I am Hopeful That Residential Will Once Again Be a Giga Watt Market For India

Going by shipment volume, Sungrow has been given the number one position by several sources. What would you attribute these increases in shipments to?

Sungrow started its journey in India eight years back and for any Chinese company, it has never been easy to come to India and supply such large quantities. Sungrow, however, has a vision for India. After achieving our first milestone, which is approximately 5 GW, we began our own in-house manufacturing In India, which was approximately four years back. This is how we gained customer confidence. This also enabled us to garner a reputation for ourselves with regard to Indian competitiveness. We were able to achieve an approximate 14 GW shipment. This number is growing every day. This has been Sungrow’s growth story in India.

Has this put more pressure on the Indian team to maintain this position?

When we entered into India, we had competition from German companies. Initially, the German as well as the European companies claimed the leadership position in the country, but going forward, when we assessed the competition, we realized there are many non-Indian companies here- whether from Germany or Europe. Chinese companies are specifically spread out in the country, yet Sungrow has always been able to achieve the leadership position. Currently, competition is not just with any other company, but it is to remain at the number one position. This is the reason why we always attempt to always gain and retain the customer confidence. We don’t mind going the extra mile. For instance, we began our manufacturing setup with 3 GW and it has now reached 10 GW. But even at the time that we had the 3 GW facility, we stood at the number one position, but our journey never stopped there. We are always eager to retain the, therefore such good numbers.

2022 has been a challenging year for the solar market- what with the rising module prices or ALMM, and of course, the sourcing challenges only adding to the predicament. How do you look at these headwinds?

I am of the view that in comparison to the pandemic, 2022 has so far been a tougher period for the solar industry. The Indian policies have not been favourable for solar, and the addition of 40% import duty on solar modules has only added to the woes. The Ukraine – Russia war has been a contributing factor to the situation as well. That apart, global demand and supply are in shortage.

First half, or H1, however, I would say has been a very good period for all of us, because we somehow were able to achieve our targets during this period, but H2 has been and would perhaps continue to be challenging. But India always finds its way out of sticky situations! I personally feel that in a couple of months, we will recover well. I am confident that we will be able to source other options, including the Indian module situation. I am confident that we will be able to win customer confidence once again. The Indian customer, I believe, will also begin to show preference towards the Indian module. This will prove to be encouraging for the industry.

Going forward, how do you see the C&I segment growing? Do you see it being be a big contributor to the market share?

C&I is a very big market for India. Somehow, it never flourished to the extent that we targeted, or the government targeted. However, we all know that electricity prices would witness an increase, and awareness about Solar would definitely contribute to the C&I market in an unprecedented way. Nowadays, people do not considering solar as special or a luxury. Now, it is a business for C&I customers as well. Going forward, following this year particularly, the C&I market would bounce back from the price rise. Not just the C&I market, I am also hopeful that residential once again be a giga watt market for India. So residential and C&I market will contribute 4 giga watt for at least a year, and this number would reach four to five Giga watts in a couple of years, is my analysis of it.

Please take us through the new products that Sungrow has added to its product line?

This year is an important period because we are trying to shift our entire string inverter range, starting from utility. Initially, we had solely 250 HX, however, this year, we have launched our biggest string Inverter in the industry which is 320 HX. It has already been launched and supplied as well. Looking ahead, by the end of this year, we are also coming up with our new series of commercial and industrial, which will be CXP2. Our entire product ranges from 33 ,50,75,100 and the entire range will be on offer for the C&I customer as well. So majorly, for C&I and utility, this will be a good period. Apart from that, we have also launched the central inverter, which is 1 plus X module. The central inverter is a unique solution and is gaining good feedback from the market as one. We will be launching new models very soon.

Looking at the distribution front, give us an insight into your channel- sales, and the approach that you follow?

I joined this company five years ago and helped reshape the entire channel network for Sungrow, in India specifically. On the very first day, that I joined this company, I had a vision for Sungrow India, which is the region-wise Sungrow channel network. And today I, am happy to say that our first regional distributor has already crossed five years.

With the help of our distributors, we are expanding out reach to the remote places and utility as well. The Sungrow channel is a growing into a giga watt market.

Please give us a regional breakup in terms of your sale.

We have major five locations. One is North, where we have a Distributer named GP Eco Solutions that covers Rajasthan, Punjab, and all the nine states. For South India, we have enPossibilities Solutions. As for the Gujarat market, we have a dedicated partner named Accura. One of our recent channel partners in the name of Etrica Powers, is helping us expand our reach in the Rajasthan market because it is a very typical market for all of us and it has very good potential. For the rest of the Central India, we have Celestial Renewexperts and they are handling our Maharashtra, M.P and Goa regions.

Are you looking at expanding your distribution channel any further?

Particularly for the C&I market, no. But then for Kolkata, yes. There is an eastern belt which is still left to cover. And we are planning to have one dedicated channel partner for Northeast and Eastern area despite the fact that we all know that these areas are not much favorable for solar. But West Bengal and the other seven sisters are now coming up with good numbers. We are keeping an eye on this sector as well. And sooner or later, we are going to have our dedicated channel partner for this area as well.

How is Sungrow progressing with regard to post-sales service- an important perquisite for the customer of today’s day and age?

Post-sales support is rather important. And this year, for our channel partner, we are training their team and their management towards this end. From this year onwards, we will majorly focus on the service part because Sungrow, being OEM, cannot reach tier-2, tier-3 cities or very small cities in India, but they can. So that is how they have been trained too. For example, our South India distributor has a team of four to five people in service, and they are being trained by Sungrow. They make sure that prompt service is provided to the customer.

What do the sales figures look like for Sungrow? Which product segment is witnessing the maximum sales number?

Every segment has its own unique model. For example, for utility, the central inverter is bread and butter for Sungrow. But 250 HX has always helped our channel partners and Sungrow to move to 3 to 4 GW figure since the last couple of years. Speaking of the C&I segment, 100 KW was our major model and it has touched GW sales figures in India, approximately. Our 10 KW system in the residential segment has shown reflected great sales figures. Specific to the 10 KW system in the residential segment, our supplies boast of a good number. In the C&I segment, as far as the 100 KW and 250 HX in the central Inverter is concerned, Sungrow is already performing exceedingly well.