The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has discovered the lowest bid of ₹53,651 (~$721)/kW for residential rooftop solar systems of up to 1 kW.

The bids were in response to the tender floated by KSEB in February this year to empanel contractors for providing engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for 200 MW of grid-connected residential rooftop solar systems in Kerala. The projects will be developed under Part A (Up to 1 kW), Part B (1 to 2 kW), Part C (2 to 3 kW), Part D (3 to 10 kW), Part E (10 to 100 kW), and Part F (100 to 500 kW) categories.

A total of seven vendors have been empaneled for rooftop solar systems ranging from 1 kW to 500 kW. The vendors who have been empaneled under the tender include Tata Power Solar System, Power One Micro Systems, Druidic Energy, Ishaan Solar Power, Bingas Electrical Electronics and Solar System, Kondass Automation, and BSS Solar.

The lowest quoted cost for a rooftop solar system up to 1 kW was ₹53,651 (~$721)/kW, ₹49,000 (~$658)/kW for 1 kW to 2 kW rooftop systems, ₹48,000 (~$645)/kW for 2kW to 3 kW rooftop systems, ₹48,949 (~$658)/kW for 3 kW to 10 kW rooftop systems, ₹43,499 (~$584)/kW for 10 kW to 100 kW rooftop systems, and ₹39,900 (~$536)/kW for 100 kW to 500 kW rooftop systems.

The projects will be developed under the ‘Soura Subsidy Program’ being implemented by the Kerala government. The project is in line with the Phase II Subsidy Program of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

In August 2019, the Kerala Government had launched a program called ‘Soura’ to add 1,000 MW of solar projects to the existing capacity of KSEB by 2022. The projects will be executed to fulfill the state’s renewable purchase obligation.

The project has to be commissioned within three months of the receipt of the orders from individual customers.

The minimum installed capacity at a single location should be 1 kW. The projects up to 30 kW should be commissioned within three months from the EPC order date, and projects above 30 kW should be commissioned within six months. The contractor would have to bear the cost of setting up infrastructure for the solar generation facility to the interconnection point and data acquisition, including the communication facility.

Only indigenously manufactured solar modules (both cells and modules) will be used in projects under the subsidy program.

Per Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) guidelines, central financial assistance (CFA) of 40% on the benchmark cost will be provided for systems up to 3 kW. For systems above 3 kW and up to 10 kW, a CFA of 40% will be applicable for only the first 3 kW capacity, and for others, it will be 20%. For group housing societies and residential welfare associations, the CFA will be restricted to 20% for common facilities up to 500 kW.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, KSEB has so far floated tenders for 351.14 MW of rooftop solar systems.

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