PI Berlin to provide lab services

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (TOKYO:4183) is establishing a solar panel testing and certification lab in Gujarat in partnership with PI Berlin.

Energy demand is increasing in India due to an expanding population and an economic growth rate that is holding steady at close to 7%. And with a surging number of photovoltaic power generation facilities being planned, the Indian government this July implemented a measure to block the country’s influx of poor-quality solar panels by requiring BIS certification for panels used in all photovoltaic projects.

Mitsui Chemicals has been driving forward its diagnostics business for photovoltaic power generation in Japan since 2014. Now leveraging its accumulated know-how in panel and power plant diagnostics, Mitsui Chemicals will roll out the same business in India.

Affiliated company Mitsui Chemicals India Pvt. Ltd. (MCIND) is setting up a solar panel testing and certification lab in partnership with PI Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin AG of Germany (PI Berlin), a leading provider of accredited lab testing services.

The facility will begin admitting BIS certification tests in August 2019. The facility construction will begin in October 2018 and completed in March 2019, said Mitsui in a statement on 8 Aug 2018.

Plans are to establish a track record in BIS testing and certification and then use this to build a diagnostics business for solar panels and power plants.

BIS or Bureau of Indian Standards certification is comparable to Japan’s JIS certification but obtainable only by accredited facilities in India.

Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin AG (PI) in Berlin is a leading technical advisor, risk manager and quality assurance provider for PV equipment and power plants. fiinews.com