CHANGZHOU: Trina Solar, the world’s largest manufacturer of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels is betting big on India. Calling it a ‘primary market’ and awaiting further easing of business conditions for the solar sector in India, Mr Jifan Gao, Founder & CEO, is hoping to increase the PV shipment to India from the current 20% share and 3GW of cumulative supply of equipment.
Founded in 1997, Trina, specializes in the manufacture of crystalline silicon PV modules and system integration and also produces ingots, wafers and solar cells. Currently holding 10% of the world market share, Trina products are available in 70 countries and has already shipped 32 gigawatt (GW), or 32,000 megawatt (MW), of modules to the rest of the world.
The company headquartered in Changzhou, China, became the first solar PV maker to be listed in the New York Stock Exchange in 2006.
Speaking to reporters during the 20th anniversary celebrations in Changzhou, Mr Gao expressed eagerness to set up a manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh where it already owns 90 acres of land at Atchutapuram in Visakhapatnam district.
“Unfortunately, PV manufacturing lacks a supply chain in India and we prefer to import equipment from overseas,” said Mr Gao who had met Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi during his 2015 Shanghai visit.
“If costs of making in India do not support the economics of production for the customer, it makes our job difficult. Our basic principle is to provide value for the customer. If the local customer cannot afford our products, that makes it difficult for us to produce,” he said.
India’s solar market is growing exponentially and the latest Bloomberg New Energy Finance report projects India’s solar cells and PV market, currently at 8.6 GW, to cross 12 GW by 2020. In 2017, around 90% of Indian imports of PV cells and modules came from China and were worth over $3 billion.
In August, 2017, Trina Solar launched TrinaHome, the first residential PV brand and will be implementing the One-Million Rooftop Plan over the course of the next five years to provide Trina residential PV system installation service for more than one million households. Trina Solar will soon launch TrinaHome in India.
Preeti Verma Lal
