Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) is seeking qualified firms to submit proposals for the design, procurement, and installation of new residential and commercial photovoltaic (PV) systems at a per-watt price lower than the prevailing single system market rate.
The “group buy” program is being led by Midwest Renewable Energy Association. The goal of the program is to increase consumer education and PV installations in St. Louis (City and County) and St. Charles County, as well as Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair Counties (and other regional locations as may be decided) in Illinois, through a group purchase involving a competitive contractor selection process, an advantageous pricing and rebate structure, and free information sessions.
Between 2013 and 2019, the MREA facilitated thirty-four Solar Group Buy programs around the Midwest, reaching over 8,000 individuals with our Solar Power Hour information sessions, and leading to more than 12,000 kW on over 1,600 properties. Among those property owners who received proposals from partnering contractors, an average 40% purchased a PV system. To date, the average system size is 7.15 kW. In this program, we anticipate an average system size of 5.5-6 kW on properties in the Missouri Counties, and an average system size of 8-9 kW in the Illinois counties.
In Missouri, the group buy program is offered with support from MREA and Missouri Botanical Garden (MOBOT) with high visibility in St. Louis city and county, and St. Charles County. In Illinois, the program is offered with support from MREA and Madison County Resource Management, Lewis & Clark Community College, Glen Carbon Cool Cities Committee, Godfrey Cool Cities Committee, Collinsville Cool Cities Committee, and the Sierra Club with high visibility in Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair Counties. MREA will coordinate and deliver a minimum of 30 free, public Solar Power Hour information sessions and market them widely with physical posters, email blasts, paid social media promotion, in the press, and more.
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RFP Announced January 31, 2020
RFP Questions Due/Posted February 14, 2020
RFP Proposals Due February 21, 2020
Firm(s) Selected March 16, 2020
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
In Exhibit C Part 1 you ask for five volume discount tiers. Must the vendor offer a discount at each of those specific tiers or can the vendor offer alternate tiers? Please refer to the note at the bottom of page 15: Note: If you would like to propose an additional pricing scheme that differs from the above format, you may do so. You MUST, however, submit pricing in the above format, and any additional pricing scheme/format is optional and will not factor into installer selection. If your proposal is selected, your alternative pricing scheme may be used upon approval.
If available, can you please provide the number of scheduled or expected Power Hour events per program region (Metro East, St Louis County/City, and St Charles) and the first event/last event date range that the Power Hours will be occurring during the program? We anticipate the Solar Power Hour schedule to be evenly split on both sides of the river, with a minimum of 30 total presentations, i.e. 15 per program. The programs will launch around April 22, and the final presentation will take place in the first or second week of August.
Can adders be described in “per module” increments from a reference point number of modules? i.e. If we said the base price applied to a size range of let’s say 5-10 KW, could we express the small system adder as something like +$XYZ.00/module reduction for any system < 5 KW? Yes. Please articulate this in the adders section under “Ex. Small System Adder.”