Do you have trouble finding solar RFPs? In this article I will discuss the trends and growth of solar over the past decade, the challenges for developers, and provide solutions for developers to find solar RFPs with a Solar RFP database.
Solar PV growth explosive over the past decade
Solar PV has seen explosive growth even in the past few years. Solar has grown about 28% per year over the last decade in the United States. Utility scale Solar has grown the most.
Source: https://seia.org/research-resources/solar-industry-research-data/
There are even more solar installations planned in the next few years as interconnection queues remain full. Although not all projects in the queue are successful, in fact only about 19%. This is still a good indication of the number of projects coming online in the next few years.
Solar Growth Drivers
Why is Solar so attractive to build? Three main drivers have spurred solar growth in the past decade.
- Solar Investment Tax Credit
- Declining equipment and installation costs
- Increased demand for clean energy
The solar investment tax credit gave a financial incentive to solar developers to build solar and receive a 30% tax credit based on the installation costs.
Costs of solar equipment over the past decade have come down as economies of scale have made producing solar equipment cheaper and new technologies have made installing solar more efficient.
To reach clean energy goals, solar plays a critical role in providing affordable clean energy around peak times when energy usage is high.
Texas and California – Booming Markets
California has historically been a good a good market for solar as they were more of an early adopter and had favorable policies. Texas is a newer growth market as they have seen big expansions in solar and storage. It is generally easier to build in Texas, economic growth, and open energy markets have made it attractive to develop solar and storage in Texas.
Source: https://seia.org/research-resources/solar-industry-research-data/
What does that mean for developers? Increased competition
With solar booming and tons of projects coming online, this causes a lot of competition for solar project developers. The Utility has more options to choose from and more projects to evaluate. It is even more critical that you spend enough time on creating your proposal and making sure your project stands out among the crowd.
Current methods for finding Solar RFPs
Let’s take a closer look at how developers find Solar RFP opportunities. Today, many Utilities announce RFPs on their internal website and send out the RFP to a list of email contacts they have collected over the years. What does this mean for developers?
Challenges with finding Solar RFPs
Finding Solar RFPs is not easy. That means you need to search different websites, follow each Utility to see when they launch a new RFP, or make sure you are on their internal email list. For developers, this can result in missed opportunities. For Utilities, this can result in solar RFPs that are not fully inclusive of all the potential projects – causing a less competitive RFP.
The risk of not finding RFPs in time is that developers don’t have enough time to prepare a good proposal. Worst case, you miss out on the RFP entirely and lose an opportunity to sell your project.
Making your solar project stand out
The Utility wants to make sure the project fits into their goal of providing affordable, reliable, and clean electricity. They need to evaluate the cost, risks, and community impact for each project. Projects need to stand out by making it clear why their project is affordable, how it has lower risks, and how the site location has good community engagement increasing the probability of the project being built.
A significant risk of solar projects is where it stands in the queue. Depending on where it stands in the queue could increase the risk of the project not being built. Effectively communicate where your project stands in the queue and why there is a higher probability of the project making it through with lower upgrade costs.
Many Utilities use a scorecard to evaluate projects. Make sure you clearly provide how you meet each requirement in the scoring. This should be your focus, since that is the main filter for projects that are shortlisted.
Include an executive summary with all the key metrics that are used to evaluate your project. A table format is ideal as it makes it easier for evaluators to browse proposals, identify how many options are being offered, and spot the key data points that will be used to evaluate projects.
Energy Adepto: One stop shop for solar RFPs
Energy Adepto tries to solve the challenges of scattered and distributed RFPs by creating a single source of truth for solar RFPs by maintaining a Solar RFP database. Utilities can post RFPs so they can reach the right developers. Developers can search for opportunities and get notified anytime a new RFP is created.
Energy Adepto RFP search includes a table where you can preview the RFP information and search.
Each RFP includes a portal page with detailed information about the RFP so you can decide if your team should register and request participation.
Energy Adepto is currently still in development and ready for interested beta users to try it out. If you are interested, sign up to our waitlist or book a demo to see it in action.
The first 10 signups will get 50% off. No commitment required. No credit card required.
Energy sellers waitlist signup: https://landing.energyadepto.com/developer-signup
Energy buyers waitlist signup: https://landing.energyadepto.com/i-am-interested
Conclusion
Growth in solar has led to increased competition for solar developers to find the right solar RFPs. Creating a great solar proposal is critical to making sure your project stands out among the increasing crowd of solar projects. Finding solar RFPs is challenging and time consuming. Energy Adepto’s Solar RFP database aims to solve these challenges by providing a single source to find Solar RFPs quickly and get automatic notifications on new announcements.
To learn more, visit energyadepto.com. Sign up to our waitlist or book a demo to see if Energy Adepto could help your team reach your goals.
