Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has invited bids for the supply of 3.117 million monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) cells of 5.38 Wp output and 16.555 million multicrystalline solar cells of 4.67 Wp output.

The last date to submit the bids is April 1, 2021. Bids will be opened on the same day.

The mono PERC cells should be 156.75 ± 0.5 mm *156.75 ± 0.5 mm in dimension. The thickness of the cells should be 200 +/- 20 µm.

The multicrystalline solar cells should be 157 ± 0.5 mm *157 ± 0.5 mm in dimension. The thickness of the solar cells should be 200 +/- 20 µm.

Bidders should have a minimum of 100 MW per annum in-house manufacturing capacity of polycrystalline and mono PERC cells. They should have supplied at least one million pieces of 156 to 158.75 mm of polycrystalline silicon solar cells and mono PERC cells each to solar module manufacturers in the last three years.  Bidders should have an established quality assurance system and valid ISO 9001: 2008/2015 certification.

Bidders should have an average annual turnover s of ₹30 million (~$411,414) in the last three financial years.

The cells must be free of any cracks, holes, cuts, edge chipping, missing gridlines, smudges, patches, spots, marks, mechanical damage, or color and pattern mismatches. The cells should have homogeneous silicon nitride coating without any color variations.

The benefits and facilities applicable to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) will be available. Out of the 25% purchase preference for MSEs, 3% will be reserved for women-owned MSEs, and6.25% of the total will be earmarked for SC/ST-owned MSE firms.

For mono PERC cells, one million cells should be supplied within 30 days from the purchase order. Another one million cells should be supplied within 60 days from the purchase order. The remaining 1.117 million cells should be supplied within 90 days of the purchase order.

For the multicrystalline solar cells, 4.555 million solar cells should be supplied within 30 days of the purchase order, and another three million cells should be supplied within 60 days of the purchase order. Similarly, three million cells should be supplied within 90 days. Another three million should be supplied within 120 days. The remaining three million cells should be supplied within 150 days of the purchase order.

In January this year, BHEL invited bids for the supply of 8,352,000 multicrystalline and monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) solar cells. The scope of work included the supply of 8,316,000 multicrystalline solar cells 5BB of 157 mm² in dimension and 4.72Wp output, 18,000 multicrystalline solar cells 5BB of 158.75 mm² and 4.72Wp output, and 18,000 mono PERC solar cells 5BB of 158.75 mm² and 5.62Wp output.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, BHEL has floated tenders for 30,890,000 solar photovoltaic cells as of December 2020.

Mercom’s flagship event Mercom India Solar Summit, to be held virtually on April 8 and 9, has an exclusive session on ‘Solar Modules to Not to Make in India?’. You can click here to register for the event. Panelists will discuss how Indian manufacturers are gearing up to set up new production units backed by  the production-linked incentive program and other incentives.