Karnataka: Orb Energy To Boost Manufacturing, Solar Park Biz

Karnataka: Orb Energy To Boost Manufacturing, Solar Park Biz

Orb Energy, a Karnataka-based solar firm, is gearing up for a major expansion as it looks to scale up manufacturing and develop new solar parks across southern India.

With its fundraising plans in the pipeline, the Bengaluru-headquartered green tech company is preparing to boost production capacity at its solar module manufacturing facility and build on its network of commercial solar parks aimed at business consumers.

“Right now, about 90 percent of our customers are from the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment,” Damian Miller, CEO of Orb Energy, told Saur Energy in an interview. “Within that, we focus heavily on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially in rural and semi-rural areas. That’s where we’ve carved out a niche.”

80 MW Of Module Capacity 

Damian Miller

Founded with a mission to make solar accessible to Indian businesses, Orb Energy already operates an 80 MW solar module manufacturing plant in Karnataka, producing mono-PERC-based modules. But it’s now setting the stage for a significant leap.

“We plan to scale that up to 250 MW this financial year,” Miller said. “And we’ll also start producing TOPCon-based modules, which represent the next generation of high-efficiency solar technology.”

The expansion hinges on an upcoming funding round scheduled for May. While the amount has not been disclosed, Miller said the new capital will power both manufacturing growth and the development of solar parks — an increasingly important business vertical for the firm.

Fund Raise & Solar Park Biz 

Orb Energy currently operates a 30 MW solar park in Hassan district and is developing another 50 MW in Gulbarga, expected to be operational by July.

“These parks are primarily for our C&I customers — helping them reduce carbon emissions and bring down their energy costs,” he said. “Once the new funding is in place, we plan to build more solar parks in neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.”

The company’s long-term ambition is to become a gigawatt-scale solar player by FY2029. “It’s an ambitious goal, but we believe we can get there with a mix of rooftop and ground-mounted solar installations,” Miller said.

Orb Energy said that with their low-cost in-house financing option, it aided the C&I consumers to shift to renewables swiftly. “We offer our own finance without any collateral for five years with an interest rate of 12% without any down payment. This has helped many of our C&I consumers to shift to focus with ease,” Miller added.