SCHOTT Solar’s largest Thin Film order worldwide-200,000 modules for a 20MW capacity to Premier Solar India

As Panchabuta has earlier reported, there have been international reports that have started saying that “India the top target for being the new Germany for Solar“.

There have also been discussions about German firms coming up empty-handed in India in 2010 and Panchabuta has analyzed this in detail in an earlier essay.

In spite of this there have been numerous announcements including that of Harsha Engineers  that recently entered into a JV with German firm Abakus Solar with plans to be EPC contractor/Systems integrator for Solar PV.

Recently, the meeco Group through meeco India Private Limited, will expand its offers of clean energy turnkey solutions, clean advisory services and cellcubeTM storage solutions, to this growing Indian solar market and will build up to 50 MWp solar parks in the next three years.

According to a release from SCHOTT Solar, the company will be delivering 200,000 SCHOTT ASI photovoltaic modules to India. The customer Premier Solar is a long-term partner of SCHOTT Solar and its order breaks three records at once: The order is the largest so far for SCHOTT Solar in Asia as well as the largest ever for SCHOTT Solar Thin Film GmbH from a single customer worldwide. It is also the most comprehensive contract concluded by SCHOTT AG in India. The delivery of the first modules took place today – SCHOTT Solar and Premier Solar chose this date to officially announce their contract. The contract comprises a total volume of 20 megawatts (MW), out of which 10 MW are to be supplied in 2011, the second half in 2012.

The signing of the contract was marked in Hyderabad, where Premier Solar’s HQ is located. The event took place in the presence of the government minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh for major industries, sugar, commerce and export promotion, Smt. J Geetha Reddy, along with the German visitors Dr. Martin Heming, CEO at SCHOTT Solar AG, and Dr. Robert Kuba, Managing Director of SCHOTT Solar Thin Film GmbH

“This project gives us the opportunity to contribute to climate protection in India. At the same time, Premier Solar’s order will help us to continue expanding our visibility on the Indian market”, said Heming. The PV modules will be installed in 2011 by Premier Solar’s new EPC division, Premier Solar Power Tech, in a grid-connected ground mount system. Thanks to this PV system, clean solar energy will be produced to serve over 40,000 households.

“We decided to go ahead with SCHOTT modules because of their proven durability and reliability as well as the company’s long-standing experience in thin film technology and their industry-leading 30-year warranty”, commented Chiranjeev Saluja, Managing Director of Premier Solar. SCHOTT Solar’s ASI thin film technology is the result of many years of experience and up-to-the-minute production standards.

The record-breaking order is part of grid-connected power plants to be installed under the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) Phase I of Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission of India. The country is aiming to secure its energy supply in the long term and continue to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels by setting itself the goal of deploying 20 gigawatts of solar power by the year 2022.