What is meant by ‘low carbon energy solutions’ in the field of electrical energy?
Power production from energy sources that emit low carbon emissions, compared to the conventional sources like thermal power plant, is considered as low carbon energy sources. Renewable sources such as Solar and Wind are good examples of low carbon energy production.
What is the minimum terrace size where solar energy plants can be installed?
A Minimum shadow-free area of 100 square feet is required to install a 1kW plant.
How is the awareness level in India? What is your contribution in increasing awareness?
Awareness of the benefits of grid-connected solar plants has increased in the past few years. The recent pandemic has made consumers more aware about health and sustainability.
Companies are focusing on bringing down their operating costs, and hence are now more open to adoption of solar to save on their electricity bills. Amplus has been at the forefront on many platforms of CII, FICCI and other industry bodies to educate commercial and industrial customers on finer details of adopting a solar solution.
Homeowners are opting for the latest technology of modules and inverters to increase the longevity of the plant. They are choosing new solar products with higher efficiency and aesthetic structure designs to complement their home exteriors too. Among other initiatives, Amplus’ residential solar brand HomeScape has partnered with CEEW to conduct solar awareness drives across New Delhi to educate homeowners on solar technology, its benefits, and regulatory compliances required to own a solar plant.
What are the prominent Indian industries where you have installed solar plants?
We have installed distributed solar plants across major Automotive, FMCG and Consumer Durables companies on OPEX model.
In residential, we are offering our expertise in designing and installing a solar plant that lasts 25 years on CAPEX model.
What is your USP (Unique Sales Proposition)?
Amplus offers a risk-free solar solution to its customers in its Solar Power ‘As a Service Model’. Under this model, Amplus Solar invests its own capital to set up a rooftop solar PV plant on the customer’s premises. Customers sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Amplus to pay for the generated power at a lower-than-grid tariff, ensuring guaranteed savings for every unit of solar power generated. Thus, Amplus is delivering immediate, risk-free savings – and end-to-end solutions to its customers. Our company focuses on delivering the best quality solution to our customers, whilst ensuring safety at all stages.
Amplus has also introduced innovative products that suit urban homeowners’ needs to render their terrace space useful rather than occupying it with low height solar structures. Under the brand ‘HomeScape’, we offer real time monitoring of solar generation and home energy consumption on HomeScape App. Consumers can control their system from anywhere with instant alerts and remote access. This makes our Residential Solar Solution offering unique.
What are the additional fields where you are planning to diversify?
A need to decarbonize the energy value chain brings about a transformational change to the same, generating new opportunities. Amplus started as an Independent Power Producer (IPP) for Behind The Meter (BTM) applications for solar with a focus on Commercial and Industrial (C&I) customers.
We have already diversified to large open access projects, and have also launched HomeScape to cater to residential demand. With Yelo, Amplus is trying to capitalize on new growth opportunities arising from the electrification of mobility. We are also exploring energy storage solutions for BTM applications.
Amplus continues to monitor synergistic next-generation technologies as well, to become the choice of all consumers for their low carbon energy needs.
Which are the ideal places for setting up energy storage facilities?
The introduction of energy storage within the energy value chain is inevitable as increasingly non-load following renewable generating sources enter the power mix. One can install energy storage projects at Generating Sources, or at Transmission & Distribution Stage or at Consumption Level.
Amplus is currently focusing on consumption-level energy storage applications, which we believe provides a sizable opportunity and is synergistic with our current business. Energy storage can come as a containerized solution meant for outdoor applications. Commercial and industrial BTM (Behind The Meter) applications energy storage can be used for energy and peak shifting, for diesel abetment, as a source of uninterrupted power supply and controlling power quality, and increasing locally generated renewable power mix by providing flexibility to match demand with supply.
Can you put some estimates on the cost aspect of solar, EV charging and energy storage projects?
The Solar and energy storage projects are customized solutions based on the requirement of the customer, and hence the cost would vary. Though the cost of solar has stabilized over a period and industry standard is well-known, energy storage cost varies significantly based on the user case, selection of technology and of course site conditions.
EV charging cost can also vary depending on the kind of solutions required. Setting up a fast-charging station requires technology to compensate for the rigidity of our Transmission and Distribution (T&D) system – whereas a slow charging continuous power station can be relatively cheaper.
