RFP Oct 26 for Quote Solar Light NYSERDA.pdf

Town of Hillsdale, New York

Highway Garage Rooftop Solar

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Released: September 29, 2025

Due Date: October 10, 2025 at NOON

Bids will be opened by the Town Clerk on October 10 at 1:00 PM and will be publicly reviewed at the October 21st monthly Town Board meeting.

All submissions must be delivered to the Hillsdale Town Clerk either via:

MAIL: Hillsdale Town Clerk Town of Hillsdale

PO Box 305 Hillsdale, NY 12529

BY HAND: Hillsdale Town Clerk

Hillsdale Town Hall 2609 State Route 23 Hillsdale, NY 12529

EMAIL: Hillsdale Town Clerk townclerk@hillsdaleny.com

Technical questions should be emailed to Town Clerk (townclerk@hillsdaleny.com) with a cc to:

Hillsdale Town Councilmember Carano Nordenström (carano.nordenstrom@hillsdaleny.com)

Responses to all questions will be received in writing within 3 business days. Both the question and response will be shared with the other applicants.

mailto:carano.nordenstrom@hillsdaleny.com

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

1. Project Overview

1.1 Introduction The Town of Hillsdale (hereby referred to as “the Town”) is soliciting proposals from qualified solar PV providers to design, engineer, and build turn-key installation of an additional twelve (12) DC rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to an existing array of forty-eight (48) rooftop panels at the Hillsdale Town Garage located at 165 Old Town Rd. Respondents shall have demonstrated experience designing, planning, scheduling, permitting and constructing complete solar PV systems, have knowledge of local utilities, provide project financial analysis and rebate support, and provide system monitoring and maintenance.

1.2 Purpose of RFP The Town’s interest in pursuing solar PV projects reflects the following prioritized goals:

1. Reduce grid electricity purchases (kWh/mo) and electricity costs ($/mo)

2. Support local solar businesses, jobs, and workforce development

3. Reduce the Town’s impact on the climate by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions

4. Provide regional health benefits through reduced regional air pollution

5. Increase the resilience of the facilities

2. Project Detail and Proposal Requirements

Project Name: Highway Garage Balance Rooftop Solar

Address: 165 Old Town Road, Hillsdale, NY 12529

Electric Load: ~47,000 kWh/year

PV Type: Qty 12 Balance Solaria PowerXT-400R-PM 400 Watt Flush Mounted Rooftop Solar Panels added to existing array of qty 48.

Inverters: SMA - SSBSE7.7-US-50 (1x)

Racks: IronRidge Resources – XR100

Optimizers: Tigo Energy – TS4-A-F Fire Safety Rapid Disconnect (RSD) Module (1 per solar panel)

Attachments: S5! – SolarFoot for Corrugated Metal Roofs

Cons. Offset: 14%

Est PV Size: 400 W-DC / 6,400 kW per year

Communications: SMA Solar Technology - Data Manager

Solar PV System Description: The Town is seeking the above rooftop PV system to be sized to maximize cost and electricity savings. Above specification is based on the existing forty-eight (48) panel array specification. Alternative specifications can be proposed but must be explicitly described for installation and any technical compatibility with existing array. The proposal should include an itemized breakdown of the cost of the solar panels, associated equipment and materials, which are provided by the proposer, and any expense required for the complete and full operation and monitoring of the panels.

Project Financing: The Town will partially finance the solar PV system from a previously awarded NYSERDA grant. Please reference the Town of Hillsdale’s NYSERDA contract agreement no. 219173.

The project may additionally qualify for a NYSERDA NY-SUN rebate (25 cents per watt) and a Federal Tax Credit for Commercial Renewable Energy (ref. One Big Beautiful Bill Act, 7/4/2025).

Those incentives should be itemized and included in your submitted quote.

System Ownership: The Town requests that the solar PV systems be owned by the Town.

Monitoring: The Town requests a turnkey monitoring system for system performance. The existing monitoring system is enabled by SMA Solar Technology Data Manager and Sunny Portal powered by EnnexOS. The Town prefers that any new monitoring system proposed is fully integrated.

The Town is soliciting proposals from qualified solar providers to design, engineer, and build a turn-key installation of a balance quantity of 12 panels to an existing DC rooftop solar PV project of 48 panels at the Highway Garage. The proposal should also include the design of on-site solar systems for the possibility of future battery storage integration.

The goal of this RFQ is to identify a solar partner with the necessary experience to ensure a fully managed and well-executed process. The successful respondent will have demonstrated experience designing, planning, scheduling, permitting, constructing, interconnecting, and maintaining a solar PV system. Proposer is responsible for all permitting and licenses, and should include the cost of all permitting in their proposal. Respondents should be familiar with NYSEG regulations, provide project financial analysis, and have established on-site safety standards. The Town reserves the right to modify the scope of the project at any time.

2.1. Conformance with NYSERDA Contract Agreement

Please reference the Town of Hillsdale’s NYSERDA contract agreement no. 219173. The Proposer shall meet or exceed all the requirements set forth in this contract including the project milestones and deadlines defined.

2.2. Design Guidelines

The Proposer shall include design documents for all elements of the project, including, but not limited to, structural, architectural, mechanical, and electrical. Proposer should consider the following guidelines when designing the solar PV system.

Rooftop Solar

The Proposer shall develop a design for new PV system that maximizes cost and electricity savings.

It is the responsibility of the Proposer to assess the building’s structural integrity, roof condition, and shading limitations.

Mounting systems shall limit roof penetrations or be fully ballasted. Mounting system design needs to meet applicable local building code requirements with respect to snow, wind, and heavy rain loading factors. Solar system installation must not void the roof warranty.

• Conduit penetrations shall be minimized.

• All roof access points shall be securely locked at the end of each day during construction or O&M activities.

• System layout shall meet local fire department, code and ordinance requirements for roof access.

2.3. Code Specifications

The installation and power generation and transmission equipment shall comply with applicable building, mechanical, fire, seismic, structural, and electrical codes. Only products that are listed, tested, identified, or labeled by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or another nationally recognized testing laboratory shall be used as components in the project. Construction must comply with current adopted town, state and national building codes.

• Modules: System modules shall be certified to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61215 or 61646 performance standards, Underwriter Laboratories (UL) 1703 fire code listed, and California Energy Commission (CEC) listed.

• Inverters: Shall be performance certified to IEC 62109, UL1741 listed and CEC-listed with an efficiency of 95% or higher

2.4. Warranties

The Proposer must provide their standard system warranty coverage along with specific equipment warranty coverage for modules, inverter, racking and workmanship.

• Modules: 25-Year Power Output & 10 Workmanship Limited Warranty

• Inverter: 10-Year Limited Warranty. [Provide a price and/or plan for inverter replacement in year 11 and beyond]

• Workmanship: At least a 2 Year Limited Warranty

2.5. Inspection and Commissioning

To ensure compliance with all electrical codes, an inspection by a licensed electrical inspector is mandatory after construction is complete. Commissioning tests shall be included in the final inspection and QCP. The Proposer’s independent commissioning agent shall ensure that:

• All equipment specifications match the proposed equipment specifications

• The physical layout aligns with the as-built diagrams with variations to proposed system noted

• The electrical system as laid out and connected aligns with the as built one-line diagrams including fuses, relays and switches with variation to proposed system noted

• Each array passes the open circuit voltage and current test

• The manual disconnect switch operates correctly

2.6. System Monitoring

Monitoring of system performance separate from utility meter monitoring requirements is an important element of this RFQ. The Town will favor a proposal that includes a turnkey monitoring system that can be integrated into a building energy management system to monitor system performance, Data storage, management, and display will be the responsibility of the Proposer.

Additionally, the regularly collected data should reflect, but not be limited to, the following:

• Average and accumulated output (kWh/day, kWh/year, and cumulative kWh) versus building load

• Capacity factor

• Air quality emissions averted and real-world equivalents conversion (e.g., homes powered, vehicle miles drive, trees planted, etc.)

Prior to system start-up, the successful respondent shall supply the Town two copies of all Component Product Data and Component Operation and Maintenance manuals. The information shall be sufficient for the Town to evaluate and ensure they can appropriately complete O&M over the life of the system. Project as-builts that detail location of all above and underground utilities and components shall be submitted within 30 days of system start-up.

2.7. Final Design Package

The winning Proposer and the Town will negotiate to develop the contents of the final design package. The Town’s requested sections are included below. These are NOT required in the proposal bid. The “2. Project Detail and Proposal Requirements” section specifies detailed bid submission requirements.

• Solar PV Description: A summary of the solar PV system types, sizes, annual production, and site location.

• Schedule: The equipment procurement and solar PV installation schedule for each site.

• Design and Engineering Documents: The design documents for all elements of the project, including, but not limited to, structural, architectural, mechanical, and electrical.

Drawings shall be stamped by an Engineer registered in the State of New York.

• Site Drawings: Layout drawing of installation site providing location of all equipment.

• Equipment Details and Specifications: A high-level summary listing all solar PV system equipment and their associated specification sheets.

• Incentives: The Proposer shall complete and submit in a timely manner all documentation required to qualify each system for available rebates and incentives. All RECs are to be assigned to the Town.

• Electrical Interconnection: The Proposer shall supply and install all equipment required to interconnect the solar PV system to the utility’s distribution system. They shall provide an interconnection agreement with NYSEG to ensure all utility requirements will be met. All costs associated with utility interconnection shall be borne by the Proposer.

• Manuals: This includes equipment, installation, and O&M manuals for proper system monitoring over the life of the contract, as well as training of building operating staff for operation and maintenance], as needed.

• Monitoring: A description of controls, monitors, and instrumentation to be used for the solar PV system. This includes web-based monitoring for performance verification.

• Safety Plan: The Proposer’s plan to ensure safety for all personnel. The Proposer shall report accidents, claims, and other on-going safety related issues to the Town in a manner consistent with Town-wide reporting systems.

• Quality Control Plan (QCP): At a minimum, the QCP should conform to “IEC 62446 Grid- Connected PV Systems – Minimum Requirements for System Documentation, Commissioning Tests, and Inspections.”

• Construction Plan: This includes the appropriate documentation, plan, and timeline. All submittals, drawings, disruption plans, and contract documents shall be reviewed and approved in writing by the Town Project Manager prior to submittal for design review/permits. The site, except for the solar PV system footprint, shall be returned to pre-construction condition .

2.7. Close Out Report The Proposer shall report progress of project contract closeout to the Town in a manner consistent with the Town’s reporting requirements. At a minimum, this should include the following information: NY-Sun Number, system nameplate size, overall installed system cost, and estimated and guaranteed annual kWh production.

3. Submission Requirements

Please reference the Town of Hillsdale’s NYSERDA contract agreement no. 219173. The Proposer shall meet or exceed all the requirements set forth in this contract including the project milestones and deadlines defined.

The applicant should submit a digital copy (PDF) or printed documents of the proposal by noon on Friday October 10, 2025 to:

Town of Hillsdale

Attn: Town Clerk, Robina Ward townclerk@hillsdaleny.com

Please expect a confirmation email upon receipt of the proposal.

3.0. Proposal Evaluation

Proposals will be reviewed by the Town Board and in accordance with the Town of Hillsdale’s local Procurement Law.

3.1. Final Contractor Selection

Following the selection process, one team will be selected to negotiate a final contract for services.

The final scope of work with specified deliverables may be modified through negotiation of the final contract. The final project team may also be modified through negotiation of the final contract. Any expenses resulting from the quoting and proposal process will be the sole responsibility of the contractor.

3.2 Standard Clauses for New York State Public Contracts

The final contract will be subject to Standard Clauses for New York State Public Contracts including prevailing wage requirements for public work contracts. A reference of those Standard Clauses can be found here: https://aging.ny.gov/appendix-standard-clauses-new-york-state-contracts

A public work contract covered by Article 8 of the Labor Law or a building service contract covered by Article 9 thereof, neither the Contractor’s employees nor the employees of its subcontractors may be required or permitted to work more than the number of hours or days stated in said statutes, except as otherwise provided in the Labor Law and as set forth in prevailing wage and supplement schedules issued by the State Labor Department. Furthermore, Contractor and its supplement schedules issued by the State Labor Department. Furthermore, Contractor and its subcontractors must pay at least the prevailing wage rate and pay or provide the prevailing supplements, including the premium rates for overtime pay, as determined by the State Labor Department in accordance with the Labor Law.

Additionally, effective April 28, 2008, if this is a public work contract covered by Article 8 of the Labor Law, the Contractor understands and agrees that the filing of the payrolls in a manner consistent with Subdivision 3-a of Section 220 of the Labor Law shall be a condition precedent to payment by the State of any State approved sums due and owing for work done upon the project.

https://aging.ny.gov/appendix-standard-clauses-new-york-state-contracts