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Sunskool: SaaS Solution for Storm Sustainability’s Education Portal
Tags: Fat Spaniel, SaaS, solar, Sunskool
Fat Spaniel Provides SaaS Solution for Storm Sustainability’s Education Portal
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 12, 2010 - Fat Spaniel Technologies, Inc., a provider of lifecycle management services for renewable energy systems, announced its relationship with Storm Sustainability Ltd. to provide comprehensive solar monitoring services for their educational portal, SunskoolTM.
Storm Sustainability takes advantage of Fat Spaniel Technologies system, turning real-time renewable energy system performance data into an educational tool, Sunskool. The Sunskool website provides up-to-the-minute information about how much energy each Sunskool is generating and how much energy the school is using. The web-based portal is now the most comprehensive solar monitoring service available to schools in Australia, allowing classrooms to log-in and see how much energy their school is generating and consuming.
Storm Sustainability is a highly experienced contracting, design, and installation company focused on delivering innovative and sustainable water, solar, and resource monitoring solutions. Working with its partners in industry and government, the company is committed to promoting awareness about resource management and conservation. Storm Sustainability’s growing team of experts and wealth of knowledge helps meet customers’ needs while protecting the environment.
“If we don’t change the way people think, and encourage them to embrace sustainability, technology can’t accomplish the real goal of responsible energy,” said Peter Wilson, director of technology and innovation at Storm Sustainability. “Using the Fat Spaniel services, we gained a flexible API for building the Sunskool portal and as a result we can now bring renewable energy from the rooftop into the classroom and make it real for kids. Fat Spaniel gives us easy access to all of the data, and we use it to help students and teachers appreciate the whole energy cycle. It’s really motivating when they can see how to make a difference in terms of carbon footprint and conservation.”
Storm Sustainability plans to release other dashboards for schools, helping them raise awareness about water conservation. Fat Spaniel services will help them monitor and report real-time conditions for harvesting rainwater and for identifying system leaks to eliminate undetected waste. Fat Spaniel services are also enabling Storm Sustainability to provide resource management solutions to both residential and commercial customers.
Teachers are using Sunskool to raise a new generation of enlightened energy consumers. With increased awareness, the whole school community actively embraces the solar projects and helps to increase the overall benefits achieved with the alternative energy solutions.
“Working with Storm, we provide the most comprehensive solar monitoring service available,” said Randy Rajagopal, senior director of marketing at Fat Spaniel. “This state of the art technology enables schools to educate children by taking the data off the roof and directly into the classroom. Fat Spaniel is a global leader in renewable energy management and we can help Storm grow a worldwide Sunskool community. Storm’s Sunskool portal can ultimately drive energy consumption behavior modification through educational programs worldwide.”
To read the full Fat Spaniel and Sunskool case study, visit http://www.fatspaniel.com/news-events/collateral-kit/case-studies.
About Fat Spaniel
Fat Spaniel Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of lifecycle management services for the renewable energy industry. Solar power producers, financiers, system integrators, plant owners, and OEMs take advantage of Fat Spaniel’s category-defining Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to maximize system uptime, energy output, and return on investment. Fat Spaniel’s lifecycle management solutions empower renewable energy component vendors to provide fully manageable solutions and inspire application developers to innovate advanced Web-based energy applications and visualizations. With its partners and customers, Fat Spaniel shares the vision of a world where renewable energy is the first and best energy source, deployed in 28 countries and more than 4,000 locations worldwide. For more information, please visit www.fatspaniel.com.
Tags: Fat Spaniel, renewable energy, solar, Storm Sustainability, Sunskool
American Capital Energy Chooses Fat Spaniel’s Optimized ROI Services
San Jose, Calif. - April 28, 2010 - Fat Spaniel Technologies, Inc., a provider of lifecycle management services for renewable energy systems, announced that American Capital Energy (ACE) has now deployed Fat Spaniel’s Solar Operations ServicesTM. Solar Operations Services (SOS) provides proactive management and monitoring for a portfolio of Fat Spaniel-enabled solar PV plant sites. The Solar Operations Services solution gives customers the choice of using existing field service personnel, or optionally contracting a team by choosing qualified personnel from a list maintained by Fat Spaniel.
ACE is comprised of a team of solar project integration professionals that are focused on providing solar power systems - front to back. ACE holds operations and maintenance contracts for most of their deployed solar projects. With the complexity of managing multiple solar projects and the problems that are associated with them, ACE’s technical staff was inundated with orchestrating field teams to diagnose and address on-site issues. This caused possible voids on performance, operations, and maintenance contracts that were being held by ACE.
In order to manage the day-to-day performance of each solar project, ACE adopted Fat Spaniel’s Solar Operations Service solution to provide real-time data monitoring and analytics for each asset in their portfolio. With this new software service, ACE can receive events and alarms for each installation if a problem exists and they can track performance degradation across one or more projects.
“On each issue that was not straightforward or obvious, the service saved me an average of two hours to diagnose and resolve the issue,” said Ryan McDonald, Electrical Engineer from ACE. “If you are interested in accurate error diagnosis and timely resolutions on your solar projects, then I would highly recommend Solar Operations Services from Fat Spaniel.”
In an increasing portfolio of projects, Solar Operations Services not only increased project up-time but also maximized new project commissioning and deployment. The time and resource savings that Solar Operations Services provided quickly paid for the initial investment. Solar Operations Services provided ACE with reliability and solar domain expertise, in turn, minimizing internal resources and performance contract violations.
“SOS is designed to create a closer customer partnership,” said Robert Tagg, Director of Support Operations for Fat Spaniel Technologies. “SOS is designed to drive cost from our customer’s bottom line while enhancing customer satisfaction. Fat Spaniel strives to ensure that our technical methodology, will of commitment, and cutting edge development will elevate ACE’s business and our growing partnership, to a solid position in the financial management of distributed power.”
To read the full Fat Spaniel and ACE case study, visit: http://www.fatspaniel.com.
Tags: Fat Spaniel, renewable energy, solar
Fat Spaniel Technologies Chosen by Cuvaison Estate Wines
San Jose, Calif. - April 21, 2010 - Fat Spaniel Technologies, Inc., a provider of lifecycle management services for renewable energy systems, announced that Cuvaison Estate Wines has deployed Fat Spaniel’s Solar Plant VisionTM. Cuvaison is among the early adopters of green technologies and practices, and solar has been a site-friendly solution for its operations in Napa Valley. To meet the requirements for California Solar Initiative (CSI) rebates, and to drive new practices that minimize the winery’s impact on the environment, they rely extensively on Fat Spaniel services.
“We continue to look into ways of creating positive change within our own organization,” said Jay Schuppert, president of Cuvaison. ”The Fat Spaniel service helps us be better global citizens-we have browser-based access to easily understandable information and can see where we have room to improve. The introduction of the monitoring technology was very smooth, and it is has quickly become an integral tool for our business.”
Cuvaison is currently a certified “Napa Green” operation, exclusively relying on its solar PV system to power its Carneros winery location. Sunlight Electric handled the initial sizing, the rebate applications, the installation, and the ongoing monitoring and support of the solar equipment and Fat Spaniel solution. The Fat Spaniel Technologies services assist the installer’s support team, and also give Cuvaison complete access to current and historical energy and environmental impact data.
“Our lifecycle management services give businesses like Cuvaison the oversight that is required to maximize their return on investments in renewable energy,” said Matthew Powell, CEO, Fat Spaniel Technologies. “The visibility provided by our services leads to insights that can change behaviors, and at the same time it introduces the transparency that is required for participation in state and federal programs. And it’s all made easy with our at-a-glance web views and automated alerts, helping Cuvaison to stay focused on the business of making world-class wines.”
About Fat Spaniel
Fat Spaniel Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of lifecycle management services for the renewable energy industry. Solar power producers, financiers, system integrators, plant owners, and OEMs take advantage of Fat Spaniel’s category-defining Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to maximize system uptime, energy output, and return on investment. Fat Spaniel’s lifecycle management solutions empower renewable energy component vendors to provide fully manageable solutions and inspire application developers to innovate advanced Web-based energy applications and visualizations. With its partners and customers, Fat Spaniel shares the vision of a world where renewable energy is the first and best energy source, deployed in 28 countries and more than 4,000 locations worldwide. For more information, please visit www.fatspaniel.com.
Tags: Cuvaison, Fat Spaniel, renewable energy, solar
Fat Spaniel Technologies and Tendril Bring Smart Energy Home to Utilities and Consumers
Anaheim, Calif. - October 27, 2009 - Today at Solar Power International 2009, Fat Spaniel Technologies, a global provider of lifecycle management solutions for the renewable energy industry, announced a partnership with Boulder-based Tendril, a leading smart grid home energy management solutions company. The two companies will join forces to create a complete utility-facing solution for residential energy management incorporating data and analytics from renewable energy sources. Fat Spaniel’s Insight PlatformTM, which enables sophisticated performance management of renewable energy portfolios, will be integrated with the Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE) Platform. The enterprise-class TREE Platform, with engaging in-home devices and a suite of utility applications, provides a secure, end-to-end, easy-to-deploy, open, standards-based energy management system that empowers consumers to take control of their energy consumption. With unprecedented scalability, reliability and extensibility, the TREE Platform provides utilities with demand response, energy efficiency and variable pricing, along with a platform for future applications such as distributed generation management and vehicle-to-grid. The TREE Platform is currently being field tested in utility trials and pilots across the country. Visit booth 1710 for more information on our products and solutions.
“In today’s clean energy economy, effectively integrating renewable energy into residential load management is crucial in bringing us to the next level of the smart grid” said Adrian Tuck, CEO of Tendril. “Combined with our deep experience with home area networking and utility back-end services, this partnership with Fat Spaniel will enable us to offer an optimal solution for utilities and consumers to seamlessly consolidate, process and manage data from distributed generation sources such as solar and wind.”
With more than 37 percent of total U.S. generated power consumed by residential customers, the combined solution will enable consumers and utilities to reduce costs and increase energy conservation by enabling effective load control and optimal utilization of renewable energy. Although renewable energy portfolios pose a specific challenge due to their uneven generation from multiple sources, Fat Spaniel’s suite of lifecycle management solutions is able to accurately monitor, analyze and process information essential for load control from renewable portfolios, therefore managing renewable energy as a dispatchable service for residential and utility customers. Integrating disaggregated household consumption and distributed generation data provides utilities with significantly improved ability for residential predictive modeling and dispatchable load analytics.
“Tendril has reinvented the industry from simple home automation to next-generation home energy management,” added Matthew Powell, CEO of Fat Spaniel Technologies. “Together with TREE, Fat Spaniel’s life-cycle management technology will deliver a comprehensive suite of demand-response programs for utilities and consumers, increasing overall capabilities in tracking and managing energy consumption to include renewable energy systems.”
About Fat Spaniel
Fat Spaniel Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of Lifecycle Management services for the renewable energy industry. Solar power producers, financiers, system integrators, plant owners, and OEMs take advantage of Fat Spaniel’s category-defining Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to maximize system uptime, energy output, and return on investment. Fat Spaniel’s Lifecycle Management solutions empower renewable energy component vendors to provide fully manageable solutions and inspire application developers to innovate advanced Web-based energy applications and visualizations. With its partners and customers, Fat Spaniel shares the vision of a world where renewable energy is the first and best energy source, deployed in 23 countries and more than 3,000 locations worldwide. For more information, please visit www.fatspaniel.com.
About Tendril Networks
Tendril enables true 21st century energy efficiency by establishing actionable dialogue between consumers and their energy providers. The Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE) is comprised of a comprehensive suite of energy management applications (like Demand Response, Energy Efficiency and Pricing) and a suite of in-home hardware (like thermostats, in-home displays and smart outlets) that are extended to consumers and utilities over an open and standards-based platform that guarantees secure, auditable transactions and enterprise-class communications. TREE is a consumer-centric ecosystem that is designed to integrate seamlessly with a Utility`s or Energy Retailers` existing back office applications and network infrastructure allowing consumers and their energy companies to communicate, collaborate and create - Smart Energy for Life. Tendril’s home energy management vision is being delivered in concert with leading industry companies including; GE, Intel, Itron, Landis & Gyr, Ember and others. Tendril is venture backed by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Good Energies, RRE Ventures, Vista Ventures and Appian Ventures.
Tags: Fat Spaniel, renewable energy, solar, Solar Power International, Tendril
Fat Spaniel 2.0
Today, Fat Spaniel announced a new family of Lifecycle Management solutions for the renewable energy industry. Fat Spaniel Solar Plant Vision and Solar Operation Services build on the company’s experience pioneering technology and providing solutions for 2500 solar photovoltaic (PV) plants around the world. The first two Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) editions of Solar Plant Vision meet the needs of solar PV plant operators and project developers. For customers that want a turnkey service, Solar Operations Services complement the company’s SaaS offering with a staff of operations experts that oversee and manage daily operations. The new Fat Spaniel Lifecycle Management solutions are tailored for the business models and distinct job functions spanning commercial, municipal, federal, utility, educational, and residential solar projects.
“Complexities are inherent in every stage of the solar portfolio lifecycle-planning, design, deployment, and day-to-day operations,” said Ned Chaney, Business Director of American Capitol Energy. “An optimized management platform is essential for driving down costs and remaining competitive. Fat Spaniel Lifecycle Management services give us the efficiencies of SaaS and the benefits of Fat Spaniel’s relationships with device manufacturers. The end-to-end solution overcomes the challenges of integration and management, and allows us to focus on our business goals.”
“Until recently, the primary focus of the renewable energy industry has been on improving and augmenting generation to drive costs down to accelerate the rate of adoption.” said Al Velosa, Research Director at Gartner. “However, many are only now beginning to realize that efficient life-cycle and performance management is essential in achieving these goals, leading to increased asset value and reduced risk. As we work to create a low carbon economy, the use of IT marks the next benchmark for solar. In fact, the use of IT will be essential to facilitate the solar industry’s business model.”
“Solar developers, integrators, and operations personnel currently rely on imprecise tools with error rates of +/-20 percent-which significantly impacts financial returns and plant efficiency,” said Matt Powell, CEO of Fat Spaniel Technologies. “The solar industry is at a critical juncture, and if it is to reach its full potential, lifecycle management solutions must be designed into a system from site conception, to drive financial success and reduce risk. We look forward to the continuing expansion of our Lifecycle Management family of services-our technology can help s achieve the goal of making renewable energy #1 in the world.”
Solar Plant Vision: Portfolio and Plant Management for Distributed Solar Sites
Solar Plant Vision services deliver high-accuracy, predictive capabilities that address complete lifecycle management. Tailored to operations and maintenance (O&M) teams and project managers, the solutions help optimize solar plant production and overall portfolio performance. Complete operational and diagnostic data is collected continually; environmental data can be gathered from plant locations or downloaded from satellite services. Breakthrough capabilities are focused in three areas:
- Plant Management: A full range of device monitoring, troubleshooting, and performance tracking maximizes production while minimizing costs.
- Revenue Management: Billing and reporting features simplify financial and compliance management efforts.
- Marketing and Education: Real-time portfolio status can be displayed on Internet-connected PCs to educate energy consumers, or displayed in kiosks located in lobbies, retail stores, and other public places where clean energy can be promoted and marketed.
Solar Plant Vision lets today’s operators achieve industry-leading results including increased plant uptime, meeting or exceeding Power Purchase Agreement terms, and driving down total maintenance costs by up to 30%.
Solar Operations Services (SOS): A Team of Management Experts
SOS combines Fat Spaniel’s industry-leading Lifecycle Management platform with an experienced staff that delivers plant management based on customer-defined service-level agreements. Portfolio managers gain increased energy output, maximum system uptime, and cost-efficient, predictable costs. To accommodate future insourcing, a build-operate-transfer (BOT) option can be included. Both short- and long-term SOS contracts give customers complete flexibility, and make it easy to adjust for business and operations dynamics.
Availability
Solar Plant Vision Premium Edition provides end-to-end lifecycle management capabilities to O&M and project management teams. The SaaS service speeds start up, and offers affordable terms based on plant scale. Solar Plant Vision Base Edition provides a stand-alone software solution to customers that only need base-level monitoring, reporting, and visualization capabilities. Solar Plant Vision Base and Premium Editions and Solar Operations Services can be quoted immediately, and will be available starting in October 2009. The 500+ solar plant operators who depend on Insight Manager, Fat Spaniel’s legacy solar plant management offering, will be given an automatic upgrade to Solar Plant Vision when it becomes available.
For more information, write back to us at “dogblog at fatspaniel dot com”.
Tags: Fat Spaniel, lifecycle management, SaaS, solar PV
BusinessWeek
Tags: BusinessWeek, Fat Spaniel, solar
