Gaurav Mathur
Director Sales Trina Solar Co., Ltd.
Leading the way in smart solar energy solutions
Founded in 1997, Trina Solar co., Ltd. helped change the industry, rapidly growing from one of the first photovoltaics (PV) enterprises in China to become a world leader in solar technology and manufacturing. Through constant innovation, the company continues to push the PV industry forward by creating greater grid parity of PV power and popularising renewable energy. By the end of the April 11, 2022, its cumulative shipments of PV modules had exceeded 100GW, which is close to the installed capacity of 4.4 Three Gorges Dam power stations and equivalent to planting 7.4 billion trees worldwide. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Trina Solar’s Director Sales Gaurav Mathur discusses solar panels and the use of solar energy in industrial manufacturing, especially the textile sector.
What are the hurdles in the adoption of renewable energy, especially solar energy, in industrial manufacturing?
From the PV industry’s perspective, our customers regardless of industry have always placed great emphasis on the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), which – to grossly simplify it – is the average cost of building and operating the generator.
What makes Trina Solar attractive to these customers is that it’s one of the most bankable solar companies. Trina Solar has been ranked ‘AAA’, the highest category, in the latest PV ModuleTech Bankability report published by PV-Tech and is the only module manufacturer to be rated as bankable for six consecutive years by 100 per cent of the industry respondents participating in the annual BloombergNEF survey.
Trina Solar has recently presented the LCOE-oriented principle which establishes an inverse relationship between four PV solution performance metrics (power, efficiency, reliability and energy yield) and LCOE. As reducing LCOE is a key driver of PV installed capacity, in delivering products that exemplify the four qualities Trina Solar is also accelerating adoption of solar energy.
At what rate is solar energy being embraced in industrial manufacturing, especially textile manufacturing?
The textile manufacturing industry runs around the clock in India and is one of the largest energy consumers in the country. Given the high demand and the scale of the textile plants in India, a lot of them have the space to install solar solutions on premise, which is one of the reasons why solar is one of the most favoured choices of renewable energy among industry players.
Trina Solar sees India as one of the most important markets and has great success in the country’s C&I (commercial and industrial) sector. We have a strong local presence offering the full range of services to our customers, and to date we have shipped more than 8GW of solar modules to India, contributing significantly to India’s total installed capacity.
Solar energy is abundantly available in tropical regions, while most of the industrial nations lie in temperate zone. How do you look at this?
Trina Solar is a leading global total solutions provider for solar energy. Our solutions are engineered to offer high power, high efficiency, high reliability and high energy yield to help customers lower LCOE, regardless of whether they’re in tropical or temperate regions.
What is the role of PV in manufacturing of solar panels? What are the raw materials involved?
PV is the core of solar technology. The basic raw materials involved are silicon, glass, EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate), and metals such as copper, silver, aluminium, steel, and zinc.
Which countries are leaders in the use of solar energy?
China, US, Europe and India are leading countries in using solar energy. It is expected that China will add 105GW in 2022. India is also pushing strongly towards cutting reliance on fossil fuels and has been one of the countries that have voiced strong support for solar energy adoption of 280GW by 2030.
What is the story behind establishment of Trina Solar?
Founded in 1997, Trina Solar is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of PV modules; power stations and system products; PV power generation, operation and maintenance services; development and sales of intelligent microgrids and multi-energy systems, as well as the operation of energy cloud platforms, etc, committing to lead the way in smart solar energy solutions for a net-zero future. Guided by the mission ‘Solar Energy for All’ and the vision ‘Leading the way in smart solar energy solutions for a net-zero future’, Trina Solar aims to lead the development of the industry, and make contributions to global energy conservation, emission reduction and sustainable development.
What kind of products and services are offered by Trina Solar? Which of these is more in demand? Why?
As a total solution provider, Trina Solar offers a vast range of products from modules to trackers and solutions for all three segments: Utility, Non-utility and C&I. Trina Solar can offer the industry’s only truly integrative solution of modules/trackers/energy storage and smart controls to reduce cost and risk on engineering, procurement and construction, while at the same time unlocking the highest and most assured long term energy outcome for independent power producers (IPPs) and long term asset owners in India.
We also offer a holistic range of solar products to customers in this market, including all that we showcased during REI Expo 2022—such as the NEG21C.20 and the Vertex 19R Series. Furthermore, TrinaTracker, also demoed the Vanguard 1P, a next-generation intelligent independent tracker, at the event.
Trina Solar has broken several world records on solar cell efficiency and module power. Tell us about this.
To date, Trina Solar has broken 25 world records on solar cell efficiency and module power. The unmatched level of innovation has made us global leaders in setting industry benchmarks for both quality and efficiency. Trina Solar is committed to research and development and powering technological advancement in the industry. The company has recently announced that it has broken the world record for the 25th time by setting n-type module aperture efficiency at 24.24 per cent. Earlier this year, the company broke another record with its proprietary industrial larger-area 210mm×210mm high-efficiency PERC solar cell achieving an efficiency of 24.5 per cent.
Trina has lots of installations in the textile industry. Please tell us more about this.
Trina Solar is closely working with textile and pharma industry to meet their green power, captive power requirements. Around 10 per cent out of total Trina Solar shipments to India were for textile industry, and the market demand is expected to rise.
In which countries/industries do you see the demand for solar panels growing in the near future? Why?
Global commitment in COP26 climate conference has fastened the renewable energy transformation. We continue to see strong demand from China due to the pledge of becoming zero-carbon economy by 2050. More orders are also expected from the US and Europe as they work to ensure energy security.
Besides, industry players nowadays also focus a lot more on ESG. Installation of solar panel on factory’s rooftop only require 3-6 months, which is the shortest lead time among all renewable energy sources.
What are the next plans at Trina Solar in terms of expansion, new products, etc?
Trina Solar has been investing heavily to push the boundaries of solar technology. For example, Trina Solar offers a range of 600W+ modules and have supplied them to a number of GW-level utility power stations across LATAM, Europe and other regions in settings including deserts and fisheries, in commercial and industrial markets, helping many industries to attain low carbon goals.
Trina Solar has also recently launched the Vertex DEG19R 575W module featuring the latest 210R rectangular silicon wafer technology which unlocks a truly optimal tracker configuration and therefore lowers both supply and BOS (Balance of System) cost.
With regards to the tracker segment, TrinaTracker (tracker business by Trina Solar), we saw the launch of the new tracker, Vanguard 1P, a 1-in-portrait independent tracker with high flexibility to various complex terrains that is fully compatible with ultra-high power modules ranging from 400W to 670W+. To supplement our internal 7GW per year tracker production capacity in China, we have decentralised our supply chain to overcome the current challenges from high shipping cost and import duties. We have qualified multiple local vendors in India for supply of all structural tracker items and have started doing the same in other markets like Australia, Vietnam, South Korea, the Middle East and South America.
Trina Solar, being a world-leading PV and smart energy total solutions provider, continues to strengthen its business system centring on core products, such as PV modules, trackers, batteries, and is expanding solutions for the entire PV system. To Trina Solar, India is one of our top markets globally and we are committed to helping India decarbonise the country with cutting edge innovations and meet the country’s energy goals and the needs of local customers.
Published on: 05/11/2022
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
