Abstract
The transition to clean energy requires significant investment, and India’s aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070 highlights the need for robust domestic value chains. Direct technical assistance and public-private partnerships are crucial for attracting private sector investment. The focus on floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems in India presents opportunities for plastic resin manufacturers to provide materials for various components, such as PV modules, connectors, floats, and inverters, contributing to the growth of solar power. Accelerating research in advanced solar PV technology and engaging with the local manufacturing ecosystem can reduce capital costs and support the green energy transition.
Introduction
Several nations, including India, have upped their commitment to decarbonising their economies and to achieve net zero in the coming decades. India, for example, has announced its ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070.This transition to clean energy requires multiple pathways, many of them capital intensive. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, global investment in energy transition technologies reached a record US$1.3 trillion in 2022, an increase of 19 per cent over the previous year.
However, there is still a massive deficit, with the entire investment last year in clean energy, still 40 per cent less than the average needed every year through 2030 to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Specific to India, a report by Standard Chartered estimates that the country would need US$12.4 trillion in transition finance.
Build Robust Value Chains
This underlines the need to build robust domestic value chains for promoting renewable energy, especially solar power, which is high on the agenda of governments across the world, including India. In creating this clean energy ecosystem, it is important that direct technical assistance is provided to help emerging economies drive policies and frameworks that can attract private sector investment.
Strong public private partnerships and enhanced application of advanced technology solutions at scale will be central to achieving a just energy transition, where the livelihoods of people are not impacted through lack of reliable energy supply, and at the same time, the decarbonization roadmap is not derailed.
This means, looking at the prevailing landscape for accelerating renewable energy – such as solar power, in India. The country has already announced a Production-Linked Incentive Scheme for manufacturing high efficiency solar PV modules lending impetus to the industry.
India’s Potential
Today, India is the world’s third largest market in the world for new solar photovoltaics (PV) capacity, and the country has proposed over 59 parks of 40GW across the nation to add to the current solar power generation of 63.3 GW (as of February 2023). Of particular importance is the government’s focus on aggressively pushing floating photovoltaic (FPV) panels.
FPV systems offer distinctive advantages over on-land solar PV systems such as space utilization, better cooling effect, reduced land use and reduced water evaporation. FPVs are expected to be implemented across the country’s medium and large reservoirs, with the potential to generate 280 GW of solar power and growing over 20 percent annually.
Today plastic resin manufacturers canmeet the needs of the solar power industry, ranging from polyolefins to engineering thermoplastics, which are selected for the making of components in the PV modules, connectors, floats, battery-housing, inverters, amongst others.
Examples include polyolefin elastomers (POE) used in the making of PV module encapsulation lower potential-induced degradation, reduce water vapor transmission and have high volume resistance, polypropylene (PP) solutions replacing metals in solar PV structures could potentially reduce up to 50% weight reduction, while flame retardant (FR) resins enhance fire safety and enables cost-savings and aesthetic designs in the making of inverters, compared to metals. Specific to floats, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) has good weatherability against UV rays and good environmental stress crack resistance. Resin manufacturers can also provide customized solutions for back sheets, encapsulants, junction box connectors and invertor housing, among others, all of these provide long-term benefits to customers.
Accelerating research in advanced solar PV technology and frequent engagement with the local manufacturing ecosystem will help contribute to increased adoption of solar power by reducing capital costs in the long-run and helping stay the course of green energy transition.
Editor’s Note: SABIC has a wide portfolio of resins that are specifically suitable for the needs of solar power industry.
