Everything we do at Bright Sunday aims at lowering CO2 emissions on a global level by making the cleantech transformation easy and profitable for commercial and industrial customers. Our business is to offer cleantech as a service with zero upfront investments and savings from day one.

Bright Sunday charges customers a flat cost per kWh for the electricity produced by the solar PV system over a 10-20 year contract. Consequently, for the system to generate the expected savings for the customer and the expected revenues for Bright Sunday it has to produce as estimated. This incentivizes Bright Sunday to select premium hardware and to properly monitor and maintain the system.

With correct hardware and maintenance a solar PV system has an expected technical lifetime of more than 40 years. At the end of the contract customers may continue the service or buy the system for €1. Consequently, making the right technology choice is of great financial importance for both Bright Sunday and the customer.

This document is intended to serve as a guide to how Bright Sunday selects hardware and software components.

Smart system control and monitoring

All Bright Sunday solar PV systems will be integrated with the real time monitoring data analytics platform Quantum by QOS Energy. The Quantum platform communicates with the solar PV system via an industry grade GSM router. By using an independent GSM router system communication becomes reliable and independent of customer Internet connections, wifi access etc.

The data used for analysis is pulled from a logging device connected to the inverters and an energy meter placed in the main board. The inverter is the brain of the solar PV system and transforms the DC current produced by the PV panels to usable AC current. The inverter provides data on the status of the PV system and its production level whereas the energy meter provides data on total electricity consumed. To each inverter we specify the optimal logging device and energy meter. Since we only use premium quality three-phase inverters and high quality ancillary equipment we secure both quality power output and 100% control of the entire chain for continuous access to high quality data

To get complete data we also use a satellite service to measure solar irradiance on each installation location. All data is pulled into the Quantum platform, consolidated and made ready for analysis and presentation.

By using the Quantum platform we can share data with our customers on how much electricity the solar PV system is producing, its share of total electricity consumption and how much CO2 the system is replacing in real time and as an annual summary. Customers access data online or through an app provided by Bright Sunday.

The Quantum platform allows Bright Sunday to monitor the system’s performance ratio (which is the quality factor of the system) and provides detailed technical data on how specific system components are performing. Also, the Quantum platform will send alarms to Bright Sunday and our service partners, e.g. in case of loss of production. By continuously monitoring the system’s performance we can optimize service and repairs and secure optimal electricity production.

Setting up a smart system control and monitoring system goes beyond installing just a functioning solar PV system. With the Quantum platform Bright Sunday customers not only get control and peace of mind but also optimal savings.

Sustainable and reliable premium solar PV panels

When choosing PV panels multiple factors are important, e.g. price, performance and availability. PV panels used in Bright Sunday projects must, as a minimum, have a 10 year product warranty and the performance degradation must not exceed 0.7% per year over 25 years. Bright Sunday preferred suppliers are high-volume producers both rated as “tier-1” by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and “leader” by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC). For the current supplier list please contact Bright Sunday.

A Bloomberg “tier-1” PV panel manufacturer is, simplified, rated as bankable and has own-manufacture products. This labeling provides comfort concerning product quality and the manufacturer’s ability to fulfill potential future warranty obligations.

The SVTC Solar Scorecard is a study where PV panel manufacturers are rated based on an independent and holistic sustainability performance assessment. It covers sourcing of materials (e.g. reporting on use of conflict minerals), production (e.g. reporting of use of energy and emissions and workers rights, health and safety) and end of life recycling commitments. By choosing manufacturers rated as “leader” we aim to secure sustainability in all aspects, which we believe is not only the right thing to do, but also ensures that our customer’s brand will benefit as well.

With Bright Sunday you get “solar as a service” based on a premium quality, sustainable and smart PV system that will maximize climate and financial benefits for many years to come – at zero investment and without the hassle.

 

We work with a limited number of premium inverter manufacturers only – for the current supplier list please contact Bright Sunday. All inverters have undergone rigorous testing and certification in accordance with international standards and country-specific grid connection requirements.

Tier 1 manufacturers have provided own-brand, own-manufacture products to six different projects, which have been financed non-recourse by six different (non-development) banks, in the past two years.

The Solar Scorecard is based on SVTC’s annual survey of photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturers, as well as on prior survey responses, interviews, news stories, and publicly available data. The goal of the Scorecard is to enhance transparency around environmental health, safety, and sustainability issues for communities, workers, and the environment. http://www.solarscorecard.com/2018-19/