Solar Group Buy Request for Proposals

Civic Works has active partnerships in Baltimore City and Howard County but we do outreach in Harford, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore Counties.

Civic Works completes an overview and definition of each financing option, but we typically leave the in-depth details of options to the installer to go over with the customer. Civic Works will be assessing the client’s preferred method of funding their solar project during the intake process, so that the installer is informed when the lead is sent for consultation.

Will accept either or both. State clearly on Question 20 what your company offers.

While our goal is to foster a fair lead-to-installer transfer process, our criteria for what contractor gets what lead heavily depend on things such as roof type limitations with the contractor, areas serviced, etc. Once we receive the RFP submissions and build criteria based on the information provided, we will update each selected installer on the criteria established.

The 1,171 leads are across all our programs, highlighting our extensive outreach capacity. Our focus the last 2 years has been on our low income solar program, so our market rate rooftop solar contracts were much smaller. With the launch of the new RFP and new partners, we expect to see much higher contracts in 2026 and are hiring additional capacity to expand our outreach as well. Our goal is 50 completed projects.

Historically, we have seen between 29%-50% lead to closed conversion rates with our Group Buy program, so our goal for 2026 would be around 40% of contracts signed for all leads. We have added staff capacity to specifically help market and convert customers in this market rate program.

Civic Works will be BCC’d on all proposals sent to the customer so that we can review in real-time.

• Consultation and proposal issued.
• Civic Works receives the proposal at the same time the customer does. 
• Sends to the customer for review.

• Meditation: Customer calls Civic Works’ Energy Advisor, we log the issue in CRM, and we contact the installer for the timeframe of the issue being resolved, while also keeping the customer informed/updated.
• Expectations for Installer: The installer acknowledges the customer within 72 hours of being made aware of any issue or complaint. If the installer receives the complaint or issue, the installer must notify Civic Works so that we can begin contacting the customer to assist in resolving the issue.

• MD HOA’s can’t prevent solar, but can have input on the location of the system. For fire setbacks, installers are expected to comply with all local jurisdiction requirements.  
• HOA Approval Process: Note on Question 8 of the RFP application what your current process of securing HOA approvals is.

We don’t have an internal expectation on cost; we anticipate having more than one contractor selected based on different service areas and roof types serviced. We are under the assumption that pricing may vary on location or roof type, so we want to allow some flexibility. We don’t have a resubmission built into our calendar, but if we needed to, every installer who submitted a bid will receive notification with the option to resubmit.

We want to see MSAP grant award as a line item on the proposal to the customer.

We understand there is a lot of volatility in the market right now, however, we want to be able to have clear numbers when marketing our program. If the need to adjust pricing arises, we will consider addendums to the MOU after a review of contractor participation and customer proposals

We’ll look into options.

• In past years running a program like this, we saw an average system size of 11-12kW; if you need to include a negative adder, please note that on the application
• We want to be able to offer clients who can only afford a smaller system the opportunity to benefit from our Group Buy program, so we want to work with contractors who can serve a variety of leads.

Our model is that any lead coming to us will initially be screened for Wx/Electrification/etc, so ideally we are pairing a customer up with multiple opportunities.

Sorry this came across as confusing. We initially hoped to have both included, but at this time, we aren’t ready to issue an RFP for Shines. Our goal will be that when we are ready to post the Shines RFP, we can help minimize the applications for anyone that bidded Group Buy, whether or not they were chosen.

We plan to run a new RFP every 6 months, so our ideal number of contractors per Group Buy RFP “round” is to select between 1-3 contractors based on service areas and roof types served.

Our primary objective is to make residential solar costs more affordable and accessible by offering below-market pricing to homeowners and continuing to grow our business partnership model in the residential energy efficiency sector.  

Additionally, we want to be able to offer a solar product for everyone. We have a variety of programs that cover all income ranges and housing types. If a customer were to be screened by our intake team and deemed not a good fit for this market rate rooftop program, we would connect them with another option. We will counsel homeowners on finding their best option.

Civic Works’ grant funding portfolio consists of diverse, stable funding sources that allow us to fund outreach and training programs. We also have a variety of fee-for-service offerings that support our work.