How to Select a Winning Solar Provider

With the extension of the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) through 2021, Guidehouse’s forecast indicates that annually installed commercial and industrial (C&I) solar PV capacity will continue to grow year-over-year through 2022. Because of this, it is especially important to provide resources for the C&I sector to facilitate the decision to go solar. Guidehouse, Inc. has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings Alliance (BBA) for 2 years to promote solar PV for commercial buildings.

Most recently, Guidehouse supported the development of the 7 Steps to Selecting a Solar Provider guide, which outlines the process of procuring solar PV by issuing a request for proposal (RFP). Learning about solar is the first step, and the BBA’s On-Site Commercial Solar PV Decision Guide provides direction on the key aspects of a commercial solar installation. Defining project goals and provider selection criteria are the next two crucial (and often overlooked) steps that are required in developing an RFP to procure a custom project. If project goals are not clearly defined, solar provider bids will not be able to develop customized proposals, making it very difficult to compare offers. Clearly defining project goals feeds directly into developing a detailed and a well-written RFP. Consistently applying these defined selection criteria to shortlist providers and select an awardee is a key sign of a well-thought-out procurement process.

Solar Provider Selection Process

(Source: Guidehouse)

To facilitate issuing a well-written RFP, the BBA released the following templates:

• The Solar Request for Proposal Template, a Microsoft Word document that can be easily customized with project-specific details.
• The Solar Cost Proposal Template, a Microsoft Excel document to ensure all bidders submit requested pricing in the same format. This template also includes a simple project cash flow.

Guidehouse will be soliciting feedback over the course of the next 6 months from solar PV developers and BBA members for this suite of resources. If you have comments regarding how the resources can be expanded or improved upon, please email andrea.romano@navigant.com.