2017 will be a power packed year

Could you brief us on the business activities at Excelsior Engineering Solutions?
Excelsior Engineering Solutions is a technical service provider focusing purely on the solar industry. We have 9 specialised services that we cater our clients with. services like design and engineering, project management consultancy, owner`s engineering, lender`s engineering and system integration have been developed to specifically focus on the Indian solar market. Based on our vast expertise we have developed industry-exclusive services like retrofitting, plant audit and enhanced maintenance services. From end-to-end to project specific requirement, we provide tailor made solutions as per the needs of the solar plant developers, EPC companies, IPPs or anyone that wishes to setup a captive system. We assist our peers within the industry to seamlessly integrate themselves to deliver optimised solutions in the shortest span of time with top notch quality.

What is your outlook on the solar energy market in India?
Although a lot of the industry is awaiting the GST implementation wave, 2017 will be a power packed year for all players of the solar supply chain. Both ground mount and roof top markets will witness wide-spread installations across India. This year is anticipated to witness the highest installations so far in the history of solar in India. A positive movement is expected for the projects that have been lagging, from the likes of ultra power plants to MW installations in Maharashtra. Key market movers will be the net-metered rooftop projects. With several of the key states having the net metering system in place; a lot more commercial and industrial consumers will opt for installations greater than 100kW.

Where do you want to position EES in the solar space?
As our services encompass such a broad spectrum, EES is one of the few companies in the Indian solar market that has rendered a variety of niche services to such a vast clientele. Unlike the market trend of manufacturing or trading, our sole interest has been in delivering core technical services. Hence, we want to position ourselves as a go-to engineering solutions company for any electrical, structural, civil or automation requirements of the largest MW power plants to the smallest kW projects. We are also focusing on providing services like retrofitting, quality management and enhanced maintenance for plants that are underperforming or are of inferior quality. Third party validation or audit helps us in providing an independent and unbiased opinion which is crucial for the customer.
Brief us on some of the projects accomplished by you.
Since our inception, we have provided various services to over 85 solar projects across 10 states of India and have successfully completed over 650 MW of project services. Few noteworthy ground mount projects in our portfolio include 50 MW in Rajasthan, 30 MW in Gujarat, 21.5 MW in AP and 17.8 MW in Telangana. We have executed several marquee rooftop projects in India-ranging from the largest single location asbestos sheet roof, captive plants for chemical factories, refineries, defence locations, private clubs, high profile bungalows and NGOs.

Seeing the opportunities in Indian solar power market, do you have enough capacity?
Our staff of designers, engineers and project managers are well balanced to handle the on-going projects and prepared to undertake incoming assignments. We are always on a lookout for good talent that could complement our team. The working ethos at EES is very different from a typical engineering firm. We focus on delivering quality solutions to our clients while ensuring a constructive growth at both ends. This year is going to be a revolutionary year for our industry and our team is well equipped to tackle any challenge that comes their way.

What are your expansion plans?
EES has been working with several heavy weights of the industry. Big EPCs, IPPs and project developers are our clients and we work extensively with them on several of their projects concurrently. We are looking to expand this horizon to business houses which are new entrants in the industry and those who would largely benefit from our expertise. We hope to expand our project presence from 10 states to 15 states thereby surpassing the 1,000 MW of solar experience with ease. We will also engage with customers who are looking for retrofitting, refinancing as well as purchase or sale of solar assets.