Jul 15, 2009

SunSpec Alliance to Advance Renewable Energy Standards

Charter Members Unite to Accelerate Industry Standards for Intelligent Device Interfaces and Drive the Adoption of Planet-Friendly Power

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – July 15, 2009 – Today at Intersolar North America ‘09, SunSpec Alliance™ announced a newly formed consortium of companies to focus on defining open data standards for the renewable energy and photovoltaic (PV) industries. The following companies have joined the alliance as charter members: Campbell Scientific, Draker Laboratories, Dust Networks, Energy Recommerce Inc., Fat Spaniel Technologies, Fronius USA, KACO Solar, Nautilus Solar Energy, PV Powered, Renewable Ventures (a Fotowatio Company), SatCon Technology Corporation, SMA America, Solar Power Partners and Veris Industries.

Membership is open to any corporation, non-profit, or individual with a vested interest in the renewable energy industry, including manufacturers of inverters, PV balance-of-system components, networking firms, software developers, computer hardware companies, system integrators, financial backers, regulatory agencies, and energy consumers. Standards ultimately drive down costs, enabling manufacturers to embed more intelligence into system components and streamline the integration and management of renewable energy systems.

“Agreeing on open standards will greatly accelerate the development of products and solutions for the renewable energy market,” said Peter Rexelius, CEO of Energy Recommerce and SunSpec charter member. “Energy Recommerce is actively supporting the formation of the SunSpec Alliance in response to demand from renewable energy system owners, financiers and integrators. The basic building blocks of solar PV systems—the inverters themselves, for example—must support an open standard interface for intelligent interaction and management. Practitioners must have this capability because they know that management solutions are vital for achieving the best possible ROI. The SunSpec Alliance can speed the definition of the required industry-standard interfaces and help address other interoperability issues that currently diminish system efficiency, availability, and profitability.”

The initial project of the SunSpec Alliance is the definition and publication of the SunSpec MODBUS specification. The alliance is developing the specification in cooperation with standards organizations such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

About SunSpec Alliance

The mission of the SunSpec Alliance is to dramatically accelerate the growth of the renewable energy market worldwide. The SunSpec Alliance achieves its mission by defining open interface standards for renewable energy system components, thus enabling renewable energy systems to interact with information technology systems in a predictable and reliable manner. Membership in the SunSpec Alliance is open to corporations, non-profits, and individuals. For more information on the SunSpec Alliance charter and membership, please go to: www.sunspec.org.

SOURCE: Campbell Scientific, Draker Laboratories, Dust Networks, Energy Recommerce Inc., Fat Spaniel Technologies, Fronius USA, KACO Solar, Nautilus Solar Energy, PV Powered, Renewable Ventures (a Fotowatio Company), SatCon Technology Corporation, SMA America, Solar Power Partners, Veris Industries