Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited’s (BHEL), electronics division in Bengaluru has issued a request for quotation (RfQ) inviting interested parties to submit their applications for the manufacturing and supply of solar cells.

The bid submission deadline is July 15, 2019, and the technical bids will be opened on the same day. The date for the commercial bid opening will be announced after the list of technical bidders is confirmed.

The scope of work involves the manufacturing and supply of 157 mm, multi solar cells with their wattage required to fall within the range 4.60-4.75 Wp. The cumulative capacity of 36,000 kW is required to be delivered by September 24, 2019, by the selected vendors.

The cell dimensions can be within the range of 156.75 to 157 (plus or minus 0.25 mm), side to side. The cells should be square in shape with the finished cells having a thickness greater than 200 microns. The number of bus bars should be five each on the front and back of the cell. The cells should classify under the class ‘A’ solar cells without any visual defects. The cells need to be potential induced degradation (PID) free.

The price needs to be quoted on a per kilowatt (kW) basis, and the lowest bidder will be evaluated by BHEL on the same measurement parameters. The selected vendors need to supply 6,000 kW per month, starting from the date of the purchase order. The delivery schedule remains the same for all the vendors irrespective of multiple vendors being selected for the project.

Recently, BHEL floated another tender for the supply of solar modules with a cumulative capacity of 71.77 MW for the advancement of its solar projects.

Shortly before this tender announcement, the Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL) had issued a similar tender for sourcing of solar cells of 2.87 Watt capacity from domestic manufacturers.

Image credit: Oregon Department of Transportation [CC BY 2.0]