New software standard could speed solar

The IEP could link solar contractors and customers.

A host of websites and software solutions exist to help consumers and companies select and install solar projects. But while those tools are intended to streamline processes, they would be much more efficient if there was a way to share information between them about customers and projects, according to Eric Alderman, CEO and founder of solar software startup SolarNexus.

That’s a problem the Integrated Energy Project is trying to solve. The project—which is a collaboration between Berkeley-based SolarNexus, kW Engineering and residential energy assessment website SaveEnergy123, and is funded by a $1 million grant from the state of California—is developing a software standard to allow all those disparate tools to share information. 

There are tools for different stakeholders, but no way for those tools to work collaboratively, Alderman says. A common software standard would facilitate communication and eliminate redundant tasks, and make solar adoption faster and easier, according to the project.

The growing solar industry has been relying on antiquated systems, Alderman says. “Software could be the commercial lubricant to make installation faster.” The two-year project expects to have a first draft of its protocol completed by the end of the year.