Used Chinese solar modules available on discount here!
NEW DELHI: In what has caught the Indian solar industry by surprise, used Chinese solar modules — the rectangular panels often seen on rooftops — are being sold in the domestic market at a discount. Once installed in China, they are now being offered to Indian developers, said several people aware of the development.
Modules or panels account for nearly 60% of a solar power project’s cost. Of China’s solar module manufacturing capacity, estimated tobe around 70GW per year, the major markets are the US, India and China itself.
“We were offered these module sat a substantial discount of as low as 25 cents per watt on cost, insurance and freight (c.i.f) basis. It was claimed that these were used A-grade solar panels which were installed at the seller’ s plant site for just two months,” said a person requesting anonymity.
In the case of c.i.f deals, the task of shipping the cargo rests with the overseas seller because it is part of the supply contract. This particular offer gave a substantive discount given that module prices are around 33 cents per watt. Any price fluctuation in Chinese equipment cost has an impact on the Indian clean energy tariff given that most developers here have been sourcing modules from countries like China, where they are cheaper.
“Totopita one-year warranty was promised,” added the person quoted above.
“Yes, we have heard of this type of imports happening which are primarily used int heun organised sector. It is important that the government controls such imports to avoid giving a bad name to the sector,” said Hero Future Energies CEO SunilJa in.
The Indian government came up with stringent quality norms last month for solar equipment to be sold in the country while making the destruction of sub- standard equipment mandatory.
India’s record low tariff was ₹2.44 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in May. Tariffs since then have firmed up with the auction conducted in Gujarat this week witnessing the lowest winning bid of ₹2.65 per kWh.
“Modules sold and installed in India should pass the necessary technical and certification tests. Any module installed with poor technical specifications will have a negative impact on the secto. This would ham per future investments ,” said Gyanesh Chaudhary, MD and CEO, Vikram Solar.
With the average efficiency of a solar panel usually only 16-22%, any sub-standard quality will impact generation.
Queries emailed to a spokesperson of the renewable energy ministry on Friday remained unanswered till press time.
“These sorts of offers have been made to Indian firms,” admitted a New Delhi-based CEO of a firm that has been actively participating in solar auctions.
Module prices have firme dup with China extending the feed-in tariff regime—which ensures a fixed price for power producers— for the third quarter, and with US developers placing advance orders to shore up cell and module supplies amid a demand for a cap in prices of cheap imports into the US.