World’s first report on digitalisation and solar published

Originally published 2017–10–04

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Smart solar homes, peer-to-peer electricity trading, digitalised manufacturing and high-tech O&M. These are just some of the topics covered in a ground breaking new report from SolarPower Europe. The European PV association has today published Digitalisation & Solar, part of the work of its Digitalisation & Solar Task Force which was set up in December 2016 to assess the opportunity of digital technology for solar PV.

The report, thought to be the first in-depth analysis of digital technology in solar PV in the world, seeks to lay out how solar can make the most of the market opportunities of digitalisation. It looks at new and improved business models, the digitalisation of the entire value chain from manufacturing to operations and maintenance and digital integration of the technology into the grid.

The report also contains a series of cutting edge case studies from Europe and beyond to illustrate the potential of digital in the solar sector, including:

• SMA Solar Technology’s ennexOS energy management platform and Worker Information System
• Tesla’s aggregation of Powerwalls and Powerpacks for a cleaner and more efficient grid
• SolarCoin’s use of blockchain technology to generate a record of and reward for PV generation
• Siemens’ neighbourhood solar microgrid on a blockchain platform in Brooklyn
• Alectris’s ACTIS platform to optimise under-performing biaxial tracking plants
• BayWa r.e.’s infrared inspections with drones for improved performance analysis
• Alpiq’s Gridsense energy services offering combining PV, storage, heat and e-mobility

Commenting, Professor Bernd Engel, Digitalisation Task Force leader and representative of the SMA Solar Technology Board for grid integration stated: “Digitalisation is a major opportunity for solar, not least because it is a means of integrating more PV into the grid, gaining system-wide benefits and new revenues for solar installations.”

Commenting, Sonia Dunlop, Policy Adviser at SolarPower Europe and lead author of the report, said: “The advent of new technologies such as big data analytics, the internet of things and blockchain allows for the emergence of entirely new solar business models. By embracing digitalisation we can reduce costs, improve performance and increase profitability.”

For more information: fs@solcrypto.com