The Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KELTRON) has floated a short-term expression of interest (EoI) for the empanelment of agencies and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors to install grid-interactive hybrid rooftop solar projects at different offices across the state of Karnataka.

The rooftop solar systems will be installed on a turnkey basis. The last date for the submission of bids is May 30, 2020, while the date for the opening of technical bids has been scheduled for June 3, 2020.

To be eligible, the bidder should have previously executed hybrid projects in India. The prospective bidder should have an office in Karnataka, and the branch should be operational for the last seven years. Further, the bidder should have at least 15 service centers across Karnataka. Local manufacturers and vendors will be preferred for this tender, KELTRON added.

KELTRON has also specified that only crystalline silicon cell PV modules of 300Wp or higher capacity will be used in the project. The manufacturer should provide at least five years’ warranty for the solar modules. For the hybrid inverters, the maker should be empaneled with BESCOM.

Besides this, the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) should have installed hybrid inverter projects of a cumulative 2.5 MW capacity in any government organization during the past five years. The interested bidders should have an annual turnover of minimum ₹400 million (~$5.2 million) in the last three financial years.

The tender document further states that the grid-interactive hybrid solar PV power projects will consist of solar PV modules with a hybrid inverter with an inbuilt maximum power point tracking (MPPT). It should have the provision to export excess power to the grid under net metering and also have the option of blocking the export. The connectivity will be as per the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) guidelines.

The proposed grid-interactive hybrid rooftop solar system will consist of solar photovoltaic array, module mounting structure, battery bank, hybrid solar inverter, earth kits, interconnecting cables, and civil works.

The successful bidder must ensure that PV modules, metallic structures, cables, hybrid solar inverters, and other parts used in the SPV power projects conform to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) or the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

In March 2020, BESCOM also invited expressions of interest for empaneled agencies to install 30 MW of rooftop solar projects in Bangalore. These projects will be developed on the rooftops of residential buildings, group housing societies, and residential welfare associations in the BESCOM jurisdiction under the net metering program.

According to Mercom’s recently released – Q1 2020 India Solar Market Update, Karnataka accounts for approximately 230 MW of rooftop solar capacity against the target capacity of 2.4 GW by 2022.

In December last year, the KERC had issued an order which proposes various business models for rooftop solar. But the order hasn’t gone down well with the rooftop solar installers.