<div>Tata Group has invested in a Swiss start-up solar company as several companies from the European country look for a share of the growing Indian solar energy market.<br /><br />"Tata is an investor in Flisom and has a significant investment in the company," Chief Operating Officer of Flisom Sudheer Kumar said speaking at the company's research office in Dubendorf.<br /><br />Asked about the Tata share of investment in the Swiss start-up that deals with solar energy generation equipment, Chief Executive Officer of Flisom Ulfert Ruhle said: "We have several investors and no one is a majority stakeholder but we can tell you that Tata is among the top investor."<br /><br />Ruhle and Kumar are of the view that India has a huge potential for exploiting the solar energy to meet its future energy requirements.<br /><br />The energy requirements are growing in India and they have to look for sources of new and renewable energy, they said adding a country like India can generate significant electricity from sunlight.<br /><br />Kumar said the copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells developed by his company were suited for a country like India.<br /><br />"We have developed these cells on a thin film which can be folded and stored inside the house at night. While the cost of manufacturing and installation is lower than other solar cells, the efficiency is good and processing takes place at high speed," he added.<br /><br />Meyer Burger, another company dealing with photovoltaic materials which is setting up two solar power plants in Gujarat and Kerala, is also hoping to do more business with Indian companies and is ready to pass on the technology as well.<br /><br />"Nuclear energy may not be enough for India. This will provide energy to big cities like Mumbai but there will be energy requirement in rural parts of the country too. This is where solar energy can be of help," said Peter Pauli, CEO of the Meyer Burger.<br /><br />Pauli said his company will be able to set up the solar power plants which have a cumulative capacity of generating over 950 megawatts of power within 18 months of getting approval from the government.<br /><br />"We are ready to be faster. It is now for the other side (government of India). We hope the change in the government will expedite the process," Pauli added.<br /><br />The Meyer Burger official said the cumulative cost of the two solar power plants would be in the range of $800 million, including the cost of buildings.<br /><br />Several other Swiss companies involved in research in solar energy field are hoping that Indian companies and government take keen interest in renewable energy equipment.<br /><br />They felt China was dumping huge quantities of such equipment to put companies based in the West nearly out of business.<br /><br />"China is the market leader in photovoltaic field. In fact it controls the huge segment of the market. India is one of the few countries which can emerge as a viable alternative as the Chinese have brought down the prices which is to such a low that no one can compete with that," a researcher at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) said.<br /><br />(PTI)</div>
