Bi-facial solar panels gain momentum in India

Bharat Bhut, Director, Goldi Solar Pvt. Ltd

Discussing about their experience in the REI expo 2019, Bharat Bhut, Director, Goldi Solar Pvt Ltd. in an interaction with Megha Iyer of EPR elaborates on the wide concept of solar, and how bi-facial solar panels are making ways to be one of the mainstream products in India.

How was your experience at REI 2019?
REI 2019 was really good. As it is one of the flagship events of India, we got to interact with a lot of clients this year. We have been participating in REI Expo since last eight years. Earlier, we majorly had academicians wanting to know about solar. However, the last 2-3 years, the turnout consisted of business and industry people. This clearly shows how India has grown in terms of solar; everyone knows what solar panels are, what solar photovoltaic is, what solar power plant is and how to generate solar; so, it is good for us as we don’t have to explain much as the buyer is already aware and we can directly speak on industrial terms.

How do you rate REI as one of the top notch global events?
REI is definitely one of the top notch events in India. It still has to get its deserved global recognition because the audience that we see here or visit us are Indians and rarely there are any foreign buyers. We do have suppliers from China but we don’t have the presence of global suppliers from countries such as Europe or US. REI still needs to go internationally.

What solar products are you planning to launch in the coming future?
Currently, we are manufacturing poly and mono-PERC solar panels. We are planning to have half-cut cell mono panel with the highest efficiency. Also, bi-facial panels are creating a big wave across the globe. Chinese companies are exporting huge quantities of panels to US and there is quite a wider acceptance of bi-facial panels in the US and Europe than in Asian countries. So, bi-facial panels would be a mainstream product that we would be launching in the upcoming years.

MNRE exempts BIS Certification for replacement of solar modules. How do you view this?
BIS is a copy of ISE standards. There is nothing more in BIS, so whatever the replacement market they are catering to must already adhere to the ISE standards. So, directly or indirectly, while catering to BIS, they are catering to ISE standards.