Schneider Electric sees India as major growth engine, expands solar presence

In calendar year (CY) 2023, India added 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of solar open access capacity, an increase of 5.7 per cent compared to the 3 GW installed in 2022, a record for annual installations. This has to be seen in light of the fact that India had added 831.2 MW of open access solar in Q4 2023, a 22.8 per cent quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) drop, but up 6.2 per cent year-over-year (YoY) compared to 782.5 MW in Q4 2022. In calendar year (CY) 2023, the country added 20.8 gigawatts (GW) of solar modules and 3.2 GW of solar cell capacity. The country's cumulative solar module manufacturing capacity reached 64.5 GW, and solar cell manufacturing capacity totalled 5.8 GW as of December 2023. With India’s net zero mission and the government’s Make in India mission along with the encouraging ‘PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana’ which is poised to play a game-changing role in India’s energy sector, overall, Indian solar sector is poised for a remarkable growth in the years to come. And Luminous Power Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of the global giant Schneider Electric, is betting big on that.

Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, Manish Pant, Chairman of Luminous Board & Executive VP – International Operations, Schneider Electric, outlines company’s plans to turn the Indian operations into one of the most important global hubs for the transnational company.

Where does India or the Indian market stand in Schneider Electric’s global map vis-a-vis other important territories?

India is one of the most important markets for us, globally, including the US, Europe and China. It is one of the fastest growing markets. And we are also growing in India very fast. We have been continuously pumping in money into this market and growing our headcounts to back up our expansion plans and to keep pace with the growth of the market. The takeover of Luminous Power Technologies, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Schneider Electric, is a testament to that.

So, going forward, are you looking to such inorganic growth as well?

We are always open to opportunities. So when the right opportunity comes, we will respond at the right time, accordingly.

Your wholly owned subsidiary, Luminous Power Technologies has taken a giant leap towards building an end-to-end solar solutions ecosystem, commercially commissioning its state-of-the-art solar panel manufacturing plant at Rudrapur in Uttarakhand and the company is now India’s only full component-manufacturer of solar solutions comprising solar panels, inverters, and batteries with connected solutions. Is solar going to be your new thrust in the days to come?

Certainly, yes. India has experienced spectacular growth in solar sector, recently. And the plans and projections are also extremely encouraging for players like to us to penetrate deeper into the market. The whole world is moving towards green, clean and sustainable energy and so is India, at a much faster rate. Solar is the cleanest, most affordable, accessible and reliable energy form, we already have battery and inverters, where we are market leaders, and therefore, it was natural for us to get into solar panel manufacturing and build an end-to-end solar solutions ecosystems.

As I mentioned earlier, India has made remarkable progress in the development of solar power capacity in recent years. The Indian government has taken a lead role, particularly with the introduction of the game-changing 'Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana', which aims to provide solar roof-top to one crore households. The Luminous Solar PV Panel facility embodies our commitment to the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat. This factory is a significant step towards achieving the collective goal of Schneider and Luminous to promote net-zero practices and sustainable energy solutions. With this state-of-the-art facility, Luminous is well-positioned to further accelerate its solar business, given India's evolving renewable energy market.

How many manufacturing facilities do you have in India and do you have plans to have more such facilities?

The Uttarakhand (Rudrapur) plant of Luminous is our seventh manufacturing facility. These plants are well spread across the country. We have already lined up plans to put up few more manufacturing facilities. Our objective is to go closer to our customers and offer them best services and we will do whatever is required to meet that objective.

Tell us something about the recently commissioned Luminous Uttarakhand plant?

Planned on 10 acres and completed in record 8-9 months time, the fully automated state-of-the-art plant has a production capacity of 250MW expandable up to 1GW nameplate capacity. The Luminous plant aligns with the government’s Make in India mission along with the encouraging ‘PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana’ which is poised to play a game-changing role in India’s energy sector. We have forged a strategic partnership with one of the world’s largest renewable energy school The University of New South Wales, Australia, for Solar Panel projects on Reliability, Value engineering, and component qualification.

This plant can manufacture polycrystalline, monocrystalline, n-Type and Topcon panels both monofacial and bifacial with options to adapt from 5BB to 16BB. With these capabilities, Luminous becomes an expert in managing all forms of roof-top solar panel requirements for residential or commercial. This site will also host a state-of-the-art PV module performance efficiency and reliability evaluation lab which has the potential to get NABL accreditation in the future. The Luminous solar solutions ecosystem will also have its flagship Connect X App integrated, offering customers insightful information on real-time energy consumption and monitoring, solar energy generation, and inverter performance.

We have also rolled out the Luminous Experience Centre and an Experience on Wheels Bus. Providing an immersive ecosystem, the experience center offered a virtual tour of the solar plant and the complete manufacturing process. The Experience on Wheels Bus extended an electrifying experience of being powered by the sun and living in a space equipped with luminous solar panels and products.

As the solar sector grows phenomenally, India is in dire need of skilled solar technicians, engineers and other personnel, all over the country. Are you doing anything about that?

Right from the beginning we have been working towards building the right infrastructure and right manpower in India. Our focus has been on building the company as a service organisation through a well spread network of partners and upgrading our partners on a continuous basis. We have been doing that on a continuous basis. Along with upgrading our partners, we have been working on creating an ever increasing pool of manpower. We have been doing this through a chain of 470 training centres across the country at our partners’ places. So far we have trained and skilled 170000 persons. And this is an ongoing process.