The Indian solar sector is expanding manifold, as new players and existing ones are working on innovations and investing exponentially in next-generation technologies to meet domestic and global demand. Grew Solar is on the same path and has been making steady progress in backward integration—from panels to cells, and soon to wafers and ingots.

In this conversation, Hardip Singh, Chief Operating Officer of Grew Solar, speaks about the company’s new Topcon-based solar modules, its ₹4,500-crore investment plan, collaboration with IIT Bombay, and how India’s solar manufacturing ecosystem is maturing with innovation, R&D, and responsibility.

Excerpts:

Tell us about the performance and product guarantee of the newly launched G12R High-Power Series.
About 12 years of product guarantee and 30 years of performance guarantee are the industry standards now. We have been offering this for the last two years — a 12-year product guarantee and a 30-year performance guarantee. We have provided this right from the beginning, even with the previous M10-based technology. For all glass-to-glass modules, our standard warranty policy remains 12 years of product warranty and 30 years of performance warranty.

You come from a group with a 52-year manufacturing legacy. Tell us about the journey.
We have been in manufacturing for 52 years, primarily in textiles, and solar was new to us until 2023, when we started our solar module manufacturing unit. We stepped into solar manufacturing because manufacturing is in our DNA — it’s part of our group’s legacy.

In every industry that we have expanded into, the direction has been very clear — we have to be completely backwards-integrated in that field. For example, in textiles, we source cotton directly from the farmers. From there, we have our own spinning mills, our own dyeing units — everything is in-house. Once we buy cotton from the farmer, everything is processed in-house until the time we sell the final product. The same concept or vision applies to the renewable side as well. Today,, we are manufacturing modules; tomorrow, we will be getting into other products. We already have plans in place and will be making announcements very soon.

How much investment have you made in this new technology top-up?
This is not specific to one technology, as we have been investing simultaneously in various areas — on the module side, the facility in Jaipur, and on the cell side, the facility at Narmadapuram. It’s already in the public domain that we have pledged investments of almost Rs 4,500 crore.

When it comes to panels, does the manufacturing process cover the entire panel?
Right now, we are manufacturing the panels or modules at our Jaipur facility. The raw material for that comes from various sources. One of the major raw materials, as you mentioned, is the PV cell. We are setting up our own cell facility, which is coming up in Narmadapuram. Once that comes up, we won’t need to buy or import the cells — we’ll be using our own. And to make the cell, the raw material is a wafer and an ingot. We also plan to set up a wafer and ingot facility in Narmadapuram.

By when will this be completed?
We were waiting for the government notification on the wafer side. The draft notification came out about a month ago. The government is introducing the ALMM (Approved List of Models and Manufacturers) for wafers from 1st June 2028. We are in line to be operational by that deadline..

What are your plans for recycling panels in the long run?
Recycling is a different ball game. There are different companies coming into that field. And yes, being one of the responsible corporate members of the industry, we will do whatever is required, as we are already doing in other industries where we operate.

What exactly is the new technology you have launched, and how will it help the company and the industry?
Firstly, there’s no change in technology as such. Earlier, it was Topcon technology, which we launched last year. The current product that you see, which we have launched now, is also based on Topcon technology.
Technology refers to what is used to make the solar cell. What we have changed is the size of the cell — from M10, it has become G12R. Earlier, the cell size was 182 mm x 182 mm. Now it’s 182 mm x 183.75 mm. This increase in size allows us to produce a higher wattage module — earlier, with the M10 cell, we could reach a maximum of 590 Wp, but with the G12R cell, we can produce up to 635 Wp.

The panel size remains almost the same. The new cell has a rectangular shape rather than a square one, thus, in the same area, it is possible to produce more electricity, or, on the other hand, less space can be used for the same power output.

Any other developments in progress that you’d like to share?
Yes, there are other products as well. It’s a little early to announce, but we’re working on various areas, including storage. You’ll hear an announcement very soon. There are also other renewable-related products in development.

Do you have any ongoing collaborations or internal projects?
We have a fully equipped in-house R&D lab, capable of conducting all global standard tests. We don’t need to send our products to third-party labs. We also have an MoU with IIT Bombay. IIT Bombay has a wing called NCPRE — National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Excellence. We are working very closely with them because some of their research requires industry support to manufacture or train their people. Similarly, our people also need specialised training or may run into quality issues — in such cases, we can take their support. So, yes, we already have a tie-up with IIT Bombay.