The Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL), a joint venture between the Government of India and the Government of Rajasthan, has issued a tender for the supply of 150,000 solar cells.

REIL said it requires 50,000 each of 5W bifacial solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, 7W monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) cells, and 10W mono PERC cells.

The deadline for bid submission is November 11, 2020. REIL did not specify an earnest money deposit for participation.

The cells are to be supplied on a one or two lot basis as mutually agreed. REIL can extend the delivery period if required. If deliveries are not made on time, liquidated damages will be applicable at a rate of 1% of the shipment’s overall value per week.

The 5W bifacial cells must be 156.75×156.75 ± 0.5mm or 157.0×157.0 ± 0.5mm in dimensions and five busbars in length. The 7W mono PERC cells must have dimensions of 182×182 ± 0.5mm and be five to six busbars in length, while the 10W cells are to be 210×210 ± 0.5mm and six, nine, ten, or 12 busbars in length. All the cells must be 200 μm ± 30 μm in thickness.

The cells must be free of any cracks, holes, cuts, edge chipping, missing gridlines, smudges, patches, spots, marks, or visible color and pattern mismatches. The cells must be vacuum packed in an export-worthy manner to avoid damage during transit in lots of 100 and must be secured tightly in shock-proof thermocol boxes. The cells will be supplied in a power band of 0.05W.

REIL said it would prefer dealing directly with manufacturers, especially indigenous or domestic manufacturers, as long as they meet quality standards and specifications. Vendors who have not previously supplied cells to REIL are expected to submit a sample lot of 150 cells of each wattage free of cost for evaluation before the tender’s due date.

According to Mercom’s solar tender tracker, in August, REIL issued a notice inviting tender for 600,000 multicrystalline solar cells with wattages of 4.5W, 4.6W, and 4.67W. The tender sought the supply of 200,000 cells for each specified wattage.

Around the same time, REIL also issued a tender for the manufacture and supply of 6,500 polycrystalline solar modules with a 330 W wattage. The modules must be made from 72 solar cells.

It was also reported recently that REIL had issued a tender for rate contract manufacturing of polycrystalline solar modules of 325W. If these solar cells are domestically manufactured, the diffusion process on wafers (black wafers) should be carried out in India.

Image credit: Photo by MICHAEL WILSON on Unsplash