Bidding in the CSI [RE-wrenches]

[Blake Jones]

Here in Colorado, we've been having this same problem since our
incentive program was launched last year. In general, it's been
difficult to deal with....and even more difficult to develop an
appropriate and effective solution that could be implemented to address
it.  We've thought of standardizing the shading analysis process, random
site inspections, and other things....but haven't found a good fit yet.
In the end, the market is slowly and gradually helping to address this
problem because when customers receive different bids and conflicting
information from multiple solar PV installers, they start to ask
questions....which opens the door for an opportunity to give
explanations, etc....and eventually flush out poor evaluations and
reward installer integrity.  This is much more likely to happen in
situations where the difference in shading analysis is quite
large....but less so in situations where the difference is only a few
percentage points.  Fortunately, the program in Colorado gives 100% of
the PBI portion of the incentive if the production is as low as 90% of
the "baseline" (i.e. completely free from shading), so you kinda get 10%
leeway.....

Let's hope this doesn't become a thorn in the side of our industry and
instead becomes an effective way to implement the beneficial intentions
of PBI for smaller systems.  I'd love to discuss possible solutions
further with anyone offline.

Cheers,
Blake Jones
Namaste Solar Electric
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Frye [mailto:markf at berkeleysolar.com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 11:27 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Bidding in the CSI [RE-wrenches]


CA Wrenches,

Just thought I would report the first incident I have heard of regarding
shading calculations.

I was talking with a buddy who is bidding against a second outfit.  Each
is
bidding a different module type but about the same array size.

There is shading on the site.  My buddy came in with one CSI - EPBB
"design
factor" and the second group is bidding with a different 'design factor"
that happens to be about 10% less than my buddies.  This lower estimate
of
the shading effect is giving the second group an edge on the overall
project
cost due to the increased rebate amount.

Hold on tight, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

MPF


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