BHEL gets Indian solar pump deal worth 1.3 MW for Punjab state

The electronics division of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) in Bangalore, India has received an order to supply 700 sets of solar-powered pumps, equal to 1.3 MW of installed PV capacity, for private farmers in the northern state of Punjab.

BHEL, which also manufactures PV cells and modules, signed the contract on March 4. The deal is worth 190 million INR ($4.4 million), most of which is being covered by India's Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) and the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA). End-users will put up 35,000 INR ($808), about 13 percent of the cost, for each of the 1.8 kW systems. The pumps will be distributed in about one-third of Punjab's 17 districts. K. Satheesan, a senior manager at BHEL, says all the DC pumps should be installed by June. 

Powered by two dozen 75 W BHEL modules, each system can pump up to 140,000 liters of water per day from a depth of up to 7 m, says Satheesan. The deal means that BHEL, which produced about 1.5 MW of cells on a capacity of 2 MW in 2003, will have to increase production. Satheesan expects BHEL to produce up to its full capacity of 3 MW of cells and modules in 2004.

William P. Hirshman
© PHOTON International, May 2004