Remote Monitoring of Renewable Energy Systems and Facility Electric Consumption

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This is an RFI released pursuant to FAR 15.201(e). This RFI is issued solely for information, planning purposes, and market research only; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is not seeking proposals at this time. CBP will not pay for any cost associated with responding to this RFI. All costs will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP. If a solicitation is released, it will be posted in the Federal Business Opportunities (http://www.fbo.gov). Interested parties are advised to monitor this website for any information that may pertain to this RFI. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government, and will not be returned. Background: CBP is a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) whose mission is to prevent the illegal flow of people and goods across U.S. air, land, and sea borders while expediting the safe flow of lawful travel and commerce. As the nation's single, unified border agency, CBP's mission is vitally important for the protection of the American people and the national economy. CBP represents the first line of defense of America's borders. CBP's Office of Facilities and Asset Management (OFAM) is responsible for managing, operating, and maintaining CBP's portfolio of facilities and other physical assets, including their energy supply and use. CBP owns and operates nearly 150 renewable energy systems (PV and wind, with capacities ranging from tens to hundreds of kW per site) deployed at a variety of their facilities throughout the U.S., including both grid-connected as well as off-grid systems. Purpose: The purpose of this RFI is to obtain information and comments from industry to aid in the refinement of requirements and the formation of an acquisition strategy for telemetry systems. CBP is assessing technologies available for measuring the production of renewable energy systems as well as the electric consumption of specific CBP assets (electric sub-meters). Small businesses are encouraged to respond to this RFI in order to assist CBP in determining the potential level of interest, adequate competition, and technical capability of the Small Business community to fulfill this requirement. However, responses to this RFI are solicited from all interested parties. CBP is interested in responses from parties which manufacture or produce metering hardware as well as software, in addition to parties who specialize in the installation and integration of metering hardware and software. Scope: CBP is interested in remotely monitoring the status and amount of energy produced by renewable energy systems, and/or capturing interval electric consumption data for specific buildings. Information is sought regarding remote monitoring technologies and capabilities. Parties should develop their responses based on a conceptual scenario where CBP installs 1-5 electric power meters at each of 30-50 facili ties located throughout the United States. Locations may be either single phase or three phase AC electric power at voltages typically ranging from 120 V to 480 V. Interested parties are requested to provide the following information. Please limit the response to each query to one page or less. 1. Company Name, Company Address, Point of Contact, Telephone Number, e-mail Address, DUNS and confirmation that the company is registered in SAM. 2. Please indicate whether your organization is a Small Business, HUBZone Small Business, Veteran Owned Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, Women-Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, 8(a) small business, etc. 3. Does your firm have a CBP, DHS, or GSA contract suitable for this type of work? If so, please include a copy of your contract(s) with your response. 4. Which of the following services does your business provide? Please provide a general description of services related to metering offered by your business. You are not limited by the categories below. - Manufacture metering hardware (Please specify where the hardware is manufactured and/or assembled) Develop building/energy management software (BMS or EMS) Offer software or hardware specifically tailored for solar PV or wind turbine monitoring (e.g., hardware with the ability to interface with inverters or with sensors such as pyranometers or anemometers; software which can predict how much energy should be produced) Turn-key meter installation services, including procurement of metering hardware, installation, and commissioning Ongoing hardware and software support Servers or cloud computing service for data storage, analytics and presentation 5. The majority of facilities under consideration are located in states which border Canada or Mexico. Is your company able to install meters in all of these states? Please list any states along the borders where your company would not be able to install meters or would not be interested in doing so. 6. Please provide a description of the metering hardware you manufacture or would procure and install. Address issues such as electrical parameters measured, precision, accuracy, code compliance, warranty and calibration. Data sheets, specifications and/or web links may be submitted as Appendices and may exceed the one page limit. 7. Due to cybersecurity concerns, metering hardware cannot be interconnected to existing communications channels at CBP facilities, including existing Ethernet connections. For the metering hardware you manufacture or would procure and install, what would need to be done to collect data from multiple locations at a given facility (e.g., wireless local communication methods such as Zigbee, new communications wiring)? How can data be transmitted out of the facility without using existing Ethernet connections (e.g., new Ethernet line, cellular data, landline telephone, satellite, radio)? Is data encrypted? What other steps are taken to address cybersecurity concerns? Note that cellular service at some CBP facilities is poor due to the remote locations. - 8. 8. For the metering hardware you manufacture or would procure and install, can data be stored locally and retrieved by connecting metering hardware to a computer? For instance, is there an option for personnel to connect to the meters and retrieve stored data monthly? - 9. 9. Do you offer a software platform for viewing, querying, and analyzing data? Please provide a brief description of the software platform and its capabilities, including its inter-operability with other vendors' metering hardware. Relevant screenshots, web links, or specifications can be included as Appendices and may exceed the one page limit. 10. Please provide a Rough Order of Magnitude Estimate for the time and cost of installing 1-5 electric power meters at each of 30-50 facilities, as well as typical annual operating costs (including maintenance, recalibration, technical support, and data transmission costs such as cellular data plans). Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED and completely separated. Be advised that no submission will be returned.