Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) is seeking qualified firms to submit proposals for the design, procurement, and installation of new residential photovoltaic (PV) systems at a per-watt price lower than the prevailing single system market rate.
The “group buy” program is being led by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA). The goal of the program is to deploy solar PV on over 70 Habitat for Humanity homes throughout Wisconsin through a group purchase involving a competitive contractor selection process and an advantageous pricing structure.
Between 2013 and 2021, the MREA facilitated more than fifty Solar Group Buy programs around the Midwest, reaching over 11,600 individuals with our Solar Power Hour information sessions, and leading to more than 17,400 kW on over 2,300 properties.
The group buy program is offered on behalf of the following Habitat for Humanity affiliates: Chippewa Valley, Door County, Fox Cities, Lakeside, Dane County, Kenosha, Washington and Dodge Counties, Wisconsin River, Milwaukee, and St. Croix Valley. The MREA will coordinate the RFP process and Habitat affiliates will select installers.
This program will also include paid internships or apprenticeships for participants in a solar workforce development partnership between MREA and partner organizations that may include Madison Area Technical College, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Oneida Nation, and Walnut Way. MREA will facilitate applications from such partners, but the selected installer(s) may hire interns or apprentices of their choosing. The selected installer(s) will accept 2-3 interns or apprenticeships for on-the-job training.
Click here to download Request for Proposals.
RFP Announced March 10, 2022
RFP Questions Due/Posted March 24, 2022
RFP Proposals Due March 31, 2022
Firm Selected April 14, 2022
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Q&A will be posted here on March 24.
- Would the contracts be with the Habitat Affiliate? The contracts will be held with the Habitat Affiliate. Focus on Energy is aware that ownership of the property may change before, during, and after installations take place.
- Is there potential that more sites could be added to the list? Yes there is potential for more sites to be added.
- Is it safe to assume the sites listed are further along in the decision-making process? The sites listed should be considered ready to sign contracts for installation of solar (regardless of whether their site itself is ready for installation to begin).
- It is required that we hire 2-3 interns to work on these projects for minimum of 160 hours each, correct? Yes
- Is there any information on construction time lines? Timelines are affiliate specific, and vary from affiliate to affiliate. The hope is to get them finished or nearly finished by the end of the year, with a few exceptions. Most affiliates that are building more than a couple houses are doing them in waves, since they don’t have enough staff and volunteers to start them all at once. So, for example, Milwaukee starts a group of homes near each other and does a build week where they get the houses framed and closed for weather. While those are being worked on, they’ll do another build week a couple months later, and then another, so at some point they’ll have a bunch of homes going in different stages. So, they’ll be completed at various times throughout the summer, fall and winter.
- Are there plans for any of these homes? If not, are there any common characteristics of H4H home plans like 2 story, shingle roofs, 4/12 roof pitch, locations of utility rooms, etc that they can share? Plans vary from Habitat affiliate to affiliate. Most are one story, except in Milwaukee, where the city wants them to build to match the neighborhoods they are in. So they are 2 story, as are a few in Madison. Roofing materials, roof pitches, number of stories, and approximate completion dates are listed on Attachment 1.