Step-by-Step Solarize
Solarize campaigns follow a few basic steps, which are detailed in the Department of Energy's Solarize Guidebook: A Community Guide to Collective Purchasing of Residential PV Systems.
Step 1A: Develop partnerships and initiate planning (months 1-3). Usually, the initial campaign involved the primary project manager (someone in HR or, more commonly, an employee from the company's sustainability group), a volunteer coordinator (maybe a staff volunteer) and a technical support lead (an internal or external solar specialist).
These project players collaborate to build the project work plan and timeline, identify all the tasks, responsible parties and community partners. Potential community allies include the local American Solar Energy Society chapter, a local government agency or utility.
Step 1B: Build database and customer interface (months 1-3). The project organizer should provide a customer service database and protocols to the contractor, to track customer follow-up, schedule installations and capture project results. Some contractors may have their own software, but they should also update the database supplied by the program.
Step 2: Committee recruitment (months 1-2). One of the first tasks of the primary project manager is to recruit core committee members from the staff. These members should be organized into two groups, for outreach and for leading the RFP process.
Step 3: RFP Process (months 2-3). It is important for the RFP committee to have a clear method of scoring the proposals and to communicate this to the bidders.
Step 4: Outreach and education (months 4-6). Once the contractor is selected, outreach becomes the focus. Elements of an outreach campaign can include a program website on the company intranet, print materials, blogs and emails, and workshops for interested employees. A successful campaign will enlist the support of staff solar champions who already have solar on their homes.
Step 5: Employee enrollment (months 4-6). Kick off with a profile event for employees and continue outreach throughout enrollment.
Step 6: Site assessments (months 4-8). If all goes well, the customer and contractor sign a contract.
Step 7: Installations (months 5-9). The contractor is responsible for installations, but the project manager should monitor the customer database to ensure they occur within an appropriate time frame.
Step 8: Celebrate and reflect (month 9). Acknowlege the hard work of everyone who supported the program and celebrate the company-wide effort. Equally important is reflection and evaluation. Solicit feedback to improve future programs.
Strategies That Work
Assemble the right players. Find champions who hold key leadership positions within their organizations. These might include members of management and human resources who have the authority to move things forward and are committed to attending regular meetings or conference calls throughout the program.
Understand the barriers. The biggest obstacles participants face are high up-front costs, time and effort. Make the program affordable and convenient by negotiating a volume discount and offering participants financing options, which the PV companies should detail in their RFP responses.
Frame the program as a benefit. If you offer your Solarize program to employees, frame it as a benefit (rather than an obligation or expectation), emphasizing the rewards of solar energy. This approach allows you to reach participants through existing channels such as human resources websites and newsletters.
Overcome participant inertia. One f the biggest drivers of success for Solarize programs is a limited-time offer. When given a small window of time to decide whether to go solar, rather than waiting to see of rebates or pricing might improve in the near future, participants make their decisions more rapidly.
Invest most of your time in outreach. Market your program through a variety of media - presentations, webinars, websites, human resources bulletins, newsletters and fliers - to reach potential participants frequently, catch their attention and spur them to action. Make outreach easy for your partner organizations by creating all the materials for them.
Tips for Solar Installers
When you respond to a Solarize program RFP, understand that selection committees are looking for more than the lowest price. They will also consider quality of equipment and may have a preference for locally produced components when available. The more add-ons included in the price (such as animal deterrents) the better.
In addition, RFP committees want to find a well-established installer that can handle the customer volume these programs generate. And, depending on employee locations, committees might want to choose a well-diversified company operating in different markets.
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Jason Coughlin is a solar finance analyst at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, CO.
This article first appeared in Solar Today, the magazine of the American Solar Energy Society.
