DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions (DuPont) and Distributed Sun LLC (D-SUN) have announced they are collaborating to help drive increased adoption of solar energy through the D-SUN Distributed Solar Network. 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 Network 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 truSolar - 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.