Sungrow, a global inverter and energy storage system (ESS) solutions supplier for renewables, has inaugurated its solar inverter manufacturing unit in Bangalore.

The facility will be of 3 GW capacity and is spread over an area of three acres. The construction of the facility took approximately six months and an investment of up to ₹360 million (~$5.25 million). At the facility, 1 GW has been slated for string inverters, and central inverters will comprise the other 2 GW. While the production of string inverters will kickstart right away, the production of central inverters is likely to commence soon.

Speaking on the occasion Luke Lu, the director of Sungrow India, said, “Last year, there were tensions between China and India, and people were asking me, when are you going back? Now, that question is no more there. Now, we are also recognized as an Indian company, and not as a Chinese firm in India.”

“Professor Renxian (President of Sungrow) has a long-term vision for India. One of the results is the opening of this manufacturing facility in Bangalore. This is our first overseas experience and we want to turn this into a major hub for Sungrow’s international business. We will also open a research and development (R&D) center here in India soon,” added Lu.

Speaking to Mercom, Sunil Badesra, the head of business development at Sungrow India, said, “Right now, the facility is of 1 GW, we will scale it up to 3 GW.”

“Right now, we will manufacture only string inverters at this facility. String inverters are easier to manufacture than the central ones. Later, we will be manufacturing central as well as complete turnkey solutions,” added Sunil.

Inverters produced at Sungrow’s India facility will be utilized in India as well as shipped elsewhere.

According to Mercom India Solar Market Share Tracker, Sungrow had supplied around 2.5 GW of solar inverters to the Indian solar market as of Q2 and had a market share of approximately 8 percent at the end of Q1 2018.

This will be Sungrow’s first manufacturing facility located outside China. When asked about the reasons behind this shift, Sunil said, “Indian market is expanding, and we see huge avenue of growth. In India, our customers have expectations that they should get billing done in INR due to the protection measures that are coming in. The USD-INR impact has been a disrupter for us, so we decided to begin a facility here in India.”

Inverter suppliers in the country have been sharing the burden of the ongoing uncertainties in the solar market with the rest of the domestic renewable industry. In a recent interview with Mercom, Sunil Badesra of Sungrow, echoed these sentiments of the industry on the current market ambiguities and emphasized the need to innovate in order to take this sector to the next level.