Japan-based Mitsui Chemicals Incorporated has started at its brand-new solar testing facility and certification laboratory in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

The lab, which is a Bureau of Indian Standards accredited (BIS) testing and certification lab, comes under Mitsui’s Indian subsidiary – Mitsui Chemicals India Pvt. Ltd. The lab will test and certify the reliability and performance of solar panels.

Mitsui Chemicals was working towards establishing a solar panel testing and certification lab in Gujarat in partnership with PI Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin AG (PI Berlin).

The parent company has wide-ranging expertise in solar power generation, according to Mitsui Chemicals India’s assistant manager (sales and marketing), Saurabh Dhaval, who said, “Our parent company already has the experience of handling 4 GW solar projects in Japan, even owns and controls their power plants, e.g., Tahara Power Plant is wholly owned by Mitsui. “

The unit was launched in Tahara at the Aichi Prefecture in Japan in 2014.

Saurabh further added, “The operations started in December 2019, and we have procured all the relevant lab technology and equipment, keeping BIS and the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) certifications in mind. Currently, our focus for testing is solely on solar panels. However, we have also started our advisory services in India, which we are already conducting in Japan.

Since 2018, all solar projects in India are mandated to use BIS certified solar panels. Currently, only three labs provide BIS certification in India; Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Bengaluru, TUV Rheinland Bengaluru, and Hiphysix Pune.

Previously, Mercom reported about issues around the BIS certification process for solar modules. The outbreak of coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown had also affected the pace of the BIS registration process.