Boost to solar manufacturing: Government weighs PLI for polysilicon manufacturing

The production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for solar PV modules covers both upstream — ingot, wafer and polysilicon — and downstream — solar cell and module manufacturing — segments.

However, progress under the PLI scheme has been slower in upstream segments such as polysilicon refining and ingot and wafer production.

The government’s understanding is that polysilicon manufacturing should be treated as an independent industry and not only as part of the solar manufacturing value chain. This is mainly because polysilicon manufacturing is more of a chemical and refining process.

Greater refining polysilicon can also be used in the semiconductor industry.

‘RE bringing down power cost’

Sarangi said the electricity tariff of round-the-clock renewable energy (RE-RTC) is almost matching the nuclear power.

Referring to a recently concluded tender by Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), he said the tariff discovered for that RE-RTC tender which assured 90% power availability in each time block and only 50% solar during the daytime, was at Rs 5.25 per unit.

“If you look at the profile of this RE-RTC bid, it almost matches the nuclear power,” he said.

He further said that cheap renewable energy is also helping in bringing down average cost of power purchase by distribution utilities.

“If you look at the average cost of power purchased by DISCOMs for the last three years, it has either declined or has remained stagnant. The same was earlier increasing at a rapid pace. But it has largely been stagnant or declined because of infusion of cheaper RE in the portfolio. This has allowed DISCOMs to lower their average power purchase cost,” he said.

According to Sarangi, combination of solar and wind or solar and Battery Energy Storage System or RE RTC could bring down average power procurement cost for discom from Rs 5.20 per unit on average to Rs 4.85 per unit.

Cell capacity to reach 100 GW

Sarangi also said India’s domestic solar cell manufacturing capacity is expected to more than triple to 100 gigawatts (GW) within a year, from the current installed capacity of around 32 GW.

The planned capacity expansion assumes significance as India tightens domestic sourcing requirements for solar cells. While the country has built a solar module manufacturing capacity of around 213 GW per annum, its solar cell manufacturing capacity remains far lower, highlighting a key gap in the domestic value chain.

Moving further upstream, Sarangi said the government expects the country’s ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity to reach 80 GW by June 2028.