Signet Solar will invest $2 billion to set up three solar PV manufacturing units in India
Aug. 23, 2007 /Energy Tribune Staff
Source. EnergyTribune.com
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=608
India is getting a share of the booming global market for photovoltaic panels. California-based Signet Solar recently announced that it will invest $2 billion over the next decade to set up three solar photovoltaic manufacturing units in India. When completed, each of the three plants will have an annual output of 300 megawatts. Signet Solar chairman and founder Prabhu Goel said he was “convinced that India is ideal for manufacturing the world’s lowest-cost solar modules.” The company is also planning a research and development center in India.
India offers manufacturers an attractive option, given its low-cost manpower and manufacturing base. In addition, the Indian government is offering tax exemptions and subsidies to companies that produce solar panels. Those incentives could give India an edge in that market, which is expecting sales to grow from the current annual $6 billion to some $40 billion per year by 2010.
The new solar plants should add to India’s renewable energy mix. The country currently has about 10 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, which the government wants to raise to 80 GW over the next 25 years. As part of that effort, all of the streetlights in the capital city of Delhi will soon be running on solar energy.