Adani Solar powering India’s rooftop revolution with strong market presence

Adani Solar is the only company in the country manufacturing ingots and wafers.

Adani Solar has established a prominent presence in India’s renewable energy sector, primarily in solar manufacturing. With an impressive capacity of 4 gigawatts for cells and modules, they are poised to expand further and become the country’s sole manufacturer of ingots and wafers. Adani Solar’s success in the rooftop solar panel market is attributed to it’s flagship products and a robust distribution network, commanding a substantial market share. Speaking to EPR Magazine Rahul Bhutiani, Chief marketing Officer, Adani Solar shares insights into the industry.   

What is Adani Solar’s presence in India’s renewable energy sector?

In the Indian solar sector, a dual perspective emerges, the generation side and the manufacturing side. Adani Solar has a significant presence on the manufacturing side, while different group companies are responsible for the generation part of the business. In the manufacturing segment, Adani Solar continues to be among the largest fully integrated manufacturers of solar modules with 4 gigawatt capacity of cells and modules. Notably, the company is on the brink of introducing an additional 2 gigawatts of ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity. Adani Solar will be the only company in the country manufacturing ingots and wafers.

Speaking particularly about rooftop solar panels, what strategies or factors have contributed to your company’s successful penetration into the market?

Currently, our flagship product in the market Mono PERC, bifacial solar modules, has gained significant popularity in the rooftop segment. We have established a robust distribution network covering all states in India, and our distributors are effectively selling these modules for rooftop applications. We proudly maintain a dominant market position, commanding approximately 50 percent to 60 percent of the entire rooftop market in the country. Across different states, the rooftop business, driven by the adoption of Mono PERC and bifacial solar modules, enjoys a substantial market share, particularly through a strong partnership with Adani.

Are you into any collaboration? Please tell us about any new product recently launched by Adani Solar? 

While we haven’t entered into any formal collaboration, we have recently launched Topcon’s latest N-type technology module. This module boasts higher wattage with lower temperature coefficient and lower degradation. We are excited to announce that this cutting-edge product will be available for shipment starting this November.

What are the strategies or innovations that Adani Solar has undertaken in the energy storage domain?

We have different entities within our group that are in each part of the value chain. Adani Solar is into manufacturing, then there is another group company that does the implementation or the development part. The company is evaluating various technologies from a storage point of view. Adani is also into wind generation, and wind turbine manufacturing business that allows us to create a uniform generation across 24 hours. When solar is not operational, wind starts delivering the power. We are addressing solar time-related demand challenges by integrating solar and wind energy sources and creating a hybrid solution. As part of our ongoing evaluation process for different technologies, we are primarily concentrating on large-scale storage solutions, and we have a preference for pump storage systems.

What are your company’s expansion plans, and how do you intend to maintain your position as a leading solar company?

We are currently India’s largest, fully integrated cell and module manufacturer. We will continue to try and hold on to this position and we are now expanding to 10 gigawatts. We are embarking on an ambitious expansion plan that encompasses our current business of cells and modules while also extending our reach into the manufacturing of ingots, wafers, polysilicon, and silica. Our commitment to this industry remains unwavering, and we are poised to maintain our prominent position within it. We firmly believe that the future holds immense opportunities for our sector, and we are determined to seize our rightful share in this promising landscape.

What about the sustainability of the RE sector? What efforts does Adani Solar make to protect the environment for future generations?

Sustainability has become a paramount concern in our daily lives, mainly because it forces us to contemplate the steps we take to prevent further harm to the environment that we live in. And we leave a green earth for the next generation. One of the major approaches to ensuring sustainability would be to be able to use more renewable energy as compared to fossil fuel. And with the solar ecosystem that we have created, we are enabling the ability to generate more renewable energy and that should overall help the entire sustainability effort that the human race is now involved in.

In the long run, there is going to be a lot of wastage in the RE sector, how the industry is planning to cope up with this? 

A substantial portion of the solar panel’s composition is readily recyclable. At the top of the panel, we find a glass component, which is inherently recyclable. The primary raw material utilised in the creation of solar cells and panels is polysilicon, essentially derived from silica. Through certain purification processes, polysilicon can be reclaimed and reused. Valuable metals like silver paste, which are employed in module manufacturing, can also be extracted for reuse. I am confident and also aware that a lot of businesses are being set up from a recycling point of view. Consequently, the recycling sector is poised to become a prominent industry in the near future. We will see a lot of recycling businesses come up and that should help ensure that the modules remain a truly sustainable product.

Where do we stand in the Renewable Energy Sector and what are the expectations for the country’s module capacity in the near future?

We are marching forward very aggressively. The way our government has announced the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme and some of the other schemes, Indian manufacturers are stepping up and we are poised to reach 100 gigawatts of module capacity in the next couple of years which is a good landmark. We will continue to be one of the largest manufacturers of solar panels in the world.