Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has invited bids from manufacturers able to supply 12 million multicrystalline silicon solar cells with a minimum 4.62 W output and at least 18.8% efficiency.
The state-owned engineer and manufacturer stipulated the cells should measure 156.75×156.75±0.25mm or 157×157±0.25mm with a minimum thickness of 200 microns. The devices must also have plasma-enhanced, chemical-vapor-deposited silicon nitride as an anti-reflection coating.
To be eligible, manufacturers should have an annual crystalline silicon solar cell production capacity of at least 100 MW and must have provided at least a million cells of the dimensions specified during the last two years, to either Indian PV module manufacturers or module makers located outside the nation where the bidder is based.
The bid window closes on Friday and offers must be made on the basis of a price per cell.
BHEL will require 3 million of the cells within four weeks of the date of the purchase order. The remaining 9 million cells must be supplied at a rate of 3 million every four weeks after the initial shipment.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Perhaps it is better to try out these for rural households to assess its performance initially. Ultimately at the time of replacement of existing installations, its performance will be known. Perhaps the design of the auxiliaries of the existing installations such as cables etc., should cater to these capacities for better utilization at a later date.
I think promoting D.C utilities and avoiding inverters will save the cost and improve the efficiency.