Short answer: A useful solar RFP gives every bidder the same building data, owner objectives, technical scope, pricing form, risk allocation and evaluation rules. If bidders can choose their own load assumptions, exclusions and savings math, the owner will receive presentations—not comparable proposals.
For a commercial building owner, the RFP is the bridge between “we should look at solar” and a project the investment committee can defend. It should be detailed enough to expose differences in design, cost and accountability, but not so prescriptive that qualified teams cannot improve the solution.
1. Build the Solar RFP Around the Owner’s Decision
Start with the business decision, not a panel count. State the property type, ownership horizon, operating constraints and primary objective: reduce utility spend, improve cash flow, hedge rate exposure, add resilience, meet an emissions target or support a sale or refinance.
Then define what bidders may propose. Will you accept direct purchase, debt, lease and power purchase agreement alternatives? Is battery storage in the base bid, an alternate or out of scope? Can providers offer rooftop, carport and ground-mount options? A bidder cannot price the right project when the owner has not defined the decision.
The EPA’s on-site project development process puts site assessment and utility-data collection before issuing the RFP, then places proposal evaluation and contracting after it. That sequence matters. Asking for firm pricing before basic diligence usually pushes uncertainty into contingencies, exclusions or change orders.
| Owner decision | RFP instruction | Proposal output |
|---|---|---|
| Optimize cash flow | Require cash and finance cases on the same production assumptions | Annual cash flow, fees, term and exit cost |
| Protect the roof | Disclose roof age and require attachment, warranty and reroof plans | Written roof responsibility and removal/reinstall pricing |
| Add resilience | Identify critical loads and required outage duration | Separate battery power, energy and operating strategy |
| Compare contractors | Use one qualifications and reference schedule | Comparable team, license, safety and project history |
2. Create a Bidder-Ready Property Data Room
Make one source of truth available to every invited bidder. At minimum, include 12–24 months of utility bills, interval data when available, meter and account list, current tariff, operating schedule, planned load changes, roof plans, roof age, structural information, electrical one-lines, site plans and known title or access constraints.
- Loads: HVAC, refrigeration, manufacturing, tenant meters, EV charging and planned electrification.
- Property: roof zones, parking, drainage, fire access, shading, easements and future construction.
- Electrical: service voltage, switchgear, transformers, generator and available interconnection information.
- Operations: shutdown windows, tenant coordination, delivery traffic, security and work-hour limits.
- Ownership: legal entity, lender or landlord approvals, hold period and tax appetite to be confirmed with advisers.
Log every bidder question and issue one shared addendum. Private answers create different scopes. If a material fact is unknown, say so and require bidders to price a stated allowance or list the investigation needed before commitment.
Use the commercial solar savings calculator to organize early inputs, then replace broad assumptions with verified property and utility data. Our commercial solar assessment process shows how we move from bills and site constraints to an owner-ready decision.
3. Lock the Scope, Deliverables and Risk Allocation
A strong scope says who performs and pays for each step: site investigation, structural review, design, permits, utility studies, equipment procurement, construction, testing, interconnection, commissioning, training, monitoring, operations and maintenance, roof coordination and closeout documents.
Require a scope matrix with three columns: included, excluded and owner-provided. List foreseeable cost drivers such as transformer or switchgear work, trenching, roof repair, hazardous materials, fire-code upgrades, parking restoration, telecom service, sales tax, prevailing-wage compliance and utility fees. The point is not to force every risk onto the contractor. It is to show where each risk sits before price comparison.
The current DOE life-cycle guidance for procuring new PV systems says technical specifications should carry through award criteria, procurement documents, design, submittals, mobilization and commissioning. Use that principle even on a private commercial project: specifications only matter when they survive into the contract and field verification.
Do not freeze a final design inside the RFP unless the owner has completed design work. Define performance requirements and minimum standards, ask bidders to explain deviations, and preserve owner approval at 30%, 60% and 90% design. Our commercial solar design review checklist covers those later control points.
4. Normalize Price, Production and Financing
Attach a mandatory cost form. The DOE Better Buildings solar cost proposal template is designed to collect estimated costs, production and payback inputs in a consistent format. Your version should capture cash price, $/DC watt, DC and AC size, first-year kWh, degradation, self-consumption, exports, residual utility charges, O&M, allowances, alternates and excluded costs.
For loans, leases or PPAs, also require fees, interest or energy rate, escalator, term, prepayment, buyout schedule, security interests, transfer conditions and end-of-term obligations. Review our commercial solar PPA contract checklist before accepting a financing structure as a simple price comparison.
Illustrative example — run your own numbers.
Assume Bid A shows a $1,000,000 base price and Bid B shows $930,000. After normalization, Bid B excludes a $45,000 electrical allowance, $25,000 of roof coordination and $20,000 of utility-related work included in Bid A. The comparable prices become $1,000,000 and $1,020,000 before evaluating production or risk. These figures are illustrative only; substitute verified bids and owner costs.
Do the same with energy value. Compare modeled kWh first, then self-consumed kWh, export treatment, remaining demand charges and annual operating cost. A larger headline “lifetime savings” number is not meaningful when inputs differ.
5. Run a Fair Evaluation and Contract Handoff
Publish evaluation criteria and weights before proposals arrive. Separate compliance review from scored evaluation. A bid that omits a required price form, qualification or contract exception should not quietly receive full credit.
| Evaluation category | Illustrative weight | Evidence to score |
|---|---|---|
| Normalized economics | 25% | Price form, production, useful bill reduction and sensitivity |
| Technical solution | 20% | Layout, equipment, constructability and design basis |
| Scope and risk | 20% | Inclusions, allowances, exceptions and responsibility matrix |
| Execution team | 15% | Comparable projects, schedule, safety and subcontractors |
| Contract and service | 20% | Terms, warranties, monitoring, O&M and exit provisions |
The EPA’s solar proposals and solicitations resources include an issuance checklist and proposal evaluation matrix focused on transparency, completeness and accountability. DOE’s commercial solar RFP procurement template also provides a practical starting structure for project background, scope, proposal requirements and evaluation criteria.
Shortlist only after normalizing bids. Interview the people who will design, manage and service the project—not only the salesperson. Then carry the selected proposal, clarifications, scope matrix, assumptions and exceptions into the contract. A “winning” promise that disappears from the exhibits is not a contractual obligation. Use our commercial solar company comparison checklist for the post-bid diligence step.
6. Know When a Formal RFP Is Not the Right Tool
A full RFP may be inefficient for a small, straightforward owner-occupied project with one decision-maker and a well-qualified provider. An RFQ followed by a limited bid can also work when the property has not completed enough diligence to request firm proposals. Conversely, a portfolio, public owner, PPA, battery system, complex roof or occupied facility usually benefits from more formal procurement and qualified technical and legal review.
This guide is not a substitute for engineering, legal, tax, insurance or utility advice. Procurement rules differ for public agencies, nonprofits and private owners. Incentives, tariffs and interconnection requirements can change, so confirm current terms with the relevant authority and advisers before award.
My operator lesson from a solar-powered San Diego four-plex is simple: the spreadsheet only becomes real when roof access, utility accounts, equipment, contracts and the people operating the property all line up. A disciplined RFP makes those handoffs visible before the owner commits.
Ready to issue a commercial solar RFP? Send the property address, utility bills, roof information, decision deadline and ownership goals. We will help you turn them into a comparable bid process—or review the procurement path before you invite contractors. Request a commercial solar RFP assessment and quote.