Following the United States, India's photovoltaic manufacturing is localized!

　　In April of this year, India’s Federal Cabinet approved a production-linked incentive plan (PLI) to promote the production of gigawatt-level high-efficiency solar photovoltaic modules at an expenditure of 45 billion Indian rupees (about 605 million US dollars).

　　The plan will alleviate future supply chain issues by establishing a strong domestic solar manufacturing ecosystem. But now, supply chain issues are hindering the development of domestic industries.

　　A: Raw material prices affect the solar energy supply chain

　　For a long time, the solar energy supply chain has been dominated by Chinese companies. But now, the situation is changing, and many Indian domestic companies are seeking to expand the scale of their production lines.

　　When talking about the plight of local Indian manufacturers, Senza Solar general manager Pramod Sirohiya said: "Rising freight is one of the big problems. The cost has risen from US$800 per container to US$9,000, and it is not expected to drop anytime soon. At the same time. , The price of raw materials has risen terribly. In the past three months, the price of silicon and EVA sheets has risen by 40-50%."

　　B: The battery manufacturing industry may pick up soon

　　In the next 2-3 years, India’s installed solar capacity is expected to exceed 30GW. Therefore, a strong supply chain is essential. At present, India still has no silicon wafer production capacity, and most of the raw materials are imported from China.

　　In view of this situation, many people believe that Indian manufacturers are just assemblers. The government's measures failed to promote the localization of domestic manufacturing.

　　Bharat Bhut, co-founder and director of Goldi Solar, said when introducing domestic production capacity and future development: "Many companies in India are planning battery production capacity. It takes about a year to develop 5-8GW capacity domestically. However, we do not have an internal Reliable supply chain."

　　Bhut pointed out that domestic projects can rely on local manufacturers in India to provide components, but the central and state policy coordination is a top priority.

　　Harsh Jain, director of Citizen Solar, also holds a similar view, "The implementation of the PLI plan will provide a huge impetus. Large companies such as Jupiter Solar and Goldi Solar are planning to expand their production lines. We will have a strong force in the next two to three years. We are completely dependent on China for raw materials, and prices have been rising, and there is no sign of abating."

　　At present, EPC company purchases modules at a price of 21 Indian rupees (approximately US$0.28)/W for polycrystalline modules and 23 Indian rupees (approximately US$0.31)/W for single-crystalline modules. About six months ago, the price was almost 18 Indian rupees. Rupee (approximately US$0.24)/Wp.

　　C: Need a supporting tariff framework

　　Stakeholders believe that a competitive tariff system needs to be implemented to provide domestic manufacturers with an environment for fair competition with cheap imported products. Manufacturers pin their hopes on the basic tariffs (BCD) that will be imposed next year.

　　A big obstacle is the levy of anti-dumping duties on raw materials, and no anti-dumping duties on finished solar cell modules. There is no rationale behind this decision. The government should seriously consider abolishing anti-dumping duties imposed on raw materials.

　　Avinash Hiranandani, CEO and General Manager of RenewSys India, said, "At present, we do not impose taxes on components, but we have to pay taxes on raw materials, which is unfair to domestic manufacturers. Component manufacturers are facing huge problems. ."

　　D: Technology and innovation

　　In order to compete on a global scale, India needs to focus on technological improvement. Currently, none of the solar technologies on the market has been developed in India.

　　A component manufacturer said: "We are just following China's technology more than three years ago. This is a big problem for Indian companies. If Indian companies want to compare with Chinese companies, they must come up with their own technology, otherwise, they are not competitive at all."

　　"Chinese manufacturers have begun to provide 550Wp components. In India, we still need some time to start producing 550Wp components. Technology upgrades cannot happen overnight, it takes time. In order to compete with the latest technology, we need governments and universities. Only in this way can real technological development be realized."

　　Lithium-ion battery (LIB) has become the main energy storage solution in modern social life. Among them, lithium iron phosphate batteries are a perfect replacement for lead-acid batteries, and they are the first choice for grid-connected peak shaving, off-grid energy storage, photovoltaic energy storage, UPS, data center and other industries.

　　Solar power generation system with lithium battery energy storage system is a very promising clean energy.