Innovations Spotted at REI 2022

The Renewable Energy India Expo 2022 was used as a fruitful platform by the exhibitors to showcase their innovative products and services while also talking about other interesting innovations in the pipeline.

Saur Energy International provides you an insight into some such products designed to make customers’ life easier and cater to their solar needs…

Module Repair Services, Products by Cybrid (MoPro)

Module repairs is emerging as a key challenge for customers, even during the product warranty. Cybrid’s MoPro, offers onsite repair solutions for solar modules aimed at prolonging their life. Ajay Pratap, Head- International Business (MoPro), Country Manager- India, sheds light on the company’s products and services, “At REI, we showcased 11 solutions from MoPro. These include self-curing insolation patch, glass-cleaning solutions for modules, solutions for cracking of silicon sealants.” He adds, “We offer solutions to clean up modules near cement factories since they are hard to clean.” He goes on to talk about fire resistance tapes for the European market, “We make fire resistance tapes for the European markets to stop fires in solar modules” He concludes, “Cybrid is one of the biggest manufacturers of polymer materials and we boast of 105 GW cumulative capacity.”

Cirius Module Capacitor, Invergy

The Cirius Module Capacitor was unveiled at REI. Deepak Pandey, CEO, Invergy said while introducing the capacitor, “This is the new technology that we are bringing into India. This is a revolution in the battery industry. The capacitor boasts of features such as high discharge rate. The batteries can be used as per customised requirements. The capacitor addresses the problems with ESS, such as lifecycle, efficiency, safety. The efficiency it offers is 100%, the RoI is 100%. It promises utmost safety. In fact, this is the safest battery ever launched in Indian market till date.” He reiterates that the product is a “revolution in the industry” while saying, “We have entered into a JV with a US-based company for this capacitor from Invergy, which is patented. We will begin the manufacturing of this product in another six months’ time. We will start off with capacity of 1 GW initially, which we will increase to 5 GWh later.” With the technology already being tested in the UAE and deployed in many places there now, the future looks fascinating for this innovation in India too.

IQ Micro Inverters, Enphase

Enphase claims to be the number one micro inverter company in the residential space in the US and has over sixty percent market share in the country. Arijit Roy, who heads the Growth and Marketing business for India at the firm told Saur Energy International about one of its newest latest offerings- the IQ Micro Inverter.

“Micro Inverters is largely a technology that fits under each of the panels and it is very different from the string inverters or the central inverters. The IQ Micro Inverter with the islanding feature, offers higher safety and power efficiency relatively.” Further, he adds, “This is the IQ7A version which sits under each of the panels and the beauty about this is that it’s extremely safe and the power generation is also relatively higher than all our competitors.”

Speaking about how it can save a customer from burning a hole in his pocket, Arijit says that it can help a customer save over 90% of the electricity bill, given that the right capacity is installed.

Shedding light on the future plans of Enphase, which has its manufacturing plant in Chennai, Roy says, “We are partnering with Salcomp and are fully invested in India. IQ7 A is already live in India. IQ8 H is coming soon to India, anytime early next year. We are working on that but the bigger innovation would be the IQ battery which comes in two sizes; which is 5 kWh and 3.8kWh. What you see here is a 5 kWh. The best feature of this is that it is a hybrid model, so if you can consume from the grid or if you have adequate power stored in your battery, you will be able to consume through that as well.” With storage solutions set to follow, Enphase, with its premium inverter and storage solutions could be the brand to watch at the top end of the market soon.

New-Age Solar Pumping Sets, Solartive

Solartive Techno Industries is a manufacturer of solar water pumping sets, which includes motors, submersible pumps, surface pumps, and controllers. The firm has an in-house manufacturing unit with an in-house R&D facility.

The pumping sets are driven by solar energy and boast of both AC and DC types of solar pumps. the pumps are two kinds; one is submersible, while the other is the surface water pump. It also includes a sub-division of submersible pump, like the mono bloc solar water pump sets. Depending on the capacity or the requirement of the customer, these pumps can be customized or even upgraded. Currently, the firm manufactures pumps with capacity worth 15 hp, which can be altered and manufactured as per customer needs.

Interestingly, the pumps also come with RMS- a software, that can control the pumps using mobile phone and laptops remotely. RMS enables one to check whether the motor is on, water levels etc.

Having sensed the absence of mobile pumps in the market, Solartive will soon be launching pumps on wheels, so that farmers can move pumps from one location to another since lifting the pump every time is challenging and arduous.

Coloured, Designer BIPV Modules, Spark Solar

Spark Solar, which claims to be one of the biggest manufacturers of BIPV modules, and is currently eyeing Asia Pacific, shares that it has at least 100 variations of BIPV. Spark Solar maintains that it is one of the first companies to launch coloured BIPVs. Besides, it is among the first companies to launch 700-watt panels in India.

The firm shares that it is coming up with designer BIPVs, which means that one can print anything onto them, yet it will still generate power. As per Spark Solar, this will be the first technology of its kind in India.

Spark Solar shares that it has executed many prototype projects. Among its many clients are IOCL and BEST buses. IOCL, it reveals, is saving big with the help of BIPV since they have installed panels on the terrace, across the facade of the building and across the ground.

Spark Solar also shares that it has launched TOPCon, n-type 700w panel, which, the firm maintains, is one of the biggest panels in India currently in terms of wattage. The n-type technology is a kind of wafer which boasts of degradation of less than 0.4%.

Solar Panel Cleaning Kits, J P Solar

 

 

Jaimin Parikh, Manging Director, J P Solar Energy Private Limited reveals that the firm has introduced solar panel cleaning kits. The products are available on Amazon and the platform is its channel partner.

The kits, which come with an installation manual, include a nozzle and a clamp. The user, however, has to take help from a plumber to install the kit.

The sprinkler nozzle system works with the help of a time controller, which operates the pumps. A user can choose the time or duration for when he wants to clean the panels.

Solar Labs Software, Solar Labs

Siddharth Gangal, who is the Founder and CEO of The Solar Labs, is an IIT alumni who founded the firm to accelerate solar adoption in the world.

Gangal tells us about the unique design software from Solar Labs, the use of which has resulted in “20%-30% increase in sales” for many of its clients, “The software is supposed to be used by a salesperson or an installer or an EPC company or a design engineer. With the software, one is able to first create the design; at the preliminary level, a preliminary layout is created, and using that, a complete proposal is generated. The proposal will entail all the details and the EPC needs to present it to his or prospect, the customers. It is to be presented digitally in the form of a PDF.”  The report, he further adds, “has all the factors like shading analysis, financial analysis, energy generation analysis, and so on.” “We also have very attractive 3D models. All of this data actually enhances an EPC company’s ability to do sales,” the Founder concludes.