Distributed Energy Groups Join Forces to Accelerate Cost-Effective Energy Storage

January 28, 2014, Distributech Conference,San Antonio,TX -Today the SunSpec Alliance and the MESA Standards Alliance announced joint effort to advance common communication standards for energy storage devices to lower costs and increase customer adoption.

An industry consortium of electric utilities and technology suppliers have developed the Modular Energy Storage Architecture (MESA) and created the MESA Standards Alliance. The MESA standards are an open, non-proprietary set of specifications and standards to accelerate interoperability, scalability, safety, quality, availability, and affordability in energy storage components and systems. These standards are complementary to SunSpec communication standards for distributed energy components and applications. The intention of MESA and SunSpec is to enable seamless integration of storage and distributed energy.

"SunSpec standards address the operational aspects of photovoltaic power plants on the smart grid and thus reduce costs, promote technology innovation, and accelerate industry growth. The MESA standards do the same thing for the energy storage market and offer a natural complement to our efforts to grow the distributed energy industry." said TomTansy, Chairman of the SunSpec Alliance.

"Together Sunspec and MESA technology standards will provide the foundation for a more effective and efficient energy distribution system," said Steve Klein, General Manager of the Snohomish Public Utility District. "We are wholehearted supporters of the MESA standards because they will spur the manufacturing and sale of more energy storage products, which will provide more options for distribution utilities while generating increased revenues for battery and inverter suppliers. Most importantly, utilities will be able to integrate increasing amounts of new renewable energy sources such as solar PV and do so with operational, technical and financial confidence."

The SunSpec Alliance and MESA are both industry-led trade associations working to establish common standards for the different devices that comprise photovoltaic (PV) power systems and energy storage systems. Working together, the two associations are developing and extending smart grid standards that work for industry participants on both the utility and customer side of the meter.

About the SunSpec Alliance

The SunSpec Alliance is a trade alliance of distributed energy industry participants, together pursuing information standards to enable "plug & play" system interoperability. SunSpec standards address operational aspects of PV power plants on the smart grid- including residential, commercial, and utility- scale systems -thus reducing cost, promoting technology innovation, and accelerating industry growth.

Over 60 organizations are members of the SunSpec Alliance, including global leaders from Asia, Europe, and North America. Membership is open to corporations, non-profits,and individuals. To understand the philosophy oft he SunSpecAlliance and its role in the industry,you can also download the SunSpec Alliance white paper describing the benefits of standards or the current SunSpec Alliance Backgrounder from www.sunspec.org.

About MESA Standards Alliance

The MESA Standards Alliance is a trade alliance of utilities and energy storage industry participants creating physical,electrical, and communication standards to enable "plug & play" system interoperability.

MESA partners are advancing a new, component- based approach to energy storage that gives electric utilities more choice, and empowers battery, power converter and software manufacturers to reach more customers while focusing on their individual core competencies.

For more information about MESA,see www.MESAStandards.org.