Day I Highlights From Renewable Energy India Expo 2023

The Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo 2023, one of the largest tradeshows in the space in India, opened on October 4, 2023 with new TOPCon & heterojunction (HJT) product launches, discussions around manufacturing expansions and the growing demand for clean energy to cater to sustainable growth. Team TaiyangNews is on the ground to bring to our readers all the happenings from Greater Noida. Here are some snippets from day 1.  

TOPCon solar modules: Gautam Solar unveiled its n-type TOPCon solar modules at the expo, ranging within 565 W and 580 W, and a maximum efficiency of 22.45%. Based on the M10 size and using 144 half-cut cells, it offers the modules in both monofacial and bifacial variants. It is the 1st time the manufacturer has launched these modules for the home turf of India, as these are already available in the US and European markets. According to the company, these offer 5% more power every year compared to p-type modules thanks to higher cell efficiency, while also providing BOS cost savings of 3.26% and LCOE reduction of 1.56%.   

Another Indian manufacturer, Premier Energies Limited, too rolled out its TOPCon solar modules under the non-DCR category with 144 half-cut TOPCon cell in a bifacial dual-glass configuration. It offers a range of 560 W and 590 W and 16 busbar (BB) arrangement, targeting large-scale solar power plants. Speaking to TaiyangNews, a senior company representative said the manufacturer plans to soon venture into vertical integration with wafer-ingot production. Heterojunction (HJT) module production is also on its radar in the near future. In August 2023, Premier Energies launched a 90 W glass-on-glass PowerTile which it will manufacture for Arka Energy using its 182mm size mono-PERC cells.  

Jakson Group also launched its n-type TOPCon bifacial module at the event with 590 W power rating. The JN-590 W module boasts of an efficiency of 22.86%. Jakson has used M10 half-cut cells for this product with 16 BB. The manufacturer claims a bifaciality factor of 80±5% for the new launch.  

Waaree's HJT modules: Waaree Energies chose the REI as the platform to unveil its n-type heterojunction (HJT) bifacial modules with up to 22.88% efficiency. Power ratings for these M12 solar cell based modules range between 685 W and 715 W.  The manufacturer uses a 132-cell configuration with 2 mm low-iron tempered anti-reflective glass. It is offering a warranty of 12 years on the product and 30 years on the output for this range.   

Nextracker's India milestone: US-headquartered solar tracker manufacturer Nextracker says it has achieved the milestone of having contracted 10 GW/year of local India manufacturing capacity. The company claims it is producing solar tracker systems with over 80% domestic content for utility-scale power generation projects in India. In the Asian market, Nextracker has collaborations with 11 manufacturing suppliers with 13 factories spread across India.    

Corporate RE uptake growing: Indian corporates are increasingly becoming aware of the benefits of sustainability and want to ensure their efforts in the space are not dismissed as greenwashing, according to a Bridge to India powered panel discussion on Corporate Decarbonization. It had senior leadership from O2 Power, Amp Energy and Engie discussing how corporate India is going the international way in its renewable energy procurement and needs. The panel was of the view that instead of just buying renewable energy attributes from the market to show their green credentials, companies here now prefer to buy directly from renewable energy power plants via bilateral power purchase agreements. It shows their maturity as corporate consumers.