Pune-based Solar Energie Technik has gained an edge in the solar products market in India by launching a power generation system as also economically priced LED bulbs. Huned Contractor profiles this up-and-coming company.

Aptly enough, the office of Mr Shrikant Pittie, President & CEO, Solar Energie Technik Ltd in Pune, has, among other artefacts, a brass plate depicting the sun god. The connection is obvious, considering that the company has been in the business of manufacturing renewable energy products, solar in particular, since 2004. Established by a group of technocrats, the company came into being in answer to the rising demand for solar cookers, water heaters and lanterns, more so in the mofussil areas where power cuts were then ranging from eight to 16 hours a day.

Now, having garnered considerable production and marketing experience, Solar Energie Technik has moved into the area of innovation, the result of which has been new products. One of these, launched recently, has been the Solar Energy Power Generation System (SEPOGS) which, when integrated with a biomass gassifier, can provide uninterrupted power on a 24 x 7 basis.

"This product was developed and perfected after years of in-house R&D. In our opinion, it has the lowest power generation cost and the highest return on investment (ROI) as compared to any other green energy power generation system in the world," says Pittie during a tour of his factory at Wagholi.

The first 1 MW SEPOGS will be installed in 2012 in Pune district at an approximate cost of Rs 11 crore, exclusive of the cost of land. "Initially this installation will be in Maharashtra and later on all over India. We are looking at exports and are in serious negotiations with a few major environment control technology companies for entering into joint ventures," Pittie reveals.

However, not content with just one new product, the company is all set to launch an LED bulb, which, claims Pittie, will be the cheapest in the world. There would be three models of these bulbs of 2W, 4W and 6W and the MRP cost would be Rs 299, Rs 399 and Rs 499 respectively. These bulbs are designed to have a life of up to 20 years. "We have set up an installed capacity of manufacturing a million bulbs per annum and this can be ramped up in tune with the demand," Pittie informs.

The company has already started test marketing the bulbs across Maharashtra through a vast network of distributors of lighting products, dealers and retailers. "Considering the fact that solar energy products are now finding favour in the metro cities too, we hope to capture a huge slice of the market pie in the next five years," he adds.

For those not in the know, Shrikant Pittie is a part of the family that owned the erstwhile reputed Raja Bahadur Motilal Mills Poona. "I joined RBMP after doing my engineering in 1968 as a development engineer and was responsible for manufacturing India's first indigenous tractor in 1971 for which I received an award from the Government of India. Thereafter I took over the tractor unit from RBMP and started the production of 40 HP tractors through Pittie Tractors P Ltd. I was also involved in manufacturing of auto components for Maruti Suzuki. My tryst with solar products began in 1996 along with my foray into real estate development," Pittie narrates.

Now with his entire focus on how renewable energy can best be put to use, Pittie's factory spread over 14,000 sq.ft manufactures solar street lights and inverters along with LED tubelights, office fixtures, water heaters for hospitals and industries, garden lighting fixtures, etc.

"With some of the products such as solar water heaters being made mandatory by municipal corporations for all the new residential and commercial projects, especially in Pune, the demand has certainly been on a rise. We have achieved a turnover of Rs 16 crore in 2011-12 and going by the trend, we hope to achieve 100 per cent growth each year," Pittie states.

However, the demand has also brought in its wake increasing competition. There are now both big and small players vying to sell their products both in Indian and in other developing countries. "Ultimately it will boil down to a price war," Pittie predicts. It explains why the team of engineers at Solar Energie Technik worked hard for many years to develop an LED bulb with a price tag that would wipe the cream off other such products being made by the larger establishments. "In a growing sector like this one, what is crucially important is R&D and the applicability of this research to make products that will be economically sustainable. Only then will people start switching over to solar energy products. They need to be convinced that they are not only going to contribute to environment conservation but are investing in a product that is going to yield tremendous cost benefits over a long-term period," he explains.

Proud of the fact that all the parts used in the manufacture of the LED bulbs are indigenous and so is the design, Pittie is also all set to start exporting them to S Africa and the UK from August this year. That Pittie has chosen the right business is evident from the fact that India has on its drawing board a USD 19 billion plan to produce 20 GW of solar power by 2020. With about 300 clear, sunny days in a year, India's theoretical solar power reception, on only its land area, is about 5 Peta Watt-hours per year (PWh/yr). The daily average solar energy incident over India varies from 4 to 7 kWh/m? with about 1,500-2,000 sunshine hours per year (depending upon location), which is far more than the current total energy consumption. For example, assuming the efficiency of PV modules was as low as 10 per cent, this would still be a 1,000 times greater than the domestic electricity demand projected for 2015.

(Solar Energie Technik Ltd, Pune. Tel: 020-65008491. Email: s.pittie@infinitisolar.co.in)