ITI Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Department of Telecommunication, Ministry of Communications, has floated a tender for the supply of 531,360 multicrystalline solar cells.

The estimated value of the tender is ₹17.53 million (~$234,947), according to the tender document. The company did not specify an earnest money deposit (EMD) amount. Bids must be submitted only through online modes, and the last date for the submission of bids is August 4, 2020.

The cells are expected to have a wattage of 4.57W. They must have dimensions of 156.75 x 156.75 ± 0.25 mm and a thickness of 200 μm ± 20 μm. They must also have a silicon nitride anti-reflective coating and should not have a bow lesser than 2 mm.

The cells should be free of visual defects like broken or chipped edges, micro-cracks, pinholes, discontinuity of metal printing liens, spots, spillages or smears, color variations, and non-uniform printing lines.

ITI noted that the supplied batch of cells must be from the latest production batch and that the batch number should be indicated. Applicants who have not previously supplied any materials to the company are expected to submit a free sample. In case ITI makes a purchase order, bulk supply must start only after the samples are approved.  The delivery of the solar cells must be completed within four to eight weeks.

In March, ITI issued a tender for procuring solar energy from the off-site, ground-mounted project through the group captive open access (GCOA) model. The tender stated that the selection of solar power developers or private partners for the procurement of eight million units of renewable energy per annum would be made through the GCOA model.

More recently, the Central Electronics Limited floated a tender for the supply of 2 million multicrystalline passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) solar cells. The tender was open to domestic as well as international suppliers.

A little earlier, Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited also invited bids for 1.1 million solar cells with wattages of 4.5W, 4.6W, and 4.67W.