Intent to Sole Source SunWize Solar Power System for Extreme Environments

2026-11-03

These solar power systems run the remote climate monitoring stations funded by the US Congress through a multi - year , multi - million - dollar contract administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers to implement the Upper Missouri River Basin Project . This project realizes substantial public service , public safety , and economic benefit to Montana . The purpose of this network is to provide essential snowpack , soil moisture , and atmospheric data in near real - time to protect mission critical national defense assets and to provide early warning for severe weather events and the damaging economic impacts of drought . These systems must reliably provide sufficient charging and battery capacity to sustain 24V output to operate stations components year - round in the harsh environmental extremes common to Montana , especially under arctic freeze conditions during the low solar input the winter and during summer heatwaves . Both common temperature extremes reduce battery capacity and compromise system reliability . The USACE contract explicitly requires that we correct any station malfunctions within 14 calendar days . To meet this requirement , we must have full - time communications with the solar system charge controller through the logger hub that controls all measurement and communication functions within each station . These solar power systems must be pre - configured and pre - fabrication to assure system integrity and rapid deployment by our crews to meet time - sensitive installation targets at locations widely spread across Eastern Montana . Given the environmental and operational demands on our monitoring stations and the complexity of remote solar power energy systems we require our vendor to include responsive troubleshooting and engineering support throughout the service life of our solar power systems . To this end we require the following system specifications : Solar panel , 400W , 24V ; Solar panel mount , minimal rating 120MPH , mountable on 3 " schedule 40 pipe ; Morningstar MPPT25 Charge controller mounted on panel in NEMA enclosure ; Morningstar EMC - 1 Ethernet Meterbus Converter compatible with communication protocols of CSI CR1000X logger ; 3x DC 30A circuit breakers mounted on DIN rail ; 24V to 12V DC to DC converter ; 4x 6V AGM 400Ah battery cells ; NEMA R3 rated enclosure ( 36 . 6 " x25 " x16 " nominal ) with U - bolts for 3 " schedule 40 pipe – pole mounted enclosure must accommodate and support the 4 battery cells ; NEMA enclosure must pre - wired and pre - configured to contain mounted charge controller , mounted and pre - wired circuit breakers , and all wiring necessary to connect the components and battery cells ; 6 - gauge , 2 - conductor , battery cable , 36 " long ; 3x 4 - gauge battery jumpers , 12 " long ; all other cables pre - wired to make necessary connections throughout the system from the solar panel to battery current output . Please note : This is a Sole Source Notification .

Montana

2026-04-29