Central Electronics Limited (CEL), a public sector enterprise under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, has issued an expression of interest (EoI) to tie-up with start-up companies as a technology partner for waterless solar photovoltaic (SPV) module cleaning systems.

The last date for the submission of bids is September 30, 2020.

The brief scope of work includes assisting CEL in Sahibabad (Uttar Pradesh) in manufacturing such module cleaning systems at its facilities and improve upon the systems as per the market requirements.

As per the eligibility criteria, the bidder must have experience in the design and development of a waterless SPV module cleaning system without any moving parts. If the bidder is interested in both development and testing, then they must submit documents required for both the fields.

The prospective bidder should be registered under the Start-Up India initiative in line with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DIPP) guidelines.

The bidder must submit the list of development tools, software, and test equipment available during the time of submitting the EoI. The details of ownership of a patent or technology also need to be submitted.

The cleaning of solar panels is essential for efficient power generation from a project. Dust particles, bird droppings, and other particulate materials lead to a decrease in energy generation, highlighting the importance of solar module cleaning.

Water is used extensively for cleaning solar modules, and this has become a big challenge for developers, especially in arid and dry regions where water is scarce.

In February 2020, Mercom reported on how robotic cleaning of solar modules is gaining momentum in India amid rising water scarcity.

Previously, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had noted that the project developers are using too much water to clean solar modules and that they should try to minimize wastage. The Ministry had recommended the efficient utilization of water for cleaning utility-scale solar projects.

Image credit: Blokleen Solar Private Limited