There has been an ongoing tussle between solar power producers and equipment manufacturers. This all started when equipment manufacturers filed an anti-dumping case last year against China, Taiwan, Malaysia and the US for imported solar panels. Now ten solar power producers, which include Jackson Ltd, Vikram Solar, Symphony Vyapar Pvt Ltd and Lexicon Vanijya Pvt Ltd have written to the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). They have written that imposition of anti-dumping duty on solar imports will affect the fledgling Indian solar industry in a major way.
Owing to the case filed by the manufacturers, producers have called a halt to such measures till the second phase of the national solar mission begins and new projects are commissioned, reported Economic Times.
The government is juggling between the two and trying to come out with a viable solution. Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy said, “We want the domestic industry to be protected and on the other hand we also hope to make solar power available at cheaper rates and grid parity to be achieved quite soon.”
The government has planned to keep some projects aside, which will be developed from domestic content. However, these may be around 200-250 MW out of the total 750 MW. They may be tendered out in May.
As per the guidelines released in the first phase of the solar mission, producers could either mandatorily source CSi (crystalline silicon) solar cells from the domestic market or source thin-film technology from any country, the report stated.
However, producers opted to buy imported solar panels because of their low cost and also because it is believed that thin film technology works better in a hot climate. This unsettled manufacturers. ET mentioned one of the letters in the report that stated, “Indian cells have an efficiency of 15.5 to 16.5 per cent whereas internationally, cells are available with an efficiency of above 17 per cent. Low efficiency cells involve higher project cost.”
