India's Premier Energies targets Europe, US solar buyers

India's Premier Energies plans to focus on exports with buyers diversifying their supply chains away from China, two senior executives said on Thursday, a major shift for the domestically-focused solar equipment supplier.

Tariff woes and concerns regarding over-reliance on a single manufacturing hub have pushed Western companies to look to establish new ‌supply chains, ⁠creating ⁠avenues for Indian manufacturers. Premier Energies' order book is entirely domestic and fully booked for the next 12 to 18 months, but it expects to increasingly tap overseas markets as new capacity comes online, Managing Director Chiranjeev Singh Saluja told Reuters in an interview.

"In the longer term, we will be focusing on exports," Saluja said, noting plans for a U.S. ⁠solar cell plant ‌with partner Heliene and emerging opportunities in Europe where certain tenders exclude Chinese products.


He added that Europe's evolving procurement ⁠rules reflect a broader global shift in which many countries "don't want to import from China or want to diversify their supply sources." Premier Energies is also working to cut its dependence on silver, a critical component in solar cells but whose cost has recently been volatile.

"Silver use has already fallen about 68% over the past five years and is expected to drop a further ‌30% over the next five," said Vinay Rustagi, chief business officer. He attributed the fall to redesigns in cell technology, adding that rising costs that make ⁠it more expensive for customers are accelerating efforts to curb its use.

The company is backing research to replace silver entirely with copper, he said, working with universities and suppliers across Europe and Asia, with initial results expected within 12 to 18 months.

"We are talking about a complete replacement of silver with copper paste," Rustagi said, adding that only minor equipment changes would be needed if the technology proves viable.