The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has invited bids to manufacture and supply 12 million units of 156.75 mm multicrystalline solar cells with five busbars and 4.62Wp.

The cells should be made from multicrystalline silicon, and the dimension of the cells should be 156.75+-0.25 mm or 157+-0.25 mm.

The solar thickness of the cells should be at least 200 microns. The power output of the cells should be 4.62 watts or more, and the solar cell efficiency should at least be 18.8%.

The last date for the submission of bids is February 21, 2020. The delivery of the first batch of 3 million solar cells should be made within four weeks from the date of the purchase order, and the remaining should be delivered in three batches of 3 million every four weeks thereafter.

As far as the eligibility criteria are concerned, the offer should be submitted only by original multicrystalline solar cell manufacturers, and the bidder should have a minimum of 100 MW/annum in-house silicon solar cell manufacturing capacity.

An interested bidder should have supplied at least 1 million pieces of 156 to 157 mm multicrystalline silicon solar cells to PV module manufacturers during the last two years.

The price variation clause will apply to the unit rate in the purchase order to take care of the market trends. The unit price in the purchase order will vary with the variations of the reference price.

Regarding the technical criteria, the multicrystalline silicon solar cells offered by the bidder should comply as per the BHEL technical specifications PS 439 403 REV 01 with a minimum wattage of 4.62 watts per cell and five busbars. BHEL requires potential induced degradation -free cells to be procured against the tender.

Previously, Mercom had reported that BHEL’s electronics division in Bengaluru had issued a request for the quotation inviting interested parties to submit their applications for the manufacturing and supply of solar cells.

Recently, BHEL issued a notice inviting tender for contractors to set up a 100 MW AC floating solar project for the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at the Ramagundam, Peddapeli District, Telangana.

Earlier, BHEL had issued a tender inviting quotations for the manufacturing and supply of 4,500,000 DWS multi silicon solar wafers with a specification of 157-millimeters.