Group Buys are important tools for increasing solar deployment in a market in a short period of time. When done correctly, they can be beneficial to everyone involved, including residents, businesses, local organizations, and jurisdictions. They work by aggregating demand for solar, usually in a small geographic area, achieving economies of scale. They lower the solar installers’ “soft costs” further by providing up-front customer education en masse, leading to a higher-than-average conversion rate for solar leads. Home and business owners see lower prices for their solar array, and communities move toward achieving their sustainability goals.

How it works

• A solar installer is selected through a competitive Request for Proposals process involving an advisory committee of community stakeholders.
• Free, public information sessions (we call them “Solar Power Hours”) are hosted throughout the community over a period of several months.
• Local jurisdictions, organizations, volunteers, and MREA help spread the word to the community to invite as many people as possible to learn about and potentially invest in solar.
• As more people decide to go solar, the price comes down for everyone.
• Participants have a deadline to make a solar “go” or “no-go” decision. After that, the group buy pricing goes away.
• Solar installations happen throughout the program timeline.

In a solar group buy, people learn about solar together with neighbors, local business owners, and community leaders. Working in partnership, we provide high value education that informs people about the technology and the investment potential. Solar is contagious: a short burst of market activity can lead to an increase in solar deployment for years to come. And, because the more people who go solar, the lower the price for everyone, Solar Group Buys inspire many people to go solar who otherwise wouldn’t.

Who Benefits?

PROPERTY OWNERS: Property owners get access to lower prices for high quality solar arrays that save them money on their electric bill for decades and increase their energy independence.

COMMUNITIES: Communities reach their climate goals faster through the education and investment of their residents in solar photovoltaics. Solar group buys are also worth points toward SolSmart designation.

THE ENVIRONMENT: Emissions from hundreds of thousands of pounds of fossil fuels are avoided thanks to dozens of property owners producing their own clean electricity.

The MREA will provide presentations called “Solar Power Hours” customized to the program’s location. The presentation introduces the MREA, the partner organizations, and the selected installer. It introduces the technology and explains what makes a property suitable for installation. It also introduces the concept of a group buy program, how it works, and dives deeper into the financials while presenting a local case study.

Presentations typically last an hour including 15 minutes of Q&A. These can be either in-person or virtual and each program will have about 6+ Power Hours offered.

Getting well-informed participants to the table saves the  installer hours of marketing and education they would otherwise have to do themselves, and in turn, saves the property owner money. It is our number one way we get our message out to participants.

Since 2013, the MREA has educated over 14,500 individuals with these informational sessions.