Best Practices for Collaborative Solar Purchasing

This document outlines a 12-step framework for collaborative solar purchasing, guiding organizations from initial recruitment and site assessment through procurement, installation, and long-term operation to achieve energy savings and community support.

• The collaborative solar purchasing process consists of 12 sequential steps designed to guide buyers from initial recruitment to long-term operation. These steps include early regional recruiting, initial participant questionnaires, solar project workshops, consolidated site analysis, internal decision maker consultation, design of procurement process and documents, request for proposals, proposal evaluation, negotiations and awards, installation project management, commissioning and operations, and celebration of success.
• The procurement phase of the collaborative solar process involves obtaining buy-in from decision makers to draft a Request for Proposals (RFP), agreeing on template contracts and standard terms, issuing the RFP to receive bids, and selecting winning bidders for bundles through a competitive process to ensure best-value selection.
• The final stages of the collaborative solar purchasing process focus on the physical implementation and long-term impact, ensuring systems are built to safety standards, demonstrating energy production and savings for 25 years or more, and communicating positive impacts to stakeholders, government, and the regional community.

APA

World Resources Institute (2011). Best Practices for Collaborative Solar Purchasing. http://pdf.wri.org/best_practices_collaborative_solar_purchasing.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Best Practices for Collaborative Solar Purchasing. 2011. http://pdf.wri.org/best_practices_collaborative_solar_purchasing.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Best Practices for Collaborative Solar Purchasing |date=April 2011 |url=http://pdf.wri.org/best_practices_collaborative_solar_purchasing.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2011best, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Best Practices for Collaborative Solar Purchasing}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2011}, month = apr, url = {http://pdf.wri.org/best_practices_collaborative_solar_purchasing.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }