Solar Tracker Major Arctech Opens 3 GW Plant In India Through JV

Jash Energy, Arctech’s first joint venture manufacturing base in India, has announced the start of production at its 3 GW plant in Mundra, Gujarat. Plans for this plant were first confirmed in June this year.

The company claims this is the  first manufacturing base dedicated to solar trackers in the country, allowing production of all major components for its solar tracker products. Solar trackers are being made in Gujarat itself according to our information, but nothing quite as large as a 3 GW capacity facility.

Located over 16 acres in Mundra, Gujarat, the new factory is modeled after Arctech’s existing Chinese manufacturing base in both the automatic production line and world-class manufacturing management system. It is hoped the firm will be using domestically sourced steel too for the trackers.

Arctech had entered India back in 2015, when the solar boom was in its early days. After a string start, the shift to auctions and stoppage of subsidies made it a very tough market for developers to keep trackers in their BOS. That led to Arctech deciding to exit by 2019-20, with plans to relaunch with a ‘made for India’ tracker at a lower cost. It did close a few deals with developers in India, notably Adani Green Energy during 2020 also.

Now, with a much larger market, as well as the entry of higher efficiency modules, the case for solar trackers for developers is again strong, leading to a strong revival in the market. That has meant the entry of many other global players like Nextracker  as well as smaller European players, and now, the return of the global leader, Arctech.

Arctech also has a strong Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) presence in China.