The SunSpec Alliance, an industry coalition formed to establish global interoperability among renewable energy system components and management systems, is pleased to announce the SunSpec Spring PlugFest of 2012™. April 17 & 18. This important event is focused on collaborative engineering to demonstrate the interoperability of solar components and IT systems that use SunSpec specifications. SunSpec Spring PlugFest of 2012 will place on April 17-18 at TÜV Rheinland in Pleasanton, California—and virtually over the Internet—and is open to all SunSpec members.
WHAT: The SunSpec Spring PlugFest of 2012, the organization’s third event of this type, is an event for the demonstration and achievement of solar component IT interoperability. All Participants are required to provide SunSpec implementations for testing. Companies that successfully complete the test process will be awarded SunSpec Certification of their tested products. SunSpec Certified™ is a mark that sought after by leading customers and integrators around the world as a way to increase efficiency and grow the market for interoperable PV balance-of-systems solutions.
Only those companies with SunSpec-compliant products ready for testing may participate. SunSpec specifications are currently available for inverters, modules, string combiners, environmental systems, meters, data loggers, and application data extraction. Please visit www.sunspec.org to download current specifications.
WHERE: Please join us in person at TÜV Rhineland, 1279 Quarry Lane, Suite A in Pleasanton, California. Work will start each morning at 9 AM PST. Developers who cannot make it to Pleasanton may join us on the Internet via GotoMeeting.com.
HOW: To register or for more information, please send an email: Kathie@sunspec.org
SO WHAT IS A “PLUGFEST?” Similar to the interoperability exercises that enabled the Internet to develop rapidly, the principle objective of every SunSpec PlugFest is to establish plug-and-play communications among renewable energy devices, thus demonstrating that it can be done, driving down total integration costs and creating a vibrant market for compatible devices and services. Engineering practitioners benefit by establishing best practices and by helping to define standards that are shaping the Smart Grid.
“The main purpose of this vendor-agnostic exercise is to help all manufacturers of solar PV components and devices integrate standards-based communications technology into their equipment,” said John Nunneley, Executive Director and CTO of the SunSpec Alliance. “In doing so, this coalition is establishing interoperability throughout the solar technology ecosystem, and is enabling faster and more cost-effective rollouts of renewable energy systems and the Smart Grid.”
AS AN ENGINEER, WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? Every SunSpec PlugFest drives standards adoption by providing participating software engineers with a forum to perform testing and rapidly resolve problems with their peers from other organizations. This format, which truly enabled the Internet we know now, is proven in it ability to cut through the guesswork, solve problems, and deliver working software implementations in record time. Please join us in what is bound to be an enlightening and fun-filled event. For more info, please visit www.sunspec.org
“Participating in the SunSpec PlugFest 2011 was a great opportunity” – Fronius USA Solar
Sebastian Hassell – Fronius USA Solar Division
“Participating in the SunSpec PlugFest 2011 was a great opportunity to interact with other members of the alternative energy industry, develop partnerships, and share ideas and technical information. Using SunSpec as an industry-wide platform helps us increase the availability of data available to our customers and third party vendors without reinventing the wheel for each new project.”
Mike Klein – Moxa
“PlugFest offered tremendous value for me and the rest of MOXA. It was great that the industry leading companies could get together and learn from one another, both from a technical aspect as well as from a market and applications standpoint. The views and opinions shared showed that our mission at SunSpec is for the benefit of all of the players involved in solar, from the component manufacturers to the municipalities and government entities. Of course as a spec-based alliance it was nice to see live equipment functioning together based on the hard work of the SunSpec technical groups. We are looking forward to the next PlugFests as we know SunSpec will continue to grow.”
Tracy Markie – Engenuity
“The 2011 SunSpec Plug-in was a great opportunity to certify our products as well as see all the other products in the SunSpec ecosystem. We were able to meet others in the community to network and discuss future opportunities and how fast the market is growing!”
