Intersolar India is one among India’s pioneering exhibitions catering specifically to the solar sector. The Intersolar exhibition 2019 was held from November the 27th to 29th 2019 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bangalore. As an annual exhibition, the event laid special focus on the segment of photovoltaics, PV production and solar thermal technologies. The event was hosted under the umbrella of the smarter E India – India’s innovation hub for new energy. Intersolar 2019 saw approximately 10,000 attendees at the centre. The overall sentiment of industry representatives was that digitalisation and decentralisation is changing the way we view energy as a market, and with a steady rise in electricity from volatile and renewable sources, the exhibition of this scope not only aimed to be a platform to network but also to make way for new solutions for electricity generation, storage, distribution and its use in an efficient manner.
The Intersolar India Conference and the 1st Power2Drive Conference featured over 150 influential speakers who provided insight into various market dynamics and opportunities for growth during the year 2019 and beyond. The opening ceremony comprised of keynote speeches delivered by government officials and solar experts. Among the many who attended the event was – B. S. Yediyurappa, Honourable Chief Minister, Govt of Karnataka; Upendra Tripathy (IAS), Director General, International Solar Alliance; Mahendra Jain (IAS), Additional Chief Secretary to Govt, Govt of Karnataka; Ajay Misra (IAS), Spl. Chief Secretary to Govt, Govt of Telangana; Gunjan Krishna (IAS), Commissioner for Industrial Development & Director of Industries & Commerce; A.B. Basavaraju (KAS), Managing Director, Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd; Praveen Saxena, Chief Operating Officer, Skill Council for Green Jobs; Ramesh Shivanna, President, Karnataka Renewable Energy Systems Manufacturers Association; Bhupinder Singh, CEO, Messe Muenchen India; Florian Wessendorf, Managing Director, Solar Promotion International GmbH, and Daniel Strowitzki, CEO, Freiburg Management & Marketing International GmbH.
The event also saw other crucial events such as Mercom India’s White Paper released at the event, in addition to free expert presentations at the innovation and application stage. Another key aspect that received a considerable amount of focus during the three-day show was the know-how to financing and good business acumen when scaling within the solar and renewable sector. Speaking at one of the conferences was Chirag Vageria, Managing Partner, Agami Infra Developers LLP. Drawing attention to the Indian market, he analysed logical expansion plans for the renewable sector from a business standpoint. While highlighting many stages for company growth and capital needs, he said: “It is key to understand customer needs, develop an initial business plan, understand the core technology and the product before you even think about scaling up.” Also, he said: “It is essential to stimulate customer awareness and demand, develop the supply chain and build an operational capacity to scale.”
