The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has issued a tender for the supply of module cleaning systems for 50 MW of solar projects in the state of Maharashtra.

The projects are located at Koudgaon, Osmanabad, in the state of Maharashtra. The last date for the submission of bids is December 23, 2019, while the bid opening date has been scheduled for December 24, 2019. The prospective bidders must deposit a sum of ₹40,300 (~$568.36) as the earnest money deposit (EMD).

In October 2019, BHEL had issued a tender for a 50 MW of solar power projects for Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MAHAGENCO) at Kaudgaon in Maharashtra. Through this tender, BHEL was also looking to procure the balance of system (BoS) for the projects.

According to the tender document, the successful bidder should have prior experience of having successfully completed similar work during the last five years. The bidder should have carried out the supply, installation, and testing of solar module cleaning systems involving water washing or cleaning systems. The tender document also states that the bidder’s average annual financial turnover during the last three years should be ₹3 million (~$4,230). The bidder must install the entire module cleaning system layout and demonstrate the working of the entire system to the satisfaction of the BHEL engineer.

Dust and dirt particles accumulate on the surface of the PV module, and this can reduce the optimal performance of the solar modules, and hence, periodic cleaning of these modules is necessary for the optimum performance of solar projects.

In line with this, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had issued a letter recommending efficient utilization of water for cleaning utility-scale solar projects. The ministry had said that project developers are currently using too much water for cleaning solar modules, and they should try and minimize wastage. The ministry had also recommended the use of robotic cleaning technology, which uses less water for cleaning solar projects.

In July 2019, Mercom reported that BHEL had floated another tender for the supply, instrumentation, and construction of a module cleaning system for 129 MW of solar PV projects in Telangana.

Last month, Ecoppia, a company providing automation and robotics for large-scale solar projects, has been chosen by Fortum to deploy its field-proven cleaning solutions across its solar projects in India.

Image credit: By Avinash Kaushik, CC BY 2.0