Driving Interoperability Growth In The Renewable Energy Industry

Driving Interoperability & Growth In The Renewable Energy Industry Tom Tansy, Chairman tom@sunspec. org February 2011 1

Sun. Spec Alliance Mission Accelerate the growth of the renewable energy industry by standardizing data interfaces of energy system components and by promoting the adoption of Sun. Spec Alliance recommendations and the Sun. Spec brand 2

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Why Sun. Spec Is Needed • Raise plant uptime – Impacted by lack of global visibility – <90% now, could be 99. 9% • Raise energy output – Impacted by inaccurate de-rating & system validation – System potential now <80% of rating, could improve 3%-4% • Increase predictability – Expectations (financial impact, performance ratios) – Forecasting (capacity planning) – Instantaneous output (grid stability) 4

Sphere of Influence Areas for Standardization and Reference Implementations Sun. Spec Apps Sun. Spec Query/Response Sun. Spec Device Sun. Spec Logger Sun. Spec Device Model Sun. Spec Protocol Map Sun. Spec Platform Sun. Spec HTTP Post Sun. Spec Device Model 5

Standards Liaison • NIST - Smart Grid Roadmap • IEEE - 1547. 3 Guide for Monitoring, Information Exchange, and Control of Distributed Resources Interconnected with Electric Power Systems • IEC – 61850 Communication networks and systems for power utility automation, Logical Nodes, Protocol Mappings • EPRI - PV/Storage Inverter Communication Specification 6

Year One Results • Announced Sun. Spec Alliance – Secured support of 80% of inverter market – Formed technical committees & working groups • Published device specifications for adoption – – – Inverter Meter Environmental Common model String combiner • Established liaison with SGIP/NIST, Zigbee, and EPRI • Established alliances in Smart Grid – Silver Springs – Cisco 7

Sun. Spec 2010 Programs • First Annual Sun. Spec Plug Fest – Global interoperability demo – Staged at Cal. Tech & held Solar Power International 2010 • International standard proposal via EPRI/Zigbee/Sun. Spec – Smart Energy Profiles 2. 0 harmonization – Submitting to NIST now • Sun. Spec Test & Certification Program – Third-party validation – Agreement with TÜV Rheinland – In discussions with UL • Base specification expansion – Devices (panel, tracker, logger) – Premise-to-platform WAN protocol • Sun. Spec member visibility program – Speaking opportunities via Solar. Tech and others 8

Build Costs: IT Standards Help Here Too Build Cost Per Watt Panels $2. 10 Racking $0. 70 Electrical Balance of System $0. 70 Design, Overhead, Profit $0. 70 Total $4. 20* 3. Efficiency improvement (panel mismatch fix) Opportunity: $0. 10 - $0. 20 1. Labor cost reduction (in-factory integration) Opportunity: $0. 10 - $0. 20 2. Overhead reduction (faster commissioning) Opportunity: $0. 10 - $0. 20 * Current estimate from Solar. Buzz. com 9

Summary • Energy information systems are integral to long-term solar PV performance • Standards are required to drive cost equation and customer adoption • Sun. Spec can serve as singular focal point for vendors and users Driving Interoperability & Growth In The Renewable Energy Industry 10

Unifying The Renewable Energy Industry Via Data Standards And Interoperability • Non-profit trade association for renewable energy • Serving the entire supply chain • Mission to decrease plant build cost by $. 50 and increase plant output by 10% by 2013 Sun. Spec Inverter Join The Sun. Spec Alliance Today Sun. Spec Enviro Sun. Spec Logger Sun. Spec Meter Sun. Spec String Sun. Spec Panel Internet Sun. Spec Apps Sun. Spec Advocates www. sunspec. org Sponsored By