Schneider Electric eyes 25-30% growth in solar business in India

Firm will install 300 Mw of solar inverters to take its total solar generation capacity to one Gw

Under the backdrop of the ambitious rural electrification project of the central government, global energy equipment company Schneider Electric is targeting a 25-30 per cent growth in its solar business in India over the next couple of years.

"So far, in the past two years, our solar business has grown by 40-50 per cent against the market growth of 100 per cent. However, if the momentum is good on account of the rural electrification project, our growth can be between 25-30 per cent in the next two years," Anurag Garg, vice president of the solar business in India at Schneider Electric said.

Also, in the coming 4-5 months, the company will install another 300 megawatt (Mw) of solar inverters which will pull up its solar power generation capability to one gigawatt (Gw) from the present 700 Mw. Inverters it has sold to its clients connected with the power grid will mostly drive this growth.

The company, which has a production capacity of 2.5-2.7 Gw is currently utilising 60-80 per cent of the current capacity. While it is not looking at a capacity expansion, it may increase the production shifts from two to three per day.

"Our production model is very scalable", he said adding the company offers a complete solar solution except panel and wires.

From its production unit in Bengaluru in Karnataka, around 70 per cent of the products are exported while the rest is consumed in the Indian market.

According to Garg, micro and mini-grids, which fall under the 5-200 kilowatt bracket, feature as the most efficient means to deliver electricity to rural India.