HPL aims at developing customer specific products for better experience

Shivesh Mishra, Deputy Manager, HPL Electrical & Power Ltd. walks us through their new additions to their switchgears profile and String Combiner Boxes, during the 14th Edition of Renewable energy India Expo, Noida. 

What was your focus in the 14th Edition of REI? 

This time, we have new range of products here in the 14th Edition of Renewable Energy India Expo. HPL Electric & Power has launched three products in switchgear category; one is in the String Combiner Box category, an updated version of the previous existing boxes. In switchgears, we have launched our new range of DC switches with category DC switches with 1000 volt DC and 1500 volt DC and one AC switch that is for 415 volts and 800 volt AC. All these products are to be used in government solar projects and rooftop solar projects as well. Earlier versions of combiner box, we used to get uses of 30 AMPS in our combiner boxes. And now we can provide fuses up to 60-65 AMPS, since our module capacity has gone up, that’s why we had made this upgrade in our combiner box category. We also have three different type of lighting to our offerings which are all in one and are semi-integrated, which are used for boundary lighting of Solar farms. 

What kind of product have you displayed here in REI expo? 

HPL have displayed their complete range of BUS category, including String Combiner boxes, Monitoring Boxes, complete metering solutions, AC distribution boxes, AC combiner boxes, wires and cables and physical categories on all categories under 415 volts and 800 volts.

What be the uses and impacts of your products in the power and renewable energy sector? 

The new products are under the Make in India project scheme launched by Prime Minister. So, these are all the switchgear that have been launched and manufactured in our Sonipat plant which is close to Delhi. So, all these products are to be used in the roof in the solar product which is being used at ground mounted solar projects. And this is the first Make in India product which is to be used in such categories. The same category of product which is being used as of now in industry is from the other countries. So this is new development under the make India scheme.  

Can you throw some light on DC-3 switches and disconnectors? 

For DC disconnectors, we have launched products in all three categories ranging from 100 AMPS to 630 AMPS. This is actually just a rough design that goes by client / customer requirements. These all are the electrical and mechanical parameters which are currently superior to the production level in the market at this very moment. So, that is the quality we maintain in all our products.

What are your market expectations from the solar sector and from ground mounted solar sector? 

From the last two years we have been providing String Combiner box and LT Panel Category to the market. In this category, our growth has increased by more than 200 percent in last two years, and we are expecting another 500 percent of growth in next financial year.

What kind of responses have you seen for the launch? 

We have received responses far beyond our expectation, we were expecting around 4000 – 5000 visitor, but it went beyond our expectations. Moreover, these were genuine customers as their queries were product related and with particular and specific requirements. So, I would say that the event brought us great responses from the customers / clients. 

How do you evaluate the challenges and differences in the market amid COVID? 

The pandemic impacts came to effect from March 2020. The impacts were not too immediate for us as our projects were on; also the marketing was active during the early 2020’s. But there were challenges in terms of raw materials and their cost, supply chain challenges were also there; even imports are affected to a great extent. But we are glad that the market is now picking up and is slowly recovering from the losses. Moreover, I feel that all the new and old queries will be sorted we will work in a more efficient and strong manner soon after this exhibition ends. 

How are pricing factors impacting the demands and growth, especially in a post COVID scenario? 

Some products that are being manufactured by producing them in-house are made under make in India. So we have faced challenge for raw materials but somehow it has been managed. We are putting prices as per, customer expectation and we are getting good orders from our all the customers, so that’s not an issue with us. As of now, there is no any issue with getting the orders and closes. So everything is sorted, and everything is fine. 

What are your plans and projections for the coming 3 years? 

In the coming years, we are planning to have more advanced products in our portfolio in system monitoring solutions, LT Panels. Also, we are planning to expand our reach into the solar projects. We may also get into solar projects by the end of this year also. We hope the COVID situation ends at the earliest so the businesses can regain their market position.