India to Invite Bids for 1-Gigawatt Solar Plant by March

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL), India’s largest power-equipment maker, plans to invite bids by March to build a 1-gigawatt solar plant as the government seeks to cut the cost of the technology by promoting large projects.

State-owned Bharat Heavy, leading a six-company joint venture, intends to auction a contract for the design and construction work in the next four months, said Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

India, which suffers from peak-hour power shortages of as much as 25 percent in some states, is starting a program of large-scale renewable projects to diversify its energy mix and reduce a current-account deficit exacerbated by fuel imports.

The country has proposed to build five so-called ultra-mega renewable parks comprising as much as 18 gigawatts in capacity over about 10 years, according to a ministry presentation obtained by Bloomberg News. That would expand India’s installed solar capacity ninefold.

“The main objective is to bring down the price of solar power,” Kapoor said at the Intersolar conference in Mumbai yesterday. “We want to bring it to about 5.5 rupees (8.6 cents) a kilowatt-hour so that it’s competitive with any other source of power.”

Bharat Heavy’s planned tender will award a contract for the first gigawatt of a proposed 4-gigawatt solar park at Sambhar, Rajasthan state. The remaining capacity will later be auctioned in 500-megawatt batches to non-state developers, Kapoor said.

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New Solar Cell Is More Efficient, Less Costly

American innovators still have some cards to play when it comes to squeezing more efficiency and lower costs out of silicon, the workhorse of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules worldwide.

A recent breakthrough — the product of a partnership between manufacturer TetraSun and the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) — could spark U.S. solar manufacturing when the approach hits the assembly line next year. The innovative design, simple architecture, and elegant process flow for fabricating the cells make the technology a prime candidate for large-scale production.

Solar industry leader First Solar acquired TetraSun in April 2013, about the time R&D Magazine honored TetraSun and NREL with one of its coveted R&D 100 Awards for the year's top innovations.

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Solar Energy Corp of India seeks license for power trading from CERC.

Sensing huge potential in Solar powerproduction, the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) has applied for license for power trading with Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.

SECI managing director Rajendra Nimje said the PSU is authorised to sell power that will be produced under the proposed 750MW solar power projects under Phase-II Batch-I, recently announced by the Government.

"We see huge potential in Solar power production in the coming years. We have applied for license with the CERC. It is under process and expected to be in final stages within two months," Nimje told PTI.

Nimje was talking on the of a seminar on Solar Water Heating System organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in association with New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) Ltd and the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI).

He said they have invited bid for the second phase of the 750MW Solar power projects and will have a pre-bid meeting on November 19.

The proposed scheme for solar projects would be implemented through the Solar Energy Corporation of India in association with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd.

Electricity generated from these plants would be purchased by Solar Energy Corp at a fixed-level tariff of Rs 5.45 per KWH for a period of 25 years.

The Government has allowed around 1600MW Solar power projects under the first phase under theJawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) which has set a target, amongst others, for deployment of grid connected Solar power capacity of 20,000MW by 2022 to be achieved in three phases.

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Solarsis sets up rooftop solar PV unit for IIT-Madras

Solar photovoltaic solutions company Solarsis has installed a rooftop solar photo-voltaic system for IIT-Madras. This system incorporates various technologies in modules and inverters. The solar plant has been installed on top of the 50-year-old Electrical Sciences Block at IIT-Madras that aims to build 1-MW solar unit on top of its existing buildings. 

Venkat Rajaraman, CEO, of the Hyderabad-based Solarsis, in a statement said the structure is designed to withstand high wind zone of the Chennai coastal region. The plant also brings high degree of reliability and protection to enable to smooth interaction with the grid.

“We plan to test smart controller for solar, which is currently being designed by IIT-M, with the rooftop solar plant. Also the elevated structures ensure that we continue to use the roof as before for our regular use,” Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Electrical Engineering Department said. The IIT Madras Solarsis rooftop solar plant is a mix of different types of modules of various capacities. The 90KW plant will generate 1.5 lakh units a year and helps offset 90 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

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Solar Working Group Releases Standard Contracts

 

A working group representing solar industry stakeholders has developed standard contracts that should help lower transaction costs and make it easier to access low-cost financing for residential and commercial solar power projects.

The Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) working group, assembled by the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is a consortium of solar energy developers, law firms, financiers and analysts with expertise in solar energy projects.

The contracts cover residential leases and commercial power purchase agreements (PPAs). The working group members recognized that customizable contract templates could improve consumer transparency, increase private-sector investment, and lower the cost of solar energy to end-users.

"These template contracts should allow national and regional solar developers alike to increase business opportunities and enable the creation of tradable investment vehicles desired by pension funds and other institutional investors critical to scale the industry," NREL Energy Analyst Paul Schwabe said. "This effort is just one of the many ways that the partnerships forged across the SAPC initiative are helping to unleash cost-competitive solar power."

To date, SAPC has developed three standard contract templates:

• Residential Lease – Aggregated (for developers with in-house installation practices)
• Residential Lease – Disaggregated (for developers using installation partners)
• Commercial PPA

NREL initiated the SAPC working group effort in October 2012. Since then, it has grown to include more than 120 member organizations. The working group is also engaged in several activities designed to build investor confidence, including collaborating with rating agencies to evaluate "mock" portfolios of residential and commercial assets, developing best practice guidelines for system installation and operation and maintenance, and developing a system performance dataset. The three-year effort is funded under the Energy Department's Sunshot Initiative.

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NanoPV Voltech to set up 75-MW plant near Chennai

NanoPV Voltech Solar Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between US-based NanoPV Solar Inc and the Voltech group of Chennai, expects to open a solar module manufacturing plant near here in December.

The facility, with a capacity to make 75 MW worth of modules a year, is being set up at an investment of Rs 100 crore.

The solar module can be used as a component of a larger photovoltaic system to generate and supply electricity. The Voltech group has nothing to do with Voltec Solar, the Alsace, France-based producer of high quality photovoltaic solar panels.

NanoPV was founded in New Jersey, US, in 2005 by Anna Selvan John, who hails from Chennai. John is also the President and CEO of the Indian joint venture.

The 75MW plant will produce crystalline silicon modules. The company has plans to make solar cells also, John told Business Line on Friday. Modules are made up with cells.

He added NanoPV has developed a hybrid cell technology which can convert 21 per cent of sun’s energy falling on the cells into electricity.

At a later stage, these hybrid cells will be manufactured at the Indian plant.

NanoPV Voltech’s subsidiarieshave won rights to set up two solar power projects—of 10 MW and 14 MW—in Tamil Nadu, through a bidding process of the state utility, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corp Ltd (Tangedco).

The Chairman of the Voltech group, M Umapathi, told reporters here on Friday land for the projects was ready and the company had even organised the necessary “bank guarantee”. “We are waiting for Tangedco to sign the power purchase agreement.”

The 24-MW solar projects will be captive customers for the manufacturing plant. Apart from this, NanoPV Voltech has also won contracts for setting up a a6 MW solar plant from other winners of the Tangedco bid.

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New Generation to Build 315 Megawatts Solar in India

A group led by New Generation Power LLC, a U.S. clean energy developer, has signed contracts to build 315 megawatts of solar plants in India.

The group expects to invest $400 million by the end of 2014 to complete installations at various sites across Andhra Pradesh state, Chicago-based New Generation said in a statement. The plants will sell power under 20-year contracts to the local utility.

Mumbai-based Waaree Group and Hyderabad-based Premier Solar Group have been selected as contractors to design and build the plants, according to the statement.

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