Amol Anand
Director Sales & Marketing Loom Solar Pvt Ltd
‘Micro grid’ technology which will replace generators in future
Loom Solar is a start-up, a manufacturer of solar panels and lithium batteries based out of Faridabad, Haryana (India). It is an ISO 9001-2015 certified company and recognised start-up by Government of India. It is present in 500 districts across the country having 3,500 resellers. In a chat with Fibre2Fashion, Director Sales & Marketing Amol Anand talks about adoption of solar energy in India.
How would you describe the adoption of solar energy in India? How has the demand changed in the last 5 years?
The adoption of solar energy in India has increased due to a major factor that people in India have understood that they can reduce their electricity bills, be it in residential or commercial or industrial areas. The people are much more aware of the concept of cutting on their electricity bills by a major percentage with the adoption of solar energy rather than relying on the locally supplied power. Another factor is the power outage, which is quite high in India compared to other developing countries. The power cut in India can last long up to 8 hours in summer season and 2 hours in other seasons.
The 2nd major factor is that commercial, MSME and the industrial sector has a huge electricity consumption every month which sometimes account up to 30-40 per cent of their overall expenses, making it compulsory for these sectors to adopt solar energy as their main power generation source. On the non-commercial front, around 75 per cent households pay electricity bill of less than ₹1,000, making it a very small sector for adoption of solar energy and using it as the primary source of power generation.
If we see the last 5-year timeline in India, the solar panel demand has taken a new shape as the size of the solar panel has evolved from being ‘Polycrystalline Solar Panel’ (usually 250W and 340W) to now being a ‘Super High Efficiency Module’ (usually Shark 550W). Earlier, people in India used ‘Polycrystalline Solar Panels’ for solar energy generation, but during the last five years, these panels have become completely outdated as they occupy a major portion of a rooftop after the installation. Now, people are using ‘Super High Efficiency Modules’, which use less space and work as a canopy on the rooftop and produce much more energy compared to its previous generation solar panels.
With the upgradation of solar panels, the batteries have also been upgraded with major upgrades like ‘Maintenance Free, Long Lasting and Super-Fast Charging Modes,’ which was always an issue in tier 2 to tier 3 cities as the previous generation batteries always demanded maintenance after a short period of time.
Apart from the batteries, the inverter’s technology has also been upgraded with advance features like ‘Super-Fast Charging, Zero Maintenance, Hybrid Technology.’
Another upgrade in timeline of solar industry is the simplification of ‘Net Meter’ with the usage of net meter. Earlier, people only had the knowledge to generate the solar energy and use it, which forced them to share the extra generated energy to the local discom (Distribution Company) resulting in a drop in their electricity bill.
In addition, the direct availability of information on solar energy and its usage has made people to adopt solar energy as their primary source of power generation in the last five years.
Which industries are adopting solar power faster than others?
There are a few industries that are adopting solar power faster than any other industry. For e.g., healthcare as all the hospitals, nursing homes, medical clinics, etc require air-conditioning to cool their wards, rooms and equipment. The usage of air conditioners generates more electricity bills. As a result, the healthcare sector has been quick to adopt solar energy. In education industry has also adopting solar energy as the educational institutes require day-time electricity sources. Apart from these two sectors, MSME sector also has adopted solar energy as all the small-scale industries like fisheries, flour factories, jewellery making, small manufacturing plants etc require huge source of energy for production.
Where does the textile industry stand?
The textile industry does not use solar power as the primary source of power generation. Many textile manufacturing plants are still using generators or power supplied by their local discoms for their production, paying huge electricity bills throughout the year. There are many factors that contribute to this behaviour in the textile industry. The major factor is the lack of awareness about the usage of and benefits of solar energy. Another factor is the lack of awareness about the smart investment which requires ‘One Time Investment in Solar Panels’ which will generate enough power for the dedicated manufacturing plant. The one-time investment can save up to millions of rupees within a year and the solar panels will keep generating the power for more than two decades with a very low deteriorating rate of solar modules.
What are the major challenges for industries to go green and use solar?
There are a few major challenges for the solar industry to completely go green in India. These are:
1)Investment: The current price for the technology of solar systems is much high which makes it unaffordable for the people to invest in solar energy, which eventually makes it very difficult to make the people understand about the good returns and the major benefits of solar energy.
2)Location: Some locations like Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Leh & Ladakh get very less sunlight (sun radiation) compared to other locations of India like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan, etc. The very low sunlight at these locations makes it difficult for industries or people to adopt solar energy as their primary source of power generation.
3)Government Subsidy: Starting with a point that the residential market of solar energy in India has collapsed in 2021 as there is no awareness / information on the subsidies available on solar energy usage in India.
4)Trust Issues: The lack of knowledge about the actual working of solar panels and a decrease in electricity bills has created major trust issues with the consumers who always want real evidence to see if there is any case in which the electricity bill has decreased by a major percentage.
5)Local Manpower Availability: The lack of availability of local manpower (trained electricians) to provide information on solar energy also creates a gap in the adoption of solar energy as it becomes difficult to provide technical assistance to users in remote locations which are majorly out of the main city areas.
6)Lack of Solar Education: People in India are still unaware of the usage of solar energy and the major benefits that they can enjoy after adopting solar energy. The local and the Central governments must try for campaigns that are dedicatedly based on solar energy.
What needs to be done to improve the ecosystem for solar power to thrive?
To develop a sustainable ecosystem for solar power, the Government of India must take certain initiatives like solar power awareness programmes, campaigns, educational courses etc that will provide more knowledge to a seeker who is interested in solar energy. The government must also take steps to make the technology of solar power more affordable by cutting the cost of the current solar power technology as it is quite high for an average consumer to purchase on their own. Plus, there should be solar loan schemes for individuals on the lines of car loan, home loan, education loan etc, which will make erecting solar panels more affordable to individuals.
The government should set-up a ‘Single Dedicated Portal’ for solar energy sector with all the major, minor and essential details like schemes, loans, subsidies, etc covering all the local discom and service providers of all the states and union territories of India.
Which are your major markets?
The major markets of solar energy in India are residential and commercial markets in tier 2 and tier 3 cities from all over India.
Which are your best performing products in the industrial and commercial spaces?
Our best performing products are majorly focused for the residential and commercial spaces. Our best performing products are solar panels, lithium batteries and hybrid inverts.
We also have our 5 kW Solar System as our best and high performing Loom Solar product as it generates enough power for a house. Our 5 kW solar system can run water motor, air conditioners, refrigerator, coolers, charging electric vehicle’s batteries, water geysers, heaters, etc.
We do not have products for industrial usage.
What new applications and technologies do you plan to explore?
We are currently working on ‘micro grid’ technology which will replace generators in future. Our micro grid technology will be made of IoT for monitoring purpose, ‘high performing’ lithium-ion batteries that will be connected to ‘super high efficiency’ solar panels that can replace generators permanently. The new micro grid technology will also benefit environment as it will not produce carbon and will also be quite and free form all types of pollution.
What is next at Loom Solar? Any new product offerings or services you plan to launch?
As I mentioned, we will soon introduce our ‘micro grid’ technology which will permanently replace carbon producing generators and will be much more affordable and environment friendly. Our micro grid technology can also be used by big manufacturing plants on a bigger scale.
We are also running multiple services:
1)Learn Solar: With the help of learn solar we are providing free education to those people who are willing to learn about solar energy industry.
2)Solar Training Courses: We are also providing courses that are dedicated to train and provide certain skills to a person who is interested in the field of solar energy and is willing to make a future in the solar energy industry.
3)Business Opportunities: Along with our training courses, we provide business opportunities to people who have acquired proper knowledge and are willing to start a new carrier or business in the solar energy industry.
4)Job Opportunities: We also hire people who have gained knowledge and skills in the solar industry, and which makes them a dedicated solar engineer or a technical professional in solar industry. We hire these solar professionals and provide them with jobs based on their earned skills and knowledge.
Published on: 17/11/2022
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.
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