SMA Solar Technology AG Enters India

Photovoltaic Inverters

The German company SMA Solar Technology AG has entered India last August. It has set up a wholly owned subsidiary SMA Solar India in India. SMA Solar Technology manufactures photovoltaic inverters whose demand is growing. SMA India will be located in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. This is SMA Solar Technology’s 19^th overseas subsidiary.

World Leader With 40% Market Share

SMA Group is the world leader in photovoltaic inverter market with a sales turnover amounting to €1.9 billion. SMA Solar Technology is already involved in roof-tops, off-grid and utility scale power plants in India. It has been in operation in India since 2010. Worldwide, SMA Solar Technology has a market share of 40% in photovoltaic inverters spread over 18 nations. Sensing the importance of India in solar power sector, the company has chosen to establish its own subsidiary in a niche area for increasing its international market share. There is a growing demand for solar power in India. States like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are increasingly opting for solar power.

Thermal Power Plants Have Become Unviable

The reason for this trend is that thermal power generation, which produces majority share of power in India is facing difficulties due to coal shortage. New coal fields cannot be opened due to environmental reasons as that will require clearing huge forest areas and also displacement of the tribal population, which is politically a sensitive issue in India. Imported coal has become very costly and drains precious foreign exchange resources of India. Therefore India is exploring the option of producing power through renewable energy route which does not involve any environmental or foreign exchange issues. Solar power and wind energy are the two areas the government is giving importance. SMA Solar Technology has entered India at the right time when the policy decision is in favour of solar and wind power.

State-Of-The-Art Technology

SMA Solar Technology will lend its experience and expertise to various projects taking off in India. SMA Solar Technology is sensing India to become one of its top markets in photovoltaic inverters in the near future. SMA Solar Technology has a 11 GW capacity production plant in Germany. For the time being it will continue to ship the photovoltaic inverters to India from its German plant. SMA Solar Technology offers state-of-the-art technology for grid-tied solar power plants and a stable solution for off-grid and backup systems.

Service Hubs in Mumbai and Ahmedabad

The company has service hubs in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. These two hubs offer project management, dedicated technical sales support function and after-sales service. The inverter cost is estimated at around 12% of the MW cost of crystalline solar plant which is estimated at around Rs.14 crore inclusive of the inverter cost.