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Trina Solar, the global leader in photovoltaic (PV) and smart energy solutions, has become the first PV manufacturer to have a total of more than 4GW of modules in India.
Gaurav Mathur, Trina Solar’s India director attributes the achievement to: “Trina Solar’s technical expertise, strong local market knowledge, and relationships.”
“We have come far, from shipping under 15MW of solar modules for the whole of 2010, our first year in India, to shipping a record 700MW in just one quarter of 2017.”
“India has become a major solar market on the world map. India recognizes the value of clean, stable and cost-effective solar energy,” Mathur adds.
He also says: “The 4GW milestone is a testament to the quality of our sales team in India. Our team here is technically sound and also works very hard to provide good customer service and logistics support across all industry segments.”
“We work with developers across the country, although the bigger installations are often in the southern part of the country, in states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. There are several reasons, why large-scale projects are often in the south, such as the availability of affordable land.”
“We are big in solar farms, as utility-scale solar provides stability and low-cost energy for local grids. But we are also doing very unique installations, such as airports and building-integrated photovoltaics,” Mathur says.
Trina Solar has also seen strong growth in the commercial and industrial segment.
Mathur says: “Businesses here are keen, with many from the textile, pharmaceutical, chemical, logistics and IT industries installing 50-500kW rooftop and ground-mount installations. Solar is a sensible choice for businesses as grid electricity can be expensive. Energy-intensive businesses in India are also following respected brands like Walmart and Honda in going solar with us, as they want to reduce their reliance on the local grid, ensuring that communities nearby are not affected by their energy usage.”
He says solar energy is feasible for industrial and commercial businesses in India, because many have a lot of roof space or land available for solar installations.
Some commercial and industrial companies pay to have a solar system, while there are others that sign a long-term electricity use contract with an energy supplier that then pays for the solar system.
Mathur says: “Customers are always price savvy but are also concerned about quality. Owners and financiers of solar installations are looking more to tier-one manufacturers such as Trina Solar because we have the reputation, warranties and bankability ratings.”
“There has been a shake-out in the market where some tier-two solar manufacturers have effectively exited the market,” he adds.
Besides the utility, commercial and industrial segments; Trina Solar is also helping households and small businesses to adopt solar by offering an affordable ‘all in one’ solution, for residential business that includes the solar modules, inverters and mounting system.
Helena Li, Trina Solar president for Asia Pacific and head of global module sales, says Asia Pacific including India is a key market for Trina Solar globally.
The company continues to make inroads into the market by introducing new high-efficiency modules that combine leading industry technologies, she says, adding that the company is also offering smart energy solutions such as TrinaPro, which is an ‘all in one solution’.