Subramanya at global conference on renewable energy

K Subramanya, CEO, Tata BP Solar, recently lauded the National Solar Mission for creating a template for major growth in India. Subramanya was speaking at the International Conference on Renewable Energy at Amrita’s Coimbatore campus.

Subramanya said the solar industry should take a leaf out of China’s solar growth book. China has managed to maintain a steady expansion rate even though the industry in Europe and the US was facing problems. Subramanya mentioned the Chinese government played an important role in this regard and policy makers in India should support the industry in a similar manner.

Subramanya asked delegates at the conference to focus on research and development in the field. He asked them to look for ways to improve cell efficiencies, thinning silicon wafers and engineering new applications.

 The other speakers at the seminar were Prof Juzer Vasi from IIT Bombay, Dr Md Nazeeruddin of the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland, Dr W S Sampath of the mechanical engineering department of Colorado State University, Fort Collins, and Dr Madhu Atre.

Dr Nazeeruddin and Dr Sampath spoke over Skype.

A fitting honor for the father figure of India’s solar industry

Tata BP Solar CEO, K Subramanya, was recently conferred the Sarabhai Award for his sustained and outstanding contribution in the field of electronics or semiconductors/photovoltaics in India. The award is instituted by the Indian Semiconductor Association (ISA), a premier body for electronic systems design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry in the country.

Subramanya’s association with the solar industry began in the 80s’ when solar was at best an exotic subject. Subramanya dreamt of a solar nation. He believed that solar energy could be used in solving a range of fundamental problems in India, from lack of power supply to poor educational and health indicators. He helped the government conceptualize and design the Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission, which is now being hailed as the world’s largest solar energy programme.

As head of the Solar Energy Task Force, formed by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Subramanya played a strong role in shaping the government’s policies in terms of promoting the Indian solar industry. His status as the father figure of the solar industry drew all the leading solar companies in the country to join the task force and take India’s solar story forward. And what a forward march it has been. From nothing in the early 1990s to almost 1800 MW of solar power projects today!

Subramanya’s contribution to the solar industry, however, goes beyond the business interests of the company he steers. He has travelled the nooks and corners of the country, from Leh-Ladakh to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, as well as to countries in the SAARC region, Far East, Middle-East, Africa, Europe and the Americas, to spread the solar message. His untiring efforts resulted in the production of a whole range of solar products such as street and portable lighting, water pumps, water heaters, vaccine refrigerators, power plants, products for telecom, railways, military and offshore platforms. To make solar lights accessible and affordable, he led the Tata BP Solar management to persuade regional rural banks (RRBs) to provide loans to rural customers. Thus was established the Sun Bank —a solar power solution for rural bank branches. Today, the Government of India is using this idea at the national level by incorporating it as a scheme for RRBs to finance solar home lighting systems.

To meet the challenge of escalating costs of solar energy generation, Tata BP Solar, under the watchful eyes of Subramanya, is also steering its research programme towards developing high efficiency solar cells, modules, products and systems through innovative processes, materials and designs.

Under Subramanya’s guidance, Tata BP Solar has spread its solar wings in the remote corners of the country, from villages in Chhattisgarh to an altitude of 11,000 feet in Ladakh. The Himalayan story is perhaps the most encouraging. As other energy forms are unviable in the trans Himalayan region, solar is the natural choice. More than 1,000 solar home lighting systems and several power plants of various capacities totaling to 1.5 MW have been installed and commissioned in the region under challenging circumstances given the rough terrain, transportation hurdles, extreme temperatures and limited resources. These projects have also created local employment.

As the face and voice of the solar industry, Subramanya is on a mission to make solar energy the most important form of energy not only for the future but also today. He may have an experience of over 25 years in this sector, but for the CEO of India’s largest solar company, the work has just begun.

New plant commissioned by Tata BP Solar in Chhattisgarh

Tata BP Solar India Ltd, a joint venture of Tata Power and BP Solar, is lighting up the lives of thousands in Darra Bhatha & Baitari Village, Tahsil Saraipalli, Mahasamund District in Chhattisgarh. This  megawatt scale solar power plant has been  installed and commissioned under the Rooftop and Other Small Solar Power Generation Plant scheme administered by IREDA under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). This prestigious project is owned and developed by M/s Singhal Forestry Private Limited.  The two megawatt plant was synchronised to the grid recently.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr K Subramanya, CEO, Tata BP Solar, said, “Solar Photovoltaic Technology is most versatile; it is techno-economically viable in all terrains and can make a significant impact on the day to day life of the local community as demonstrated here in Saraipalli. We are proud and happy that we are able to bring about this change.”

This project uses 8800 number of crystalline silicon modules of 230 Watts each spread out over an area of 10 acres. The solar power plant will generate 2.94 million units of electricity during its first year, which will meet the requirements of the villages in Chhattisgarh.

Furthermore, Tata BP Solar will also provide the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) services to the plant for the first 10 years after commissioning. The plant is designed by Tata BP Solar in such a way as to run for 25 years with minimal degradation in the power output over the long lifespan. Singhal Forestry Private Limited has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board for supply of this power to them.

Tata BP Solar has already executed MW projects in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Orissa, Delhi and is also executing further projects, which are in advanced stages, in the states of Jharkhand, Gujarat and Rajasthan. JNNSM is a flagship project of the Indian government to mainstream the use of solar energy.