Easing & Accelerating Solar Energy Adoption
DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions (DuPont) and Distributed Sun LLC (D-SUN) today announced they are collaborating to help drive increased adoption of solar energy through the D-SUN Distributed Solar NetworkTM. Together the companies will advocate best practice specifications, promote data transparency and provide access to a comprehensive suite of analytical tools to benefit the growing solar energy industry. The aim is to facilitate project specifications that will better inform the decisions of system owners, investors and users. DuPont will help guide D-SUN on specifications for materials that deliver improved efficiency, lifetime and lower overall system costs to maximize returns for solar installations, and reduce investment risk.
“It’s not enough to know who makes your modules, you have to know what’s in them,” said William F. Feehery, global business director, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions. “Solar modules today are made with a complex assortment of materials, and given the intense cost pressures the industry faces, the results can be inconsistent. Materials matter, and understanding how to specify materials can make the difference between a project’s success and failure. DuPont is uniquely qualified to provide insights on materials science in solar, and together with D SUN, we’re making it easy to build key materials selection in to the planning process.”
DuPont is the leading materials supplier to the photovoltaic industry globally (ex. silicon). DuPont materials are in over half of the world’s 300 million solar panels installed since 1975 and have been time-tested for over 5 trillion outdoor panel-hours.
“This program will bring together the entire solar industry value chain in ways that benefit all market constituents,” said Chase Weir, chief executive officer, Distributed Sun. “By increasing transparency, our collaboration drives optimal module selection standards with a preferred bill of materials and a standardized bill of materials for solar installations. Improving solar value for ratepayers, taxpayers, capital markets, policy-makers and the environment is our shared commitment. We look forward to a long cooperation with DuPont across our shared missions – where distributed solar energy generation provides a significant share of our electricity portfolio.”
The Distributed Solar NetworkTM is a commercial solar development model, delivering best-practice methods aligned with the rapidly changing industry landscape. In addition to project sourcing and funding, network members have access to truSolarTM – an industry-driven standard for project selection, underwriting and approval. These services are available to developers, installers and integrators nationwide through D-SUN. D-SUN’s suite of custom analytics is quickly becoming the industry’s accepted best-practice for solar market decision-making within the commercial, industrial and public segments.
D-SUN has enlisted 42 members from 21 states and constituting 440 megawatt of solar projects since the second quarter of this year. D-SUN’s goal is to assess nearly 1.5 gigawatts of distributed solar projects through next year, providing database reliability and real-time fleet data collection.
Distributed Sun LLC (D-Sun) is an industry-leading commercial solar developer. Through its Solar Energy Investment Companies (SEICs), D-Sun develops, finances, constructs, owns and operates commercial scale solar energy systems throughout the United States. D-Sun and its SEICs provide all the development capital required to take a project from selection to completion using sponsor equity, tax equity, and syndicated construction and term debt finance. For additional information, please visit http://www.distributedsun.com/.
DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions (DPVS) represents a broad and growing portfolio of materials which connects science and technology from across the company on a global scale to help support the dramatic growth in the photovoltaic industry. To learn more, please visit http://photovoltaics.dupont.com/.
DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit www.dupont.com.
Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements based on management’s current expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the company’s strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like “expects,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “intends,” “projects,” “indicates,” and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by DuPont, particularly its latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q, as well as others, could cause results to differ materially from those stated. These factors include, but are not limited to changes in the laws, regulations, policies and economic conditions, including inflation, interest and foreign currency exchange rates, of countries in which the company does business; competitive pressures; successful integration of structural changes, including restructuring plans, acquisitions, divestitures and alliances; cost of raw materials, research and development of new products, including regulatory approval and market acceptance; seasonality of sales of agricultural products; and severe weather events that cause business interruptions, including plant and power outages, or disruptions in supplier and customer operations. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements as a result of future developments or new information.
