GTM Research and SunSpec Team Up To Drive oSPARC Adoption

Boston, MA and Scotts Valley, CA, April 3, 2013– GTM Research, the leading U.S. solar market intelligence provider, and the SunSpec Alliance, a global information standards trade alliance for the distributed energy industry, are partnering to provide solar plant performance data analytics to the development and finance community in order to increase transparency, better characterize risk, and improve access to capital.

The Open Solar Performance and Reliability Clearinghouse (oSPARC™) is a user-driven actuarial database to compare and assess the performance, health and reliability of solar projects. SunSpec developed oSPARC in conjunction with NREL to support the Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) initiative of over 170 companies. Through today’s partnership, oSPARC participants will be able to participate in a new GTM Research program, oSPARC Plus, to analyze project and portfolio performance, compare system characteristics, and ease access to future project capital.

“With over 6.3 GW of distributed solar operating today in the U.S. and a mandate to build another 11.6 GW through 2016, now is the time to perform robust analysis on how these systems are performing in the field in order to bring a wider class of investors into the market,” said Shayle Kann, Senior Vice President at GTM Research. “oSPARC Plus will be the market’s premier source of performance data and we are excited to forge a partnership that will provide value to both oSPARC participants and the industry as a whole.”

Data providers who participate in the GTM Research program through oSPARC Plus will receive regular customized reports on their fleet performance and tailored benchmarks. Data providers can sign up for the program immediately and GTM Research expects to begin delivering reports in the second half of 2014.

“We are pleased to welcome GTM Research to the SunSpec Alliance and look forward to working with them to drive even greater adoption of SunSpec standards and the oSPARC system,” said Tom Tansy, Chairman of the SunSpec Alliance. “This combined effort will increase investor confidence, PV system quality, and transparency in the solar industry, ” Tansy concluded.

Solar installers, EPCs, O&M providers, monitoring companies, fleet operators and investors are all welcome to participate. Interested parties can contact performance@gtmresearch.com for more details on participation. More information on oSPARC is available at http://sunspec.wpengine.com/osparc/.

About GTM Research: GTM Research, a division of Greentech Media, provides critical and timely market analysis in the form of research reports, data services, advisory services and strategic consulting. GTM Research’s analysis also underpins Greentech Media’s webinars and live events. Our coverage spans the green energy industry including solar power, smart grid, energy storage, energy efficiency and wind power sectors. More information is available at www.gtmresearch.com