Parker India’s Solar Journey Towards a Brighter Tomorrow
In the quest for sustainability, companies often find themselves navigating intricate paths, setting long-term targets and mobilizing resources to make incremental but consistent strides towards a greener future. While patience is often the name of the game, occasionally, an organization experiences a leap that accelerates their sustainability journey.
When India’s sustainability team first proposed the idea of offsetting energy costs with rooftop solar panels in early 2022, they knew getting alignment would be key. “It started with our Win Strategy, which integrates our sustainability initiatives and targets in multiple areas across the organization, from operations to supply chain to legal to product innovation. This initiative was really anchored in that strategy.”
Indeed, it seemed to be the right project in the right place at the right time. For Parker, whose goals include cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2040, climate action is both a strategic priority and an important part of leading with purpose.
India's solar landscape further validated Parker's decision. Driven in part by aggressive clean energy commitments by the Indian government, the country has become one of the world’s most attractive solar markets.
“We’ve seen this business trend,” adds Aasif Damad, Division Controller MSG India. “Solar is growing year-over-year and the opportunity to both reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and improve our financial performance was too good to pass up. Then it became a matter of finding the right partner.”
Parker India decided on a supplier and signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to install panels on the roofs of four manufacturing facilities—in Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Chennai—led by Bhupendra Choubey, country environment, health and safety manager.
“The power purchase agreement required no initial capital expenditure,” explains Damad. “The installation costs are covered by the supplier and Parker pays standard utility charges. But we also secured a 15-year agreement with our grid suppliers at a fixed rate to protect against future inflation.”
The solar installation, scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2024, will provide savings of 30-35% on Parker India’s utility bills. Further, this will reduce their carbon footprint by more than 7800 metric tons annually. But the icing on the cake? It’s the adhesive on the panel.
“Our supplier was already using our own Parker Lord Division’s adhesive for bonding solar panels with the roof,” adds Gargi Joshi, country secretary for Parker India. “Now we’ve seen firsthand what an incredible product it is! I’m proud that a Parker product is making these installations faster and better.”
So, what’s next on the sustainability horizon? The team is considering a Kaizen approach to further reduce their carbon footprint and is in discussions with vendors to make its HVAC and Testing machines more energy efficient. You might also say they’re illuminating a path towards a brighter, more sustainable future.
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