You have been part of the renewable energy story for more than 14 years. When you look back, what are the biggest changes you have seen, and what do you think has truly moved the needle?
I remember 2010–11 when everybody used to say it is an alternative form of energy. Fast forward and solar—and for that matter, wind—are not alternative any more. From being fringe players, they are at the core of almost every country’s strategy. That is a big shift: from being an alternative to becoming a core source of energy for India and for many other countries around the world as well. Solar has grown faster than almost anyone expected.
How do you view India’s role in the global solar landscape today? And what about GameChange Solar and your vision for the region?
India as an in-house market, as I said, is doing great. The policies are consistent and forward-looking and we are able to attract the best capital in the world to further the mission of making our grids greener, which is great.
But there is a big opportunity that goes beyond the in-house market: how do you export the expertise in technology, including manufacturing, outside of India? And this is already happening. Let us look at GameChange Solar. We are based out of the US. After the US, our second-largest concentration of people and technology is in India. Currently, we have almost 55–60% market share in solar trackers in India, and this is growing consistently. At the same time, India is also a hub for us when it comes to engineering and manufacturing.
Solar trackers are still considered a new technology. How would you explain the role of trackers and their role in making solar plants truly sustainable?
Let me give you an example. Think of a sunflower. We have all seen a sunflower. In the morning, the sunflower is on the east side. As the sun goes from east to west, the sunflower slowly follows the sun, very smartly and then ends up on the west side. A tracker is very similar to a sunflower.
Although a sunflower acts on two axes, we work on a single axis, which means we only go east to west. So in the morning, we face the sun. It is very simple to understand: if you face the sun, you generate more electricity. As the sun moves from the east, comes to the middle, and then goes to the west, we follow the same trend.
This sounds very simple. It sounds like a simple technology, but imagine this system has to work for 25 or 30 years, doing the same thing every day without fail. This is where the technology comes in—this is where the art lies. That is where we differentiate ourselves. Our products have been very, very reliable. Our trackers have been in the field for the last 10 years.
How do we make our manufacturing more cutting-edge?
This can only be done through R&D and automation in manufacturing. Right now, a lot of manufacturing is still manual. This is a transition. We have taken steps, but we need to do a lot more on automation. On execution, by and large, we have enough manpower and, as a country, a lot of small entrepreneurs. I do not see execution as a big challenge for a large country with the availability of enough skilled and unskilled manpower. I feel quite comfortable on the execution side. Manufacturing, however, is one area that needs a lot of focus. All of us, as part of the industry, need to ensure that we really automate and invest in R&D so that we stay at the cutting edge of technology at all times.
