THIS SOLICITATION IS NO LONGER OPEN. PLEASE SEE OUR SOLICITATIONS PAGE FOR A LIST OF ALL AVAILABLE MASSCEC OFFERINGS, SOLICITATIONS, AND RFPS. FOR INFORMATION ON CURRENT SOLARIZE MASS PROGRAMS, SEE WWW.SOLARIZEMASS.COM.
1) ARE ONLY GREEN COMMUNITIES ELIGIBLE TO APPLY TO THE PROGRAM?
"No. Both Green Communities and non-Green Communities that are serviced by an investor-owned utility or Municipal Lighting Plant that has opted to pay into the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center's (MassCEC's) Renewable Energy Trust Fund can apply. Municipalities that were selected and have previously participated in the Solarize Massachusetts Program are not eligible to apply. "
2) IF COMMUNITIES ARE INTERESTED IN APPLYING TO THE RFP AS A "GROUP", HOW SHOULD PROPOSALS BE SUBMITTED?
"Communities that are applying as a group should submit one proposal to MassCEC. The proposal must include a completed, signed application (Attachment A) from each community, as well as a letter from the CEO of each community outlining the community's commitment to the program, the permitting process for solar PV within the community, the designation of a Municipal Representative and a Community Solar Coach contact for each community, acknowledgement of any utility area networks within the community, attestation of having an energy or sustainability committee that has been meeting for at least one year prior to release of the Community RFP, outline any experience the community has with solar PV, and any comments on the draft MassCEC-Community contract (Attachment C). The group of communities will be eligible to submit one community outreach plan, which must include information on the benefit of responding to the RFP jointly, and how outreach and marketing efforts will be implemented."
3) IS IT POSSIBLE TO REVIEW THE RFP PROPOSALS SUBMITTED BY COMMUNITIES SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2012 AND 2013 ROUNDS 1 AND 2 OF THE SOLARIZE MASS PROGRAM?
"Yes. T"he marketing and outreach sections of the proposals from the communities selected to participate in the 2012 and 2013 Round 1 and Round 2 Solarize Massachusetts Program are posted on the Community RFP Solicitation page at" http://www.masscec.com/content/solarize-mass-community-marketing-proposals ". "
4) DOES THE MUNICIPAL REPRESENTATIVE HAVE TO BE A PAID STAFF MEMBER, OR CAN THEY BE A NON-PAID OR STIPEND ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE?
"The community Municipal Representative can be a paid or non-paid staff member or elected representative. The Municipal Representative must be directly affiliated with the municipal government and someone who can serve as an available resource throughout the duration of the program - for example, someone who may be able to provide insight into the permitting process for solar PV projects and appropriately represent the goals of the municipality."
5) CAN THE MUNICIPAL REPRESENTATIVE AND THE COMMUNITY SOLAR COACH BE THE SAME PERSON UNDER THE SOLARIZE MASS PROGRAM?
"The Municipal Representative and the Community Solar Coach can be the same person, but it should be noted that the Community Solar Coach will be expected to commit a significant amount of time to the program (independent of the Municipal Representative role), and be available to organize and direct volunteers to assist with the local marketing and outreach. Further, while identifying two individuals for these roles is not required, MassCEC anticipates that an engaged and active Community Solar Coach will significantly contribute to the success of the program."
6) DOES THE COMMUNITY SOLAR COACH NEED TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL EITHER EMPLOYED BY THE COMMUNITY OR A RESIDENT OF THE COMMUNITY? COULD THE COMMUNITY SOLAR COACH BE A SHARED POSITION BY MULTIPLE INDIVIDUALS? IF COMMUNITIES ARE APPLYING AS A GROUP, DOES EACH COMMUNITY NEED TO DESIGNATE A COMMUNITY SOLAR COACH?
"The Community Solar Coach does not need to be employed by the community, or necessarily be a resident of the community, as long as they can demonstrate that they have a significant affiliation and investment with the community. For example, an outside consultant residing 3 towns away would likely not be eligible, however someone from the neighboring town who has significant connections in the applying community, or is an active participant in the community's sustainability organization, for example, would likely be eligible."
"The Community Solar Coach must also be a single designated individual who is the main point of contact within the community for daily operations between MassCEC, the installer and the community. Although the designated Community Solar Coach should be one individual, MassCEC will allow both the Community Solar Coach and one (1) other individual within the town to take part in the Community Solar Coach training. This allows for one additional individual to participate in MassCEC solar electricity education and learn basic information on the technology and some of the most frequently asked questions that will likely be asked during the program. This will enable some cross-training within the community and assist in local education. The Solarize Mass community volunteer team can and should be comprised of multiple individuals."
"If communities are applying as a group, each community will be responsible for designating a Community Solar Coach to participate in the program."
7) CAN THE 2,500 DESIGNATED FOR THE COMMUNITY BE USED AS A STIPEND FOR THE COMMUNITY SOLAR COACH?
"Each community (even if participating as a group) will receive standardized marketing materials, such as a banner and t-shirts, as well as a 2,500 marketing grant to utilize for community-specific marketing needs (as approved by MassCEC). Of the 2,500 marketing grant, up to 500 may be used by the municipality as a stipend for the Community Solar Coach. If the community wishes to pay the Community Solar Coach a stipend, it is the responsibility of the community to determine the feasibility and administration of remitting such payment."
8) WHAT CUSTOMERS ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM?
"Residential customers (whether the system is installed on a primary or secondary home), commercial properties, not-for-profits, private schools and universities are eligible to participate in the program. Municipal and public buildings are eligible, but may be obligated to conduct a public bidding process in order to contract for a solar PV system, which may prevent participation."
"Please note that commercial projects over 15 kW of capacity generally fall outside of the scope of the Solarize Mass program. If these projects are developed during the Solarize Mass campaign, the installer may choose to count them toward the community's total contracted capacity or tiered pricing, but they will not be the focus of the campaign's marketing and outreach. Within the 46 communities that have participated in the Solarize Mass program to date, there have only been 3 commercial projects over 15 kW that have contracted under the program. It is MassCEC's expectation that community outreach for this program will focus on residential-scale projects."
9) HOW MANY MEET THE INSTALLER PRESENTATIONS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN EACH COMMUNITY?
"One Meet the Installer presentation will be conducted in each community or group of communities. Communities that partner together should be prepared for MassCEC to perform each meeting once for the entire group of communities, and not within each participating community of the group. Community volunteers or the selected solar PV installer may conduct additional community events. Materials from the presentations will be posted on "www.solarizemass.com"."
10) HOW WILL SOLAR PV INSTALLERS BE CHOSEN FOR THE SOLARIZE MASS COMMUNITIES?
"In mid-October 2014, MassCEC will release a Request for Proposals to the solar PV installer industry, requesting bids on the participating 2015 Communities. Installers will be required to submit a proposal to MassCEC for each of the communities for which they want to bid. MassCEC will perform a threshold review of all installer proposals, verifying that they meet the core requirements outlined in the Installer RFP."
"As part of the installer selection process, selected communities will appoint an external review team to review installer proposals that have met threshold requirements. The external review team will be made up of the Municipal Representative, the Community Solar Coach, and up to two additional representatives. For communities that are participating as a group, the external review team will be comprised of the Municipal Representative and the Community Solar Coach from each community, along with 1 additional representative per community."
"The external review team should be prepared to allocate appropriate time to review installer proposals between mid-December 2014 through mid-January 2015. See the "Solarize Mass Community Best Practices Timeline" for more information. With the assistance of MassCEC, DOER and a technical consultant, the external review team will select the top three scoring installers to invite to an interview day. MassCEC and DOER will host the interview day in late January 2015, during which MassCEC, the external review team and the technical consultant will have the opportunity to interview the installers. At least one (1) member of the external review team must be present at the interview day. Conference lines will be available so that other members of the external review team have the option to participate remotely. After the completion of the event, the Community External Review team, with input from MassCEC, DOER and the technical consultant, will select their first choice of installer. MassCEC will then move forward to contract with the installer on behalf of the Community for the duration of the Solarize Mass program timeline. "More information about this event will be provided to the communities selected to participate in the program."
11) CAN MORE THAN ONE SOLAR PV INSTALLER BE SELECTED FOR A COMMUNITY?
"Only one installer proposal, outlining a lead solar PV installer, will be selected for each participating community. However, the lead solar PV installer may partner with another solar-related company to form a joint venture and apply to the installer RFP together. Installer applications will be required to clearly define the roles of all companies involved. In addition, installers that are not selected for a given community, and thus not an official partner in the Solarize Mass program, will still be eligible to sell within the community."
12) ARE THERE INSTANCES WHERE A HOMEOWNER WOULD BE CHARGED MORE THAN THE BASE TIER PRICE?
"Yes. Each solar PV installer bidding on a community will be required to provide a base purchase price or PPA/lease price, as well as specific cost adders for situations where work is needed beyond a standard installation, which would result in increased pricing for the customer. In addition, the installer may also provide optional project upgrades. Examples may include but are not limited to ground mounted systems, electrical service upgrades, and additional structural work."
13) HOW DOES TIER PRICING WORK IN THE PROGRAM?
"As more people in a community (or group of communities) contract for solar PV projects, higher pricing tiers are reached. Reaching higher tiers means that the dollar per watt purchase price will decrease for customers that purchased systems, and customers that signed a Lease/PPA contract will receive a greater financial incentive. The final tier pricing is established based on cumulative contracted capacity at the end of the sign-up period (June 30, 2015). As a result, a customer that contracts at the beginning of the program will end up receiving the benefit of the same tier pricing as a customer that signs up toward the end of the program."
14) WHAT IS THE DEADLINE FOR CUSTOMERS TO CONTRACT DURING THE 2015 SOLARIZE MASS PROGRAM?
"Residents and business owners in participating Solarize Mass communities will have until "June 30, 2015" to contract with the selected installer, in order to receive the tier pricing offered as part of the program. Note that this is a deadline for customers to contract, not to sign up for a site assessment. "The Installer team will have one year from the date of project application approval (this may be different for each system) to install the system. The total contracted capacity in each community will determine the pricing tier for all of the contracted participants in that community."
15) HOW IS THE SOLAR LOAN PROGRAM APPLICABLE UNDER SOLARIZE
"DOER's Residential Solar Loan Program is being developed to reduce barriers for homeowners to get financing to install a solar project. Once finalized, this program would be available to qualifying individuals signing contracts under Solarize Mass. This program is still in development so the final details are not yet available, but the program's development can be followed "here."
16) CAN PEOPLE ADD TO THEIR EXISTING PV SYSTEMS WITH A SOLARIZE MASS CONTRACT?
"Customers are welcome to add to their existing solar PV systems under Solarize Mass. Note that new portions of a system may be subject to different incentives or other requirements. "
RFP ID: MassCEC 2015-SMP-02
