Yes, this could well turn out to be true! I am not sure whether the western world is quite aware of the huge power problem that rural India faces day in and day out. Even some urban areas have power outages, and therefore, solar inverters are likely to be hot in the years to come. Do understand that even more than actual photonics, including lasers, etc., solar photovoltaics and LEDs are all the rage in India, and for obvious reasons – the huge power problem mentioned above. Not that lasers and photonics have taken a backseat. The current flavors are clearly solar PV and LEDs. Keeping in line with the growing need for solar inverters, the India Semiconductor Association (ISA), in association with Government of West Bengal, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corp. Ltd. (WEBEL) and West Bengal Green Energy Power Development Corp. Ltd. (WBGEPDCL), recently organized a workshop on solar inverters in Kolkata, Dominique Lapierre's City of Joy! Debesh Das, honorable minister of IT, government of West Bengal, inaugurated the workshop and highlighted the need to strengthen solar inverter manufacturing capabilities in the state of West Bengal. According to him, the solar inverter is a key component in the balance of systems (BOS) and helps usage of the power generated from the panels. Since the solar industry is likely to boom in the country, he called for long term cooperation between the government, industry and academia. The minister added that the government of West Bengal was fully committed to popularize solar power and maintain leadership position in the country. I hope this here is a clear message going out to folks who would be interested in investing in the Indian solar PV industry. Here is some more information that could be useful for you. One, the capacity for solar PV in India is currently estimated in excess of about 400 MW for cells and about 1,000 MW for modules. Based on the interactions with the industry, the capacity of PV cells and modules in India is estimated to cross 750 and 1250 MW by end of 2010. As for solar cells and modules, the production in India for 2008-09 has been estimated at 175 MW of cells and 240 MW of modules. A large proportion of this production has been exported, quite an achievement for a very nascent industry. According to the annual report of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) (2008-09), there are about 15 players in cell manufacturing, over 20 players in modules and well over 50 in solar assembly. Not bad for an industry that started barely two years ago! Now, I'm off to attend Solarcon India 2010 at Hyderabad, where Photonics Media is a partner. Will report on what I see there. Till then, adios, friends! Pradeep