The Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety awarded the bid for the solar project at the Wastewater Treatment Plant on Oakhill Avenue during their meeting Monday evening.
Two weeks ago, the board opened two bids for the project, from Retro Tech Systems from Valparaiso and Solar Energy Systems from Nappanee. Utility Superintendent Donny Davidson and representatives from Telamon Energy from Indianapolis, the project designer reviewed the bids and a recommendation was made to the Board of Public Works. Retro Tech Systems had a bid of $993,514 and Solar energy Systems presented a bid of $1,017,792.
Davidson told the board Retro Tech is new to the solar industry according to their cover letter and during the bid review process, they offered no references or previous solar installations. Retro Tech offered an alternative for inverters if availability was an issue but no cost estimate.
The review of Solar Energy Systems showed they are experienced in solar projects. They included four references with the bid and Davidson said he contacted three of the references. Two responded and had no issues with the work completed by SES. Solar Energy Systems also presented an alternative for the inverters if they were unavailable and included the cost estimate.
Telamon rated Retro Tech at 210 and Solar Energy Systems at 214.
After reviewing the two companies, Davidson recommended going with Solar Energy Systems due to their verified experience on like projects.
The difference in the bid amount is less than 2½% or $24,278.
The Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety approved the recommendation with a unanimous vote of 5-0.
