***The GoSolarMarin Story***

We really learned a lot during the first GoSolarMarin program.  We were amazed by the results, more than 100 new solar installations, but we wanted to include a variety of options—and to make sure that this time the vendor gave something back to Marin County.

Of course, as before, our evaluation focused on a wide range of specifics, including price, quality of material and workmanship, references from completed installations, and the company’s proven ability to handle a large and diverse “group.” 

This time the GoSolarMarin2 program has achieved a lower price than any other community program has ever offered.  GSM2 also includes five years of online monitoring; an energy efficiency audit by an independent provider; and a contribution to MarinLink, our non-profit partner, for each system sold.

In addition, we asked Dana Armanino, Marin County’s coordinator of green business, energy efficiency and solar programs, to examine the offers and analyze them based on her extensive knowledge of the industry. 

We used the California Solar Initiative’s (CSI) data base, which lists all applications for rebates, to determine which companies had completed more than 10 residential systems in Marin County in the prior year.  We offered our Request for Proposal to approximately 30 companies which had done so.

In analyzing proposals, we used the CSI database and the ratings supplied by www.find-solar.org to determine how well claimed numbers matched actual installations, as well as how each company was rated by its customers. 

We based our decision on a combination of objective and subjective criteria —price, options, quality, experience as well as performance ratings, recommendations from customers and other buyer groups, and commitment to making a contribution to the community.