from its current capacity of around 80 GW. It will continue to lag behind in solar cell capacity, though, as he believes it will likely reach 120 GW, which will still represent 8x the current cell production capacity of 15 GW. Wafer and polysilicon capacities, the first hardly existing and the second nonexistent in India today, are expected to grow to 100 GW each.
“India’s solar journey depends on getting the 4Ms right – Machines, Materials, Manpower, and Money,” said Pulipaka. “To build a complete manufacturing ecosystem, international collaboration, especially with Europe, is vital,” he stressed.
Echoing Pulipaka’s sentiments, SolarPower Europe (SPE) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Máté Heisz highlighted the synergies between the EU and India for solar PV manufacturing. SPE’s recently launched International Solar Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI) was created to help European solar manufacturers and equipment suppliers with opportunities to expand their business internationally, also by tapping European financing vehicles.
While the silicon value chain-based module manufacturing sector is rather weak, Europe still has excellent solar R&D capabilities and production equipment providers. Under the ISMI umbrella, the EU might help India scale further, and further support the country also with its silicon, ingot and wafer capacity.
Both NSEFI and SPE took the opportunity to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand their cooperation from solar deployment in 2019 to solar PV manufacturing.
Dr. Wolfgang Herbst, Managing Director of Viridis.iQ GmbH, an independent technical, engineering and business advisory firm from Germany, believes that a successful polysilicon industry relies upon a low-cost, stable electricity supply, which is the ‘key’ for its production. India will need low-cost electricity to make use of the country’s good quality quartz supply and establish competitive silicon production.
Solid financing is another significant criterion to sustain in this high-CapEx business. He noted that while FBR technology is often discussed, it’s primarily driven by China’s GCL, with the more established Siemens still dominant globally. FBR, he stressed, is ‘not for beginners.’ For India, he recommends producing both mgSi and polysilicon, but stressed that policy support is essential for viability. “No polysilicon without policy,” he added.
Dr. Wolfgang Jooss, Director of Technology at RCT Solutions GmbH, explored process innovations aimed at improving wafer and cell output. Among various module formats used by top manufacturers, he advocated for rectangular wafers, citing cost advantages, especially in large-scale modules. These also contribute to lower shipping costs. While G12 and larger wafers offer further benefits, Jooss noted they currently do not align with standard glass dimensions, limiting their immediate adoption.
Dr. Zhixin Li, CEO & CTO of Linton Technologies, which operates an annual production capacity of an equivalent of a whopping 300 GW of crystal growth equipment, wafer slicing and ingot/wafer processing machines in China and Vietnam, said his company is looking at new markets to supply this capacity to, India being one such destination.
Li reflected on the company’s growth over the years, attributing its success to 3 critical decisions. These were: selecting monocrystal technology even when multicrystal was the popular choice; opting for diamond wire wafer slicing technology, moving away from slurry cutting; and promoting factory automation of ingot/wafer production lines at a time when this was considered unnecessary. Now, these are industry standards, he pointed out.
He also added that while the trade conflict in China has limited exports for certain raw materials like graphite to certain markets, Linton has established its Vietnam factory to support its customers globally.
Executive panel discussion on upstream integration
TaiyangNews Head of Technology Shravan Chunduri moderated an executive panel with Hiten Parekh, President-Global Sales for Grew Solar, Milind S. Kulkarni, RSOLEC Chairman & CEO, and Rishabh Jain, CEEW Senior Programme Lead, discussing challenges & solutions for upstream manufacturing integration in India. While it is a huge opportunity, it has a huge associated cost too, primarily because of its capital-intensive nature, even though this presents a strong cost-competitive opportunity. Investing in upstream requires conviction and a cultural shift, along with sustained policy support.
Some companies, including Grew, are investing in ingot/wafer production, but polysilicon is for the ‘gigantic players,’ the panel unanimously agreed. Compared to cells and modules, the supply chain for equipment suppliers for vertical integration is simpler, albeit limited as of now. As demand grows, suppliers will cater to the same.
Solar cell and module technologies: The future
A session on cell and module technology featured global technology leaders from R&D and industry. The current industry workhorse, TOPCon, was christened at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE). While having reached a market share of over 70% globally, it is now in the midst of a massive intellectual property (IP) debate with the Head of Technology at Fraunhofer ISE, Jochen Rentsch, counting approximately 3,000 patents that are relevant with respect to the used search term.
The situation is complex due to various implementation routes of the dominant TOPCon cell designs and module implementations. Rentsch is of the view that this is similarly true for other cell architectures like HJT, back contact (BC) and even perovskite-silicon tandem.
Strong back-contact cell technology backer ISC Konstanz Co-founder & Director Dr. Radovan Kopecek batted for this technology as the future ‘emperor’ of energy markets due to its higher efficiency advantage. While admitting that cost/W peak of BC will be higher over the next few years, he said the technology has already demonstrated its high efficiency potential.
He referred to the TaiyangNews TOP SOLAR MODULES Listing, where the top 3 spots are taken by mass-produced solar modules with BC technology, with all their efficiencies above 24% (see TOP SOLAR MODULES Listing—March 2025).
BC cells are undergoing further improvement to lower their cost and improve functionality, including ISC’s technology – polyZEBRA, a screen-printed copper lower-cost concept – among others. Compared to ISC’s LECO TOPCon offer, called TOUCAN’s potential 26% cell efficiency, BC with all back contact (ABC) or polyZEBRA has the potential for cell efficiency to exceed 26.5%, he claimed. Their levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) will also differ, as for TOPCon it will dip below 1.5 cent/kWh, and for BC, the potential exists for under 1 cent/kWh.
Another quickly expanding solar cell technology is HJT, where China’s Huasun Energy has had a head start. The company’s Director South Asia, Abhishek Kaushal discussed the Value Proposition of HJT in the current solar technology landscape. Already known for its high efficiency attributes, which he said is testified by the TaiyangNews Top Commercial Modules Efficiency Listing, where Huasun’s product ranks 4th overall and as the best HJT module, HJT makers are now also addressing the cost issue. Huasun has switched to 0BB and is also opting for copper plating to lower its silver use by at least 13%. The manufacturer is also evaluating indium-free TCO alternatives and other low-indium use alternatives.
Kaushal also shared that Huasun is exploring future technologies and has been working on a HJT-perovskite tandem cell for the last 2 years now, targeting a 28% efficient 800 W module already next year, since the company believes perovskite is most adaptable to HJT.
At home in India, the academic circles see huge potential in perovskites. Professor Dinesh Kabra of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay), said that the perovskite solar cell market size is forecast to see a 57% increase from 2023 to 2030, when it will be worth $2.7 billion.
He shared that his team has been able to achieve a lab-scale efficiency of 29.84% for perovskite solar cells, in collaboration with its industry partner ART PV India. Patents have been filed in the US and India. It has already secured patents for System and Method for Fabrication of Multi-layer Thin-Film Optoelectronic devices, for which the SUBSem+ equipment for automated manufacturing of perovskite solar cells was developed at 1/20th of the cost, according to Kabra.
The team now aims to achieve 34% lab efficiency by December 2025; it opened a 2,500 sq. ft. facility near Mumbai. By December 2027, Kabra said the team will aim to report 30% commercial-scale efficiency for perovskite solar cells.
Executive panel on technology Improvements for Profitable Solar Manufacturing
Moderated by TaiyangNews Managing Director Michael Schmela and RCT Solutions CEO Prof. Dr. Peter Fath, the high-level executive panel discussion delved into profitable solar manufacturing with technological improvements along the value chain.
Omkar Jani, CTO of Reliance Industries, explained that the strategic choice of HJT reflects a forward-looking approach of the company as it anticipates technological maturation during factory ramp-up. The extended lead time allows for cost optimization and innovation, ensuring the technology remains cutting-edge and economically viable by the time large-scale production reaches full operational capacity. Another example of its long-term planning is that Reliance’s polysilicon plant will produce semiconductor-grade silicon, thus future-proofing the investment.
Sudhir M Reddy, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Premier Energies Limited, said that while the company decided to follow the trend of TOPCon, it sees strong future potential in HJT. For TOPCon, he acknowledged serious patent challenges while stressing the role of equipment suppliers in helping avoid infringement. Reddy also urged Indian firms to build their own IP portfolios.
Emmvee Group, one of India’s oldest solar PV manufacturers, has also adopted TOPCon. Suhas Donthi, CEO and President of the Emmvee Group, emphasized the potential to enhance existing technologies that he believes offer greater value to customers. He advocates for optimizing current solutions rather than immediately shifting to emerging technologies. This, he said, will encourage thoughtful innovation over rapid transitions.
Dr. Balachander Krishnan, COO of Indosol Solar, echoed Donthi’s view on TOPCon’s potential, noting that efficiencies could reach 28%. To achieve this, Indosol aims to collaborate with leading institutes like Fraunhofer ISE or ISC Konstanz. He also highlighted automation as crucial, given India’s shortage of skilled labor.
Panelists agreed with Jani when he said that India has huge untapped potential in domestic machine manufacturing, which could rival Chinese dominance. He believes equipment production will drive the next wave of growth in India’s solar sector. The panel emphasized the importance of collaboration with German and European institutes and firms to leverage their technological expertise in this space. Reliance, for example, not only builds its solar capacities on the REC’s experience – the Norwegian cell/module maker it acquired – it has also invested in a next-generation solar wafer startup in Germany, Nexwafe.
TaiyangNews is grateful to all the attendees for making this event a fruitful endeavor. We ran a live blog on both days which can be reviewed here. High resolution pictures from the event are available on the STC.I 2025 website.