Powering up the world with solar
Znshine adds India to its growing pan-planet photovoltaic footprint
Chinese solar photovoltaic or PV panel manufacturer Znshine Solar has nailed a 300-megawatt module supply agreement with India renewable energy developer ACME Cleantech Solutions Private Limited, responding to growing market demand in India.
This is another bilateral agreement reached since the last year’s cooperation between Znshine Solar and several well-known Indian companies, said Li Qian, president of sales and marketing of the company.
Znshine Solar will provide ACME with a variety of PV power output solutions including graphene-coated PV modules, also known as self-cleaning PV modules, 1500-volt modules and decentralized junction box, all of which will be shipped this month and are expected to be delivered by the end of August, she said.
India’s PV market has prospered and attracted the attention of the global market, thanks to the vigorous promotion of the government.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency or IRENA, India’s new solar power generation in 2017 reached 9,628 mW, compared with 4,251 mW in 2016 and exceeded the markets of North America, Europe and Japan.
The Indian government aims to build 100 gigawatts of new solar power by 2022. Already, India is set to emerge as the world’s second-largest solar PV market by this yearend. So, the market potential is huge, said IHS Markit, an analytics company.
Josefin Berg, an analyst at IHS Markit, said he expects to see 11 gW of solar power generated in India this year, while the US would install 10 gW.
In the face of this huge market opportunity and relatively favorable government taxation, Chinese PV companies, including Znshine Solar, Longi Solar and Trina Solar, are competing with each other to invest in India’s PV market.
(There is) new momentum for us to further explore the Indian market.”
Li Qian,
They have all invested in the Indian market in recent years.
India is already China’s biggest export market for solar products by sales value. During 2017, China’s exports accounted for 24 percent of India’s solar products, with sales growth seen in both cells and modules.
According to Li, India is a major overseas market that Znshine is looking to expand into. In the second half of 2017 alone, the company has signed orders for more than 800 mW with companies including OPG, Aditya, Hindustan, Harsha Abakus and ACME.
The cooperation with ACME, the biggest independent power generator in India, is a win-win as “we can provide them with the most-advanced photovoltaic manufacturing technology and professional service from China, ensuring a professional technological support for the country’s photovoltaic power stations”, said Li.
“At the same time, this will also provide new momentum for us to further explore the Indian market.”
As one of the world’s largest power plant developers and module manufacturers, Znshine Solar has been actively expanding into overseas markets.
The company currently has its PV projects in Japan, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and some other countries.
With its power station seeing an annual capacity of 1.1 gw, the company boasts module output of 2 gW each year and completes more than 5gw of power plant construction worldwide.
The Indian government said earlier it was considering a 70 percent import tax on Chinese PV manufacturers that enjoy cheaper costs. However, developers warn that imposing import duty on Chinese manufacturers could halt the fast-expanding industry in its tracks and increase the cost of all solar installations, despite the protection for only a few Indian manufacturers.
In addition to India, which sees trade disputes surrounding the manufacture of solar panels, the European Union has imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese solar panels in 2013. Before that, the US imposed duties of up to 165 percent on imports from China, saying panels were being sold too cheaply to the US market.
The situation has driven many Chinese manufacturers to the Indian market, with exports increasing more than 1,100 percent between 2012 and 2016.
According to Wang Dong, technical and quality general manager of Znshine Solar, the key to continuous success in the solar power sector lies in manufacturing innovation and technology.
Seeding a next generation of technology, identifying promising technologies and scaling them up are of essence, he said.
Founded in 1988, the Jiangsu province-based Znshine Solar was jointly developed with the University of Science and Technology of China. It has come up with a series of independently developed graphene-coated PV modules, which allow light to pass through more easily and thus convert more light into electricity.