Path-Q Solar

How should a business compare solar quotes when one includes a temporary shutdown plan and another does not?

Answer

Compare the full business-continuity scope and cost, not only the solar equipment price. The quote with a shutdown plan should state the planned outage duration, affected equipment, schedule, temporary power, safety controls, coordination, testing, and responsibility for delays; the quote without one should be priced as incomplete until those impacts are addressed.

Key points

  • Identify every planned interruption, including utility shutdowns, service modifications, testing, commissioning, and unexpected contingencies.
  • Compare temporary generators, load sequencing, after-hours work, inventory or production changes, IT and refrigeration protection, and customer communication.
  • Require assumptions, exclusions, notice periods, restoration criteria, and delay responsibility in both quotes.
  • Quantify downtime using the business's actual lost production, sales, labor, spoilage, and restart costs.

What it depends on

  • Electrical tie-in and service configuration
  • Business operating schedule and critical loads
  • Temporary-power requirements and site constraints
  • Installer scope, coordination, and outage assumptions

Risks and trade-offs

  • A lower quote may transfer shutdown planning and business-loss risk to the customer.
  • Avoiding a shutdown through temporary work may increase project cost but reduce operational disruption.
  • Poorly coordinated switching can damage equipment, disrupt safety systems, or extend downtime.

Information you may need

  • Detailed electrical one-line and tie-in scope
  • Operating schedule and critical process list
  • Cost of downtime and restart
  • Shutdown, temporary-power, testing, and contingency plans from each bidder

Your next step

What to do next

Issue both bidders the same business-continuity requirements and request a line-item comparison of planned outages, temporary power, coordination, exclusions, and downtime responsibility.

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SQ02940