Utilities are facing transformations in all areas of the operating model with perhaps the greatest change occurring in the activities related to their customers. Customer care will be the natural evolution of Customer Service—instead of just responding to customer requests and complaints, a proactive model in which customer needs are identified, addressed and even anticipated will be required. Determining how to best address customer needs as part of future financial and operational decisions will be critical for utilities to remain competitive and profitable over the next decade.

Leveraging existing cellular networks is a much smarter option for creating a smart grid than building a proprietary network. That's because existing cellular networks cover 97% of North America's electric consumers, have bandwidth to spare, and are as secure as any network can get. What's more, some experts expect that over a 10-year period, the cost of a cellular smart grid network will be half the cost of a private network.

Join us for this free webinar to learn how IP-based cellular networks can enable utilities to strategically and rapidly deploy secure and scalable smart grid solutions with minimal capital expenditures.

GTM Research Smart Grid Analysts will review results of a recent survey of municipal utility executives related to their smart grid deployment plans. In addition to the much larger, yet far fewer IOUs (Investor Owned Utilities), the roughly 2000 municipal utilities throughout the U.S. present a growing opportunity for smart grid hardware and software vendors. This webinar will present survey data collected 75 municipal smart grid utility executives about their deployment plans today and going forward.

At last, the same cellular communication technologies that are enabling more than 5 billion connections worldwide are now enabling utility companies to reliably and cost effectively deploy smarter grids. While initial smart grid deployments constrained the use of commercial cellular networks to Wide Area Network (WAN) backhaul, new technology innovations and increased cellular operator engagement now bring cellular connectivity for a variety of smart grid applications including Distribution Automation, Smart Metering, Electric Vehicle Charging, Home Energy Management and Virtual Power Plants.

As utilities plan and implement smart grid solutions, the importance and relevance of communications networks as an enabler is becoming more prominent. Furthermore, utilities are highly dependent on these networks for other parts of the business as well, such as workforce resource management, unified communications, advanced video and data collaboration, and critical radio communications.

CPV systems are poised for significant growth thanks to the confluence of several factors: Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) requiring up to 33% renewables by 2020 in key US states, higher efficiency CPV systems, and lower CPV system costs. In the last year alone, over 300 MW of CPV projects have signed contracts with utilities - and are now awaiting regulatory approvals and financing. Thanks to these large projects, CPV technology companies may be approaching the critical mass needed to cost-effectively manufacture their systems - and compete head-to-head with non-concentrating PV. 

The ongoing deployment of smart grid infrastructure (i.e., smart meters and distribution automation) in the U.S. is prompting utility strategists to re-evaluate their organizations' back-end enterprise architectures in order to enable next-gen utility business and operational services, such as dynamic pricing, grid optimization, self-healing grids and renewables integration. As utilities begin this re-evaluation, they are discovering an existing patchwork of legacy enterprise systems with little, if any, architectural consistency. Utilities are just now beginning to understand the implications of outfitting their dated enterprise architectures with current information (IT) and operations (OT) technologies required to offer next-gen smart grid applications to both their in-house teams and end-users.

With information at your fingertips, decisions are smarter, operations are more efficient, and customers are better informed and happier. While many of the challenges and opportunities for municipal utilities (munis) are the same as the ones faced by other types of utilities, there are also enough differences to justify a closer look at how successful munis are tackling their Smart Grid projects. Hear from two munis at different stages in their Smart Grid deployment, and learn how they are working to make cities smarter for their customers.

Microinverters have begun to capture the attention of the solar industry, yet many installers are still reluctant to adopt microinverters because of initial cost and reliability concerns.  Meanwhile, crystalline PV module costs have dropped by over 30% in 2011 alone, leading many to treat PV modules as a commodity product.  By integrating microinverters directly with modules, module manufacturers can provide a differentiated product and installers can reduce time on site and total installed cost. 

Businesses are recognizing the growing importance of sustainability as a way to improve performance.  From more efficient resource utilization to environmental compliance, effective initiatives begin with a solid understanding of operations.  Sustainability professionals can harvest real time data about business processes and across geographies to create effective and dynamic initiatives.   Further, an enterprise wide data infrastructure enables employees across business units to collaborate, innovate, and continuously improve sustainability performance.  Early adopters have also realized wide ranging positive impacts that go beyond sustainability to include better financial performance and more effective asset utilization.   

In this webinar, you'll hear from CPS Energy, the first utility in the world to implement SAP IS-U EhP5, the latest release of their enterprise resource planning software. Not only do CPS Energy customers receive 15 minute, hourly and daily energy consumption information, but the utility provides greater levels of customer service through capabilities such as remote connects/disconnects and on-demand reads.

Everyone knows that new communications technology is integral to Smart Grid strategies. But what will it mean for utilities to actually have to manage that new technology, and to understand the extra responsibilities that come with it: such as network sizing, bandwidth management, inventory management, alarm management, security and monitoring? This webinar will introduce utilities to the essential new discipline of Smart Grid Communications Management, with the potential to make or break Smart Grid programs. 

As PV installations increase in size and scale, understanding system reliability and durability is becoming increasingly critical for project developers and system owners. Declining government incentives combined with an increasingly uncertain future policy direction only heightens the importance of reliable power output and long system life to deliver healthy project returns. A key element in ensuring reliable system performance is the quality, performance, and durability of the non-active materials used in solar modules, such as backsheets  In short, materials matter.

On November 16–17, 2011 Greentech Media, along with SEIA, will be hosting the inaugural U.S. Solar Market Insight Conference in San Francisco. With a stellar lineup of speakers, sponsors, and attendees, the conference promises to provide a timely deep dive into the dynamics of the U.S. solar market. This webinar will provide a sneak peek at the discussion topics during the conference. Themes to be addressed: 

Does your team struggle to get access to data so you can glean business intelligence from it? Do you find yourself uploading batch files of data into your analytics service? Are you maintaining multiple, disparate analytics systems around your company? And, if so, who has the "right" version of the information? 

The introductions of the Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF in 2010 marked the beginning of a new era in the transportation industry: the permanent establishment of electric-drive in the mass market for passenger vehicles. Ever-rising and increasingly volatile oil markets and better energy storage technology have suddenly brought electric vehicles (EVs) to the threshold of technical and economic viability. Car manufacturers have begun to take a new interest in EVs, spurred by governments’ attempts to reduce energy dependence and the environmental footprint of the transportation sector.

With the continuing maturation of national and state-level policy, India is now at the forefront of emerging solar markets globally. GTM Research and BRIDGE TO INDIA forecast India's total solar installations to expand from just 54 MW in 2010 to more than 9,000 MW by 2016.

Today’s smart grid revolution is driven by energy and sustainability concerns. But utility, engineering, technology and software firms need to get behind the hype to understand the projects and partnerships characterizing the market today, and the companies and solutions with high potential to shape the future smart grid. They must also navigate the practical complexities of a dynamic smart grid ecosystem by addressing issues such as interoperability, transmission, distribution, metering, connecting consumers and cyber security.

The PV industry currently faces the greatest challenge of its 30+ year lifetime. Incentives that drove torrid industry growth over the last several years are drying up. Prices for cells and modules have dropped precipitously as a result of over-capacity and over-production. Module buyers are now becoming more selective, preferring higher-value and higher-quality modules at low prices. As a result of these dynamics, hundreds of rapidly-growing cell and module manufacturing companies that have sprung up in the last decade face a daunting challenge: How to reduce costs faster than prices and return to profitability as the industry transitions to grid-parity?

What does 2012 hold for the smart grid market? With global utilities on the precipice of large-scale smart grid technology deployment, vendors are proliferating and evolving to meet the complexities and requirements of their utility clients. As a result, utilities are flooded by solutions providers vying for their business and are now approaching strategic crossroads that will set the course of their smart grid roadmaps.

The global polysilicon industry will undergo a major shakeout over the next two years, as the feedstock's epic 2011 price declines will continue through 2013. With new entrants bringing capacity online and incumbent suppliers fulfilling expansion plans fomented in the PV demand boom of yesterday, global polysilicon capacity is forecasted to double by 2013 over 2010 levels. In today's market of waning PV demand, this over-supply has already begun to open significant gaps in production scale and therefore cost structure between industry leaders and an increasingly marginalized group of new entrants.

The concept of "bankability" has taken the PV industry by storm. Modules, inverters, systems, and even developers are assessed according to their place on a bankability scale in order to receive project financing. But what does bankability mean, and how can suppliers achieve it? 

This year, technology will drive the industry forward to Smart Grid 2.0. Data analytics software will help utilities put to good use the data now pouring in from over 150 million installed smart meters globally. This year will see consumer getting new options for dynamic pricing, detailed usage information options, and prepayment from upgraded utility IT systems. We saw new consumer products emerge in 2011, and 2012 will be the year that brings wide adoption of these exciting new energy management devices, especially smart thermostats. And, renewables will continue their march across the world, as more businesses and residences begin adding power to the grid along with continued renewable initiatives by utilities. Changes in IT technology will able to better manage and control these resources in 2012.