Punjab firm to open more outlets for solar products

It is also targeting e-commerce space, and will launch India's first dedicated online store for solar and LED products this month

It has rightly been said that an idea can transform one's business. Ramandeep Singh, director, Punjab-based Synergy Solar Inc., one of India's leading manufacturers of solar panels and systems, little suspected that an idea that occurred to his wife while shopping at a Best Price outlet (the erstwhile Bharti-Walmart cash-and-carry brand) would give his business a unique dimension.

Acting on her idea, their company, under the brand name 'Solar World', recently forayed into solar-products retail and became, Singh claims, the only player in India offering various solar and LED products under one roof at competitive prices.

In the wake of increased adoption of solar products in India, the company plans to expand its presence through the franchise route by opening 10-15 brick-and-mortar retail stores in the northern region in the current financial year. It is also targeting the e-commerce space, and will launch India's first dedicated online store for solar and LED products this month.

Singh told Business Standard, "We are engaged in manufacturing, supplying and exporting premium quality renewable energy products, which includes solar water heating systems, solar photo voltaic lighting, power generation systems and SPV modules for residential, institutional and commercial applications."

Singh has been in the business for over two decades and used to undertake corporate and government solar projects, but never thought of entering the retail arena, he explained. The company often received queries from customers enquiring about a marketplace for solar products, but there wasn't one.

"Then, one day, after shopping at Best Price, my wife Ruba suggested that there should be a one-stop store for solar products, offering all solar products under one roof. This is how the idea got conceptualised and we opened our first offline store at Mohali in Punjab recently. The store is a one-stop shop for all solar products, as we offer over 50 solar products, in addition to LED products," he added.

Besides manufacturing, the company also outsources products from other manufacturers in India and imports from China, Taiwan, Switzerland and Germany. Among the products the company offers are solar barbeques, maintenance-free solar street lights, solar heat pumps, solar home lighting systems, solar garden lights and solar water ATMs. The company is planning to introduce new products every month and increase the range to 125 items in due course.

Taking a cue from the central government's ambitious plan to harness solar energy aggressively, Singh has plans to take solar products like cookers, lanterns, mobile chargers, and solar street lights to the grassroots level and has plans to open retail outlets in the northern states.

He has chalked out ambitious expansion plans: "There is phenomenal demand for solar products in rural areas and villages of the northern region because of power shortages. In order to tap the potential and take the products to consumers, we are planning to open 10-15 stores this fiscal year on the franchise model, spread over Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir."

He explained that recent notifications by various state governments on solar energy will give a fillip to solar products manufacturers and suppliers. The Haryana government, for example, has made it mandatory for commercial establishments having a connected load of 30 kilowatts and above to generate at least five per cent of the power they consume from solar sources.

Commenting on a new product which is in the offing, he added, "Very soon, we will introduce indigenous developed a hybrid solar e-rickshaw which will run on batteries, charged by electricity as well as solar energy."