Industry Wide Collaboration to Drive Solar Costs Down Through Efficient Data Exchange
By: Gatsheena Beauplan
The Orange ButtonSM initiative has launched! As part of the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot initiative, the Orange Button initiative is designed to standardize data across the solar project lifecycle, enhance data quality, and make solar transactions more efficient. By creating solar data standards, open marketplaces, and tools for accessing data by the private sector, Orange Button aims to improve market transparency in a self-sustaining manner.
The SGIP (Smart Grid Interoperability Panel) and partner SEIA (Solar Energy Industries Association) are tasked with organizing a wide array of market participants to drive strategy and to collect business requirements from a variety of perspectives. Through this collaboration, collective output will be incorporated into the design and implementation of specific data tools aimed to facilitate the Orange Button objectives. To accomplish its goals, SGIP and SEIA are forming five Strategy and Business Requirements Working Groups.
The groups include:
- Deployment – Focused on the data needs associated with structural and electrical safety and other permitting concerns. This working group will include building code and safety standards experts, project developers, and other relevant stakeholders.
- Financial – Engaged in supporting efficient finance for projects, as well as efficient financial reporting practices during project operation. This working group will examine data practices for tax and accounting systems, streamlining information exchange between banks and developers to assess development risk, and the data exchange environment necessary to conduct effective financial asset management activities.
- Grid Integration – Focused on the data needs for utilities, ISOs, and solar developers with regard to new utility-scale and behind-the-meter connections.
- Real Estate – Focused on data requirements of the real estate industry (as they are relevant to solar projects) to deploy projects at various types of commercial real estate (e.g., owner-occupation of buildings, types of lease structures held by tenants).
- Solar O&M – Focused on all data requirements behind project operations and maintenance practices and cost models.
Interested in joining one of the Orange Button Strategy and Business Requirements working groups listed above? Click the register button below:
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For more information on the Orange Button initiative, click here to view the Orange Button Overview webinar that was hosted by SGIP on May 26th, 2016.
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