Solar's Hot. Here are the Companies to Look Out for

India is on the cusp of a solar revolution as the Indian government plans to achieve 450 GW (gigawatts) of installed renewable capacity by 2030, with solar contributing about 280 GW (over 60%).

In the last five years, India's solar power capacity has already expanded by more than five times, from 6.7 GW in 2016 to 40 GW in March 2021.

This makes solar energy a rapidly growing industry in India and one to watch out for.

Here are the top 4 companies that are spearheading this revolution.

#1 Tata Power

Tata Power, a subsidiary of the Tata Group, has a wholly-owned subsidiary called Tata Power Solar which specialises in solar energy services. The company manufactures solar modules, solar cells, and other solar products, and provides EPC services for solar power projects.

Tata Power Solar has executed large projects all over India, including a 150 MW (megawatt) plant at Ananthapur, a 50 MW plant in Kerala, and a 30 MW plant in Odisha.

The firm previously won an auction conducted by the state of Gujarat for 400 MW of projects to be built at the Dholera solar park.

The company is also set to build a 50 MW solar plant with a battery energy storage system in Leh, Ladakh. This will be India's first large-scale battery energy storage system solution as well as the first large-scale solar project in the union territory of Ladakh.

The scope of work includes design, engineering, supply and procurement, and construction of the project on a turnkey basis along with ten years of operations and maintenance services.

With the addition of this project, the order pipeline of Tata Power Solar stands at 4GW with a value of Rs 124 bn.

#2 Borosil Renewables

Borosil Renewables is the first and only solar glass manufacturer in India.

The company spotted the opportunity in the segment quite early and commissioned its solar glass manufacturing facility in January 2010.

In the solar panel glass business, Borosil meets 40% of the domestic demand of 650 tonnes glasses per day, while the rest is imported from China and Malaysia.

The company also exports almost 20% of its present solar panel glass capacity to Europe, with the primary focus being Germany, Spain, Portugal, Russia, and Turkey.

The company is in the process of doubling its capacity to 900 tonnes per day with a planned investment of Rs 5 bn.

The renewable venture of the Borosil Group currently has a 450 tonne per day solar panel glass manufacturing capacity, which is enough to power 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar power.

The new plant, at an investment of Rs 5 bn, should be up and running by July 2022. This is the second doubling of capacity addition in five years after the Rs 2.4 bn expansion in 2016.

#3 Sterling & Wilson Solar

Sterling and Wilson Solar is a global end-to-end solar engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) solutions provider.

The company provides EPC services primarily for utility-scale solar power projects with a focus on project design and engineering. It also manages all aspects of project execution from conceptualizing to commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M) services.

The company has executed projects of more than 10 GW capacity across geographies including Australia, USA, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East among others for reputed clientele such as Soft Bank, Total, and Shell to name a few.

The company's order book stands at Rs 96.7 bn as of February 2021, thereby providing healthy revenue visibility over the medium term.

It recently announced plans to expand its renewable energy offerings to include EPC solutions for hybrid energy power plants, energy storage and waste to energy.

#4 Websol Energy

Websol Energy System is a leading manufacturer of photovoltaic monocrystalline solar cells and modules in India.

The company went into business as a fully export-oriented unit catering to Europe (mainly Germany and Italy) and the US.

The company has a reputation for high-quality products ranging from 5 W to 220 W, catering to the demands of home, commercial, and industrial institutions, and has been in business for more than two decades.

Keeping in view rapid technology advancement, Websol has invested in cutting-edge developments to manufacture world-class photovoltaic cells and solar modules at its state-of-the-art facility in Falta, SEZ. The facility comprises a production capacity of 250 MW cells and 250 MW modules.

It has also invested in an R&D (research and development) team focused on maximising equipment utilisation and quality standards with the objective of product customisation.

Why you should invest in renewable energy

There is an ongoing debate on global warming and climate change and how non-renewable sources of energy such as crude oil, are causing the environment to deteriorate.

This has forced governments around the world to introduce more ways to utilise renewable energy.

As the sector grows, there is also a massive scope of technological progress within the industry. New technologies are being invented to reduce the effective cost of installation, so that more people, even in the rural areas, can afford renewable energy sources.

Thus, the market has potential for strong overall growth in the decade to come.

Investors hoping to profit from India's renewable growth should look into the financials, management, business strategy, and all other fundamental factors of the companies before investing in them.

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