Clean Future in conversation with Mr.Himanshu Pandit, Chief Operating Officer at Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics, Ahmedabad about the manufacturing capabilities and its contribution towards the growth of solar industry in India.
Please elaborate about your company, its vision & mission.
The company, Hi-Rel Power Electronics Pvt Ltd. was established 30 years back and since then it has gained immense experience in power electronics sector and has garnered a significant level of trust in the market. Few years back, Hitachi took over the company and renamed it as the Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics Pvt Ltd. The company operates as the 100% subsidiary of Hitachi and is managed directly by Hitachi management, which has also enabled us to offer world class power electronics products, value added services & customized solutions with Hitachi Quality.
Our vision is to be recognized as the most trusted power electronics company by supplying superior products and services. Led by a visionary management at the helm, we have a team with deep technical and marketing strengths and knowledge of the industry. With expertise, experience and an efficient product line, we always try to be the preferred power electronics partner.
Our mission is to lead in all market segments that we operate, be it grid tied solar inverters, UPS for industrial for non-IT and IT applications and medium & low voltage variable frequency drives among others.
Please discuss about your manufacturing capacities in India.
Our company is a key hub, for both “Manufacturing” as well as “Research & Development”, within the power electronics division of Hitachi Group and we will leverage it to drive Innovation and Growth in the Indian marketplace.
We have set up a sprawling manufacturing facility in an area of 26,000 square meters, which has been modeled on Hitachi’s Omika Works in Japan, making Sanand manufacturing facility as one of the most modern and state-of-the-art power electronics manufacturing facilities in India. Highly experienced Japanese engineers, stationed at the site, oversee all aspects of manufacturing, testing and quality assurance. The manufacturing facility is powered by Omika Works based software tools for engineering and manufacturing making it one of the most advanced in-house product testing facilities in the country.
We manufacture grid tied solar inverters locally in India based on the contemporary technology of Hitachi Ltd. Presently, we are operating on our maximum manufacturing capacity – 200 MW per month and intend to increase the capacity in near future.
What has been your contribution towards the Indian Solar Industry?
Hi-Rel Power Electronics entered the Indian solar inverter business in 2012 and so far we have supplied more than 2 GW solar inverters to the industry and now the company has a target of supplying solar inverter with a capacity of over 8 GW by March 2020.
We are completely equipped to contribute towards the growth of solar industry in India and are ready to play a positive role in achieving the target of generating 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 set by the Government of India. We are also helping our customers in mitigating the negative Impact of climate change and thus promoting energy security.
Please introduce our readers to your Solar Inverter?
Hitachi’s HIVERTER NP 201i Model Solar Inverter is among the best available Grid Tied Solar Inverters that is suitable for multi-megawatt and utility-scale photovoltaic power plants available with capacities ranging from 250 KW to 2.5 MW.
Hitachi Solar Inverter is the heart of the solar power generating system. It converts DC power generated by the photovoltaic (Solar) array to utility frequency AC power that is fed to the utility power grid system. It is a critical balance of system (BOS) component in a solar photovoltaic system.
The HIVERTER NP 201i is equipped with reactive power control to boost high efficiency, while the 3 level IGBT technology and wider MPPT range enables the inverter to deliver maximum power generation. The inverter is fully compatible to work with thin film and / or crystalline PV modules and is also suitable to work with high ambient temperature. The transformer-less design and 3-level PWM technology improves the efficiency of the system to 98.6%, while the compact design and lower weight enables ease of installation, repair and maintenance. The large touch screen display collects the real-time data and provides fault detection diagnostics to ensure faster retrieval of information for corrective action.
The highly advanced Solar Inverters manufactured at Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics global facility in Gujarat is a manifestation of the company’s commitment to India’s greener future. If properly maintained and serviced at scheduled intervals with replacement of defunct parts the operating lifespan of the inverter is up to 25 years.
Besides world class manufacturing facility, we have also invested heavily in the prompt availability of spares and components locally as well as have created an extensive network of after-sales service and support centers located at strategic locations across the country.
How would you rate the performance of your Inverter?
The performance of our Solar Inverters is extremely good and our Solar Inverters are delivering considerably high reliability and maximum power generation. Our state of art technology has enabled our inverter to maintain more than 99% uptime for all our Installations across the country and coupled with major savings in EBOP (Electrical Balance of Plant) today we are among the most popular Grid Tied Solar Inverters in the country.