GameChange Solar announced a strategic alliance with First Solar to strengthen the deployment of utility-scale solar energy in India by integrating locally manufactured solar modules with advanced solar tracking systems.
Currently, both companies are seeking to respond to accelerated growth of the Indian photovoltaic market and to the new regulatory requirements implemented by the country’s government. The collaboration will allow the integration of First Solar’s thin-film modules with GameChange Solar’s Genius Tracker™ systems, a combination already validated in operational projects.
According to the companies, two large-scale solar installations in India have been operating with this technological integration for over a year and have achieved 99.8% uptime. This performance has demonstrated the compatibility between the modules manufactured by First Solar and the solar tracking infrastructure developed by GameChange Solar.
Why in India, and why now?
India wants to reduce its reliance on imported panels (especially from China) and is promoting the domestic production through two regulations:
- ALMM (List of Approved Models and Manufacturers): only allows the use of solar modules from manufacturers registered in India.
- ALCM (List of Approved Cell Manufacturers): similar, but for the cells that make up the panels.
However, there are few local manufacturers that meet the requirements. Within this scenario, both companies have invested over the past year in research, engineering, and design optimization to ensure the efficient integration of First Solar’s Series 7 modules into their solar trackers.
GameChange Solar is committed to optimizing energy generation
The alliance also has a technical component focused on energy efficiency. The companies are working on optimizing the profiles of electricity generation through the combination of thin-film modules and solar tracking systems.
Solar trackers allow panels to follow the sun’s movement throughout the day to increase energy production of photovoltaic plants. Consequently, the integration between modules and tracking systems has become an increasingly important factor for developers.
Vikram Kenjale, Vice President for India at GameChange Solar, explained that the current focus of the sector is no longer limited to selecting individual components, but to ensuring that the entire infrastructure works in an integrated way to maintain constant generation.
For his part, Sujoy Ghosh, Vice President of Business Development at First Solar, noted that local manufacturing and supply stability will be key to sustaining the growth of solar energy in India over the next few years.
India accelerates large-scale solar energy deployment
The Indian energy market is going through a period of strong expansion driven by objectives of energy transition and security of supply. The country seeks to rapidly increase its renewable capacity through large-scale solar projects capable of meeting a constantly growing electricity demand.
This collaboration is expected to contribute to the development of new utility-scale solar projects in India and strengthen the local value chain of the photovoltaic industry.
Source: GameChange Solar