Chemtrols Solar Private Ltd., incorporated in 2010, is a subsidiary of the Chemtrols Group, a diversified one at that with interests in process control instrumentation & automation, manufacturing, and clean tech. Founded in 1975, the group employs more than 800 people in multiple manufacturing locations and offices in India and abroad.
From ground mounted to rooftop, lanterns to water heaters, Microgrids to off-grid solutions, they have it all. To understand Chemtrols better in the solar power space, The Textile Magazine team quizzes Mr. Anish Rajgopal, Director, Chemtrols.
Chemtrols Solar today has an installed capacity in excess of 75 MW and is today one of the top three players in the rooftop solar space in the country. In the current fiscal it’s looking at north of 35 MW orders to be executed, and plans to maintain its leading position in the rooftop solar space.
With the reduction in Solar PV prices and friendly government policies for use of renewable energy in industry, Chemtrols has executed more than 15 MW of rooftop solar projects so far in the textile sector itself. For the textile industry, power is a significant operational cost, and by installing captive rooftop solar plants they are able to save substantially on-grid and DG costs and in addition claim accelerated depreciation. Towards the third and fourth quarter of the fiscal the activity in this market is more frenetic as companies rush to claim accelerated depreciation.
Anish calls this the “depreciation market”, wherein the business houses/corporates invest in solar or renewable energy investments for tax relief in addition to having a lower cost power source.
While Chemtrols Solar’s ground-mounted solar power market share stands at single-digit percentage point, in roof-mounted solar market are holding second position falling next to the market leader Tata Power. They have around 10-15 per cent market share in industrial installation pie. In addition, Chemtrols Solar is fairly active in the residential solar PV power market through its network of Authorized Business Associates (ABAs).
Chemtrols has a significant presence in southern India, with installations across textile factories in Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Tiruchirapalli. An installation of 3 megawatts is the biggest single location roof top installation done by Chemtrols.
With the Government targeting 100 gigawatts in solar energy space in the next two years, out of which 40 GW is to be in the rooftop space, there is a substantial market growth for the existing and new players in this sector. Maharastra and Tamil Nadu being high tariff energy states with Industries paying in excess of 8 rupees per unit, it makes tremendous sense for industries to utilize solar energy to reduce their electricity cost with the rate per unit for solar power coming down to as low as Rs. 5-7. Payback periods can also be as low as three years.
When it comes to Chemtrols’ marketing strategy to compete with the low priced Chinese installations provided by some companies, Anish says that Chemtrols does not compromise on quality and aftersales service and hence does not quote low just to take orders. Chemtrols’ reputation with regard to quality installation and service precedes it, thus giving it a premium over competition in many cases.
Chemtrols’ first Mega Watt roof top installation was for Alpine Textiles, which also happens to be the first PV-Diesel hybrid installation in India and the second in the world. Chemtrols was won numerous awards for that project and it soon became an industry standard.
Anish also stated that tracking technology for ground mounted plants is seeing significant development both in terms of better technology and lower cost. In layman terms, tracking technology enables the structure on which the Solar Panels are mounted on to track the Sun’s position in the sky to optimize the energy generation.
Anish is of the opinion that until the Government comes out with a clear policy on domestic subsidies over the long term and support for domestic component manufacturers to compete on a global scale, there won’t be any foray into local manufacturing by Chemtrols Solar.
Chemtrols Solar provides an end to end solution to the customer right from identifying the right policies and appropriate way to invest, to suggesting and assisting in land acquisitions, to selecting the right technology, to doing the entire engineering, procurement, construction & commissioning, to doing comprehensive operation & maintenance services, to billing assistance with the local utility, and even advices the client on how best to financially structure their investment. Basically a plug and play solution is what Chemtrols Solar delivers to an investor.