Indian energy giant Tata Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu government to invest about 3 billion rupees ($380 million) to build a 4 gigawatt photovoltaic cell and 4 gigawatt module manufacturing plant in the state.
The facility, located in the Tirunelweli district of Tamil Nadu, will be completed within 16 months. Tata Power said it will produce mono-PERC bifacial and n-type TOPCON modules, both of which will be "high-capacity modules with industry-leading efficiencies". The factory will also implement "Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs)" that use lasers and cameras to precisely transport parts.
At the same time, the factory still needs considerable human resources to create jobs and will employ more than 2,000 people, most of them women. It is unclear whether Tata Power will use the cell and module capacity to service its own projects, but Tata Power recently announced the construction of "India's largest floating solar park" and is commissioning India's "largest single-axis solar tracker" system".
Inflation has wreaked havoc on India's solar industry in recent times, with rising module prices and soaring freight rates putting huge upward pressure on Indian PV module prices, up from mid-2020 levels. 38%. Many developers are stockpiling PV modules due to concerns about module supply. Indian PV module prices have surged in recent months after India imposed basic tariffs on solar cells and modules.
