Group buys are important tools for increasing solar deployment in a market in a short period of time. When done correctly, they can be beneficial to everyone involved, including residents, businesses, local organizations, and jurisdictions. They work by aggregating demand for solar, usually in a small geographic area, achieving economies of scale. They lower the solar installers’ “soft costs” further by providing up-front customer education en masse, leading to a higher-than-average conversion rate for solar leads. Home and business owners see lower prices for their solar array, and communities move toward achieving their sustainability goals.

Program Steps

• A solar installer is selected through a competitive Request for Proposals process involving an advisory committee of community stakeholders.
• Free, public information sessions (we call them “Solar Power Hours”) are hosted throughout the community over a period of several months.
• Local jurisdictions, organizations, volunteers, and MREA help spread the word to the community to invite as many people as possible to learn about and potentially invest in solar.
• As more people decide to go solar, the price comes down for everyone.
• Participants have a deadline to make a solar “go” or “no-go” decision. After that, the group buy pricing goes away.
• Solar installations happen throughout the program timeline.