The call for tenders is for a mix of rooftop projects, both mounted and integrated, ground-mounted projects and solar-panel canopies for car-parking facilities.
France has committed to a target of 23% of energy, or 5,400MW, generated from renewable sources by 2020. Interim targets include 15.5% from renewables by 2015-16 and 18.3% in 2017-18.
There are two support schemes for renewable energy in France: feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) and calls for tender.
Under the FiTs, electricity suppliers and network operators must arrange long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) with renewable energy generators, at a fixed price. For solar power, the required PPA length is 20 years.
These FiTs are financed by a levy on consumers, the CSPE or "contribution au service public de l'éléctricité" that is added to electricity bills.
Calls for tender are used for larger projects that are needed to meet targets. Successful bidders are guaranteed a long-term PPA with energy suppliers, and as with FiTs, the difference between long-term price and market price is recovered through the CSPE paid by consumers.
Energy expert Julien Espeillac of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said the French state's use of public tenders in this way creates incentives for the installation of photovoltaic solar energy sites, and "is a major step in achieving the objectives of reducing CO2 and sustaining the re-development of this industry in a market affected by the reduction of FiTs that has occurred in recent years".
The deadline for tender submissions is 1 June 2015.
