Solar module manufacturing lines under the domestic content requirement (DCR) category are booked for the upcoming three to four months, said industry experts at Mercom India’s recent RE Buyer-Seller Meet, held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

Mercom India hosts these events to provide a platform for clean energy buyers to engage directly with carefully selected vendors offering localized, high-quality solar solutions. The Coimbatore meet featured two sessions, during which industry experts discussed various aspects of solar energy.

“Even though India’s module manufacturing capacity has been increasing and looks quite high, all module lines in the market are currently booked. The second and fourth quarters are peak periods, which makes it essential for manufacturers to plan ahead of time to ensure quality and reduce the demand-supply gap,” said Krishna Arjun, VP-Sales, Swelect Energy Systems.

He also referred to a significant gap between module and cell capacity in India. “While there are various incentives to increase cell capacity, setting up a cell manufacturing line needs a good two to three years. This is also why we see shortage of DCR modules in the market due to lower availability of India-made cells.”

However, he was optimistic that the gap between cell and module manufacturing would narrow over the next three to four years.

Energy Independence: Key Driver For BESS

Jogeswara Rao, Head of Sales (South India), Fronius India, noted that consumers in the residential, commercial, and industrial segments are seeking to become energy-efficient.

“While power cuts may be one reason, energy independence is the key driver for the expanding market for battery energy storage systems (BESS). We are developing a battery reservoir that can provide complete backup for an entire villa or a house. Besides on-grid inverters, BESS will be a major market in India,” said Rao.

He expects BESS prices to become more affordable due to a dip in lithium battery costs.

Muthukumaran S, Senior Sales Manager, FIMER, concurred. “We are seeing a lot of demand in both commercial and industrial and utility-scale projects given the push by the government for BESS deployment, such as viability gap funding.”

Discussing price sensitivity in the inverter market, Rao noted that India was witnessing a rise in value-driven consumers for inverters.

“While India is a highly price-sensitive market, there is a certain section that is very conscious of quality and the lifespan of the product. When a consumer chooses an inverter as an investment, they must select the right product. Consumers are very well-educated in this field and are looking for products that last for at least 25 years,” he said.

Gobi Krishna A, Senior Manager of Projects (South), Prozeal Green Energy, stated that price fluctuations pose a significant challenge for engineering, procurement, and construction players.

He said, “We add a contingency cost, taking into consideration all the parameters. However, there are cases where even contingency fails, and we have to discuss the changes, such as an increase in cell or inverter prices, with the consumers and try to find a solution.”

Air-Wash Technology  

Suraj Vernekar, Co-Founder at Aegeus Technologies, stated that the world was facing two major problems: energy and water shortages.

“For a long time, we thought that solar modules could be cleaned manually using water, but the truth is that we cannot solve one problem and create another. If we use so much water to clean modules, there won’t be any water left for anything else,” Vernekar said.

He said that robotic cleaning was no longer an option but a necessity.

“Dry cleaning technologies are becoming a point of attention for many countries and consumers. Rooftops are another area where there are not many cleaning systems available. We have introduced a solution in backpack form, which can be used to clean rooftop modules.”

Discussing his company’s new technology, Air Wash, Vernekar said, “The technology can clean any form of dust or cement as long as it is loose. However, if the dust settles and becomes sticky, the consumer will have to resort to chemical cleaning.”

He added that many jobs, including module mounting and cleaning, are going to be automated.

At the Pune RE Buyer Seller Meet held earlier this month, Yogesh Kudale, Chief Executive Officer of Taypro, and Chetan Amrutkar, AVP Sales and Marketing at Genx PV, highlighted the potential for consumers to save six times more by opting for robotic cleaning compared to traditional cleaning for modules.

Module Mounting Structures

Another discussion at the Coimbatore meet covered the importance of a good-quality mounting structure for the lifetime of a solar project.

Ramesh Babu, Executive Vice President, Metalkraft, said, “Geography determines the type of mounting structure that can be used in each project. A designer must inspect the area and determine the structure and materials to be used in the project.”

The material used, such as steel and aluminum, matters considerably for mounting structures. “While aluminum is desired for mounting structures by many consumers, cost plays a major role. There are a lot of new coating materials on steel; it is difficult for aluminum to be as popular,” Babu said. He added that steel remains a widely used metal for module mounting structures.

Mercom India will host its next RE Buyer Seller Meet in Hyderabad on August 21, 2025. If you are an installer or EPC service provider, you can register for free here.

Mercom is also hosting the fifth edition of its Renewables Summit, the largest conference in the sector, on July 24 and 25 this year at the Hyatt Residency, New Delhi.  It brings together all the stakeholders who are shaping India’s renewable energy industry. You can register for the Summit here.