Over the past year, the one certain thing in the solar industry has been the ‘uncertainty.’ Starting with the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent closing down of markets, labor challenges, supply chain issues, component shortages, and freight charges they keep coming.
Mercom’s Q4 2020 and Annual India Solar Market Update showed that India installed only 3,239 MW of solar capacity in the CY 2020, a 56% decline compared to 7,346 MW in 2019. While the forecast is good for the current year and 2022, stakeholders believe it will take some time to get back to the pre-pandemic days.
To dive deep into the various factors affecting the Indian solar sector and the future course of the Indian solar industry, Mercom is hosting a virtual conference- “Mercom India Solar Summit,” which will address the ground realities and market outlook amid the rapidly changing solar space.
The event will bring together industry leaders and stakeholders who will discuss the changing landscape of the Indian solar industry.
The discussions are spread over ten sessions and will address various factors affecting the Indian solar industry.
On Day 2 of the event, panelists will discuss dynamics affecting the solar supply chain in the session “The Black Swan: Supply Chain and How to Mitigate Market Surprises.” The panel hosted by Priyadarshini Sanjay, Managing Director of Mercom India, will include Pradeep Kumar, Director of Business, LONGi Solar, Harshvardhan Govil, Chief Operating Officer, Adani Solar, Sandeep Shivhare, Senior Manager, Adani Krishnapatnam Port. You can register here for the event.
The solar market is witnessing supply chain and logistics problems now more than ever. These challenges will play a key role in determining project costs and auction tariffs. The panel will shed light on issues like logistics, procurement, raw materials availability, freight charges, and other frequent surprises in the supply chain and address how best to handle them.
Recently, Mercom also wrote about the solar glass shortage and how the imposition of duty on solar glass imports from China and Malaysia affects the cost of modules imported as well as made in India.
The rise in freight charges is another issue that has impacted the country’s solar industry in a big way. Solar companies have reported that shipping/freight charges have shot up substantially in the range of 500%-800% in the last quarter, raising the cost of new installations.
These are just some of the issues that will significantly impact the solar supply chain and are likely to affect the timely completion of projects in the future.
