Manufacturers of Indian solar panels that have been able to maintain production standards despite the closure of Covid-19 this year saw sales slowdown as they struggled with rising installation costs. With defensive operations hit by foreign products due to damage in late July, domestic producers are moving on turbulent waters.
The closure of the country last year this year has been replaced by state and federal, making producers in the regions most affected by the epidemic continue to operate under minimal closure.
Speaking to PV magazine, Bharat Bhut, founder and director of Gujarati photovoltaics producer Goldi Solar, said: “Different provinces have different closure conditions. It is located in the western part of the country, Gujarat, which has some locks. Industries were allowed to operate at a standard rate, with… most of the programs and services operating normally. We have faced very few problems in sales and delivery within Gujarat. Only the provinces or territories were strong enough to face the decline. ”
However, manufacturers are facing low demand as imports of PV across the country have declined due to labour and logistic issues.
“While there is no specific mandate that development [and installation] cannot continue to be locked, we are still facing operational and labor issues,” Bhut said. “Demand has decreased as the installation is not going the way it should. We don’t have enough offtake; we see [less] demand than production. ”
Haryana-based solar panel and lithium battery start-up Loom Solar also reported on the impact of the sale.
“Almost every province was closed to stores at this time so there was not enough demand in the market,” said one of the founders and director Amol Anand. “Apart from that, warehouses are also closed as domestic demand has dropped to 70%.”
Small-scale manufacturers have been most seriously affected, according to Anand. “Large manufacturers, with a plant capacity of more than 500 MW, at least have old orders from EPC [engineering, procurement and construction] companies so they are occupied in fulfilling them,” he said. “In comparison, small … manufacturers face many challenges, the biggest being financial liquidity.”
Source: PV Magazine