Solar inverter manufacturing in India

I think that India already has a competitive advantage in manufacturing power electronics. Solar inverter suppliers such as AEG, ABB, Bonfiglioli, Schneider and Refusol are already manufacturing in India.
Module costs (in percentage terms of the total cost) are already less than half of the system cost and this trend is expected to continue. Investment in solar inverter manufacturing requires a strategic bet on technology and processes that may evolve very quickly over the next one decade.

Relatively, investment in inverter/balance of systems component manufacturing is not as risky and this aspect of the value chain actually offers better margins than module manufacturing.

If the government has to do anything for solar manufacturing, it should provide tax incentives to inverter/Balance of systems manufacturers. By doing so, more companies will set up inverter manufacturing in India and use India as a base to supply to at least south east Asia and MENA regions if not the entire world.
As Inverter and its applications are well known to the investor and from investor point of view the unknown segment MODULE needs to be given more importance & support.

As Chinese inverters are being dumped in India and sold under different names/brands investors are a bit hesitant to invest in solar projects whereas all the major solar inverter manufacturers have a well established brand name.

18% Efficiency at solar inverter or panel level is not very far away from thermal plants final energy reaching Indian homes or businesses (on a coal chemical energy basis). Yet 0.5 Usd is not cheap on Watt basis. So we have a commodity (Thanks to China) that has to be made from silicon and chemicals and metals and frames and glasses. India may be competitive in nothing currently but needs to manufacture mass market items or loose forex to outside suppliers.

India should never try to become a global leader. India can create self sustained growth of solar sector due to the huge demand that could be generated. In another ten years grid power will rise due to rise in coal price. India has to build a solar manufacturing ecosystem as Tamil Nadu visualizes. Let Indian market forces decide the growth. Let more and more solar inverter manufacturing units are built within India to meet India's demand. So also BALANCE OF SYSTEMS/Inverter. Units should aim for Indian market and not market abroad. Preferential Feed in tariff can be decided for local products. It is done in several countries including US.