Energetica India Magazine - September 2022

36 energetica INDIA- September_2022 INTERVIEW tion that very few Backsheet manufac- turers can claim. It will also be available for viewing at the stall. This Backsheet has been showing great potential to meet the surge in demand for bi-facial panels. A lighter-weight alternative to glass-glass bi-facial solar modules, this Backsheet will allow mod- ule manufacturers to produce bi-facial modules on the same lines that they are currently using for mono-facial Glass-Backsheet modules. For customers, this Backsheet provides the perfect alternative for structures that require lighter modules, this is es- pecially important as module weights have gone up with larger format 540+ Wp modules being manufactured. Q What does RenewSys feel about other types of Backsheets that are available in the Indian Market? Avinash Hiranandani: The RenewSys Bengaluru polymer specialty division recently conducted an extensive study of Backsheets available in the Indian market. One of the key findings was the high volumes of cheaper, coated Backsheets available in the market had MVTR’s ranging from 3 – 3.5 g/sqm/day. This means that these Coated Backsheets al- low 3 – 3.5 grams/sqm/day of moisture to enter the PV module. This is extremely troubling and signifi- cant because moisture ingress or water vapour entering a solar module greatly speeds up the degradation of the PV module. Damage may be seen in the form of corrosion, discolouration of the Encapsulant, delamination, etc. In comparison RenewSys’ PRESERV range of Backsheets exhibit an MVTR of 1.2 g/sqm/day to 1.5 g/sqm/day, 250 times better than its competitors sup- plying coated Backsheets! Q What are the company’s expansion and investment plans in the near fu- ture? Avinash Hiranandani: RenewSys has the following expansion plans: We are already expanding our Encapsu- lants business as we speak from the cur- rent 3GW to 11 GW. Our PV Backsheet capacity will be going up from 4 GW to 5 GW. On the PV Modules front, we will be expanding our module manufacturing capacity from 1.75 GW to 4 GW. Besides, we also intend to expand our PV cell line capacity from 100 MW to 2 GW. For this, we are currently consider- ing various technologies. Q Lastly, what will be your key sug- gestions for policymakers in order to boost the domestic solar manufactur- ing industry in the country? Avinash Hiranandani: We stand with the Indian Government’s Make in India policy and vision for a renewable en- ergy-powered future. We would like to thank the MNRE for their support and guidance and RenewSys is committed to further increasing our manufactur- ing capacities manifold for PV Modules, Encapsulants, and Backsheets, in line with the national vision. Some key suggestions include: 1. Maintain policy consistency - This is very important. Any short-term chang- es lead to uncertainty toward expansion plans in the minds of module manufac- turers. As India is now focused on being ‘Aatma Nirbhar’ and promoting ‘Make In India’ a consistent policy will help us grow and thrive. 2. Capital Allocation – Through schemes like PLI we should ensure that both polysilicon to wafers and cells to mod- ules receive the required balanced incen- tives to build production capacity. 3. Ancillary BIS - Key module compo- nents like Encapsulants, Glass, Copper, should also be brought under ALMM and BIS to ensure that high-quality standards required by the module man- ufacturers are met. 4. Priority Lending Sector – For solar PV and component manufacturing, the lowest interest rate should prevail till the manufacturing ecosystem has been suitably built up. 5. Availability of Land for expansion and setting up manufacturing facilities and the Bank and Infrastructure costs should also be looked at so that the cost of the solar module can eventually be brought down and the need for duty is reduced. 6. DCR - Provided good support to lo- cal cell manufacturers, however, it could not deliver on its full potential on ac- count of a loss of opportunities during COVID. Hence, we request that the pro- gram be extended by 2 years.