EQ June 2016 Edition

Volume # 8 | Issue # 6 | June 2016 | Rs.5/- www.EQMagPro.com

INTERNAT IONALIndia’s Oldest & Leading Solar Media Group

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GovERNMENt announces policy to make Delhi ‘solar city’ GovERNMENt announces policy to make Delhi ‘solar city’

Solar Fastest Growing New Energy Source In India, Installations Surge In First 5 Months Of 2016, Exceeding All Of Previous Year

OPIC COMMITTED TO CONTINUED SUPPORT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS IN INDIA

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Owner : FirstSource EnergyINDIA PRIVATE LIMITED

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I NTERNAT IONAL

VOLUME 8Issue # 6

World Bank Approves $625 Mn to Support

Grid Connected Rooftop Solar

Program in India

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INTERVIEW with Vinay Kumar, COO, GREENKO

Govt lines up over Rs 17k crore to support rooftop solar projects

JinkoSolar Becomes the First Chinese PV Manufacturer to Receive Q+ Certification from TUV Rheinland

Indian Navy Pledges 1.5 % of its Works Budget Towards Renewable Energy Generation”

Tata Power arm signs share Purchase Agreement (SPA) to acquire Welspun Renewables Energy Private Limited INTERVIEW

with Rajyawardhan Ghei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hindustan Clean Energy Ltd.

INTERVIEW with Vijay Karia, Chairman and MD, Ravin Group of Companies

INTERVIEW with Manoj Kumar Upadhyay, Chairman and MD, ACME Cleantech Solutions

Sterling and Wilson ranked the 6th Global Solar EPC and No. 1 outside USA and China

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16SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Concludes Legally-Binding Contracts for the Announced Delivery of Production Machines for CIGS Thin-Film Modules

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Securitization in Solar Financing- a Likely Fit for

India

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46 Smart PV Solution VS Central Solution: Safety

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QUARTER RESULTS

Trina Solar Announces First Quarter 2016 Results

Canadian Solar Announces First Quarter 2016 Results

JA Solar Announces First Quarter 2016 Results

Jinko Solar Announces First Quarter 2016 Results

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Huawei, a leading global informa-tion and communication technology solutions provider, is committed to creating maximum value for custom-ers, with products and solutions de-ployed in over 170 countries, serving more than one third of the world’s population. Combining digital infor-mation technology, Internet technol-ogy and PV generation technology, Huawei provides innovative Fusion Solar PV solution & inverters with a wide application in Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, etc.

Cover

ROOFTOP & OFFGRID

PRODUCTS (Pg 77-81)

Pg 56 Magic Of Net Metering In Delhi

Heraeus Introduces New Series of PERC Metallization Pastes

3D-Micromac wins Megawatt Prize for Outstanding Half Cell Cutting Technology at SNEC 2016

Hanwha Q CELLS Received ‘Terawatt Diamond Award’ for its advanced Q.ANTUM Cell Technology at SNEC 2016

DW288 Series 3... Cutting wires as thin as a human hair

Canadian Solar Showcased Dymond Module And Superpower Module At 2016 Snec

Gsolar firstly launch ‘Three In One’ solar simulator around the world (A+A+A+/full spectrum/long pulse)

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9 www.EQMagPro.com EQ June 2016

EQ: What’s your view on the Government of India target of 100GW Solar and 75GW Wind Power by 2022….Can we achieve that and what would be the challengesVK: I am an optimist though not a die hard one. Given the policy push and the various policy enablers I think that the target for solar is within the realm of achievability. On the wind capacity additions, I am slightly less optimistic.

EQ: India has 750 GW of Solar Potential….By when should we able to achieve thatVK: Potential does not alone determine achievability of a target. Market supply and demand in the power sector is at an inflexion point. There are reports that we are already a power surplus economy. In this condition, potential does not matter. Market reality , economic growth, RPO compliances, PPAs , access to finance will determine the conversion of potential into actual commissioned capacity. If potential alone were to determine achievability , then 1% of the thar desert would power the entire country !!!

EQ: Kindly enlighten on “Energy Storage as Game Changer”….Technology & Cost Trends, Incentives and Government Support needed

VK: This necessarily involves some crystal ball gazing and there are pit-falls there. Energy storage costs are falling rapidly @ CAGR of around 30% . This is coming more from economies of scale , technology advancements and improvements in ancillary technology like thermal heat management. I would say that we are still some distance away from the “Whatsapp” moment of energy storage. In the long run this will surely be a game –changer from an energy access point of view and an ideal solution for the 70 million odd population that is currently off-grid today in India.

EQ: What pipeline of projects do you currently own, kindly specify the size of the project, its location, tariff, scheme, timeline of completion, its viability

VK: We have a healthy pipeline in both solar and wind projects that will enable us to reach the 3 GW mark in the next 3 years. It is going to be a mix of wind , solar and hydro projects, with bulk of capacity addition coming from wind

and solar.

EQ: What are the expected generation from these projects in terms of kwh per DC or AC capacityVK: Our endeavor would be to leverage advances in solar and wind technologies to achieve the least LCOE. Least LCOE would be the primary differentiator among the IPPs.

EQ: As a Developer do you have plans for backward integration with manufacturing of Modules/Cells/Wafers etc….Currently would you buy from Indian or Asian or other manufacturer ?VK: We are a renewable energy IPP. Our core competence is to build high quality energy assets which are highly reliable. We have no current plans for backward integration as of now.

INTERVIEW WITH MR.VINAY KUMAR

Chief Operating Officer (COO),

GREENKO

EQ:What are your plans for the foray in

Renewable Energy Sector in

India and other countries

VK: We are already a large IPPs .

We have crossed the 1 GW mark,

in terms of operating capacity

between our hydro and wind

assets last FY. Our goal is to cross the 3 GW

mark by 2018 .

INTERViEW

10 www.EQMagPro.comEQ June 2016

INTERViEW

EQ: Mounting & Tracking : What kind of mounting would you adapt….fixed or tilt of seasonal tilt etc….In Tracking…what are your view on the technology available , its cost-benefit analysis, O&M VK: The tracker technology providers are still in a incipient stage. Technology maturity ,commercial risk transfer schemes are still new to the business. As an IPP we are looking for proven technology, backed by robust machine availability guarantees and warranted thresholds of tracking errors. All these are bound to happen sooner than later. It is an interesting area to watch though.

EQ: Challenges : Comment on Various challenges such as Aggressive bidding, Land , Finance, Grid Connection, PPA, Forex Fluctuation, Pricing & Tech Trends, Payments risksVK: Again a broad brush question. It needs a steady mind and a lot of calm and poise not to get swayed by market sentiment these days. These are not easy in this business. Companies that are focused on leverage technology, having control over quality and time of execution … executing financially viable projects delivering the required return on capital to investor will win in the long run. The rest will fall by the way-side.

EQ: Financing : Enlighten our readers with the Financial Engineering needed in an aggressive price bid scenario…Source & Cost of Debt,Debt Equity Ration, Project & Equity IRR, Interest Rates & their trendsVK: The renewable energy business has no greater privileged access to financial engineering as have other industries. While some innovation is possible, risk mitigated, arbitrage opportunities in lowering cost of capital are the same for all players with some very minor differences.

While the ability to internalize and execute innovative financial methods to lower cost of capital and thereby enhancing competitive advantage in a bidding scenario is still a reality …. it has limitations.

EQ:RoofTop Solar : Whats your plans for RoofTop Solar

Market, Governemnt Target of 40GW rooftop solar by 2022 (Please comment) , Various Models such as RESCO/BOOT/PPA/EPCetc…Opportunities & Challenges, Policies & Regulations etc…VK: We have traditionally been a grid scale operator of renewable energy assets. We are yet to look into the rooftop segmenet.

EQ: Please enlighten on the government policies and regulations such as the CERC Benchmark costs, Open Access, Wheeling, Banking, InterState&IntraState Transmission, RPO & its enforcementVK: This is broad brush question and would require an elaborate answer. CERC benchmark have been rendered redundant with the recent bids on the solar front. On the wide side apart from serving as a guidance to the state ERCs no great purpose being served. Open access regimes in various states remain an area of great concern. Right now there are various flavours of this across the states. If inter-state transfer of renewable power has to be become a reality, it is necessary for the Center to step in and draw some bounds for open access charges. If the central government is attempting to do for the tax rates, why this is not being attempted for open access charges? If a healthy power market needs to develop , harmonization of open access and enabling ease of open access will be THE game-changer and a pre-requisite for a freer power market. Center can no longer confine itself to twiddling with the inter-state transmission along. They need to take on a more activist mantle here.

UW: Please comment of the financial health of Discoms, UDAY Scheme, OffTaker RiskVK: It is quity easy to beat the government about the poor finan-cial health of the discoms. It is necessary to take whole fresh look on the power subsidies. Bold initiatitives like the ones the central government is taking on gas and fertilizer subsidies is also required for power subsidies.

We cannot ignore the poor and the under-privileged in the subsidy debate. Why cannot we think of a Direct benefit scheme instead of a power –tariff subsidy . Tariffs would be paid by one and all at ERC determine tariffs. Subsidies if, any , should be targeted through a DBT model.

Until this happens , UDAY kind of schemes will provide temporary relief. Infact UDAY address the current balance sheets of discoms, It does not address the bleeding of future balance sheets. Off-taker risk , especially for bigger IPPs like ours is key determinant of or cost of debt.

This is more so , when we go to financial markets and raise bonds. Poor offtaker risk, is resulting in poor credit ratng of our debt instrument and increasing of cost of debt.

EQ: Inverter Technology :

Please comment of Central vs

String, Container vs Civil

Structure for Inverter, System

Design and Architecture

VK: We need to increasingly look at in-

verter technology from the point of view

of life cycle cost. Cost of installation

coupled with visibility on losses

over the life of the asset is what

an IPP would look at as a differentiator.

NEWS & ANALYSIS

Greenko raises $230 mn from GIC, ADIAreenko Energy announced the signing of definitive agreements pertaining to raising primary equity of USD 230 million (around Rs 1,530 crore) from an affiliate of Singapore-based investment firm GIC and an entity owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.According to a statement issue by Greenko, the ADIA entity will be investing USD 150 million while GIC has already invested USD 80 million in March this year. ”With this transaction, GIC continues to be the majority shareholder of Greenko. The funds will contribute to the continued growth of Greenkos platform through development of new renewable energy projects, including low-risk expansions of existing wind farms,” the statement said.

The transaction fur ther demonst rates Greenkos continued ability to attract long-term infrastructure capital, it said.

Greenko is one of the leading owner and operator of renewable energy assets in India, operating a diversified portfolio of over 1,000 mw of wind and small hydro assets.The groups current base of funds, combined with its development and execution capability refined over 10 years since its incorporation, has positioned the platform to be a leading contributor to the Indian governments sustainable and clean energy targets over the coming years, the company said.

Greenko also announced the appointment of Om Prakash Bhatt as non-executive chairman of the board, effective April 1, 2016.Bhatt had a long and successful career at State Bank of India, countrys largest banking and financial services company by assets, culminating in a five-year tenure as Chairman of its board, the statement said.

G“With our attractive diversified renewable power portfolio, we will continue to execute on our vision to be the most admired Indepen-dent Power Producer delivering multiple gigawatts of clean en-ergy at grid parity to support the growth of the Indian economy.”

Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, CEO, Greenko Group


Sterling and Wilson ranked the 6th Global Solar EPC and No. 1 outside USA and China

aving commissioned over 1050 MW of solar power project installations in last 5 years, Sterling and Wilson has made its presence felt in International Solar

Market by offering its superior expertise in Engineering, Procurement & Construction. The company has 867 MW under construction, 625 MW confirmed order book and more than 5 GW of projects in pipeline across the globe. The company has recently commissioned projects in South Africa (90 MW) and Philippines (28.6 & 22.3 MW)

Sterling and Wilson’s international solar operations are spread across Africa, Latin America, India, Middle East & South East Asia, with its international

headquarters in Dubai. The Company has recently won projects of 260 MW capacity in Egypt, 86.25 MW in South Africa, 7 MW in Niger and 115 MW in Philippines. With human assets of nearly 3500 technically proficient manpower working in India and abroad, Sterling and Wilson has an inherent strength to execute international solar projects in an efficient and cost effective way. It sets them apart from the competition. Sterling and Wilson offers their clients turnkey solar solutions including sourcing land, design, engineering, supply, construction, installation and commissioning of solar power plants within the most stringent timelines. The organization gets all its plant designs assessed and appraised from in house engineers & global experts to achieve the most optimal levels of performance.

HSterling and Wilson, a leading global Solar EPC player, has been ranked 6th Global Solar EPC & No.1 EPC outside USA & China by IHS Research and Consulting firm in its recently released Solar EPC and O&M Provider Tracker Q2 2016.

“We have been growing at fast pace with increased footprints across the globe. The ranking by IHS is a huge recognition of our continuous and tireless efforts by our team to ensure we build world class solar PV plants. With this vision in mind, our operational teams are stationed in target markets and are clearly focused on our objective of strategic growth”

- Bikesh Ogra, President, Sterling &

Wilson, Electrical & Solar Business

Sterling & Wilson’s rich experience of working on more than 64 Solar PV plants across the globe has won many national &international recognition.

JinkoSolar Quarterly Shipments Reach the Top, Becoming the Largest Solar Module Manufacturer

On 27th May 2016, JinkoSolar announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2016. Total

module shipments in Q1 were 1600MW, an increase of 102.7% from 789 MW in the first quarter of 2015.JinkoSolar has surpassed all competitors, becoming the largest in total module shipments. The anticipated 6 to 6.5GW annual manufacturing capacity will likely make JinkoSolar the largest solar module manufacturer by volume across 2016. JinkoSolar’s stunning performance is due to the strong sales of its high-efficiency flagship product the Eagle series, in

addition to its continuous global market penetration in the USA, China, South America, UK, Turkey, Australia and APAC. JinkoSolar’s new Smart Module Series, its 1500V Module range and new Dual Glass Module have also contributed to the strong sales result.

Faced with increasing demand for high efficiency and improved module reliability, JinkoSolar’s technological and production advantages (such as the world record 20.13% efficient poly-cell production line), in addition to its global strategy and branding penetration, have powered JinkoSolar to achieve the largest market

share in key PV markets.Apart from the expansion of manufacturing capacity and increased module shipments, JinkoSolar also achieved a comparatively high margin, maintaining its role as the earnings leader in the PV sector. Based on the financial results, JinkoSolar’s total revenue is 847.8 million USD, gross margin is 21.3%. The industry as a whole has seen reduced margins due to the increasing competitiveness in the PV industry. However, JinkoSolar kept its average gross margin at 20%, continuing to be the highly profitable solar module manufacturer worldwide.

NEWS & ANALYSIS


AWARDS & HONOR 2016

Indosolar LTD. has been awarded a “National Excellence Award” For Excellence in Domestic Solar Cell Manufacturers

THE AWARDS PRESENTED at VIGYAN BHAWAN BY MNRE MINISTER OF INDIA SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL In FOLLOWING CATEGORIES :

CleanMax Solar has been honored twice by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for excellence in the rooftop solar industry, recognizing its leading role in the industry, in which it is the largest player, with 28% market share. CleanMax was the only solar developer to be honored twice at the event, in both the “developer” and “EPC” categories.

Waaree Energies recently bagged the National Excellence Award for Roof top solar power projects. The central government through Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has honored India’s No. 1 ranked Solar PV manufacturer and leading solar solutions company, with the prestigious National Excellence Award for roof top solar power projects in the domestic solar module manufacturing category.

CleanMax Solar recognized by MNRE for ‘Excellence in Rooftop Solar Developers’

Waaree Energies felicitated with NaTional Excellence Award in domestic Solar Modulemanufacturing category

Vikram Solar, a globally acclaimed solar PV module manufacturer and EPC solutions provider was awarded the National Excellence Award 2016 for Roof Top Solar Power Projects in the Domestic Solar Module Manufacturers Category by the Government of India.

Vikram Solar wins National Excellence Award

Chemtrols Solar wins National Excellence award for Rooftop Solar installations in India

Delta Receives National Excellence Award from MNRE at the National Workshop on Rooftop Solar

CHEMTROLS, received a National Excellence Award for Rooftop Solar Power Projects in the ‘Channel Partner/EPC contractor’ category.The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) had announced achievement-linked Incentives & Awards for ‘Grid connected rooftop and small Solar Power plants program’ under the National Solar Mission (NSM), aimed to recognize EPC channel partners doing exceptionally well in the field of rooftop solar installations.

The award was presented to Delta for Rooftop Solar Power Projects in the Solar Inverters category recognizing its outstanding contribution towards the development of Indian rooftopsolar sector.

Indosolar Limited has been awarded a “National Excellence Award, under the category of Domestic Solar Cell Manufacturers” .


ELCOM INTERNATIONAL PVT. LTD.HQ : 20 Prabhadevi Ind. Estate, 408 Veer Savarkar Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400 025, India. Factory : Plot no E 4, 5 star MIDC Kagal Hatkanangale, Kolhapur, 416216 Maharashtra, India

Cable Connector Branch Connector

Wired Branch Connector

Module Junction Box

Elcom International Pvt. Ltd. is a reputed manufacturer of Electro-Mechnical & Electronics components in India since 1981. We are India’s first Indigenous manufacturer of Solar PV connectors and trusted for high quality products.

Salient features of Elcom Solar Products are:• TUV approved as per EN 50521-2008 standard• Degree of protection IP-68 • Lower contact resistance ≤0.35 mΩ• Pure grade copper terminals with silver plating• Engineering plastic, UV compliance and flame resistant• In-house test lab, wire harness process approved for UL/ULZPFW2

Connected more than 750 MW in

India and counting!

For More Details Contact:Tel: +91 22 66114444Email : [email protected] Website: www.elcom-in.com

Winner of "Solar Cable Connector

Manufacturer of the Year" at India Solar Week - 2016, New Delhi.

AWARDS & HONOR 2016

Amplus Energy Solutions Private Limited (“Amplus”), a portfolio company of I Squared Capital and one of India’s leading solar developers, has been selected for the National Award for Rooftop Project Developers by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited has been awarded the national award under the category DISCOM Promotion/Facilitation for roof-top solar programmes.

Amplus Solar Gets National Excellence Award from GovT. of India for Rooftop Project Development

TPDDL gets award for roofop solar programmes

SMA SOLAR INDIA RECEIVES NATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARD IN THE CATEGORY OF PV INVERTERS

The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy presented SMA Solar India, the Indian subsidiary company of SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA), with the 2016 National Excellence Award for Rooftop Solar Power Projects in the category of PV inverters. At the award ceremony during the National Workshop on Rooftop Solar Power, the MNRE gave particular credit to SMA’s significant role in the successful implementation of rooftop PV projects in India, with a total output of approximately 82 MW. SMA was the only inverter manufacturer to receive a prize at the event.


reation of an Energy and Environment Cell at Naval Headquarters in Jan 16 to monitor pan Navy implementation of green measures is a concrete step in this direction. This Cell has been tasked to enable the Navy’s vision of adding a Green Footprint to its Blue Water Operations and make it an environmentally responsible force which is not only energy and resource efficient, but also resilient to energy costs/ disruptions.

The Key Result Areas of the INs Energy and Environment Policy underline the triple bottom-line approach of Energy Conservation, Diversification of Energy Supply and Minimising Environment Impact. The ever expanding reach

of IN necessitates use of new platforms equipped with cutting edge technology and state-of-the-art equipment. These platforms are energy intensive and have a significant carbon footprint in terms of energy and fuel use. IN has initiated concerted steps to reduce the carbon footprint– through efficient ship design and operations. Mass energy conservation awareness drives are conducted regularly at all Commands and Repair Yards to continuously educate and sensitise personnel on the importance of energy/ environment conservation in an effort to make this a way of life. Apart from greater awareness of the naval fraternity, the efforts have resulted in significant savings of approximately Rs. 12 Cr annually. The efforts of one of the major repair yards have seen it emerge as a model consumer, a feat lauded and recognized by the State Electricity Board.

The Navy has set itself an aggressive target of 21 MW Solar PV installation, to be implemented in three phases. The initiative is in line with the National Mission of Mega

Watt to Giga Watt towards achieving 100 GW Solar PV installations by 2022. Additionally, IN has pledged 1.5 per cent of its Works budget towards Renewable Energy generation. Under this scheme, Solar PV projects are being undertaken at various Naval Stations across all Commands. Naval Stations, with scarce available land, have resorted to the deploying Rooftop Solar PV panels.

While the Renewable Energy scenario in the country is dominated by Solar and Wind energy, the Navy is also exploring the possibility of harnessing the Renewable Energy from oceans. Towards this, in consultation with pioneers in the field and MNRE, feasibility of exploiting Ocean Thermal Energy and Wave Energy as sources of power, are under discussion.

The pursuit of green goals of Indian Navy requires sustained and focussed efforts. The Men and Women in Whites, have, nonetheless pledged to walk hand in hand with the national objectives set by the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

C

Indian Navy Pledgesof its Works Budget Towards Renewable Energy Generation”

1.5% The Green Initiatives Programme of the Indian Navy completes two years on World Envi-ronment Day. Over this period, considerable impetus has been given to reduce the overall car-bon footprint of the Navy. Being a responsible and multidimensional force, the Indian Navy believes in an all inclusive and sustainable growth.

Accordingly, the focus has not only been on correcting its ‘impact’ on the energy and environmental footprint, but also to address the root cause of the problem, which lies in the way energy is used.

NEWS & ANALYSIS

Tata Power arm signs Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) to acquire Welspun Renewables Energy Private Limited

he Tata Power Company Limited (“Tata Power”), India’s largest integrated power company, announced that, Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (“TPREL”), a 100% subsidiary of Tata Power, has signed an SPA with Welspun Energy Private Limited (“WEPL”) to acquire its subsidiary Welspun Renewables Energy Private Limited (“WREPL”). This represents the largest transaction in renewables space in India.

WREPL has one of the largest operating solar portfolios in India spread across ten states. It has about 1,140 MW of Renewable Power Projects comprising of about 990 MW Solar Power Projects and about 150 MW of Wind Power Projects. Out of 1,140 MW renewable portfolio, nearly 1,000 MW of capacity is operational and balance capacity is under advanced stages of implementation.

TPREL currently operates 294 MW of Renewable power capacity and 500 MW of Renewable assets are being carved out of Tata Power into TPREL through a court process. In addition, almost 400 MW of Solar and Wind power projects are under implementation. Thus, TPREL with all these assets, would have renewable assets portfolio of about 2,300 MW making it the largest Renewable Power Company in India.

TThe Company is pursuing growth in Renewable Energy space to create value for its shareholders through various organic and inorganic growth opportunities. This acquisition will enable the company to deliver sig-nificant value for all stakeholders as most of the assets are revenue gen-erating and operating assets. Tata Power can further enhance value of these assets with its operational experience and financial optimization. The acquisition is also a significant step towards attaining the company’s objective of having non-fossil fuel based capacity up to 30-40% of its total generating capacity.

JM Financial Institutional Securities Limited acted as exclusive Transaction Advisor to TPREL in relation to this transaction. KPMG India Private Ltd. was the Accounting & Tax Advisor. AZB & Partners acted as the Legal Advisor for this transaction.

-Anil Sardana, CEO & Managing Director, Tata Power

NEWS & ANALYSIS


Taking into account all available relevant information SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES will now review the impact on the previously published forecasts for the key financial figures for the years 2016 and 2017 and will inform the markets shortly about necessary adjustments of the forecasts, if applicable.

ungrow, the world’s largest PV inverter manufacturer, announced to sign a strategic alliance agreement with ABB, deepening cooperation in core products, technical innovation and services.According to the agreement, Sungrow and ABB will make full use of their resources to bring mutual promotion to each other’s products for the next 3 years. They will also co-design a medium voltage inverter container to

be used in high performance solar power plants all over the world.Combining ABB’s superior customized medium voltage products, with Sungrow’s high quality inverters, will lead to a partnership that is beneficial for customers all over the world.

Sungrow unveiled its SG3000HV-MV container medium voltage inverter for systems up to 3 megawatts at SNEC 2016. As a perfect solution for 1500 volts solar system, the SG3000HV-MV enables more modules to be connected, dramatically reducing system costs and power generating losses as well as being smarter and friendlier to end users. More importantly, it is easy to maintain in the long term. Simultaneously, the SG3000HV-MV is able to make communication between customers and suppliers more efficient, through combining transformers and inverters in advance. The combination of the optimized inverters from Sungrow and the customized transformers from ABB show the possibilities of joint innovation,.

INGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG’s (S INGULUS TECHNOLOGIES) announcement on Tuesday, May 24, about the signing of the letters of intent, now the respective, legally-binding contracts for the delivery of production machines for CIGS solar modules were concluded with a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned

enterprise China National Building Materials (CNBM).The finalization of the project’s financing is also

expected on short notice after the now concluded final signing of the legally-binding delivery contracts. The contracts are still subject to the approval of the relevant boards of SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES.

Sungrow and ABB Enter a Strategic Collaboration in 1500 VoltSolar Market

SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Concludes Legally-Bind-ing Contracts for the Announced Delivery of Production Machines for CIGS Thin-Film ModulesS

S-Professor Renxian Cao,

President , Sungrow

-Dr. ChunyuanGu, President and CEO of

ABB China

“Ranked as a Fortune Global 500, ABB is a leading enterprise in elec-tric power and automation technique and its products are widely used all over the world with high per-formance and good qual-ity. Sungrow is expected to cooperate with ABB to explore the integrat-ing solutions with higher reliability, ensuring higher yields of power plants. I am very confident that this cooperation with ABB, will be hugely beneficial for both parties

We are happy to collaborate with Sungrow to provide sustainable value for our customers in the renewable energy area,

Dr.-Ing. Stefan Rinck, Chief Executive Officer, and Dipl.-Oec. Markus Ehret, CFO of Singulus Technologies.

NEWS & ANALYSIS


Solar Industry Set for New Overcapacity and Shake-Out Cycle, As Outlook for the Second Half of 2016 Deteriorates

olar PV installations in China in the third quarter of 2016 will fall by 80 percent, triggering a sharp global slowdown in global demand and an oversupply, particularly solar modules. Our latest analysis shows nearly 13 gigawatts (GW) installed in China in the first six months of this year. The rush in installations in the first half of this year, driven by the feed in tariff (FIT) cut on June 30, 2016, will result in a major slump in demand in the third quarter, with installations falling 80 percent. Installations will recover somewhat in the fourth quarter, but they will still be limited by the Chinese government’s intent to keep installations beneath the 20 GW threshold for the full year. This pattern in China – which differs significantly from previous years – will drive a global slowdown in installations in the second half of this year and trigger a sharp adjustment in pricing.

Pricing throughout the module value chain has already started to drop sharply, for products that will ship in the second half of 2016. Offered prices for modules are now significantly lower than in the first quarter, as suppliers seek to shift volume ahead of the slump in

demand in China. In addition to the slowdown in the domestic market in China, the expansion of production capacity that has been ongoing for some time is also putting pressure on pricing, as suppliers seek to keep utilization levels high, and inventory low. Coupled with price declines is the rise of low-cost end-markets, such as India and Latin America, which are consuming larger volumes at lower prices.

Prices for Chinese tier-1 modules shipped to China will range from $0.44 per watt to $0.46 per watt (excluding value-added taxes) in the second half of 2016. Prices as low as $0.43 per watt for multi-crystalline modules were quoted at the recent SNEC PV Power Expo show in Shanghai.

At this price, photovoltaic (PV) modules suppliers will be selling at

a net loss in China. Gross margins of module suppliers will drop from approximately 20 percent in the first half of 2016 to low-to-mid single digits in the second half of this year. Many of these suppliers are under extreme financial pressure with precarious balance sheets. As a result, a further shakeout and consolidation in the industry is likely for suppliers that are unable to operate over the next two to three quarters at such limited margins.

Slowing demand for modules in the United States, the second largest market in 2016, is adding to manufacturers’ woes. While installation demand continues to be exceptionally strong in the U.S., inventory levels also remain high there, due to the vast quantities of Chinese modules shipped at the end of 2015 and even earlier. This situation is further exacerbated by developers pushing out plans to complete solar projects in 2017, now that the investment tax credit (ITC) has been extended beyond the end of this year. Prices for photovoltaic (PV) modules shipping in the fourth quarter have begun dropping sharply in the U.S., declining as much as 10 percent, since the first half of 2016.

S

H

OPIC COMMITTED TO CONTINUED SUPPORT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS IN INDIA

istoric agreement between the U.S. and India to address climate change recognizes the need for private investment and will work to support early stage projects seeking financial support from OPIC.

The new U.S. India Clean Energy Finance Initiative will raise and deploy up to $20 million in project preparation support, sourced from U.S. foundations and the government of India, to solar projects being considered for OPIC financing. It is anticipated that this funding will leverage an estimated $400 million in investment from OPIC and other investors for projects deploying distributed solar for grid-connected communities, as well as off-grid solar and mini-grids.

The initiative will help OPIC advance its longstanding commitment to renewable energy in the developing world. OPIC has supported multiple

utility-scale and off-grid renewable energy projects in India.The new initiative was announced as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with President Obama in Washington and committed to ratify the Paris climate accord, which establishes a long-term durable framework to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

NEWS & ANALYSIS


GovERNMENt announces policy to make Delhi ‘solar city’

Fronius Energy Package wins MTP Gold Medal Award

he government said building bylaws were amended for rooftop solar installations up to the height of two metres.The height of the structure carrying solar panels will not be counted towards total height of the building as permitted by building bylaws, except near airports where building regulations issued by the Airport Authority of India take precedence, said a government official.He said no approval will be required from municipal corporation or other urban development bodies concerned like DDA for putting up solar plants including any additional system for monitoring the performance of solar plant in existing or new buildings.

The support structure on which rooftop solar panels are installed will be treated as a temporary structure built in accordance with local building codes.”Making Delhi

a solar city is one of our 70-point agenda.This policy which is very progressive will help in providing clean and green energy,” said Kejriwal.He further said rooftop solar systems offer sustainable energy, environmental benefits, low gestation period and minimum

transmission and distribution losses.The policy outlined a combination of regulations, mandates, incentives, and tax breaks for the growth of rooftop solar power in the capital.

The policy mandated deployment of solar plants on all government-owned rooftops in the next five years. It requires private power distribution companies to meet at least 75 per cent of their solar renewable purchase obligation (RPO) within Delhi.Government said it was taking up with MCDs and New Delhi Municipal Council for exempting electricity tax, which is currently 5 per cent, on solar power.Government is in consultation with Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission to provide exemption on various other charges. It may exempt wheeling, banking and transmission charges for solar energy within Delhi. Source:PTI

The Fronius Energy Package received the innovation award for outstanding performance in the following areas:

Modernity of applied solutions in relation to world solutions, degree of innovative solutions, environmental impact, functional quality (understood as joining of usefulness and practical values), aesthetical quality and degree of accommodation to transfer of applied solutions into practical applications.

T

Giving a major push to clean energy, the AAP government recently came out with an ambitious policy announcing incentives and tax breaks to promote solar power and making it mandatory for government and public institutions to install rooftop solar panels. The solar policy, finalised at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, aims to make Delhi a “solar city” through generation of 1,000 megawatt of power by 2020 and taking it further to 2,000 MW by 2025.

On 10th May Fronius was awarded the MTP Gold

Medal Award for the Fronius Energy Package storage

solution. The Expo Power category of the Polish prize

honours outstanding flair for innovation. For the

recently founded Fronius Solar Energy Division in

Poland, this award reflects the feedback from the

market on the innovative storage solution.

”Making Delhi a solar city is one of

our 70-point agenda.This policy which is very progressive will help in

providing clean and green energy,” said

Kejriwal.

-Maciej Pilinski, sales manager of the Polish Fronius Solar

Energy Division.

“The MTP Gold Medal Award is one of the most prestigious prizes in Poland. We are extremely proud to have been honoured with this award, which is another acknowledgement of the flair for innovation our products demonstrate.”

NEWS & ANALYSIS


RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

SOLAR FASTEST GROWING NEW ENERGY SOURCE IN INDIA, INSTALLATIONS SURGE IN FIRST 5 MONTHS OF 2016, EXCEEDING ALL OF PREVIOUS YEAR

ercom is forecasting solar installations in India to total approximately 5 GW for calendar year 2016. Cumulative solar installations in India crossed the 7.5 GW mark as of May 2016 with about 2.2 GW installed so far this year, more than all of the solar installations in 2015. India’s solar project pipeline has now surpassed 22 GW with ~13 GW under construction and ~9 GW in the Request for Proposal (RfP) process.

The government has shown a strong commitment to renewables and it’s push towards solar is beginning to show results, at the end of FY2015-16, solar represented 2.5 percent of the net installed capacity in India, up from 1.4 percent a year ago, and was the fastest growing new energy source in the country.

Solar accounted for 17.4 percent of all renewable energy generation in FY2015-16 compared to 10.5 percent in FY2014-15.

MIndia solar development pipeline now stands at 22 GW, more than 13 GW under construction

“The Indian solar market is

growing in size but the question is: is

it too much too fast, as infrastructure

and systems have not kept pace with

auction announcements. For the

sector to move from 2 GW to a 10 GW

a year market, work still needs to be done.”

Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-Founder Mercom Capital Group


Low bidding levels through reverse auctions have been a major concern at a time when the Indian banking sector is going through its own challenges, which could make borrowing

much more difficult in the short-term. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, bank loans worth Rs.7 lakh crore (~$103 billion) were under stress as of the end of 2015. Currently, 19 developers have bid for 2.9 GW of solar projects below Rs.5 (~$0.0735). About 1.2 GW of these projects have signed power purchase agreements (PPAs). On a slightly positive note, the lowest tariff of Rs.4.34 (~$0.0638) seems to have been a outlier with all subsequent auctions coming in at Rs.4.66 (~$0.0685) or more.

Of the estimated $8 billion (~Rs.54,400 crore) collected under the Clean Environment Cess to date, only about $3 billion (~Rs.20,400 crore) is expected to be transferred to the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF). The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is likely to be allocated only 23 percent of the total amount collected so far under the Clean Environment Cess. With late tariff payment problems and rooftop subsidy delays, creation of a ‘reserve backstop fund’ against non-payments or delayed payments by DISCOMs using NCEF funds could have an immediate positive impact, eliminating offtaker risk, reducing interest rates and increasing lending.

“There is no set rule which says tariffs below Rs.5 (~$0.0735) cannot be financed. Some banks are seriously looking at projects in the Rs.4.5-5 (~$0.0662-0.0735) tariff range, but financing depends on sound project economics, borrower credibility, a strong balance sheet and the developer’s ability to service debt.” Further commented Mr. Raj Prabhu

RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

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JinkoSolar Becomes the First Chinese PV Manufacturer to Receive Q+ Certification from TUV Rheinland

E’s commitment is likely to help accelerate Sonnen’s commercial expansion, as it brings with it the power of GE’s established brand and needed up-front financing. Sonnen recently launched a community energy trading platform whereby individual solar photovoltaic (PV) and storage owners can trade electricity and GE’s powerful analytics

and data management tools will enable Sonnen to scale up its offering. The deal will also expand Sonnen’s customer base to industrial end-users, which are GE’s mainstream customers.

GE’s announcement further confirms its strategic focus shift away from battery manufacturing to system integration and grid solutions – GE announced in January 2015 that it was shutting down its sodium-nickel-chloride battery manufacturing plant. In October 2015 GE launched a dedicated energy services company “Current,” to offer fully integrated energy solutions combining analytics, solar, electric vehicles and energy storage. Sonnen’s experience with PV and energy storage, as well as a strong European foothold, will enhance GE’s position on the market.

Although Sonnen states it can work with any technology, it is currently working primarily with lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery manufacturer Sony, thus highlighting how mainstream Li-ion battery has become.

Customer acquisition and value creation around aggregation of behind-the-meter customers are paramount for the success of the energy storage industry. This announcement follows several sizeable deals since beginning 2016 targeting behind-the-meter energy storage, such as Engie’s acquisition of an 80 percent stake in Green Charge Networks and Sunverge’s fundraising from Australian utility AGL, Siemens Venture Capital and Total Energy Ventures.

inkoSolar Holding Co.Ltd., a global leader in the solar PV industry,recently announced that it has become the first Chinese photovoltaic (“PV”) manufacturer to have its modules receive Qualification Plus (“Q+”) certification from TUV Rheinland.

Q+ certification is the most recent upgraded test certification introduced

by TUV Rheinland and is now recommended by the California Energy Commission, which implies that it could become a requirement for entering California’s renewable energy market in the future.

Q+ certification utilizes stringent criteria compared to IEC 61215, which currently serves as the industry standard to reflect the operational reliability of modules under extremely harsh climatic conditions. It includes actual performance tests in regions where temperatures fluctuate greatly such as dessert. Dynamic load tests that are not included in IEC 61215 standard to ensure the modules remain resistant to cracking under outdoor wind pressure vibration circumstances, which better reflect the mechanical strength of the module in real condition, humidity & freeze circulation tests, insulation tests and hot-spot test, etc.

IHS: GE Ventures’ Investment in German Energy Storage Provider Sonnen

GJ

GE Ventures’ investment in German energy storage provider Sonnen underscores how successful Sonnen’s business model has become. Sonnen was the largest provider of residential energy storage systems in Ger-many in 2015 and is now rapidly expanding to the United Kingdom, the United States and Aus-tralia, where demand for behind-the-meter energy storage systems is quickly growing.

IHS forecasts that the global behind-the-meter energy storage industry will generate $2.5 billion sales by 2020, rep-resenting a 33 percent compound annual growth rate between 2016 and 2020.

“Q+ certification’s stringent testing criteria represent the

industry’s latest standards. I’m very pleased that Jinko Solar is the first Chinese PV manufacturer to get this certification. We have always focused on providing our clients with the highest quality and

reliable products that can guaran-tee a return on their investment.”

- Mr. Kangping Chen, Chief Executive Officer

Jinko Solar

NEWS & ANALYSIS


Govt lines up over Rs 17k crore to support rooftop solar projects

JA Solar Adds Another 1.5 GW Fully Automated Module Manufac-turing Facility

his will enable participating commercial banks such as SBI, PNB and Canara Bank to extend loan at or near base rates, Tripathy said.The secretary further said in the current fiscal, MNRE is trying to arrange an investment of Rs 6,000 crore for rooftop solar projects.” The government is committed to encourage rooftop solar projects and Power and MNRE Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated a national workshop on Roof Top Solar Power on June 7, he said.This workshop had presentations and discussions on various topics including best practices, innovative projects and major policy initiatives on projects, he added.

Besides senior government officials from the centre and states, the conference saw participation from solar power project developers, channel partners as well as international agencies such as GIZ, KfW and USAID.The power generated from solar rooftop plants installed even today is almost at par with the commercial tariff for consumers in many states. The cost of solar power is declining, while that of electricity from fossil fuels is rising.Today, it is possible to generate solar power from rooftop systems at about Rs 6.5 per kilo watt hour, which is cheaper than power generated from diesel gensets and also cheaper than the cost at which most discoms make power available to industries and high-end domestic consumers.

On the issue of storage of solar power generated from rooftop systems, Tripathy said the government is working on providing some kind of subsidy for such projects.Also there are plans for installing 15 minutes of storage in two projects in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Source:PTI

T

The government has lined up almost $2.5 billion (about Rs 16,800 crore) for providing low cost finance to achieve the target of installing 40 GW grid-connected solar rooftop systems.

”The ministry is in negotia-tions with the KfW Develop-ment Bank to secure soft loans of 1 billion euro. They have already provided $100 million funding. The World Bank has committed a loan of $620 million, with the Asian Development Bank and the New Development Bank pledging $500 million and $250 million respectively.”

Upendra Tripathy, Secretary, MNRE

A Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. , one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-per formance solar power products,recently announced that it has started mass production of high performance PV panels at

its newest module manufacturing facility in Xingtai, Hebei province, China.The new manufacturing facility, located in the Economic Development District of Xingtai city, has an annual capacity of 1.5 GW with fully automated assembly lines using the latest module manufacturing technologies. The facility is capable of producing both 60- and 72-cell modules primarily using JA Solar’s high-efficiency PERCIUM cells. All the stringers installed in this facility are equipped with artificial intelligence capable of switching soldering configurations between four busbars and five busbars of cell contact patterns. All the assembly lines also have the flexibility of either making regular modules or making double-glass modules with the easiness of converting between them back and forth.The fully automated assembly lines for making standard 60- and 72-cell modules significantly increases the productivity of the facility. The annual production per capita is estimated to be 2 MW, the highest among the peers in the industry. In addition, the way the facility is designed to have all the functional sections including module assembly, test and measurement, stockrooms, and warehouse placed under one roof is considerably energy efficient.

Mr. Baofang Jin, JA Solar’s Executive Chairman of the board and CEO, said, “The grand opening of our fully automated module manufacturing facility in Xingtai marks JA Solar taking one step forward in terms of intelligent manufacturing. We will keep focusing on technological innovation as well as continue to improve the performance of our products to meet our customers’ demand for high quality products.”

J

NEWS & ANALYSIS

ENA BatchTex and InOxSide+ combine perfect shape and best CoO for PERC processing – that’s why RENA Technologies GmbH recently received two large orders for wet process equip-ment in PERC technology from North American and Indian PV-customers in a double digit millions euro range.

Two large orders for RENA’s wet process equipment in PERC technology

he customers̀ requirements: well-adapted front and back side topologies which are of crucial importance for advanced cell concepts. RENA’s BatchTex and InOxSide+ team up to offer both independent

optimization and best match of front and rear sides for best PERC cells efficiencies. RENA’s BatchTex combines ultra-compact tool design with highest throughputs. Together with its proprietary and IPA-free texture additive monoTEX®, it reaches excellent front side reflection with the formation of well-defined, small and uniform pyramids (1 to 3 µm or 2 to 5 µm) within very short process times. This makes rear side smoothing in the InOxSide+ even more effective and further supports advanced rear side passivation performance. With its patented single side etching process and effective smoothing technology, even moderate etch depths of ≤ 4 µm are sufficient to achieve very homogenous back side smoothening. This ensures high reflection of the back side and effective AlOx-passivation and leads, as a result, to excellent PERC cell efficiencies.

TNEWS & ANALYSIS

www.EQMagPro.com

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World Bank Approves $625 Mn to Support Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Program in India

The World Bank Board today approved a $625 million loan to support the Government of India’s program to generate electricity from widespread installation of rooftop solar photo-voltaic (PV). The Board also approved a co-financing loan of $120 million on con-cessional terms and a $5 million grant from Climate Investment Fund’s (CIF) Clean Technology Fund.

“India is endowed with huge solar energy potential, and the World Bank is strongly supportive of the government’s plans to harness this potential and increase India’s solar PV capacity to 100 GW. This project will support this target, by providing fi-nancing to some of the 40 GW of solar PV which will be placed on rooftops. Solar PV will not only improve access to electricity, but it will do so in a manner that avoids the environmental impacts of other traditional electricity sources. Through this project and others like it, tens of millions of electricity customers will eventually be able to generate part of their own electricity needs, from one of the cleanest sources of energy.”

“Today, the only available option for those who want to install solar PV is to pay the entire cost up-front. The variety of financing mechanisms on offer under this program will represent a major innovation for the rooftop market. Most importantly, the scope of the project will go beyond simply making finance available, it will also improve the invest-ment climate for solar PV, and increase the `Ease of Doing Rooftop Business’.”

The loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 19.5 year grace period, and a maturity of 20 years. Loan from CIF’s Clean Technology Fund, has a 10 year grace period, and a maturity of 40 years.

Onno Ruhl, Country Director in India, World Bank

Mohua Mukherjee, Senior Energy Specialist and World Bank’s Task Team

Leader for the project

he project will finance the installation of at least 400 MW of Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic (GRPV) across India. These solar PV installations will provide clean, renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by displacing thermal generation. The project will also strengthen the capacity of key institutions, and support the development of the overall solar PV market.

The project will be implemented by the State Bank of India (SBI). SBI will on-lend funds to solar PV developers/aggregators and end-users, who wish to invest in mainly commercial and industrial rooftop PV systems. Financing will be provided to those with sound technical capacity, relevant experience, and creditworthiness as per SBI standards.India is one of the lowest per capita consumers of electricity in the world. Over 200 million people remain unconnected to the electricity grid, and those who are, continue to face frequent disruptions. Power shortages also affect industrial output with many industries and manufacturers relying on expensive and polluting diesel-based back-up power supplies.

Despite energy shortages, and the high cost of backup supply, rooftop solar PV systems have not yet become widespread in India. This is primarily due to the lack of adequate financing, unfamiliar technology and low consumer awareness. Until now, those that wanted to install solar rooftop PV systems had to pay the full cost up-front. The total capacity of rooftop solar, therefore, remains low.This IBRD-CIF loan has been designed to tackle a number of these barriers, develop the market for rooftop solar PV systems, and ensure that their use becomes much more widespread.Aided by government policy and declining costs, rooftop solar has the potential to transform the energy sector. The overall potential demand for rooftop solar is estimated at about 124,000 MW. The IBRD-CIF loan will support a number of solar PV business models, to expand the reach of rooftop PV systems to a variety of customer groups. Some customers can afford to develop and own their rooftop systems, whereas others prefer the pay-to-use model, without outright ownership. Accordingly, the range of options available to investors under the SBI Rooftop PV Program will include third-party ownership, leasing, rooftop rental, as well as direct end-user ownership.

T

NEWS & ANALYSIS


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FROM YOUR SOLAR PANEL

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Energy storage takes centre stage as Total and Engie buy in

There was momentum in the energy storage industry last week, with Total’s EUR 950m ($1.1bn) acquisition of French battery-maker Saft Groupe, and Engie’s endorsement of Green Charge Net-works, through its purchase of an 80% stake in the California-based energy storage provider.

ngie’s signal of support for Green Charge Networks is the first time a large utility has taken a majority stake in an energy storage company, and is a

sign of its decision “to refocus its business towards low-carbon generation, customer services and natural gas,” according to a BNEF Analyst Reaction . This will help the French utility expand its offering to commercial and industrial consumers – many of whom could benefit from Green Charge’s energy storage systems designed to reduce peak demand charges. For Green Charge Networks, the deal will provide the company with “much greater access to capital due to Engie’s EUR 8bn ($10bn) balance sheet and existing banking relationships,” the note says.

Another record-breaker last week, was Total’s acquisition of Saft Groupe, which stands as the largest-ever M&A deal for an energy storage provider. Enthusiasm for the stationary storage market was the principal motivation for the largest acquisition by Total in five years, according to analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “The acquisition gives Total expertise in a market that will double in size from 2015-16 in terms of MW deployed,” wrote BNEF energy storage analysts. Although Saft does make some batteries for transport applications, “Total is not seeking to disrupt its own oil business by promoting greater electrified transport,” but to assess opportunities for energy storage, including integration with SunPower’s utility-scale solar projects. Total acquired solar PV developer SunPower in 2011.

The potential benefits for increasing storage in the energy mix are attracting interest in markets from California to

China. Energy storage could be the answer to the problem of China’s idled renewable energy capacity, says the China Energy Storage Alliance. The industry association estimates that the country could increase its storage capacity to as much as 14.5GW by 2020, as it becomes more adept at balancing the growing amounts of wind and solar power on its grid network.

In other acquisition news, Nissan Motor lent a helping hand to Mitsubishi Motors with an agreement to purchase a 34% stake in its Japanese rival. The $2.2bn deal coincides with Mitsubishi’s admission that it improperly handled fuel economy tests, and will result in a grouping of companies with a dominant share of the global electric vehicle market, according to BNEF analysis. In 2015, Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi collectively accounted for around 25% of total electric vehicle sales and supplied five of the 50-plus EV models on offer globally, including the best-selling Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi Outlander.

Strengthening the alliance could also benefit product development. “[Combining the] Nissan-Renault alliance’s battery-electric vehicle platform with Mitsubishi Motors’ plug-in hybrid platform would result in the ability to launch new EV models at lower capital outlays,” helping to better position the companies against the likes of Volkswagen and Tesla Motors, the note says.

Nissan also made headlines with its announcement that it would pilot vehicle-to-grid technology alongside Italian utility Enel. The partnership will see drivers of the Nissan Leaf and e-NV200 electric vans able to sell excess energy stored in their vehicle batteries back onto the grid at times of peak load – earning consumers money and helping to balance demand spikes on grid networks. The software will first be trailed through 100 drivers

in the UK before being rolled out on a commercial basis, said Ernesto Ciorra, head of innovation and sustainability for Enel.

Europe’s offshore wind sector is attracting foreign buyers, with Enbridge’s recent purchase of stakes in three offshore wind farms off the French coast for $218m from Dong Energy. The Canadian pipeline operator will acquire a 50% stake in Eolien Maritime France –the developer of the wind farms – from the Danish energy company, and the deal is expected to close at some point this year. Attractively priced long-term contracts with government backing are a principal reason for Enbridge’s enthusiasm for Europe’s offshore wind market, the company was quoted saying last month. In 2015, Enbridge paid CAD 750m ($582m) for a 25% stake in a 400MW offshore wind farm in the UK developed by EON.

Also in France, it was announced that Ségolène Royal, the country’s energy and environment minister, will soon launch tenders for floating wind farms and commercial tidal-stream parks, while in the UK Statoil was granted a lease to build the world’s first floating offshore wind farm. The Norwegian energy company will build its 30MW Hywind project off Scotland’s east coast, positioning floating turbines fixed to steel tubes that are fastened to the seabed.

Meanwhile,Germany’s ‘Energiewende’ policy has received a boost of confidence, as renewable energy supplied almost all of the country’s power demand for the first time on Sunday. Solar and wind power supplied as much as 45.5GW while demand was 45.8GW and power pricing turning negative at several points during the day. The country’s strong export capability enabled renewables to meet demand even while thermal generation maintained a constant back-up supply, said a BNEF analyst.

E

ENERGY STORAGE

ince it tapped into the Indian market at the end of 2010, Tr ina Solar has successfully built an extensive sales network throughout the country, offering

innovative solar PV solutions to developers, distributors, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors, independent power producers (IPPs), and others.

India is emerging as one of the world’s largest solar power markets. In June 2015, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) revised its cumulative solar installation targets under its National Solar Mission to 100GW by 2022, aiming to surge ahead in the field of green energy. According to the MNRE, the total capacity of solar energy in India stood at approximately 5.8GW as of March 2016.

STrina Solar Limited , a

global leader in photo-voltaic (PV) modules, solu-

tions and services, today is pleased to announce that its cumulative shipments of solar modules to India

have exceeded 1 GW to date with around 20% market

share in the region in 2015, cementing its position

as a leading crystalline silicon(c-Si) modules manu-

facturer and supplier in the country.

Trina Solar Achieves Milestone in Shipping Over 1 GW of Solar Modules to India

“We are pleased to hit the 1 GW milestone in the Indian market and would like to thank our chan-nel partners and end-customers for their strong support and commit-ment to the Trina Solar brand. With all modules fully operational in various projects in the region, Trina Solar’s fleet could power an estimated 4.2 million homes in India and offset 1.4 million tons of carbon emissions annually when compared to traditional coal generation. As the upward trend in solar demand continues, India remains one of the most important markets for us in global scale and is an integral part of our expan-sion strategy in South Asia. 1 GW is just a start, and we will con-tinue working diligently to further expand and diversify our client base in the broader region based upon our existing sales network to strengthen our footholds in all segmented markets, while contrib-uting to greenhouse gas emission reductions in India.”

- Ms. Helena Li, Company Vice President,

Regional Head of Asia Pacific and Middle East at Trina Solar

4th EQ Cleantech Finance Summit 2016I NTERNAT IONAL

Organ i s e d B y

NEW DELHI JULY 27-28, 2016

VENUE Shangri La Eros Hotel

NEWS & ANALYSIS


INTERVIEW WITH RAJYAWARDHAN GHEI

Chief Executive Officer,Hindustan Clean

Energy Ltd.

INTERViEW

EQ: What are your plans for the foray in Renewable Energy Sector in India and other countries….RG: The clean energy arm of Hindustan Power, Hindustan Cleanenergyplans to develop 300-350 MW solar projects every year during next 3-5 years period. Company, apart from, following the conventional route for debt like commercial banks and NBFCs, will also explore options like green bonds and international financial institutions towards developing these projects.

EQ: Whats your view on the Government of India target of 100GW Solar and 75GW Wind Power by 2022….Can we achieve that and what would be the challengesRG: The Impact of recent policy and regulatory developments like upward revision of targets from 20 GW of solar to 100 GW by 2022 has been positive and encouraging. These developments enable us to develop long term plan and raise capital accordingly. In fact, these targets were also taken up positively by the investors in the Indian solar development market.Poor financial health of distribution companies, availability of locally manufactured modules, storage and technology are some of the areas that one would see higher degree of action while ramping up the capacity.

While the 60 GW utility target seems achievable, the roof top target seems ambitious at this point

of time. However, with proper support from the Government, the roof top segment can make significant progress.

EQ: India has 750 GW of Solar Potential….By when should we able to achieve that?RG: TIn a recent report released by MNRE, The National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) has determined the country’s solar power potential at about 750 GW. The solar power potential has been

EQ: As a Developer do you have plans for backward

integration with manufacturing of

Modules/Cells/Wafers etc.Currently

would you buy from Indian or Asian

or other manufacturer?

G: We have no such plans of back-

ward integration as of now. But the

solar landscape is very dynamic

and we are keeping all options open based on market /

regulatory evolution.


INTERViEW

estimated using the wasteland availability data in every state of India. In order to achieve this, we needa serious overhaul of the power infrastructure like strengthening transmission network and access to low finance to drive the investment. However even if we achieve the 250 GW target by 2030 it will be a huge win for the country and the fight against global warming.

EQ: Kindly enlighten on “Energy Storage as Game Changer”….Technology & Cost Trends, Incentives and Government Support neededRG: By judicious use of solar, thermal, wind and hydro power, India can satisfy its energy requirements today. The cyclic nature of power generation from the Solar PV plants is a challenge for the transmission companies. In order to address this unpredictable and cyclic nature of power supply, the conventional power plants have to keep adjusting their output for the grid stabilization and matching of demand and supply equilibrium. The conventional power plants that don’t follow this mandate of adjustment are levied penalties.Hence, for Solar Energy to be a sustainable source of power, it’s important that the energy injection from a Solar Plant into the grid is on the forecasted levels and hence the energy storage become a Key to it.With the environment-friendly and economic energy storage system in place, Solar would become a dependable source of 24x7 power and would be able to replace the conventional sources of energy.

EQ: What pipeline of projects do you currently own, kindly specify the size of the project, its location, tariff, scheme, timeline of completion, its viabilityRG: Hindustan Cleanenergy Ltd has a portfolio of ~600 MW commissioned projects in India and internationally and has a 340 MW in development pipeline. HCEL is spread across several states viz., Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Bihar in India while its international projects are based out of Italy, Germany, UK and Japan amongst other developing solar markets. All our projects are at significant premium to the market tariff and that we think this is what differentiates us from others.

EQ: What are the expected generation from these projects in terms of kwh per DC or AC capacityRG: Overall generation for the portfolio has been higher than design generation. Few projects have generated below the design generation, in a year or two, due to local weather conditions like excessive rainfall or extended cloud cover.

EQ: Inverter Technology : Please comment of Central vs String, Container vs Civil Structure for Inverter, System Design and ArchitectureRG: For the utility scale large solar PV plants, central inverters are the right choice. The container solution reduces the project cycle time and obviates the need for civil construction for the inverter

rooms. We are evaluating the container solution and are likely to include it in our scheme of things, given the economics working out.

EQ: Mounting & Tracking : What kind of mounting would you adapt….fixed or tilt of seasonal tilt etc….In Tracking…what are your view on the technology available , its cost-benefit analysis, O&M RG: With the tariffs going lower and lower, we would have to use technology to drive the revenues higher. We have decided to deploy seasonal tilt in all our plants irrespective of the Plant-location. On the plants down south, with lower latitudes, we would be using single-axis-trackers in proportion.

EQ: Challenges : Comment on Various challenges such as Aggressive bidding, Land , Finance, Grid Connection, PPA, Forex Fluctuation, Pricing & Tech Trends, Payments risksRG: Aggressive bidding is the biggest challenge that the developers are facing. With the tariffs going below Rs. 5 / unit, the real test will be in obtaining financial closure for these projects and implementing the projects within the budgeted cost. The margin for error / cost increase does not exist anymore. As the solar capacity connected to the grid increases, grid stability and uptime also needs to be evaluated. With UDAY getting implemented, we hope that the ability of the DISCOM to make payments would be taken care of.

EQ: Financing : Enlighten our readers with the Financial Engineering needed in an aggressive price bid scenario…Source & Cost of Debt,Debt Equity Ratio, Project & Equity IRR, Interest Rates & their trends\RG: A project developer has bid for solar capacity in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh for a game-changing INR 4.79/kWh, which takes solar to grid parity with other major sources of power generation in India. Solar projects are now in the same range of electricity prices as wind projects and even new greenfield coal-fired power projects, which tend to have

EQ: Technology as a Game Changer in Solar PV Modules with emer-gence of 1500V, BiFa-cial Cells, PERC/PERT, 5-6 BusBars, Glass to Glass etc….Please comment on the tech-nology roadmap, its cost trends, adaptabil-ity, your preferenceRG: These cell technologies are not new and have existed for a long time. More and more Module manufacturers have started to adopt them, in view of the fierce competition in pricing and quality. 1500 V systems and glass-to-glass are relatively newer introductions and are likely to gain market share. While 1500 V systems would help to reduce the EPC costs, a glass-to-glass module would help improve the reliability of solar modules and reduce the annual degradation and hence generate comparatively higher revenues. We are keeping a close watch on this and would adopt each of these after actual market experience and their being commoditized.


tariffs ranging between INR 4.50/kWh and INR 5/kWh. This means the entire power sector in India will have to assess the progress of solar and plan investments around its potential.It will raise the need for Financial Engineering to source the funds at low interest rate and to look for the innovative debt instruments and structures.

EQ: Modern sources of finance such as Green / Climate Bonds, International Finance, Yieldcos, etc….Please enlighten with the latest and future financing trendsRG: Project financing has proven to be an obstacle for solar project developers in the past. Developers have largely relied on complex tax equity investments or expensive bank debt to fund their projects, as they have had difficulty tapping into cheaper sources of capital due to the lack of long-term data on solar power, and the perception of solar being a risky and unproven form of energy. However, things have been changing of late. The continuing decline in prices of solar systems, the improvements in panel technology and the commissioning of several large-scale solar projects have brought about a greater acceptance in solar power industry and have made solar assets increasingly attractive even to mainstream investors. This has opened up new avenues for financing for solar companies, allowing them to raise debt and equity by issuing securities that can be traded in the open market.

Green or Climate Bonds is one of the innovative financing trends to raise finance for climate change solutions – climate change mitigation or adaptation

related projects or programmes, Solar being one of such sectors. Such Bonds are gaining momentum in view of the threat of looming Global warming and urgent need to address the energy security and depleting fossil fuels factors. The institutional capital such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies worldwide are taking interest in such bonds as these have same credit risk and return profile as standard bonds. These bonds provide a means for governments to direct funding to climate change mitigation projects by choosing to privilege qualifying bonds with preferential tax treatments and give a strong political signal to other stakeholders. With such bonds being available on shelf, the future of the Solar and other renewable projects is very bright.

A Yieldco or yield company is a separate corporate subsidiary set up by

energy developer companies to transfer a portfolio of operational energy projects under various SPVs floated for the projects. Yieldcos are typically listed after they are spun off from their parent companies and offer among the lowest costs of equity funding for renewable energy projects. The reasons for the low capital costs are manifold. These companies generate stable cash flows by selling electricity under power purchase agreements with utilities and distribute most of the cash through quarterly dividends. While yieldcos are currently subject to corporate taxes, there can be tax advantages depending on the yieldco’s structure. The Yieldco model also allows investors to single out the cash flows generated by the power plant assets without giving investors exposure to other aspects of the parent company’s business. Additionally,

Yieldco investments are relatively liquid, since they trade in the open markets.Recent trends of holding many renewable projects under one umbrella with the assets having been monetized, have proven the concept as a long term trend to fund the renewable projects having stable cash flows.

Another scenario where cheap debt funding for solar project is possible, is when the financing is obtained from foreign sources, especially if the components used are also imported from the lending country. Therefore DCR (Domestic Content Requirement) projects will typically not be eligible. If the project is financed internationally, the interest rates are likely to be 8-10% including hedging. But, financing will only cover part of the project cost, typically panels. Funding for the rest of the project will still need to be raised.

INTERViEW

EQ: RoofTopSolar :Whats your plans for RoofTop Solar Market, Governemnt Target of 40GW rooftop solar by 2022 (Please comment) , Various Models such as RESCO etc…Opportunities & Challenges, Policies & Regulations etc…RG: The roof top solar seems to be a very attractive market and is poised to explode soon. We are at present evaluating the market and the various models for profitability and scalability. We hope to make a decision soon and enter the market.

Hitesh DoshiCMD

- Waaree Energies Ltd.

Shaji JohnChiefSolar Initiatives

L&T

Rajesh Bhat Managing Director

juwi India Renewable

Energies Pvt Ltd

Sunil JainChief Exe. Off. &

Exe. Director Hero Future

Energies Pvt Ltd.

Pashupathy Gopalan

Managing Director MEMC-

SunEdison

Inderpreet Wadhwa

CEO Azure Power

Rohit Dhar CEO

C & S Electric

Himamsu PopuriCEO

Nuevosol Energy Pvt. Ltd.

Gyanesh Chaudhary Managing Director

Vikram Solar Private Limited

Gaurav Sood Managing Director

Solairedirect Energy India Pvt Ltd

K Subramanyam Former CEO

Tata BP Solar

Ravi Khanna - CEOSolar Power Business

Aditya Birla Group

Rabindra Kumar Satpathy - CEO-Renewable Power

Emami Power Ltd

EQ International Magazine

Editorial Advisory Board


INTERViEW

INTERVIEW WITH MANOJ KUMAR UPADHYAY

Chairman and Managing Director, ACME Cleantech Solutions

EQ: Whats your view on the Government of India target of 100GW Solar and 75GW Wind Power by 2022….Can we achieve that and what would be the challengesMKU: The intent of Government of India is very clear and the kind of support which this sector has been receiving is phenomenal. That means, the thrust is not only on the policy framework but also on the implementation. Therefore, I do not have any doubt on the figures.

However, there are some issues which need to be looked into to enable commissioning of the plant within the stipulated time lines of the PPAs. As such these timelines are very aggressive. Most of the projects needs to be commissioned within 12-15 months of signing the PPA.

Examples, Solar Power Plants are land intrinsic projects and require mostly rural wasteland. Whereas, data of most of the rural have not been updated in the revenue records. In view of this, land acquisition becomes a huge challenge.

Second, availability of the lender. Most of the lenders in this sector are Public Sector lenders who are attuned to lending large thermal power projects. Financial closure of conventional power project, wherein gestation period is around 3-4 years, can be achieved over the horizon of 12-14 months and disbursement thereafter. However, financial closing of Solar Power Projects needs to be achieved within 3-5 months to enable the project commissioned within 12-15 months as per the PPA.

I am sure all stakeholders, including Solar Power Developers and various Government agencies are working on this aspect.

EQ: What are your plans for the foray in

Renewable Energy Sector in

India and other countries….

MKU: We are a Solar Power Developer

with a portfolio of 1650 MW. We forayed

into this sector in the year 2010. I can

proudly say that we have played a signifi-

cant role in shaping this industry. We are

planning to be at 7500 MW by 2019. We

are also exploring other geographies

to evaluate business potentials.

However, it is still very early for me to comment on

that.


INTERViEW

EQ: India has 750 GW of Solar Potential….By when should we able to achieve that?MKU: It is not about the achieving the potential of 750 GW. It is about serving the load in an appropriate manner with whatever capacity we add. I believe, in an electricity basket, electricity based on Renewable energy and particularly solar energy based electricity is going to play a crucial part.

Adding 200-300 GW can be done within the visible time lines. However, adding projects beyond this number will require coordinated concentrated efforts.

EQ: Kindly enlighten on “Energy Storage as Game Changer”….Technology & Cost Trends, Incentives and Government Support neededMKU: The impact of the numbers which we are talking about on the evacuation needs to be seen. This is primarily because electricity based on renewable power is intermittent in nature. Energy storage solutions de-risks evacuation networks from such a threat. Therefore, I see this as a game changer in near future. With the developments happening in the storage domain, I am sure it will be cost competitive in times to come.

Incentives like capital subsidy, soft loans for longer tenures, cheaper electricity and more importantly, visibility on the take off are some of the supports required from the Government. Having said that, such incentives are required only to push this in view of the larger interest of safety of the evacuation system. Once people would start realizing its benefits, it will sustain on its own.

EQ: What pipeline of projects do you currently own, kindly specify the size of the project, its location, tariff, scheme, timeline of completion, its viabilityMKU: As I have said, we have a portfolio of about 1500 MW out of which we have commissioned almost about 600 MW. Balance 900 MW are in different stages.These project sizes are from 15 MW to 70 MW ticket size. We have now presence almost across India. Starting from Gujarat all the way till Orrisa and from Punjab till Tamilnadu.

EQ: What are the expected generation from these projects in terms of kwh per DC or AC capacityMKU: We are working with CUF within the range of 20-24% depending upon the boundry conditions being laid down in the PPA.

EQ: As a Developer do you have plans for backward integration with manufacturing of Modules/Cells/Wafers etc….Currently would you buy from Indian or Asian or other manufacturer ? MKU: Currently, we are buying module from open market. Be it from Indian or Asian or from any geography.

Backward integration is something which we are still exploring. However, we may not look beyond Modules and Cells.

We, as a country, needs to be self reliance on the technology of the entire eco system of the PV module chain and the kind of support Government of India is extending, I believe, “Make in India” would be a huge success and we would like to be a party to it.

EQ: Inverter Technology : Please comment of Central vs String, Container vs Civil Structure for Inverter, System Design and ArchitectureMKU: Central and String inverters have different applications. While Central inverter is primarily used for ground mounted system, String inverter is for small PV / Rooftop system.

Further, we have observed that losses in string inverters are higher compared to central inverter. Therefore, central inverter has edge over string inverter in ground mounted system.

Similarly, Containerized structure for inverters are primarily for the geographies where maximum ambient temperature is say at about 35 – 40 dec. For the areas where maximum ambient temperature touches 45 deg C, It is advisable to use civil structure. This is because the for inverters, the ambient temperature of a room in which it is placed is a very important factor. At higher temperature, it would degrade the performance of the inverter.

EQ: Technology as a Game Changer in Solar PV Modules with emergence of 1500V, BiFacial Cells, PERC/PERT, 5-6 BusBars, Glass to Glass etc….Please comment on the technology roadmap, its cost trends, adaptability, your preferenceMKU: The sector is going through a very interesting transient phase. People have started realizing the potential of the electricity being generated from solar energy. Therefore emergence of new technologies or improvements in existing technologies are happening at a faster rate than anticipated. Technologies like Bifacial or glass to glass are some of the example of improvement. Whereas, PERC/PERT, whether Mono or Multi, HJT are some of the emerging technologies.

I foresee a correction of module efficiency of almost about 2-3% in couple of years with PERC coming in and almost about 6-7% with the introduction of HJT. Therefore we are likely to see module efficiency at about 23-24% by 2022-23. However, it is Nano technology which I feel would be an important event in this sector.

Price trend in a conventional technology has been declining. However with spur in demand led by US, China and India has made the prices stagnant in international market off late. With new technologies coming in, one need to wait and see the price trends. I am sure the developments would ultimately be beneficial for end consumer, because it does not bring the cost of electricity at an affordable price, it would not be a technology but only an R&D.


INTERViEW

EQ: Mounting & Tracking : What kind of mounting would you adapt….fixed or tilt of seasonal tilt etc….In Tracking…what are your view on the technology available , its cost-benefit analysis, O&M MKU: We generally go with fixed tilt, wherever possible, as it optimizes the cost and requirement of the structure.

EQ: Challenges : Comment on Various challenges such as Aggressive bidding, Land , Finance, Grid Connection, PPA, Forex Fluctuation, Pricing & Tech Trends, Payments risksMKU: I believe, every bidder is aware about the exigencies of the bids they participating into. Therefore, they would have done their calculations before coming out with the numbers which we are witnessing now. So, whether it’s a aggressive bid or not is not an important issue. Afterall, it would benefit the Discoms and ultimately the end user. We all need to work together for ultimately realizing such plants coming up and running. Having said so, we need to understand that we should not get carried away with such numbers. We need to wait and watch before writing anything off.

About other challenges, I see, land is going to be a crucial factor in time to come. There are other issues like Finance, forex fluctuations etc. But I believe, developers before bidding would have factored in all such issues. It’s a developer issue. Government of India and other state governments are doing their bit to help this further. However, I would like to draw attention on the evacuation network.

EQ: Financing : Enlighten our readers with the Financial Engineering needed in an aggressive price bid scenario…Source & Cost of Debt,Debt Equity Ration, Project & Equity IRR, Interest Rates & their trends

MKU: As I have already said, I do not know whether these bids are aggressive or not. One has to wait and watch. Therefore terming them as aggressive would be little too harsh. Further, financial reengineering is not something which is general for all the organization. Every organization has their unique USP and they try to leverage on that. Therefore there is no specific answer to this.

Example, Some organization believes in monetizing things, some may look for bonds etc.

Green bonds, InVits etc. are some of the other financial tools available to the developers.

EQ: Modern sources of finance such as Green / Climate Bonds, International Finance, Yieldcos, etc….Please enlighten with the latest and future financing trendsMKU: International finance for indian projects is currently happening through financial institutions borrowing green bonds in international markets and passing on benefits to lenders. Yieldcos are a mixed bag and that model is still to be perfected keeping in mind currency differences and return expectations, yield/growth expectations. ECB regulations in India aren’t currently

favorable to permit refinancing etc so we don’t see direct ECB financing picking up with large developers. EQ: RoofTop Solar : Whats your plans for RoofTop Solar Market, Governemnt Target of 40GW rooftop solar by 2022 (Please comment) , Various Models such as RESCO etc…Opportunities & Challenges, Policies & Regulations etc…MKU: Rooftop is one segment which has huge potential. We have a separate team here which looks after this sector.

The sector would primarily be evolving on pure commercial transaction and would depend upon the value which one would offer to such customers as it is a B2C kind of transactions. Therefore, we may not see longer tenure transactions as we see with Discoms. However, the returns in terms of tangible and non tangible values would be significantly higher. There are players who either choose Capex or opex model to serve these markets depending upon their strategies. However, we believe in Opex scenario wherein we de-risks consumers on the aspects of maintenance as there are specific skills requires for the same. We offer our expertise in this case and thereby creating maximum values for the customers.

BUISNESS & FINANCE

ecuritization in olar Financing S a Likely Fit for India

Traditionally there have been only two broad means of financing available for solar projects in India, debt and equity, and combinations of the two. While these have been sufficient to meet the needs of a nascent solar industry in earlier years, the sudden scaling up of the targets for solar power by India and large scale investments by both domestic and foreign players in the Indian solar space has brought back focus to new and innovative means of financing for new as well as established players.

By Raj Kajaria, Managing Director, LSI Financial Services


hile the Indian solar sector continues to enjoy a host of benefits from the Government in the form of subsidies and incentives, foreign investments too are pouring in as they enjoy automatic approval for up to 74% in joint ventures and 100% investments with approval. Viability gap funding is also available for public-private partnerships. In this scenario, it is imperative for players across the scale to find financing on terms that are competitive with global players. At this juncture, securitization offers a convenient and comprehensive financing tool to meet exactly these needs of an emerging solar market.

Though securitization had become a popular means of financing projects with predictable cash flows worldwide and reigned supreme for a period of 30 plus years in the advanced financial markets, the global economic crisis after 2007 led to a sharp decline in interest in this form of financing. However, it has again made a strong recovery after subsequent regulatory checks by both the BASEL III norms and the US Dodd-Frank Regulation of 2010, which laid down stringent

norms to check recurrence of activities such as those that triggered the financial crisis.

Securitization is a technique of raising funds which aggregates a diverse pool of illiquid assets, in this case, solar projects, while transforming the cash flows or the future returns from the projects into securities. It is based on the basic principle of finance that portfolio and diversification reduces risk of and fetches good returns. It thus, also generates liquidity for assets which are illiquid individually.

LSI Financial Services, with its two decades of experience in debt syndication and project financing, believes that infrastructure projects such as road and solar power are likely to benefit the most from securitization, as the future cash flows either in the form of tolls for roadways and electricity monthly charges for power sold in the case of solar are predictable cash flows that can be securitized with minimal risk. Solar projects can either securitize cash flows from a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) or pool together a combination of debt financed solar projects to make a pool of debt assets.

WAccording to a recent study by Mendelsohn and Feldman of the National Renewable Energy Lboratory (NREL), US, a US$ 100 million securitization fund after structuring fees and assuming no overcollateralization, is capable of funding nearly 72 MW of solar projects.

A recent NREL analysisprojected that “solar levellised cost of energy (LCOE) could be reduced by 8% to 16% if a portion of a project or portfolio’s typical capital stack were replaced with public capital vehicles (a class that includes securitized instruments).”

• Diversification of risk • Broadens financing

base opening up more avenues

• Off balance sheet financing

• Helps low rated and smaller scale players to procure financing

• Asset liability

• Lack of performance data as the industry is nascent and history available is limited

• Lack of scale for most players to maintain geographical spread of operations to diversify risks of projects with varied solar radiation and returns

• Falling solar tariffs and prices a downside risk to solar PPAs

• Poor state of discoms and defaults

Pros and Cons of Securitization to Finance Solar Projects

BUISNESS & FINANCE


While statistics from Mercom Capital show that the largest portion of financial activity across the solar sector in

2015 was in debt financing, totalling $18.3 billion. Securitization activity comprised $335 million comprising four securitization deals last year involving SolarCity, SunRun, BBOXX and AES.

The US market has a matured solar financing market where Government subsidization and incentives are nearing expiration and the industry is at an inflection point, where financial innovation is required to widen the financial market for solar projects. Securitization is picking up pace in such a market with ample support from regulatory authorities.

Solar City, a leading solar company in the United States, has completed five

rounds of securitization with the most recent being in January 2016, SolarCity Corp. completed its first securitization of distributed solar loan assets earlier recently the company’s fifth securitization transaction to date. SolarCity completed a private placement in the amount of $185 million—$2.89 per watt of generation capacity in the portfolio—with a blended

coupon interest rate of 5.17 percent and a blended yield rate of 5.81 percent. The anticipated repayment date is March 2022.

The U.S Department of Energy (DOE) has created a fund which is called “SunShot” Initiative which shall fund the securitization of solar PV assets. DOE through its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has established a Solar Access of Public Capital (SAPC) Working Group which shall focus on standardization of power purchase agreements, lease documents with regard to residential and commercial deployment of the assets to enable evaluation of asset performance and credit default risks. Standardization will allow minimizing the due diligence requirements for investors and is necessary for wide scaleinvestments.

Securitization in the US and Global Solar Market

As early as 2011, the energy unit of the Welspun Group, India’s leading photovoltaic developer,

backed by the Apollo Global Group, was approached by ICICI bank to securitize revenue from its 15-megawatt unit in Gujarat after three months of operation.

In December 2015, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has introduced this mode of financing for companies that have a track record of good performance of 3 years, relaxable to 2 years, for projects running successfully and with a DSCR averaging 1.4 for the two years.

Moody’s Investors Service says that the development of domestic securitization markets will help India and China achieve their common goal of building inclusive financial systems that will ultimately bring affordable credit to the underprivileged segments of their societies and which are usually excluded from the conventional banking system

India's Tryst with Securitization

BUISNESS & FINANCE


EQ: Please enlighten us on the history of your Group, Group Strengths, Vision, Strategy for India etc…MM: We are now 65 years young. At Ravin, the focus remains to embrace Evolving Technology and to constantly improve quality of products as well as lives. Our vision is to be dedicated to maintaining a large global presence. The Group upholds its culture of care, trust, empowerment and constant learning while meeting expectations of employees, stakeholders and society. We at Ravin Group are committed to give our customers the best possible products & services at most competitive prices as per agreed standards and within the stipulated timeframe, to their entire satisfaction.We always strive relentlessly towards a zero defect culture through the commitment of each and every member of our Company. And of course, we shall not stop there, but keep on going.Our strongly imbibed core values of Safety, Dependability and Sustainability comes across as our strength and the basis of our growth and development across the decades of our operation. SAFETY-• Our products always adhere to international safety standards. SAFETY to the users, the public in general, our employees and the environment is our priority. • Safety coincides with production and quality and is an integral part of our business.• A series of pioneering safety innovations

has made Ravin a leader in safety over the past few decades. DEPENDABILITY- • We realise the importance of customer satisfaction which is a result of unmatched DEPENDABILITY.• Dependability is living up to our word and fulfilling our promises.• Dependability is supplying products which do not fail.• Our customers, employees, and communities deserve our respect, honesty, and expert abilities.• When a project is completed, our goal is to be remembered as a trusted partner that delivered the promised results and to be relied on again.SUSTAINABILITY-• SUSTAINABILITY for us is an approach that integrates people, planet and profit, resulting in a greener and safer tomorrow. • Sustainability involves our ongoing commitment to communities, stakeholders, the environment, health and safety and the economic performance of our business. • Our aim is to promote a responsible culture and implement robust corporate systems to consistently meet our sustainability goals. • We understand that best practice in these areas will help us to be a leading, international, diversified, and upstream products company.• That is why we are working towards integrating sustainability practices across all our operations and business activities so they can grow in the same manner and pace.

OUR SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES-• Protect the health, safety, and well-being of our employees and stakeholders.• Minimise the impact on the environment.• Ensure that the communities in which we operate receive the real benefits of our activities.• Be known for our integrity.

With a legacy of 65 years, Ravin Group has made rapid strides not only in the Indian scenario but also in the global arena. As category leaders in power and energy sector and backed by the visionary spirit and the wide ranging expertise of its management team, the Group has spread its wings across various companies and countries. We are fast evolving as a diversified power products group with renewable Energy solutions and

INTERViEW

INTERVIEW WITH MR. VIJAY KARIA

Chairman and Managing Director , Ravin Group

of Companies

EQ : Please enlighten us on the

projects executed and in pipeline worldwide,

and India..

MM: We are currently executing

various projects worth almost

300 crores in India & are also

looking to execute some projects outside

India.


retail energy products.EQ : How India has to evolve in terms on financing of grid connected solar projects and the lessons India must learn from Germany & Europe and other advanced & matured PV Markets.MM: India will be the renewable energy capital of the world by 2030 & the targets of 100 GW of Solar energy are huge. 100 GW of Solar energy are targets by 2021-2022 under the National Solar Mission of which 60 GW would be ground mounted & grid interactive & 40 GW would be roof mounted & integrated, and the Ministry of power has been putting all its effort trying various schemes to meet these targets through Central & State government schemes. Solar costs have also come down. Due to this as well as competition from the Solar industry, cost of coal & oil have also come down. Were it not for the reduction of cost for these fuels, prices of Solar energy would already have gained grid parity. However despite all this, we feel that the financing of the grid connected Solar projects leaves a huge amount of scope for improvement. The rate, at which some of the projects have been bid for, does not make them feasible financially but of course this is the fault of the bidders & not of the government. What the Government should do, should be to simplify processes & reduce the complexity in the financing of the projects. There are subsides been given out to a small segment for residential & nonprofit organizations for Roof top but nothing for commercial buildings.If the government wants to seriously consider speeding up the process then they need to handhold this segment by way of easy finance, low cost finance & tax incentives. The government is perhaps looking to withdraw all subsidies to this segment in a short period of time & perhaps that could be fatal. This sector first needs to build momentum.EQ: What’s your view on the Indian Policy Framework and one piece of advise you would like to give to the government and regulators. MM: First of all, let us understand that we need to change the terms with which we refer to solar, wind, hydel and all other forms of renewable energy, which generate electricity, need to be recalibrated in the terms we refer to them. It is different from thermal or nuclear energy where there is a fixed amount of generation based on some parameters. Renewable energy is based on climatic conditions.

Hence, we need to convert the MW into units generated or kWh. Power generation in India from April-November 2015 stood

at about 740 BU, of which coal based generation was about 561.42 BU. In 2014-15, India generated about 1048.4 BU. The target is to generate 2000 BU by 2019, to provide electricity to all. Hence we are looking to double generation, which does not necessarily mean double the capacities installed. Hence, case of renewable energy, especially solar energy, we need to talk in terms of units generated rather than MW installed. Solar generation peaks

with electricity consumption in the summer months, and India has enough irradiation to supply electricity to the entire planet through solar alone. Hence the target of generating about 150 BU through solar by 2022 is very much achievable. (1 MW of fixed tilt solar systems generates about 150 million units per year). Seeing the climate changes we are facing, and the effects of pollution of thermal generating plants, Renewable energy is no longer a luxury

INTERViEW

EQ : Your Group has made significant footstep by winning several EPC contracts in India. What is the role of your group in India and the roadmap, challenges in executing this project? What was the differentiating factor which led your co win this project.

MM: Ravin with its vast experience of EHV Projects also specializes in setting up of large size utility scale Solar PV Plants.

We provide our customers a comprehensive service package which encompasses system design, and selection of components and compatible accessories, supply of quality materials, installation, testing, commissioning and finally ensuring full safety and reliability of the installation.

Our design and projects team consists of highly qualified and experienced engineers and project managers, who assist with all aspects of design, structural optimization and project implementation, regardless of the project size, to scale production and delivery to meet customers’ needs.

We offer end-to-end customized solution of Mega watt sized solar PV Plants.

Our Group is one of the very qualified companies in India in terms of Technology as well as ability to finish complex projects on time with optimal costs.

We are one of the very few companies in India that offer end to end Solar tracking solutions. Trackers are not very popular in India. We

manufacture different types of tracking systems like Single Axis, Dual Axis & Unipolar Tracking Systems & we believe that this technology is going to be adoptable in India, as it has been in the US. The tracking device can help a solar cell to take advantage of the early morning sunlight.

• The tracker then slowly moves the panel throughout the day, following the sun to gain maximum exposure to the sun.

• A tracker(dual axis)based solar system can enhance generation by 15% to 35% as compared to a fixed tilt solar system.

It would surprise the reader to know that in the US, Single Axis tracker have become the default technological solution for ground mounted projects supplanting fixed tilt as the preferred structured balance of system produced in the market.

Fixed Tilt System which were almost 50% of the installations in US in 2014 were reduced to about 31% in 2015 & further expected to reduce to 15% in 2016.

Tracking Systems which were 50% in 2014 have gone to almost 67% in 2015 & 78% in 2016. By the year 2020 Tracking Systems will be almost 85% of US Solar installations.


INTERViEW

nor can it be called “alternative energy” but is “essential energy” or “preferred energy”. We need to decide what legacy we want to leave for the next generations. There is no point in having huge amount of installed solar panels, if they do not generate the number of units they are supposed to. We should hence not be talking installations or installed capacity, but be referring to generation capacity in terms of units because that’s what counts. And mind you there are lots of non operational solar plants not generating due to various reasons. Hence what we need is:a. to focus on restarting stalled or inoperational solar plants.b. Focus on increasing efficiencies of panels and installations. c. Implement Mandatory Renewable Power Purchase obligations.d. Have Supportive and simple policies of the Government.e. Adequate and preferential financial support to the segment.A few months ago, India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved amendments to the National Tariff Policy 2005, where promotion of renewable energy has been added as a key objective of the policy. Since all the basics are in place, what is required now is implementation, which though could be a challenge, but is very much doable. We need to bring in yearly targets and look to achieve them rather than looking at it as a block. EQ : How has falling modules prices affected the EPC Business in positive and negative manner. As Industry is expecting further drop in module prices…what impact is it likely to have on the solar industry and your business.MM: Falling module prices has been a major factor for the drop in per unit prices of generation through solar. Such low tariffs of below Rs 5 a unit won’t be economically viable for domestic developers if we take into account the costs of operations and maintenance for 25 years and costs involved in replacing solar PV modules that get damaged during this period. Further drop in module prices might not be very sustainable for module producers. But what could be sustainable is improvement of efficiencies & therefore new technologies coming in. In any case EPC business would not be affected as installations would have to happen regardless of the falling prices of modules.EQ: Module Prices have been significantly dropping while the BOS of a solar project has not seen much change. What change or breakthrough do you foresee in the BOS in terms of price and technology

in the BOS.MM : BOS of a Solar project has changed significantly in terms of technologies. One of the major changes is in case of Tracking systems. Another change would be in terms of String invertors replacing Central invertors, & thereby adding to the reliability of the system. We are already developing automatic module cleaning systems.

Hence all in all there are technological changes taking place in the BOS & a fair amount of expertise will come into BOT design, technology as well as pricing with focus being on reliability. EQ: A Large chunk of Projects with PPA’s signed are going to miss the deadline to complete the projects….Please enlighten our readers the real challenges faced by these projects and the reasons for the same (Is it falling prices or finance or land etc…)MM : Large chunk of Projects with PPA’s signed are going to miss the deadline to complete projects as large chunk of PPA’s signed are with smaller parties like farmers or small developers who have first signed the PPA’s & are then looking out for developers or contractors. One does not know whether the process of signing these PPA’s was political or for a vote bank. However finances do remain a big problem followed by land availability & pricing. The 3rd major problem that we would see is non performing plants because of lack of proper installation techniques. There are 100’s of small parties who are inexperienced as well as don’t have any knowledge of the Solar segment but have just jumped into the fray because of huge opportunity & perhaps publicity that this sector offers.EQ : Can you please enlighten us on the way you implement a project and what specific or unique things are followed which makes you different from other EPC Players. What are the unique

parameters which differentiates projects executed by your company?MM : We implement a project right from design stage & ensure that we use our vast experience in the electrical field to implement a project that is trouble free. We specialize in tracking systems & our tracking systems are entirely computerized & the programming as well as most of the components are designed & made in-house. We are also a cable manufacturer & have huge amount of expertise in EHV Projects & hence we have the ability to fabricate all the structures in-house as well as have a large team of experienced personnel’s to offer comprehensive services into the entire system.EQ : Thin Film is theoretically supposed to perform better than c-si in Indian Climatic Conditions. What is your view on this?MM : During the advent of Solar in India, Thin Film technology was believed to be better for India’s High temperature tropical climate due to the claim by the manufacturers that Thin Film had a better temperature coefficient. Between 2011 & 2012 nearly 50% of the installations were with Thin Film Technology. However after the 1st year there was an acute drop in generation with Thin Film installations, due to problem of hot spots, which happened due to the Indian Climatic conditions. Also the fact that during this period the prices of Thin Film were far lesser as compared to Poly Crystalline. But by 2013 the price difference between the two technologies was negligible, but due to the problems faced by Thin film in the previous 2 years and the fact that Polycrystalline technology had better efficiencies which translated to lesser requirement of space per MW of Solar installations.EQ : Whats an ideal financial model for the Solar PV Project in India to optimize the IRRMM : There is no such thing of an ideal

EQ : What are the experiences and learning’s from Europe for constructing

a solar farm. How do you think India is a different market than Germany

and rest of Europe? What are experiences in India?

MM: India is in a unique position as we are looking to

grow our GDP by about 7 to 8 % p.a. without affecting

the carbon foot print in a very adverse manner.

Europe especially Germany have been the

pioneers in the solar PV industry. Germany has

always been in the forefront in developing better

efficiencies by way of technology. Germany has an

installed solar capacity of 39 GW and is still growing.

Though Europe receives solar radiation between 2 to

4 kWh/m2 it still has the highest solar installations in

the world. India on the other hand receives average

radiation of 5.5 kWh/ m2 which translates to much

more generation. India lies between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic

of Capricorn there by giving average 300 days of

sunshine in a year which bodes well for generation

through solar.Last week Germany produced so much of

renewable energy that commercial energy users were

paid to use electricity, with Solar & Hydro Electric

power plants supplying about 70% of the energy.

India yet has a lot of processes for constructing

a Solar farm, with MNRE being a NODAL agency for

granting the tax exemptions. Government should

remove itself from any kind of approval processes

& should work on speeding up the process.

Europe has given subsidies and therefore speeded

up their process. India should do the same.


INTERViEW

financing module for Solar. IRR depends on location as well as on efficiencies viz a viz the cost involved, hence if one applies this theory then the most ideal way to maximize the IRR would be to install tracking systems.EQ: What are the future plans in India?MM: Our foray into solar energy was a well thought out process. More than 3 years ago when solar was not such a big area of interest, we recognized that this space had not only the potential but would also be an essential and integral part of country’s growth. Today, fortunately we have a government that clearly recognizes the importance of solar energy and is willing to push this area. We are going to focus on rooftop systems, on agricultural pumps and on Megawatt scale systems with trackers so as to increase the output from the same panels to about 35% more than what a fixed system would generate. We see efficiencies playing a bigger role in the coming years than what it is playing today. Another area that we are looking at is Home Lighting Systems, Solar Chargers and Solar Plug & Play systems.

EQ : Please tell us about the team strengths and resources developed in order to offer your EPC Services.MM : We have a team strength of about 200 persons for EPC Services & with a lot of experience in the sector. As stated above we have fully equipped manufacturing systems for tracker technologies with the entire range of electronics.

Utility scale solar PV projects : Ravin with its vast experience of EHV Projects also specializes in setting up of large size utility scale Solar PV Plants.

We provide our customers a comprehensive service package which encompasses system design, design and selection of components and compatible accessories, supply of quality materials, installation, testing, commissioning and finally ensuring full safety and reliability of the installation. Our designs and projects team consists of highly qualified and experienced engineers and project managers, who assist with all aspects of design, structural optimization and project implementation, regardless of the project size, to scale production and delivery to meet customers’ needs. We offer end-to-end customized solution of Mega watt sized solar PV Plants.

Roof top Solar PV Projects : •Ravinhelpsyoutogetthebestoutoftheunusedopenspaces. •AnyrooftopcanbeconvertedintoapowerplantwithRavinRoof top solar PV installations , which are clean and simple. •Asfarastheroofsareingoodcondition,rooftopsolarPV systems can be installed on any roof , which will help in harnessing the ever abundant energy of the sun into electricity . •Wehaveexpertiseininstallingvarioustypesofrooftopsolar installations , these can by systems mounted on your Sloping Roofs, Solar Tiles, Systems with Single / Dual axis tracking.

Matured solar countries as stated above like the US have started deploying tracking systems in place of fixed tilt systems .India has installed more than 5 GW of solar PV plants in the last year. It has set itself a target of 100 GW by 2020 . India should adopt tracking technology instead of fixed tilt, by doing so India can generate 195 BU annually in place of 150 BU annually which fixed tilt systems would otherwise generate. Deploying tracking systems would drastically reduce the per unit cost of generation, not to mention maximum utilization of the land.

MM: Csi seems to be the best option for India due to the price, availability and efficiency. Thin film as a technology has been plagued with quality issues(heat spots) and also is currently priced higher than csi if efficiency is considered. Solar tracker is a device that is designed to harness the maximum amount of solar energy from the sun, by orienting or aligning the payload towards the sun. apart from being used to focus the arrays of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells directly to the sun, they are also used for focusing mirrors, reflectors or lenses that are used for concentrated solar power units. Through the day, the sun keeps changing its angle constantly. These trackers help the PV arrays, mirrors, reflectors and other devices track the sun, and minimize the angle of incidence by ensuring that the sun’s rays fall in a more or less perpendicular angle. These devices use energy generated from the solar power plant itself , to continually orient the solar device towards the sun, however this energy input is more than offset by the increased efficiency gained through the use of the tracker. Trackers help in producing more energy as the solar panels or mirrors (CSP) will be fully exposed to sunlight. Trackers perform the titling and turning operation by following the sun movements using astrological predictions. The tracking

systems help in collecting energy from the sun for the longest period of the day ensuring the most accurate alignment to the sun, which shifts with the season. Tracking systems include galvanized steel structures with motors, actuators, or hydraulics along with PLC driven micro controller. How do Solar trackers work ?• The strategy of tracking is based on the location(latitude and longitude) of the array and date/time data and location data. This data , which can be established within a microprocessor at the time of installation, includes a clock , along with a well chosen solar position algorithm, and can determine the position of the sun, even if it is obscured by clouds or other obstacles. • This helps the array to be positioned accurately regardless of weather, so when the sun comes out, the array will already be correctly positioned. • The tracking device can help a solar cell to take advantage of the early morning sunlight. • The tracker then slowly moves the panel throughout the day, following the sun to gain maximum exposure to the sun. • A tracker(dual axis)based solar system can enhance generation by 15% to 35% as compared to a fixed tilt solar system.

Types of solar tracking systems•SingleAxisTrackingSystem•DualAxisTrackingSystem•UnipolarTrackingSystem

EQ : Please enlighten us on the experience of working with different technologies (c-si vs. Thin Film, Fixed vs. Tracking, String vs. Central Inverter ec..etc…) What’s the ideal solution for India and why.

A Single axis tracking system is most commonly used for most standard PV Power Plant. Single axis solar trackers rotate in one direction moving back and forth. These type of trackers usually have simple levers which can be used to tilt the panels depending on the season, so that it can harness the maximum energy from the sun. this type of tracking system is apt for residential solar arrays as well as many smaller commercial arrays. As compared to the dual axis trackers , single axis trackers allow much lesser exposure to the sun’s rays , their main advantage lies in the price compared to dual axis trackers. Dual axis tracking systems are typically used in concentrated solar power systems as well as solar photovoltaic power systems, where it becomes necessary to completely orient the mirror or solar modules towards the sun to ensure maximum generation.

Dual axis systems as indicative of the same move in two directions, on both the horizontal and vertical axis making complete use of the sun’s rays for the entire day. with a dual axis tracking system more energy can be generated from a given land area, as compared to fixed tilt installation or single axis.


INVERTERS

Smart PV Solution VS Central Solution: Safety

Today, the haze and fog have become the “troubles for heart and lung.” Therefore, innovating the traditional energy structure and developing the clean energy such as solar power are now the most urgent tasks for people, and the con-struction of PV power plants has unprecedented investment opportunities. However, safety is critical for PV power plants, and is also the basis for getting good return on investment (ROI), especially for the projects that involve PV solutions in mountainous areas and forests. The safety issue is the most important and can veto a project, so it is important for a PV power plant. This document analyzes and compares the smart PV solution and central solution, and analyzes the safety difference through principles and theories and actual application cases to help users make a better decision.

2. Comparison of Structures between the Smart PV Solution and Central Solution

1. PREFACE

Centralized solution

PV string solution

DC combiner DC

distribution cabinet

Centralized inverter

House and civil construction

PV string inverter AC distribution cabinet

Boost voltage substation Grid

1. Electrical design of inverter

2. Electrical design of combiner box

1. Electrical design of combiner box

2. Electrical design of distribution cabinet

3. Electrical design of inverter4. Civil construction design5. Heating and ventilation

design6. Illumination/fire fighting

design ......

Compared with the central solution, the smart PV solution does not have DC equipment and inverter room, which shortens the high voltage

DC power transmission distance. It uses fuse-free design and natural cooling, thereby simplifying the power plant.

FIGURE 2.1 Comparison of structures between the smart PV solution and central solution


DC Combiner Box

DC Distribution Cabinet

Wearing Parts Such as Fuse

Inverter AC Combiner Box

Inverter Room

Central solution

Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes

smart PV solution

No No No Yes Yes No

3. Comparison of Risks between Smart PV Solution and Central Solution

3.1 Comparison of Safety between Smart PV Controller to AC Combiner Box and Central DC

Combiner Box to Distribution Cabinet

3.1.1 Risk Analysis from DC Combiner Box in Central Solution to Distribution Cabinet

The safety risks in this document mean the possible fire accident caused by the PV power plant or the risk that

may threat human safety. As mentioned above, the largest difference between the smart PV solution and the central solution is that the DC power transmission is changed to the AC power transmission, but what is the difference between the DC power transmission and the AC power transmission?

Beginning from 1882 when Edison invented the applicable electric lamp, the early application is DC power, but it is difficult to boost the DC power. Therefore, DC power can supply power only in a small scope and was soon replaced by AC power. After one hundred years’ development, the

AC power grid has developed from several kilowatts to several hundred millions watts. Science and technologies continuously resolve the difficult issues of the electric power development, and also ensures the safety of AC power transmission and applies the AC power in thousands of families.

For a long time, the DC power is only used below the safe voltage of 48 V, and the high voltage DC power transmission (above 500 kV) is only for model demo projects and has not been widely used. The 1000 V DC power transmission becomes popular with the development of PV technologies, but the corresponding distribution equipment is not mature. A proof for this is that lots of manufacturers use the AC circuit breaker

instead of a DC circuit breaker.Arc is one of the major reasons for fire

accidents. Because AC power has the zero crossing point, arc can be extinguished at the zero crossing point, while the voltage generated by arc is much higher than the holding-up voltage. Therefore, when the arc is extinguished at the zero crossing point, it is difficult to occur again. The DC voltage has no zero crossing point. Therefore, the voltage exists all the time, and the arc continues burning and cannot be extinguished until the arc length is enough.

In conclusion, the AC part is relatively mature and reliable, and safety risks are mainly from the DC part. Less DC systems indicate higher safety for the power plant.

In the central solution, the voltage of the cable from the DC combiner box to distribution box is 1000 V DC, the current

is 130 A and the length exceeds 100 m. When the power plant is constructed at

mountainous areas, the length exceeds 300. This section cable is most exposed to catching fire in the central solution, and the consequence is severe due to high energy. However, for the smart PV solution,

the DC power transmission is replaced by the AC power transmission, the voltage of this section is changed to 480 V AC, and the maximum current is 45 A. Then, what is the safety difference between them?

As shown in Figure 2, the short circuit fault (point A) happens between the DC combiner box and distribution

cabinet, and there are DC circuit (red) and AC circuit (blue).1. DC circuit: The short circuit current is small, and the circuit breaker itself is derated. Therefore, the DC circuit breaker

QF3 cannot trip to disconnect the circuit (16 circuit breakers of combiner box is 200 A, whereas the short circuit current of 16 PV strings is less than 150 A and cannot trip the circuit breaker). Therefore, the DC energy output from the combiner box is fed to the short circuit point to keep the arc burning and expand the fire accident.

2. AC circuit: The short circuit energy is from the grid and is powerful, and QF1 trips to cut the short circuit. In addition, the inverter is damaged due to the blown-up of IGBT (tripping time of circuit breaker is ms level, whereas the short circuit current withstood by IGBT is us level).

EQUIPMENT COMPARISON

CABLE COMPARISONCentral Solution Smart PV Solution

From assembly to DC combiner box From assembly to smart PV controllerFrom DC combiner box to DC distribution cabinet /From DC distribution cabinet to inverter /

AC cables / From smart PV controller to AC combiner boxFrom inverter to box-type transformer From AC combiner box to box-type transformer

INVERTERS

DC cables

AC cables


Figure 3-1 Fault from DC combiner box to distribution cabinet

Figure 3-2 Rooftop on fire due to a fault in a cable from DC combiner box to distribution cabinet

Case 1

Case 2

DC distribution cabinet

InverterCombiner box 1

Assembly

Assembly

Assembly

QF1QF2

AQF3

In Aug 2014, a PV power plant on a rooftop in Wuhan city caught fire, the color steel tiles

were burnt, and several devices in the factory were also burnt, which

caused a large loss. The root cause is as follows: The insulation of the combiner box has been lowered due to construction or other reasons, this was deteriorated under the influences

of loop current and leakage current, the insulation failed, and short circuit and arc occurred between positive and negative cables, and finally resulted in fire accident.

In May 2014, a PV power plant caught fire in a mountainous region in Sichuan, and the local agriculture and forest

management department immediately cut off the PV power plant, and required the

operator to perform full risk evaluation. The shutdown time continued for three months, which resulted in several millions RMB losses. The root cause is as follows: The cables of some combiner

box were damaged during construction, the insulation failed after some time of operation, and short circuit and arc occurred in positive and negative cables, which resulted in fire accident

Figure 3-3 Fire accident caused by short circuit in the cables from DC combiner box to distribution cabinet

INVERTERS


The energy source of PV power plant is from the solar power components, and the cables from the solar power components are mandatory for both smart PV solution and central solution. For the smart PV solution, a maximum of 2 strings are in parallel. However, for central solution, a

maximum of 100 strings are in parallel. Then, what is the safety difference between the two solutions?

Figure 3-4 Fault on the AC side

Figure 3-5 Fault of 4mm2 cables of the smart PV solution in central mode

3.1.2 Safety Risk Analysis of Cables from Smart PV Controller to AC Combiner Box

3.2 Comparison of 4mm2 Cables of Smart PV Solution and Central Solution

SUMMARY

As shown in Figure 5, the short circuit fault (point A)

happens between the smart PV controller and AC combiner box, and there are an inverter output AC circuit (red) and a grid side AC circuit (blue).

The cables from the DC combiner box to distribution cabinet in central solution have high energy. When short circuit fault

occurs, the DC source cannot be disconnected and the burning continues, and the accident

has a severe consequence. When short circuit occurs in the cables from the smart PV controller to the AC combiner box, the two energy sources can be avoided immediately and there is no safety risk.

1. Inverter output AC circuit: First, the inverter has the output current limiting function, and the inverter detects the abnormal voltage in grid and controls the inverter to disconnect from the grid. Therefore, the short circuit point A is isolated and is not sustained.

2. AC circuit on the grid side: QF1 trips immediately to cut the short circuit from the grid and cannot cause any influence.

InverterAssembly

Combiner box Compact substation

InverterAssembly

DC/AC Inverter circuit

MPPT circuit

DC/AC Inverter circuit

MPPT circuit

AQF1

Input current

detection

DC switch

MPPT circuit 1

MPPT circuit 2

MPPT circuit 3

Input EMI filter

DC surge protector

Combiner box 1

Combiner box 7

INVERTERS


Figure 3-6 DC combiner box on fire Figure 3-7 Fire accident caused by poor wiring of fuses

3.2.2 Comparison of Probability of Short Circuit Faults

3.3.1 Fuses increase DC contacts, which has potential risks

3.3 Safety Risk Analysis of Fuse of Central Solution

3.2.3 Comparison of Current Back-flow Risk

The smart PV solution has a maximum of 2 PV strings in parallel. Even if one string

encounters a short circuit fault, the back-flow current cannot exceed 10 A, and is less than the rated current of the 4mm2 cable and assemblies (the current-carrying capacity of the 4mm2

cable is bigger than 30 A, and the assemblies can withstand 15 A back-flow current). Therefore, the solution is safe.When the central solution has a maximum of 100 PV strings in parallel, and when one string has a short circuit fault, the current of all the strings is back fed to the faulty string, and the

back feeding current may exceed 800 A, which is much higher than the rated current of the cables and assemblies. Therefore, the central solution must use fuse to protect the cables and assemblies, but the use of fuse has safety issues, which will be analyzed below.

The 1 MW central solution needs 400 fuses, there are two contacts between each

fuse and fuse box clip, and each fuse box and the cables have two

contacts. Therefore, each fuse has two contacts. The central solution has 1600 DC contacts due to the use of fuses. The fuse box has a high requirement for reliability of cable

installation, and which is difficult for control on site, and poor electrical contact happens frequently, which is the major reason for fire accident of combiner box.

SUMMARYThe probability of the short circuit fault of the central solution is millions times of that of the smart PV solution. The short circuit fault may cause the back-flow of the current, which will be analyzed below.

INVERTERS

Short circuit caused by a grounding faultThe smart PV solution has only grounding short circuit fault in 2 parallel strings, and the combinatorial number is 22. While the central solution has grounding short circuit fault in 100 parallel strings, and the combinatorial number is 2100. So the probability of the grounding short circuit fault of the central solution is millions times of that of the smart PV solution (298 is equal to 3*1029; 108 is equal to 100 millions).

Short circuit between linesWhen the cables need to go through a ditch, the short circuit fault between cables easily happens. The smart PV solution has only short circuit fault in 2 parallel strings, and the combinatorial number is 22. When one DC combiner in central solution may have short circuit faults in the cables of 16 routes, the combinatorial number is 216. Therefore, the probability of the direct short circuit fault between cables of the central solution is 16384 times of that of the smart PV solution.

1.

2.


Table 101 Preset time and preset current of "gPV" fuse

Rated current A

Preset timeh

Preset current

gPV type

Figure 3-7 Fire accident caused by poor wiring of fuses

SUMMARY

Figure 3-8 Poor contact between fuse and base

Figure 3-9 Requirement for fuse by standard

However, the smart PV solution does not use fuses, and there are only 400 contacts in positive and

negative terminals, which are only a quarter of those in the central solution. The positive and negative terminals use AMPHENOL H4 PV connectors, and therefore, there is no issue of poor fastening and the reliability is very high.

SUMMARYThe central solution has many contacts, and fire accident occurs frequently due to poor contact, whereas the number of contacts of the smart PV solution is only a quarter of those in the central solution, and specific PV connector is used. Therefore, the reliability of the smart PV solution is higher.

From the fuse standard: The 15 A fuse cannot be broken within one hour

when the current is 16.95 A, and will be broken within one hour when the current is 21.75 A. Affected by low temperature in Winter, the current required for blowing up the fuse is larger and the time is longer.

3.3.2 Fuse cannot effectively protect assemblies

From the standard: For the assembly with 15 reverse current, it shall not catch fire within two hours at 20.25 A. The standard only requires that the assembly shall not catch fire, but if hot spot effect occurs due to reverse current. The performance will be lowered, and the output power will also be lowered.

INVERTERS


Figure 3-10 Requirement of standard for assembly

Figure 3-11 Time-current characteristic curve of fuse

10.9 Reverse Over Current Test MST 26Connect the positive pole of a DC power supply used in lab to the positive pole of the assembly. The reverse test current (Itest) is 125% of the over current protection threshold (provided by manufacturer). The test current is limited by Itest. Check the reverse current when increasing the test voltage.

Conduct the test for 2 hours or until the final result is obtained, and the condition that occurs first will be selected.

The test criterion is as follows:

a) The assembly does not catch fire and the coarse cotton cloth and thin cloth contact with the assembly does not catch fire or get burned.

Therefore, the standard requirement of fuse is 1.45 times of the current, and the requirement for assembly is 1.35 times current. There is a protection vacuum between 1.35 and 1.45, the fuse cannot effectively protect the assembly between 1.35 and 1.45, and a fire accident of PV panel may happen.

From the structure of PV fuse, the fuse is very thin, which has a high requirement for manufacture technologies. Therefore, the common manufacturer cannot control the fuse quality. If the fuse current is large, the fuse cannot blow up at specified current within specified time, this will worsen the damage to the PV panel and cause fire risk.

The protecting principal of fuse is to use the thermal melting

characteristic of metals, and this characteristic determines that the relationship between the melting time. The over current is the inverse time characteristic. A larger current indicates a shorter melting down time, and a smaller current indicates a longer melting down time. The fuse is mainly used in short circuit protection, but the effect of overload protection is compromised and even is negative. The reason is that under an overload condition, even the small current is overloaded, the melting down of the fuse becomes slow, and in this “to be but not yet be broken” status, the fuse will be in a thermal balance condition with high temperature.

3.3.3 Fuse blows slowly and generates lots of heat in over load condition, which

easily causes fire accident

Time-current feature

Tim

e (s

)

Expected fault current, DC-time constant <1 ms (Ampere)

INVERTERS


Figure 3-12 Structure of PV fuse

Figure 3-13 Fuse box burnt by fuse heat

Figure 3-14 Neighboring components burnt by sprayed arc of the fuse

The fuse material of PV fuse is mainly silver, and the melting point of silver is 961°C. In order to meltdown the fuse in lower temperature, soldering tin is added to the silver and the melting point of the soldering tin is usually higher than 260°C.

The melting process of fuse is as follows: When the temperature reaches the melting point of the fuse, the fuse starts melting and continues to absorb some heat to melt into the liquid state, then the fuse temperature continue to rise until vaporization happens, after the fuse is vaporized, a breaking point is formed, then arc occurs and extinguishes when the arc is pulled to a certain distance, and finally the fuse is broken. So, in the “to be but not yet be broken” status, the fuse temperature may reach 500°C. Such high temperature damages the insulation of cables and fuse box and may cause a fire accident.

Summary: The central solution uses fuses, the number of DC contacts is increased, and even if the fuse is used on site, the equipment cannot be protected effectively. In addition, under an overload condition, fuse generates lots of heat due to slow melting, which may cause a fire accident. The smart PV solution does not use fuse, so it has no safety risk.

In addition, some fuses have arc spraying phenomenon during the melting process, and the arc temperature is very high, which may burn the neighboring plastic components and insulation materials of the cables.

INVERTERS


3.4 Risk Analysis of Central Solution that Uses AC Circuit Breaker to Replace DC Circuit Breaker

3.5 Comparison of Safety Protection of Smart PV Solution and Central Solution

This document has analyzed the issue of extinguish arc in high voltage DC applications. Therefore, it is difficult to

design a 1000 V DC circuit breaker, and only a few manufacturers can produce such DC circuit breakers. In addition, the price of the DC circuit breaker is two times of AC circuit breaker. In recent years, the PV industry has passed its “golden age”, now enters into the “Price War” times, some manufacturers use AC circuit breaker to replace DC circuit breaker in order to reduce the cost. When a fault occurs, the AC circuit breaker cannot extinguish the high voltage DC arc, which causes a fire accident. From the figure, it may be learned that the arc directly broke through the arc extinguishing chamber of the AC circuit breaker and the screws melted down.

The smart PV solution uses natural cooling, has the IP65 protection level, and is dust-proof and salt fog-proof, and the sealing design ensures

the 25-year safe operation of the smart PV controller.The central solution uses fan cooling, and IP20

design, and its protection level is low and cannot isolate the sands and salt fog. Therefore, after the power plant that uses the central solution has operated for some time, its inverter room, inverter, and DC combiner box have been accumulated with sands. The accumulated sands may cause poor contact of circuit breaker and contactor, generate lots of heats and cause a fire accident. The accumulated dusts also clog the dust filter and disable the fan, which reduces the heat dissipating performance. As a result, the temperature of high power consumption components rises quickly and even causes fire accident.

In the dusts, there are usually some metal particles, and when the metal particles fall on the circuit board, they can reduce the safety clearance of the board and causes arc. In addition, due to the increase of humidity, the acid radical and the metal ion in the moisture dust become more active and feature acid or alkaline. This erodes the copper, tins and component terminals on the PCB and causes the abnormal operation. In coastal areas with high salt fog, the erosion becomes more significant.

Figure 3-16 Accumulated dusts in inverter room in the central solution

Figure 3-17 Accumulated dusts in inverter in the central solution

Figure 3-18 Rusts and dusts of DC combiner of the central solution

SUMMARY: The central solution uses an AC circuit breaker to replace DC circuit breaker, which has a risk of a fire accident, whereas the smart PV solution uses AC power transmission instead of DC power transmission, and uses mature and reliable AC circuit breaker. Therefore, it does not have such risks.

SUMMARY: The protection level of the central solution is IP20. Therefore, it cannot isolate the dusts, and the dusts may cause poor electrical contact of switches, disable the fans, reduce the heat dissipating effect, and cause arc in circuit board, which has a fire accident risk. The protection level of the smart PV solution is IP65. Therefore, it can isolate the dusts and does not have the risks of the central solution.

Dusts in an inverter room in a power plant in North Western area

Accumulated dusts in central inverter

INVERTERS


3.6 Comparison of PID Prevention Safety between Smart PV Solution and Central Solution

To prevent PID issue, the input PV- of the central solution is grounded via a fuse, and therefore, high voltage

exists between PV+ and PE. Usually, the fuse is above 5 A. If someone touches PV+ accidentally, the big current may cause human death or injury, and this cannot be avoided by additional device. In addition, the grounding fault of the PV+ or cable generates faulty current or arc by using grounding wires, which may cause a fire accident.

Figure 3-19 Measures for preventing PID issue of the central solution

Figure 3-20 Measures for preventing PID issue of the smart PV solution

SUMMARY: The central solution prevents PID issues by grounding negative terminals, which endangers human safety and has fire risks. The smart PV solution uses the virtual positive voltage to prevent PID, and the PV- does not need to be grounded. Therefore, it does not endanger human safety or have fire risks.

To prevent the PID issue, the smart PV power plant can implement positive voltage across PV- and ground through a virtual positive voltage circuit in the system. The PV- does not need to be grounded, and the smart PV controller has residual current detecting circuit that can detect leakage current bigger than 30 mA, and can cut the circuit immediately to protect the human safety.

RCD detection

circuit

RCD detection

circuit

4. SummaryIn conclusion, the DC power transmission, fuse, circuit breaker, protection level and PID prevention effect of the central solution have fire risks and endanger human safety. However, the smart PV solution uses the AC power transmission instead of the DC power transmission, has no fuse, and uses natural cooling. In addition, its protection level is IP65, and the smart PV solution uses the virtual positive voltage to prevent PID. Therefore, it can resolve the fire risks of the central solution. In large and medium-sized power plant projects in or outside China, based on our experience, the 300 MW central solutions may have about one fire accident each year.

From the comparison of safety, the smart PV solution has dominant advantages, especially in the applications in mountainous area and rooftop, where a fire accident, if any, may spread to the forest. In addition, in the PV power plant in agriculture and fishing industries, non-professional personnel usually enter the area. Once human death occurs due to electrical shock, the consequence is immeasurable. Therefore, the construction of power plants in these areas must concern safety factors.

INVERTERS


Going out in a market place in Delhi and interacting with Residents and Owner of commercial entities really brings you back to the ground and slaps reality on your face. Be it people who can draw substantial benefit from Solar or those who can benefit from subsidy, the market penetration is just not there due to the lack of awareness.

BY : TANYA, SUNKALP ENERGY

NET METERING MAGIC OF

IN DELHI

owever, that’s understandable. It’s a new sector, people have never really thought of alternate sources for electricity. But, we as Indians must look at a product which can offer electricity usage 3-4 years down the list. After all, it makes financial sense.

this article will focus on the current regulations on Net- Metering for Rooftop

Solar, Benefits and the real impact on your bill (with an example).H

NET- METERING REGULATIONS IN DELHIHere are the main highlights of the Net-Metering regulations:

• Connectivity of Renewable Energy System would be on a first cum first serve basis

•Availabletransformercapacityforconnection for net-metering can be accessed on the respective Distribution Licensee’s website. Total capacity

available for connectivity at a particular transformer shall not be less than 20% of rated capacity of the transformer

•Capacityofthesolarpowersystemthatcan be installed with no extra charges would be equal to the sanctioned load of the premises of the consumer

•Incaseaconsumerisinterestedininstalling a system higher than premises’ sanctioned load, then the consumer needs to pay ‘Service Line cum Development’ charges to enhance the sanctioned load

•Minimumcapacitythatmustbeinstalledis 1 kW

ROOFTOP & OFFGRID


APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR THE REGULATIONS IS AS FOLLOWS:

ENERGY ACCOUNTING

ANALYSING THE BILL

RELEVANT FEES APPLICABLE• Application of intent

(refer): INR 500• Application for

registration (refer):

• 1- 10 kW: INR 1000• >10 – 50 kW: INR 3000• >50- 100 kW: INR 6000• >100- 300 kW: INR

9000• >300- 500 kW: INR

12000• >500 kW: INR 15000

Accounting shall become effective from the date of connectivity to distribution

system. This means from the following billing cycle, the bill would incorporate net-metering (Annexure IV of the Regulations).

The bill will clearly indicate energy units exported, energy units imported, net energy units billed and energy units carried forward (C/F). Billing would be as follows:

Non TOD tariff customers: Energy units exported to the grid shall be subtracted from the imported units. In case energy exported is more than the energy imported then it would be carried forward for adjustment in the next billing cycle of a settlement periodTOD tariff customer: Energy exported in a particular time block would be first used to off-set import in the same timeblock. However, if export exceeds import then the extra units

exported will be accounted as though generation took place during off-peak time-block. In case export of energy is happening during peak hours when the DISCOM has more demand than available energy, then DISCOM (with the permission of the commission) can provide incentives to such customers.

At the end of the year (Settlement period) if there are unadjusted units, the DISCOM shall pay the customer at APPC (Average power purchase cost).

Sunkalp Energy shows you how to analyse the net-metering section of the bill. Please find below the first net-metering bill that was produced in Delhi at the National Productivity Council located close to India Habitat Centre.

ROOFTOP & OFFGRID


•Exportreading: This gives you an estimate of the units that have been exported to the grid when excess solar power has been generated and fed back in three time slots – ‘Normal’, ‘Peak’ and ‘Off-peak’.•Importreading: This gives you an estimate of the units that have been imported from the grid when the solar system was not generating any or enough electricity, in three different time slots – ‘Normal’, ‘Peak’ and ‘Off-peak’.•Netdifference: This is the difference in the number of units consumed from the gird minus the units exported from the solar power plant (excess generation).•C/FUnits: This section gives you the number of net-exported units, or the ‘carry-forward’ units. These are the units that are carried forward to the next month and treated as net-exported unless net-export exceeds net-import. In this case, the consumption (net-import) has been more than what was fed back to the grid (net-export), hence, C/F units are 0.

On the second page of your bill, you will be able to see ‘Net-metering details’ and table with sections as follows:

First Net-Metering Bill in Delhi at National Productivity Council

CALCULATIONS

20% 25%

•MODERATEDUNITS

This section provides you your net-consumption by calculating ‘equivalent units’. Instead of charging a different tariff for different time slots (normal, peak, off-peak), peak and off-peak units are ramped up and ramped down to calculate the equivalent number of units generated in the ‘Normal’ time slot.

In the above case the units in the ‘Net-difference’ section is ramped up and ramped down respectively to match the units given under ‘Moderated Units’.

So, the peak units are increased by

The off-peak units decreased by

ROOFTOP & OFFGRID

INTERSOLAR – POWERFUL PIONEERS FOR 25 YEARS!

Intersolar North America | San Francisco | July 12–14, 2016

Intersolar South America | São Paulo | August 23–25, 2016

Intersolar Middle East | Dubai | September 19–21, 2016

Intersolar India | Mumbai | October 19–21, 2016

Intersolar Europe | Munich | May 31–June 2, 2017

Intersolar Summits | Worldwide

Discover the World’s Leading Exhibition Series for the Solar Industrywww.intersolarglobal.com

AZISGlobal2016_PV Mag_210x297.qxp_Layout 1 20.05.16 08:18 Seite 1

INTERSOLAR – POWERFUL PIONEERS FOR 25 YEARS!

Intersolar North America | San Francisco | July 12–14, 2016

Intersolar South America | São Paulo | August 23–25, 2016

Intersolar Middle East | Dubai | September 19–21, 2016

Intersolar India | Mumbai | October 19–21, 2016

Intersolar Europe | Munich | May 31–June 2, 2017

Intersolar Summits | Worldwide

Discover the World’s Leading Exhibition Series for the Solar Industrywww.intersolarglobal.com

AZISGlobal2016_PV Mag_210x297.qxp_Layout 1 20.05.16 08:18 Seite 1


THE DIFFERENCE NET-METERING CAN MAKEFollowing is the specification of the plant that Sunkalp Energy installed-

Capacity 4 kWpModules 250Wpx16,IndianmadeSolar Inverter 3.7 W, 3 phase inverter, Austrian madeSystem Type Grid Synchronous, net meteredStructure Galvanized iron, Raised by min 6 ft

Net Metered BSES Electricity Bill- Page 1

Net Metered BSES Electricity Bill- MDI

Net Metered BSES Electricity Bill- Page 2

THE BILL REDUCED FROM THE WHOPPING INR 19,000 TO A MERE INR 1,400. TAKE A LOOK AT THE SCREENSHOTS AND THE EXPLANATION BELOW:1. The bill was generated for 1.7 months.2. In Delhi, there are slabbed tariffs for the residential sector (Rs. 4, 5.95, 7.3, 8.1 and 8.75 per unit plus taxes).ThehighestslabinclusiveoftaxescostsRs.10.4perunit.Thebill previously would always hit the highest tariff slab, but post net-metering, theconsumption reduced to less than 200 units per month (from the grid) dropping to the lowestslabofRs.4/unit.3. Since generation was less than 200 units in the month, an addition

perk of Kejriwal government’s subsidy ofRs.2/unitwasreceived.Thisisasmall reward for spending capital to install green and clean energy.4. The net metered electricity bill is less than 5% of the January billing of Rs. 19,100.5. The reverse page of our electricity bill shows that after daytime consumptionofsolar,exportedelectricity was 435 units.6. Net import was only 723 units of electricity in the time period of Feb and March.7. Our net billed units are (6-5) i.e.

288 units for the nearly two month period.8. Another interesting point to note isthatthemaximumdemand(MDI)at 5.6 kW is substantially lower than our sanctioned load of 19 kW. This is because when part of the load in the peak daytime is met by solar the kW load on grid is reduced.

All in all the benefit one can draw from Net-Metering is far more than one can imagine. Especially in states and UTs like Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra and West Bengal which are among the highest bill payers.

ROOFTOP & OFFGRID


“This quarter was a good start to the year. We posted strong year-over-year growth in major financial and operational metrics, particularly with revenue and net income up 46.4% and 91.3%, respectively. Total module shipments during the quarter increased 38.7% year-over-year to 1.42 GW, which was largely driven by demand from our key markets in the U.S., China, and India. Our shipments in Europe were up two-fold sequen-tially as a result of our strategic shift in Europe. Our downstream business continued to expand in the global market. We connected a total of 101.7 MW of utility projects to the grid during the quarter, bringing the total of grid-connected operating projects to near 1 GW. We successfully commis-sioned five new solar projects in the UK, totaling 24.3 MW, and further expanded our presence in Japan by partnering with GE to invest in a 14 MW DC utility-scale project, for which we were also awarded a contract to provide engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) management services, demonstrating our experienced end-to-end capabilities.

Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) (“Trina Solar” or the “Company”), a global leader in photovoltaic (“PV”) modules, solutions, and services, announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Trina Solar

- Mr. Jifan Gao, Chairman & CEO ,

Trina Solar

» Total module shipments were 1,423.3 MW, consisting of 1,370.4 MW of external ship-ments and 52.9 MW of shipments to the Com-pany’s own downstream power projects. Total module shipments decreased 19.9% sequen-tially and increased 38.7% year-over-year.

» Net revenues were $816.9 million, a decrease of 15.1% from the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 46.4% from the first quarter of 2015.

» Gross profit was $139.7 million, a decrease of 23.8% from the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 39.2% from the first quarter of 2015.

» Gross margin was 17.1%, compared with 19.1% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 18.0% in the first quarter of 2015.

» Operating income was $44.8 million, a de-crease of 44.9% from the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 53.7% from the first quarter of 2015.

» Net income attributable to Trina Solar’s or-dinary shareholders was $26.6 million, a de-crease of 36.1% from the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 91.3% from the first quarter of 2015.

» Earnings per fully diluted American Depositary Share (“ADS” with each ADS representing 50 of the Company’s ordinary shares) were $0.29, compared with earnings per fully diluted ADS of $0.43 in the fourth quarter of 2015 and earnings per fully diluted ADS of $0.16 in the first quarter of 2015.

First Quarter 2016 Financial and Operating Highlights

QUARTER RESULTS

Trina Solar Announces First Quarter 2016 Results


First Quarter 2016 ResultsMr. Jifan Gao Added,

“During the quarter we continued expanding our overseas manufactur-ing capacity in select markets to meet global demand, especially from the US and Europe. This capacity ex-pansion strategy ensures we retain and grow our competitive position in the PV industry as we focus on im-proving our profitability. In the first quarter, we acquired a cell factory in the Netherlands and also brought our facility in Thailand online as scheduled, using our ‘Honey’ state-of-the-art high-efficiency assembly line method. As a leading innovator of PV technology, we are committed to developing high-efficiency cells and delivering high-quality products. Our R&D team recently achieved a new world record of 23.5% for IBC (Interdigitated Back Contact) cells, raising the total number of world records held by Trina Solar to 13. In addition, we have commercialized our advanced PERC (Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell) technology for high efficiency cells, and our PERC annualized capacity in the quarter has already reached 200 MW. We are proud of these achieve-ments attained so far in 2016. However, we have no plans to rest. We remain focused on improving our products and business along with developing exciting new technolo-gies, as we continue to strategically position Trina Solar for sustainable long term growth.”

Gross Profit and Gross MarginGross profit was $139.7 million, compared with $183.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $100.3 million in the first quarter of 2015. Gross margin was 17.1%, compared with 19.1% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 18.0% in the first quarter of 2015. The

sequential decrease in gross margin was mainly due to lower average selling prices as a result of price decline in almost all major markets and lower downstream revenues

which have relatively high margins compared to the upstream module business. The year-over-year decrease in gross margin was because average selling price declined at a faster rate than the Company’s cost reductions.

NET REVENUESNet revenues were $816.9 million, including $28.7 million in revenues from electricity generated by the Company’s downstream solar power projects recorded as property, plant and

equipment (PP&E) on its balance sheet, EPC and other downstream activities. Total net revenues represent a decrease of 15.1% sequentially and an increase of 46.4% year-over-year. Total shipments were 1,423.3 MW, consisting of 1,370.4 MW of external shipments which were recognized in revenue and 52.9 MW of shipments to the Company’s downstream power projects. This compares with total shipments of 1,776.3 MW in the fourth quarter of 2015, consisting of 1,579.7 MW of external shipments and 196.6 MW of shipments to the Company’s own downstream power projects, and total shipments of 1,026.2 MW in the first quarter of 2015, consisting of 891.7 MW of external shipments and134.5 MW of shipments to the Company’s own downstream projects. The sequential decrease in revenues and shipments was primarily due to seasonality. The year-over-year increase in revenues and shipments was mainly driven by key markets in China, the U.S., and India, and was partially offset by the decrease in demand from Japan and Europe.

Operating Expenses, Income and MarginOperating expenses were $94.9 million, a decrease of 6.9% sequentially and an increase of 33.3% year-over-year. Operating expenses included an accounts receivable provision of $6.0 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared with a reversal of accounts receivable provisions of $8.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. The Company’s operating expenses represented 11.6% of the first quarter net revenues, an increase from 10.6% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and a decrease from 12.8% in the first quarter of 2015. Other operating income during the quarter was $3.3 million, which represents incidental electricity income generated from the Company’s downstream solar power projects recorded as current assets on its balance sheet, prior to the sales of the projects. As a result, operating income was $44.8 million, compared with $81.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $29.2 million in the first quarter of 2015. Operating margin was 5.5%, compared with 8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 5.2% in the first quarter of 2015.

Net Interest Expense

Net interest expense was $15.1 million, compared with $13.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $10.7 million in the first quarter of 2015.

QUARTER RESULTS


QUARTER RESULTS

Foreign Currency Exchange Gain (Loss)The Company recorded a net foreign currency exchange gain of $0.8 million, which included a loss on the change in fair value of foreign exchange derivative instruments of $8.2 million. This compares with a net loss of $11.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and a net loss of $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2015. The foreign currency exchange gain in the first quarter of 2016 primarily resulted from the appreciation of the RMB against the USD.

Income Tax ExpenseIncome tax expense was $3.7 million, compared with income tax expenses of $17.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $3.2 million in the first quarter of 2015.

Net Income and Earnings per ADSNet income attributable to ordinary shareholders of Trina Solar was $26.6 million, compared with $41.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $13.9 million in the first quarter of 2015. Net margin was 3.3%, compared with 4.3% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 2.5% in the first quarter of 2015.Earnings per fully diluted ADS were $0.29, compared with $0.43 in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $0.16 in the first quarter of 2015.

Financial ConditionAs of March 31, 2016, the Company had $621.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, and restricted cash. Total bank borrowings were $1,516.7 million, of which $933.2 million were short-term borrowings.In the first quarter of 2016, the Company adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Update 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest, which requires the debt issuance costs be presented on the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of the related debt liability, instead of reporting on the balance sheet as an asset.

Accordingly, the debt issuance costs, which used to be reported as assets, have been retrospectively reclassified as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of the related debt liability with the total amount of $9.1 million as of December 31, 2015 and $11.0 million as of March 31, 2015, respectively. Shareholders’ equity was $1,081.9 million as of March 31, 2016, an increase from $1,050.7 million as of December 31, 2015 and an increase from $988.4 million as of March 31, 2015.

OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS UPDATESManufacturing CapacityAs of March 31, 2016, the Company had the following annualized in-house manufacturing capacities:

» Ingot production capacity of approximately 2.3 GW;

» Wafer capacity of approximately 1.8 GW;

» PV cell capacity of approximately 4.3 GW; and

» PV module capacity of approximately 5.6 GW.

Project DevelopmentIn the first quarter of 2016, the Company connected a total of 101.7 MW of utility projects to the grid, consisting 24.3 MW in the UK, 50 MW in Xinjiang, and 27.4 MW in Yunan.

As of March 31, 2016, the Company had a total of 967.3 MW downstream solar projects in grid-connected operation, including 920.8 MW in China, 4.2 MW in the U.S., and 42.3 MW in Europe. The 920.8 MW projects in China consisted of 722.9 MW of utility projects and 197.9 MW of DG projects.

Second Quarter of 2016 GuidanceThe Company expects to ship between 1.50 GW and 1.60 GW of PV modules, of which 40 MW to 50 MW of PV modules will be shipped to the Company’s downstream PV projects, from which revenues will not be recognized.

Fiscal Year 2016 GuidanceThe Company reiterates its total PV module shipment guidance of between 6.30 GW and 6.55 GW, of which 220 MW to 260 MW will be shipped to the Company’s downstream projects, from which revenues will not be recognized.

The Company updates its 2016 guidance of global solar power project connections to between 400 MW and 500 MW from the original guidance of 750 MW to 850 MW, including 15% to 20% of DG projects in China.


QUARTER RESULTS

Canadian Solar Reports First Quarter 2016 Results And Raises

Annual Revenue Guidance

Canadian Solar Inc. (“Canadian Solar” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world’s largest solar power

companies, announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Canadian Solar

First Quarter 2016 Highlights» Total solar module shipments were 1,198 MW, of which

1,172 MW were recognized in revenue, compared to 1,398 MW recognized in revenue in the fourth quar-ter of 2015, and first quarter shipment guidance in the range of 1,085 MW to 1,135 MW.

» Net revenue was $721.4 million, compared to $1,120.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, and first quarter guidance in the range of $645 million to $695 million.

» Net revenue from the total solutions business as a per-centage of total net revenue was 6.3%, compared to 30.7% in the fourth quarter of 2015.

» Gross margin was 15.6%, compared to 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2015, and first quarter guidance in the range of 12.0% to 14.0%.

» Net income attributable to Canadian Solar was $22.6 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, compared to $62.3 million, or $1.05 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2015.

» Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash balances at the end of the quarter totaled $1.0 billion, compared to $1.1 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015.

» Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $108.3 million, compared to net cash provided by oper-ating activities of $218.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

» The management raises revenue guidance for 2016 to $3.0-3.2 billion up from $2.9-3.1 billion, reflecting the expectation to sell more solar power plants in the sec-ond half of the year.

» The Company energized six solar power plants totaling 39.4 MWp, in the United Kingdom.

» The Company now owns a fleet of solar power plants in operation totaling 437.5MWp, with an estimated resale value of approximately $950.0 million and gross margin contribution in excess of 20.0%.

First Quarter 2016 Results» Net revenue in the first quarter of 2016

was $721.4 million, down 35.6% from $1,120.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 16.2% from $860.9 million in the first quarter of 2015. Total solar module shipments in the first quar-ter of 2016 were 1,198 MW, of which 1,172 MW were recognized in revenue, compared to 1,398 MW recognized in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 1,027 MW recognized in revenue in the first quarter of 2015. Solar module shipments recognized in revenue in the first quarter of 2016 included 24.8 MW used in the total solutions business, compared to 63.8 MW in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 124.3 MW in the first quarter of 2015.

» By geography, in the first quarter of 2016, sales to the Americas represented 43.1% of net revenue, sales to Asia represented 44.4% of net revenue, and sales to Europe and others represented 12.5% of net revenue, compared to 51.9%, 41.1% and 7.0% respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 48.7%, 32.9%, 18.4% respectively, in the first quarter of 2015.


QUARTER RESULTS

» Gross profit in the first quarter of 2016 was $112.5 million, com-pared $200.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $153.0 million in the first quarter of 2015. Gross margin in the first quarter of 2016 was 15.6%, compared to 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 17.8% in the first quarter of 2015. The sequential decrease in gross margin was primarily due to lower contribution from the total solu-tions business, partially offset by lower module manufacturing cost and higher module average selling price.

» Total operating expenses were $74.1 million in the first quarter of 2016, down 22.1% from $95.2 mil-lion in the fourth quarter of 2015 and down 0.2% from $74.2million in the first quarter of 2015.

» Selling expenses were $34.8 mil-lion in the first quarter of 2016, down 11.7% from $39.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and down 14.8% from $40.8 million in the first quarter of 2015. The sequential decrease in selling ex-penses was primarily due to lower shipping and handling expenses as well as decrease in external sales commission. The year-over-year decrease in selling expenses was primarily due to lower shipping and handling unit costs, partially offset by higher shipment volume.

» General and administrative expenses were $34.8 million in the first quarter of 2016, down 31.7% from $51.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and up 17.8% from

$29.5 million in the first quarter of 2015. The sequential decline in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to a decrease in incentive compensa-tion as well as lower non-cash charges for bad debt and asset impairment. The year-over-year increase in general and admin-istrative expenses was primarily due to consolidation of Recurrent Energy’s general and administra-tive expenses, partially offset by lower professional service fees.

» Research and development expenses were $4.5 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $4.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $3.9 million in the first quarter of 2015.

» Income from operations was $38.4 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $105.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, and $78.7 million in the first quarter of 2015. Operating margin was 5.3% in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 9.4% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 9.1% in the first quarter of 2015.

» Non-cash depreciation and amortization charges were ap-proximately $25.7 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $24.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, and $22.0 million in the first quarter of 2015. Non-cash equity compensation expense was $2.5 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, and $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2015.

» Interest expense was $16.1 million in the first quarter of 2016, com-pared to $17.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, and $11.2 million in the first quarter of 2015.

» Interest income was $3.4 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $4.2 million in the fourth quar-ter of 2015 and $4.3 million in the first quarter of 2015.

» The Company recorded a gain on change in fair value of derivatives of $2.7 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared to a loss on change in fair value of derivatives of $9.4 million in the fourth quar-ter of 2015 and a gain on change in fair value of derivatives of $7.9 mil-lion in the first quarter of 2015. The gain on change in fair value of de-rivatives of $2.7 million in the first quarter of 2016 comprised a gain on change in fair value of warrants of $15.2 million, a foreign currency hedging loss of $5.0 million and a $7.5 million loss in change in fair value of swap/swaption for proj-ects in U.S. and Canada. The war-rants were issued in conjunction with the $180 million in financing arranged by Credit Suisse in the fourth quarter of 2015. These war-rants can be settled in cash at the discretion of the holder and as a result they are liability derivatives which were fair valued at issuance and are subsequently marked to market at the end of each report-ing period.

» Foreign exchange gain in the first quarter of 2016 was $8.5 million compared to a foreign exchange gain of $11.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and a foreign exchange loss of $1.0 million in the first quarter of 2015.

» Income tax expense was $12.3 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $31.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $19.7 million in the first quarter of 2015.

» Net income attributable to Cana-dian Solar was $22.6 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2016, compared to net income of $62.3 million, or $1.05 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2015, and net income of $61.3 million, or $1.04 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2015.


QUARTER RESULTS

» The Company had $1.0 billion of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash as of March 31, 2016, compared to $1.13 billion as of December 31, 2015.

» Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts, at the end of the first quarter of 2016 were $394.0 million, compared to $426.8 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. Accounts receivable turnover was 72 days in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 43 days in the fourth quarter of 2015.

» Inventories at the end of the first quarter of 2016 were $413.2 million, compared to $334.5 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. Inventory turnover was 58 days in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 40 days in the fourth quarter of 2015.

» Accounts and notes payable at the end of the first quarter of 2016 were $961.2 million, compared to $985.8 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015.

» Short-term borrowings at the end of the first quarter of 2016 were $1.35 billion, compared to $1.16 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. Long-term debt at the end of the first quarter of 2016 was $818.5 million, compared to $606.6 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. Senior convertible notes totaled $132.2 million at the end of the first quarter of 2016, compared to $150 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. Short-term borrowings and long-term debt directly related to utility-scale solar power projects totaled $758.9 million at the end of the first quarter of 2016, compared to $560.6 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015.

FINANCIAL CONDITION

At the end of the first quarter of 2016, the Company booked approximately $1.6 billion of solar power plant assets under non-current assets. This includes plants already in operation, as well as plants under construction to be owned and operated.

“Our results for the first quarter came in above guidance, driven by robust demand in our solar module busi-ness. The results do not include the benefit of any solar project sales in the quarter, however, in the future we will continue our balanced approach of project retention and project sales to maximize both flexibility and valu-ation, as well as to balance our cash flow. We now have approximately 438 MWp of solar power plants in operation, with a resale value esti-mated to be approximately $950 mil-lion. The company does plan to sell some of these assets in the second half of this year, at the same time as we bring additional solar power plants into operation. Our steady, longer-term approach has positioned Canadian Solar for sustained suc-cess and has set Canadian Solar apart from competitors. We remain confident in our business model, outlook and in our ability to manage our profitable growth.”

- Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of

Canadian Solar

“We were pleased that we were able to deliver gross margins substantially above our ex-pectations. We had a combination of lower than expected costs due to strong execution in our factories and a favorable country mix, including better than expected currency results as the US Dollar weakened against several of our key trading currencies. The results reflect the confidence we continue to have in the strength of our module business. Our strong results and financial position have enabled us to continue to expand our upstream cell and wafer capacity which we expect to result in better and tariff free margins this year. Our project business also continues to be strong with on schedule progress for construction in the USA, Japan and the U.K. Our financial strength has allowed us to finance our projects at lower than expected rates. Since the YieldCo market remains closed, we expect to start selling some projects in the second half of the year to recycle capital and reduce our debt. These are challenging times in the indus-try combining growth and more than usual uncertainly; however, times like these are when we have excelled in the past. We are strong and expect to get stronger.”

- Michael G. Potter, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Canadian Solar


QUARTER RESULTS

The Company’s business outlook is based on manage-ment’s current views and estimates with respect to op-erating and market conditions, its current order book and the global financing environment. It is also subject to uncertainty relating to customer final demand and solar project construction schedule. Management’s views and estimates are subject to change without notice. For the second quarter of 2016, the Company expects total module shipments to be in the range of approximately 1,200 MW to 1,250 MW, including approximately 30 MW of shipments to the Company’s utility-scale solar projects that may not be recognized in second quarter 2016 revenue. Total revenue for the second quarter of 2016 is expected to be in the range of $710 million to $760 million, with gross margin expect-ed to be between 15% and 17%. For the full year 2016, the Company maintains its guidance for total module shipments to be in the range of approximately 5.4 GW to 5.5 GW, with approximately 5.0 GW recognized in revenue. Management is raising revenue guidance for the full year 2016 to be in the range of $3.0 billion to 3.2 billion, up from $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion, reflect-ing its expectation to sell some of its solar project holdings in the second half of the year. The Company remains flexible in ways to monetize its high quality solar power plant in order to maximize shareholder’s return, and may consider selling more of its solar power plant assets, in which case revenue for the full year may reach the range of $3.2 billion to $3.6 billion, an increase of $200 million to $400 million over the Company’s base forecast. The Company’s solar power plant assets in OECD countries are expected to reach 1.1 GW by the end of 2016.The Company estimates that the resale value of these assets, based on the Company’s understanding of the current market conditions for such assets, is approximately $2.5 billion, with gross profit contribution of approximately $365 million. The market situation may, however, change resulting in dif-ferent resale values if and when the Company decides to sell any of these assets. The Company estimates the electricity revenue from these assets, on an annualized run-rate basis, will be in the range of approximately $160-170 million at the end of 2016.

The Company’s solar project pipeline totals 13.5 GWp, including approximately 2.1 GWp of projects in late-stage development, and 11.4 GWp in early- to mid-

stage development. The Company would like to caution that some of the projects under development may fail to secure all the required permits and grid-connection approvals and as a result may not reach completion.

Late-Stage Solar Project PipelineCanadian Solar’s late-stage, utility-scale solar project pipeline totals approximately 2.1 GWp, of which 849MWp are in the U.S., 600 MWp are in Japan, 384 are in Brazil, 150 MWp are in China, 63 MWp are in Mexico, and 36 MWp are in the United Kingdom. The estimated resale value and gross profit contribution of the Company’s late-stage utility-scale solar project pipeline exceeds $4.5 billion and $850 million, respectively, once these projects have been built and connected to the grid.

In the United States, all seven of the Company’s solar projects currently under construction totaling 771 MWp are connected to the grid, and Barren Ridge, Mustang and Tranquillity are already delivering electricity and RECs. In addition, Recurrent Energy has secured power purchase agreements totaling 78MWp for 2017 and 2018 projects in California. The Company’s late-stage solar project pipeline in the U.S. is detailed in the table below:

The Company’s wafer manufacturing capacity at its Luoyang plant, Henan Province, is expected to reach 1.0 GW by June of 2016. The Company’s cell manufacturing capacity at its Suzhou and Funing plants, in Jiangsu Province, currently totals 2.2 GW and 500 MW, respectively. The Company’s cell manufacturing capacity at its Funing plant, Jiangsu Province, is expected to reach 1.0 GW by July of 2016. The Company’s new 700 MW cell manufacturing plant, located in South East Asia, is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2016. The Company’s existing module manufacturing capacity is expected to reach 6.43 GW by the end of 2016: 4.7 GW in China – 3.0 GW in Changshu and 600 in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, and 1.1 GW in Luoyang, Henan Province – and 1.73 GW at existing and new locations outside China: 500 MW in Canada, 300 MW in Vietnam, 30 MW in Indonesia, 300 MW in Brazil and 600 MW in South East Asia.

In Japan, in the first quarter of 2016 the Company completed construction and grid connection of a 900kw solar plant in Saitama Prefecture, which was sold to an investor. As of the end of January 2016, the Company’s pipeline of projects in development was approximately 600 MWp, with 109 MWp under construction and an additional 80 MWp at the ready-to-build development stage. The expected commercial operation schedule of the Company’s solar plants in Japan is detailed below:

UTILITY SCALE SOLAR PROJECT PIPELINE

BUSINESS OUTLOOK


QUARTER RESULTS

On April 21, 2016, Canadian Solar announced that it has connected an additional six solar power plants, totaling 39.4MWp to the grid, bringing its total fleet of solar power plants in commercial operation in the United Kingdom to approximately 103.0MWp.

On April 12, 2016, Canadian Solar announced that it had become the founding member of the Global Solar Council. Launched at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris last year, the Global Solar Council aims to coordinate the efforts of the world’s solar energy associations.

On April 21, 2016, Canadian Solar announced the appointment of Jianyi Zhang as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of the Company.

On April 4, 2016, Canadian Solar announced that it had won a 63 MWp solar power project in Aguascalientes, Mexico. The project is expected to be connected to the grid in September 2018.

“We continue to see strong demand for our modules going into the second quarter, with stable prices and margins. Our efforts to upgrade our technology and to improve our cost structure through selected capacity expansion are on track and we expect to end 2016 with 3.9 GW of internal cell capac-ity, including 700MW in a tariff free location in South East Asia. At the same time, we continue to make progress as one of the leading developers and owners of high quality solar power plants around the world, with 438MW of solar power plants in operation and over 1.0GW of solar power plants under construction. We continue to evaluate options to monetize our solar power plants with a view to maximizing shareholder value in the quarters ahead.”

- Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS


QUARTER RESULTS

“We are satisfied with our performance this quarter. We experienced the normal seasonal decline from the fourth quarter to first quar-ter, as expected, yet our results showed meaningful year over year growth. Revenue was up nearly 45% and non-GAAP EPS increased more than twofold. We saw the most strength in our domestic mar-ket, a natural consequence of the accelerated pace of activity we expected in the first half of the year. Notably, we expect to connect around 250 MW of projects before June 30, supporting our momen-tum in our downstream project development business. Although reg-ulatory change will slow the China market in the second half, our bal-anced market footprint gives us plenty of sales opportunities around the world. Our success in key markets is due to our high standards for product quality and our leading technology. Recent evidence of our leadership is our dominant ‘market share’ in the National Energy Ad-ministration’s ‘Front Runner’ Program. We are supplying 420 MW of highly advanced modules, including 150 MW of PERC modules, to the program Phase I totaling 950 MW in Datong, Shanxi province. Fur-thermore, we expect to increase our PERC capacity to 1.4 GW by the end of 2016. JA Solar is proud to play a key role in the transformation and improvement of China’s PV and manufacturing sectors.”

- Mr. Baofang Jin, Chairman and CEO of JA Solar

JA Solar Announces First Quarter 2016 ResultsJA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq:JASO) (“JA Solar” or the “Company”), one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-performance solar power products, announced its unaudited financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2016.

First Quarter Result


QUARTER RESULTS

» Total shipments were 1,128.3 megawatts (“MW”), consisting of 1,038.3 MW of modules and cells to external customers, and 90.0 MW of modules to the Company’s own downstream projects. External shipments were up +52.4% y/y and down -22.4% sequentially.

» Shipments of modules and module tolling were 919.4 MW, an increase of +57.4% y/y and decrease of 29.1% sequentially.

» Shipments of cells and cell tolling were 118.9 MW, an increase of +22.1% y/y and +188.6% sequentially.

» Net revenue was RMB 3.5 billion ($538.1 million), an increase of +44.4% y/y and decrease of 24.5% sequentially.

» Gross margin was 16.6%, an increase of 50 basis points y/y and decrease of 50 basis points sequentially.

» Operating profit was RMB 223.3 million ($34.6 million), compared to RMB 149.6 million ($23.2 million) in the first quarter of 2015, and RMB 260.1 million ($40.3 million) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

» Net income was RMB 158.0 million ($24.5 million), compared to RMB 35.0 million ($5.4 million) in the first quarter of 2015, and RMB 184.9 million ($28.7 million) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

» Earnings per diluted ADS were RMB 2.74 ($0.43), compared to RMB 0.59 ($0.09) in the first quar-ter of 2015, and RMB 3.39 ($0.53) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

» Cash and cash equivalents were RMB 2.3 billion ($362.1 million), a decrease of RMB 548.4 million ($85.0 million) during the quarter.

» Non-GAAP earnings1 per diluted ADS were RMB 2.33 ($0.36), com-pared to RMB 0.82 ($0.13) in the first quarter of 2015, and RMB 3.14 ($0.49) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

» NetrevenuewasRMB3.5billion($538.1million),anincreaseof44.4%y/yanddecreaseof24.5%sequentially.ThesequentialdecreaseinnetrevenuereflectedseasonalityinthePVindustry.

» GrossprofitofRMB575.4million($89.2million)in-creased48.8%y/yanddecreased26.6%sequentially.Grossmarginwas16.6%,whichcomparesto16.1%intheyear-agoquarter,and17.1%inthefourthquarterof2015.Thesequentialdecreaseingrossmarginwasmainlyduetoincreasingwaferpriceduringthequarter.

» TotaloperatingexpensesofRMB352.1million($54.6million)were10.1%ofrevenue.Thiscomparestooperatingexpensesof9.9%ofrevenueintheyear-agoquarter,and11.4%ofrevenueinthefourthquarterof2015.

First Quarter 2016 Highlights -

AllshipmentandfinancialfiguresrefertothequarterendedMarch31,2016,unlessotherwisespecified.All“yearoveryear”or“y/y”comparisonsareagainstthequarterendedMarch31,2015.All“sequential”comparisonsareagainstthequarter ended December 31, 2015.

Total shipments were 1,128.3 MW, exceeding the high end of the previously announced guidance range of 1,000 to 1,100 MW. External shipments of 1,038.3 MW increased 52.4% year over year and decreased 22.4% sequentially.

2015 Q1 2015 Q4 2016 Q1 QoQ (pp) YoY (pp)

China 21.4 % 43.8 % 59.6 % 15.8pp 38.2pp

APAC ex-China 53.9 % 40.5 % 26.7 % -13.8pp -27.2pp

Europe 22.6 % 5.1 % 5.6 % 0.5pp -17.0pp

Americas 1.0 % 8.4 % 4.5 % -3.9pp 3.5pp

Others 1.1 2.2 3.6 1.4pp 2.5pp

External shipments breakdown by product (MW)

External shipments breakdown by product (MW)

2015 Q1 2015 Q4 2016 Q1 QoQ% YoY%

Modules and module tolling 584.1 1297.6 919.4 -29.1 % 57.4 %

Cells and cell tolling 97.4 41.2 118.9 188.6 % 22.1 %

Total 681.5 1338.8 1,038.3 -22.4 % 52.4 %


QUARTER RESULTS

» InterestexpensewasRMB67.3million($10.4million),comparedtoRMB66.6million($10.3million)intheyear-agoquarter,andRMB66.0million($10.2million)inthefourthquarterof2015.

» ThechangeinfairvalueofwarrantderivativeswaspositiveRMB23.4million($3.6million),comparedwithnegativeRMB13.9million($2.2million)intheyear-agoquar-ter,andpositiveRMB14.0million($2.2million)inthefourthquarterof2015.ThewarrantswereissuedonAugust16,2013inconjunctionwiththeCompany’s$96millionregistereddirectoffering.

» EarningsperdilutedADSwereRMB2.74($0.43),comparedtoearningsperdilutedADSofRMB0.59($0.09)intheyear-agoquar-ter,andearningsperdilutedADSofRMB3.39($0.53)inthefourthquarterof2015.

As of March 31, 2016, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of RMB 2.3 billion ($362.1 million),

and total working capi-tal of RMB 2.3 billion ($361.3 million). To-tal short-term borrowings

were RMB 2.2 billion ($339.5 million). Total long-term borrowings were RMB 3.2 billion ($499.1 million), of which RMB 576.7 million ($89.4 million) were due in one year.

LIQUIDITY

BUSINESS OUTLOOKFor the second quarter of 2016, the Company expects total cell and module shipments to be in the range of 1,400 to 1,500 MW, including approximately 100 MW of module shipments to the Company’s downstream projects. For the full year, the Company reiterates its prior shipment guidance of 5.2 to 5.5 GW, including 250 to 300 MW of module shipments to the Company’s downstream projects. Revenues will not be recognized for the modules shipped to the Company’s downstream projects as required by U.S. GAAP.


QUARTER RESULTS

Jinko Solar Announces First Quarter 2016 ResultsJinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (“JinkoSolar” or the “Company”) (NYSE: JKS), a global leader in the solar PV industry, Announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016.

First Quarter Result

First Quarter 2016 Highlights -

» Total solar module shipments were 1,600 megawatts (“MW”), which includes 166 MW to be used in the Company’s downstream projects. Total solar module shipments decreased by 6.4% from 1,710 MW in the fourth quarter of 2015 and increased by 102.7% from 789 MW in the first quarter of 2015.

» Total revenues were RMB5.47 billion (US$847.8 million), representing a 10.0% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 98.8% from the first quarter of 2015.

» Solar power projects generated 210 GWh of electricity, representing a 36.4% increase from the fourth quarter of 2015, and an increase of 81.7% from the first quarter of 2015. Revenues generated from solar power projects were RMB185.5 million (US$28.8 million), representing a 36.1% increase from the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 81.7% from the first quarter of 2015.

» As of March 31, 2016, the Company had connected 1,007 MW worth of solar power projects.

» Gross margin was 21.3%, compared with 19.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and

20.3% in the first quarter of 2015.

» Income from operations was RMB573.7 million (US$89.0 million), compared with RMB482.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and RMB230.0 million in the first quarter of 2015.

» Net income attributable to JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd.’s ordinary shareholders was RMB313.3 million (US$48.6 million), compared with RMB349.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and RMB51.0 mil-lion in the first quarter of 2015.

» Diluted earnings per American depositary share (“ADS”) were RMB9.32 (US$1.44), compared with RMB10.92 in the fourth quarter of 2015 and RMB1.60 in the first quarter of 2015.

» Non-GAAP net income attributable to JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd.’s ordinary shareholders in the first quarter of 2016 was RMB414.6 million (US$64.3 million), compared with RMB503.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and RMB171.2 mil-lion in the first quarter of 2015.

» Non-GAAP basic and diluted earnings per ADS were RMB13.20 (US$2.04) and RMB11.20 (US$1.72), respectively, in the first quarter of 2016.


“We began the year very strongly with total module shipments

reaching 1,600 MW, ranking us as the biggest module supplier

among our peers during the first quarter. Next month marks our

10-year anniversary and I couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate

this milestone. We began our journey from humble beginnings

and sustainably built our way into a globally recognized brand having shipped a total of 13 GW to more than 1,700 customers

in over 70 countries and regions since then. We have always prided ourselves on our conservative and sustainable approach to building our business, and I am confident that we will be able to continue

generating long-term return for our shareholders. Global solar demand

continues to grow as costs go down. China remains our biggest

market with a number of big orders continuing to come in, a trend we believe will continue in the second quarter. Our market share in the

US continued to expand. Although the ITC extension resulted in

some projects being postponed, we are confident in our ability to hit our shipment targets to the

US for the year with our overseas production facility providing extra flexibility and higher margins. The increasing recognition of our brand

name is also generating great opportunities in exciting emerging markets such as Chile, Thailand

and India. Electricity output from our solar projects reached 210

GWh, up 36.4% sequentially while generating RMB185 million

in revenue.

- Mr. Kangping Chen, Chief Executive Officer

Jinko Solar

Fourth Quarter 2016 Financial Results

Mr. Kangping Chen Added,

“The increase was mainly attributable to newly-completed solar power projects ramping up to full capacity in the first quarter of 2016, which was adversely affected by continued curtailment of projects in western China. We expect power output to improve substantially in the second quarter as the impact from curtailment is reduced and more projects are ramped up to full capacity. We remain on track to hit our project development guidance for the year. We were awarded three solar PV projects totaling 188 MWac in Mexico during the quarter, marking it our first expansion into overseas project development. I believe this demonstrates the strength our brand name, technology and financial capabili-ties have in overseas markets. With a first big tender win under our belt, we will continue to work with our global partners to closely monitor overseas project development opportunities. I have always been confident in our long-term growth prospects and the solar industry as a whole, and I am pleased to see such a strong start to the year. We will continue to focus on strengthening our position as an industry leader and generating profits for our investors.”

Total revenues in the first quarter of 2016 were RMB5.47 billion (US$847.8 million), representing a decrease of 10.0% from RMB6.07 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 98.8% from RMB2.75 billion in the first quarter of 2015. The sequential decrease was mainly attributable to the decrease in shipments of solar modules. The year-over-year increase was mainly due to the increase in shipments of solar modules and electricity revenues from the growing number and capacity of projects.

During the first quarter of 2016, revenues from downstream solar power projects were RMB185.5 million (US$28.8 million), an increase of 36.1% from RMB136.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 81.7% from RMB102.1 million in the first quarter of 2015. The sequential increase was primarily due to newly-completed solar power projects ramping up to full capacity in the first quarter of 2016. The year-over-year increase in solar power project revenues was primarily due to the increase in number and capacity of the Company’s solar projects. Gross profit for solar power project revenues was RMB78.6 million (US$12.2 million) during the first quarter of 2016, representing a gross margin of 42.3%.

TOTAL REVENUE

Gross profit in the first quarter of 2016 was RMB1.17 billion (US$180.8 million), compared with RMB1.18 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 and RMB558.5 million in the first quarter of 2015.

Gross margin was 21.3% in the first quarter of 2016 compared with 19.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 20.3% in the first quarter of 2015. The sequential and year-over-year increases were primarily due to the continued decrease in costs and the higher gross margins associated with electricity revenues due to newly-completed solar power projects ramping up to full capacity.

GROSS PROFIT AND GROSS MARGIN

QUARTER RESULTS


Net interest expense in the first quarter of 2016 was RMB126.4 million (US$19.6 million), an increase of 30.0% from RMB97.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 100.9% from RMB62.9 million in the first quarter of 2015. The increases were mainly due to an increase in loans used for solar power projects.

INTEREST EXPENSE, NET

The Company recorded a net exchange gain of RMB11.7 million (US$1.8 million) including change in fair value of forward contracts in the first quarter of 2016. The Company had a net exchange gain of RMB72.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and net exchange loss of RMB26.9 million in the first quarter of 2015.

EXCHANGE GAIN / (LOSS), NET

The Company recognized a loss from a change in fair value of convertible senior notes of RMB22.6 million (US$3.5 million), and a loss from a change in fair value of capped call options of RMB8.2 million (US$1.3 million). The Company repurchased convertible senior notes with a principle of US$66.5 million in the first quarter of 2016.

Change In Fair Value Of Convertible Senior Notes And Capped Call Options

The Company recognized equity income from affiliated companies of RMB1.6 million (US$0.2 million) in the first quarter of 2016 as a result of its share of profits for solar power projects held by affiliated companies.

The Company recorded an income tax expense of RMB100.4 million(US$15.6 million) in the first quarter of 2016, compared with an income tax expense of RMB59.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and an income tax expense of RMB19.9 million during the first quarter of 2015.

Net income attributable to JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd.’s ordinary shareholders in the first quarter of 2016 was RMB313.3 million (US$48.6 million), compared with RMB349.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and RMB51.0 million in the first quarter of 2015.Basic and diluted earnings per share were RMB2.50 (US$0.39) and RMB2.33 (US$0.36), respectively, during the first quarter of 2016. This translates into basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB10.00 (US$1.56) and RMB9.32 (US$1.44), respectively.Non-GAAP net income attributable to JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd.’s ordinary shareholders in the first quarter of 2016 was RMB414.6 million (US$64.3 million), compared with RMB503.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and RMB171.2 million in the first quarter of 2015.Non-GAAP basic and diluted earnings per share were RMB3.30 (US$0.51) and RMB2.80 (US$0.43), respectively, during the first quarter of 2016. This translates into non-GAAP basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB13.20 (US$2.04) and RMB11.20 (US$1.72), respectively.

As of March 31, 2016, the Company had RMB3.37 billion (US$522.9 million) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, compared with RMB4.24 billion of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash as of December 31, 2015.

As of March 31, 2016, the Company’s accounts receivables were RMB3.94 billion (US$ 610.5 million) compared with RMB3.42 billion as of December 31, 2015.

As of March 31, 2016, the Company’s inventories were RMB3.11 billion (US$482.3 million) compared with RMB3.20 billion as of December 31, 2015.

As of March 31, 2016, the total interest-bearing debts were RMB10.41 billion (US$1.61 billion), compared with RMB10.29 billion as of December 31, 2015. Interest-bearing debts from downstream solar power projects was RMB5.58 billion (US$865.3 million), compared with RMB4.93 billion as of December 31, 2015.

Investment Income / (Loss)

Income Tax Expense

Net Income and Earnings per Share

Financial Position

Income from operations in the first quarter of 2016 was RMB573.7 million (US$89.0 million), compared with RMB482.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and RMB230.0 million in the first quarter of 2015. Operating margin in the first quarter of 2016 was 10.5%, compared with 7.7% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 8.4% in the first quarter of 2015.

Total operating expenses in the first quarter of 2016 were RMB592.2 million (US$91.8 million), a decrease of 17.3% from RMB715.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and an increase of 80.3% from RMB328.5 million in the first quarter of 2015. The operating expense was 10.8% of total revenue, compared to 11.8% in the fourth quarter of 2015. The sequential decrease was mainly due to decreases in shipping and warranty costs and provisions of accounts receivable. The year-over-year increase in operating expense was mainly due to increases in shipping and warranty costs and provisions of accounts receivable.

Total operating expenses excluding non-cash expenses, including stock-based compensation, the provisions for doubtful accounts, and disposal and impairment of fixed assets were RMB554.5 million (US$86.0 million), compared to RMB587.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 and RMB344.8 million in the first quarter of 2015.

Total operating expenses excluding non-cash charges as a percentage of total net revenues was 10.1% in the first quarter of 2016, compared to 9.7% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 12.5% in the first quarter of 2015.

INTEREST EXPENSE, NET

QUARTER RESULTS


QUARTER RESULTS

OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS OUTLOOK

For the second quarter of 2016, the Company estimates total solar module shipments to be in the range of 1.6 GW to 1.7 GW, which includes 1.45 GW to 1.6 GW module shipments to third parties. Revenues will not be recognized for the modules shipped to the Company’s own downstream projects as required by U.S. GAAP. For the full year 2016, the Company estimates total solar module shipments to be in the range of 6 GW and 6.5 GW which includes 5.4 GW to 5.7 GW module shipments to third par-ties. Full year newly-added solar power project development scale is expected to be in the range of 600 MW to 800 MW.

Second Quarter and Full Year 2016 Guidance

Solar Module Shipments

Total solar module shipments in the first quarter of 2016 amounted to 1,600 MW, including 166 MW to be used in the Company’s downstream projects.

Solar Power Project Capacity As of March 31, 2016, the Company had connected 1,007 MW of solar power projects to the grid.

Solar Products Production Capacity As of March 31, 2016, the Company’s in-house annual silicon wafer, solar cell and solar module production capacity was 3.5 GW, 3 GW and 6 GW, respectively.

» In May 2016, JinkoSolar has become the first Chinese photovoltaic manufacturer to have its modules receive Qualification Plus certification from TÜV Rheinland.

» In May 2016, JinkoSolar repaid the entire remaining balance of its 4.00% Convertible Senior Notes due on May 15, 2016.

» In May 2016, JinkoSolar signed a master purchase agreement with CivicSolar

» In April 2016, JinkoSolar’s 1500-Volt Eagle Modules became available for delivery in North America following UL 1703 certification.

» In April 2016, JinkoSolar announced that it will supply 49 MW of solar modules to China Resources Power Investment Company Limited for three solar plants.

» In April 2016, JinkoSolar won 188MWac in solar projects in Mexico’s first tender auction. JinkoSolar will develop and build the solar power plants.

» In April 2016, JinkoSolar supplied 23 MW of solar modules to Jordanian Solar Park.

» In April 2016, JinkoSolar announced that it will supply METKA-EGN USA LLC with 57.65 MW of PV modules for the largest solar PV plant in Puerto Rico.

» In March 2016, JinkoSolar supplied 24MW of PID-free Eagle modules for project in Thailand.

» In March 2016, JinkoSolar was invited to attend the BOAO Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference to deliver a speech during the infrastructure session of the B20 Special Workshop.

» In March 2016, JinkoSolar announced that it will donate solar modules to the 2016 Chinese Everest Expedition Team. The modules will be installed at the team’s South Base Camp.

» In March 2016, JinkoSolar supplied 24.5 MWp solar modules to Gransolar for two projects in New Mexico in the US.

First Quarter 2016 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTSRecent Business Developments


Recent Business Developments

“With the SOL9631 and the SOL326 as our newest ad-ditions to our portfolio of innovative metallization prod-ucts, customers can achieve higher PERC cell efficiencies, reduced LID and improved module reliability. This proves our strong commitment to continuously provide our cus-tomers and partners with the most advanced metallization pastes, helping them to real-ize significant performance improvements.” He further emphasizes Heraeus’ strong capability, experience and expertise of in-house glass frit development and produc-tion, the key enabler for the excellent performance of its metallization paste products.

-Dr. Weiming Zhang, Senior Vice President Innovation, Heraeus

Photovoltaics

he new products, SOL9631, a low-temperature front-side paste for PERC, and SOL326, a low-activity back-side sil-ver tabbing paste, are offered as part of a PERC package. The pastes enable customers and partners of Heraeus to

produce PERC cells with significant improvement on both efficiency and adhesion.

T

Heraeus Introduces New Series of PERC Metallization Pastes

Heraeus Photovoltaics, the worldwide leading supplier of metallization solutions to the PV industry, announced the launch of two advanced PERC metallization paste series

at the SNEC 2016 in Shanghai.

The SOL9631 front-side paste series features a unique brand-new glass chemistry,

exclusively developed and manu-factured by Heraeus, combined with the latest breakthrough in organic vehicle system for ultra-fine-line printing. The paste can be fired at low temperatures, making it specifically suitable for PERC solar cells. The densified microstructure of the fired finger, including the Ag-Silicon interface, enhances adhesion, grid resistivity and solderability. Beyond sig-nificantly improving the reliability performance of PERC-solar cells and the later module, light-intro-duced-degradation (LID) loss is reduced to be similar as a nor-mal P-type module. Furthermore the SOL9631 series is perfectly tailored for Ultra-fine-line printabil-ity. It supports a finger geometry that can print defect-free through a less than 30 µm screen opening in high throughput mass produc-tion, resulting in an efficiency gain through reduced optical shading and less contact area.

Heraeus’newlow-activitySOL326PERCbacksidetabbingpasteseriescontainsaspecificglasschemistry,impart-ingcontrolledreactionbetweenAgpasteandthedielectriclayer.Incombinationwithnewlydevelopedpasteaddi-tives,thisresultsinlessfire-through/penetrationintothepassivationandbetterprotectstheemit-terduringthemetalliza-tionprocess.Withitsuniqueproperties,theSOL326seriesenablestoincreasecellefficiencieswithover20%,higheragedadhesionandimprovedVocaswellashighermodulereliability.


3D-Micromac wins Megawatt Prize for Outstanding Half Cell Cutting Technology at SNEC 2016 microCELL™ TLS was announced as one of the TOP 10 Highlights

he winners of the 10th TOP 10 Highlight competition have been announced at SNEC

2016 in Shanghai on May 26, 2016. 3D-Micromac AG, the industry leader in laser micro-machining, received the Mega-watt Award for its production system microCELL™ TLS. The microCELL™ TLS uses Thermal-Laser-Separation for cutting of solar wafer into half cells. By using half cell technology the average module power yield can be increased significantly. The enabling TLS-Technology™ has gained support in the face of conventional separation tech-niques for the reason of clean, micro-fissured edgings. No crystal damage is experienced at the separation edge in the form

of the previous usual displace-ment of resolidified silicon in the ablation areas. In contrast to laser cutting procedures, no dis-charge and no particle formation occurs, as the substrate is only heated and not vaporized. The mechanical stability of processed solar cells is significantly greater than conventionally processed solar cells. The routine leaves no residue. The highly-productive microCELL™ system achieves a throughput of more than 7200 half cells per hour (single lane). The optical set-up relies on the industry-proven on-the-fly technology successfully used at 3D-Micromac’s laser structuring tools for processing of PERC cells. It guarantees highest productivity and an outstanding price-performance ratio.

T

Hanwha Q CELLS Received ‘Terawatt Diamond Award’ for its advanced Q.ANTUM Cell Technology at SNEC 2016

anwha Q CELLS Co. Ltd. one of the world’s largest photovoltaic (PV) companies, received the ‘Terawatt Diamond Award` at this

year’s SNEC PV Power Expo in Shanghai China. The ‘Terawatt Diamond Award’ is being awarded by the Organizing Commit-tee of SNEC in order to honor the Top-Ten among a total of 1,500 companies for their latest and most advanced technologies. Hanwha Q CELLS received the prize for the second year in a row for exhibiting its proprietary and matured Q.ANTUM tech-nology. This proprietary cell architecture is based on a rear-side passivation of the solar cell and includes many additional technological features for maximum en-ergy yield under real conditions.

At SNEC 2016 Hanwha Q CELLS show-cased its latest Q.ANTUM products and prototypes, such as the Q.PLUS series, a polycrystalline high performance solar module for optimized performance in real life conditions. In addition, the Q.ANTUM mono prototype with power classes of up to 305 watt from a 60 cell module was also showcased, demonstrating Q.ANTUM technology’s readiness on both poly- and monocrystalline wafer materials, as well as a Glass-to-Glass prototype showing Q.ANTUMS applicability to all kinds of conditions and demands.

“We are honored to receive the award by the SNEC Committee, and this is yet another industry valida-tion of our leading technology and high quality products.” He added, “We will continue to offer the best products to our valued customers and expand our market positions in China and in the APAC region.”

- Seongwoo Nam, Hanwha Q CELLS’ CEO

H


DW288 Series 3... Cutting wires as thin as a human hairWires coated with razor-sharp diamonds can cut with high efficiencyeven when ultra-thin.This reduces kerf loss and saves money.At the same time, diamond wires account forover half of operating costs.For too long, they have failed to get the attention they deserve.

s regards kerf loss, the general rule is:the thin-ner the wire, the better the material yield and the greater the output.However, thinner wires pose new challengesfor solar suppliers.They can twist or break all too easily, particularly at high speeds.It is thereforevital that the machine con-trol system and cutting processes are properly-coordinated.

The DW288 Series 3 has been specially de-signed for usewith extremely thinwires.A spe-cial wire tensioning system rapidly regulates any fluctuations, even at the highest speeds and accelerations,while ultralight pulleys keep fluctuations in the wire tensionwithin narrow limits.“Thinnest wires are already in use today, and there’s no end in sight to this evolution.We are currently testing wires with a 50 µmdiameter.Considering that 120 µm wires were common until only recently, this represents a huge step forward,” explains Christoph Eggimann, Prod-uct Manager at Meyer Burger, who is respon-sible for the diamond wire saws.Decreased wire thickness alone is however not the only focus. “The entire process – including cutting time, wire thickness and quality as well as wire usage and handling – must support a wafering process with such thin wires. We must ensure that the entire process is in tune in order to avoid a decrease in throughput,”knows Eggimann.In combination with the reduced diamond wire thickness, the cutting time has also been reduced to two hours. Shorter cutting times are in testing stage. The re-sult is a significant savings in the manufacturing cost per wafer.

A

LESS DIAMOND ABRASION DUE TO ELIMINATED WIRE-TO-WIRE CONTACT

Diamond wires account for the lion’s share of operating costs.For too long, their impact on over-all costs has been neglected.A wire loses in effective-nessas its diamonds become worn.On standard spools, the wire is wound on top of itself, which increases the abra-sion and wear of the diamonds.

“On a specially designed working spool, the wire is wound side by side in a single layer.This has enabled us to eliminate any wire-to-wire contact and to boost the performance. The diamond wire usage has been decreased to one meter per wafer. As is well known, sharp wires cut better and faster, too.”

-Christoph Eggimann , Teamleader Product Management Wafering PV,

Meyer Burger Technology Ltd

Christoph Eggimann and his teamwere determined to find an alternativeanddevelopedthe Diamond Wire Management System (DWMS):-


Canadian Solar Showcased Dymond Module And Superpower Module At 2016 SnecCanadian Solar Inc. , one of the world’s largest solar power companies, recently showcased the Dymond module and SuperPower module at the 2016 SNEC PV Power Expo held in Shanghai New International Expo Center.

he Dymond module is a dou-ble glass module, and is avail-able in both 72-cell CS6X-P-FG Dymond and 60-cell

CS6K-P-FG Dymond configurations, each offering state-of-the-art product design and unique product features:

• Built with heat-strengthened glass to replace the traditional polymer back-sheet

• More resistant to Potential In-duced Degradation (PID), with anti-PID cells and encapsula-tion material

• Well suited for harsh environ-ments like high humidity, high temperature, sandstorm and ul-traviolet (UV) conditions

• Lower annual power degrada-tion, with the first year annual power degradation of 2.5% and 0.5% each year afterwards, re-sulting in a 30-year power war-ranty

• Designed to enable 1500V ap-plications to lower overall sys-tem cost

Canadian Solar has shipped hun-dreds of megawatts of Dymond mod-ules to its global customers since its launch in 2014, receiving great market feedback, as the Dymond module, with longer product lifetime and higher reli-

ability, increases customers’ return on investment due to increased energy yield.

The SuperPower CS6K-295MS

module will make its debut at this exhibi-tion. Consisting of 60 Passivated Emit-ter and Rear Cell (PERC) monocrystal-line solar cells, the SuperPower module boasts power output of 295 watts. In addition, the SuperPower module has the following unique features:

• Better low light performance, with the average module effi-ciency under low light irradiance condition (0.2 Sun) reaching over 97.5% of that under Stan-dard Test Condition (STC)

• Lower temperature coefficient improves the module’s per watt actual power output

• Lower Light Induced Degrada-tion (LID) – LID is over 30% low-er than that of a standard mono solar module

• 5 bus bar cell design enhances product reliability

• A robust and reliable solution for seaside/farmland PV system in-stallation

• A 25-year linear power output warranty and a 10-year product warranty on materials and work-manship

Mass production of the SuperPower module began in Q1 2016 and further volume ramp-up is expected for 2016 and beyond.

T

“We are delighted to showcase our groundbreaking Dymond and Super-Power modules at this exhibition, Canadian Solar is committed to deliver-ing innovative, high-performance and cost competitive products to our global customers to meet their diversified demands for solar products. We sincerely invite every one of you to come to our booth, # W5-330, at SNEC to explore more of Canadian Solar’s industry-leading product offerings.”

-Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar.

Gsolar firstly launch ‘Three In One’ solar simulator around the world (A+A+A+/full spectrum/long pulse)Gsolar Power Co., Ltd (hereafter referred to as Gsolar) will show the 11th generation of unthinkable product - A+A+A+/full spectrum/long pulse solar simulator(model :XJCM -11A ), during SNEC expo (2016) in shanghai.

solar takes orders to the sprits – EXCELLENCE, INNOVATION, ENDLESS and SATISFACTION and constantly updates product technol-

ogy.Gsolar is the only PV equipment supplier in china.the equipment of IV series obtained CE certificate in 2008 and TUV certificate in 2009,then gained TaiWan ITRI AAA cer-tificate. The equipment of EL series obtained TUV certificate and patent certificate. owning top one market share and export machines to Germany, Spain, France, Japan, Ameri-can and etc.Gsoalr Adheres to the concept of continuous improvement to producing ma-chines and providing services the customers satisfied with.

• A+A+A+ performance : Non-uniformity of irradiance, Spectral match, Temporal instability of irradiance, these three core perfor-mance indexes are twice better than highest international standard (IEC 60904-9).

• Full spectrum : Spectrum range is extended from 400-1100nm to 300-1200nm, so this solves 300-400nm spectrum lost problems existed among most of solar simulators on the market. Full spec-trum accomplishes Improve testing accuracy effectively of high-efficiency solar cell.

• Long pulse : Testing pulse width can be extended from 10ms to 150ms, even 200ms. This makes it meet requirements for testing PERC, HIT, IBC and other new technology solar cells and solve the test deviation caused by large capacitance effect.

GItisreportedthatthistoptestequipment,integratedthreeoftheworld’sleadingindexes-

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