CA Rule 21 Phase 2 Rollout Strategy Session

Starting in early 2019, California Rule 21 requires that every new Distributed Energy Resource system interconnected in the PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E territories (about 150,000 solar PV and battery systems per year) must be capable of establishing secure communication with the utility for the purpose of maintaining grid stability.

This substantial, new capability will require major changes to the supply chain in terms of communication- and security requirements and corresponding skills needs. Many companies are just now reckoning with the size of the opportunity. Are you and your key business partners ready?

Join us for a day of education and strategy development

To prepare for this tremendous challenge, the SunSpec Alliance is inviting executive decision makers and industry leaders to come together in a relaxed environment to become grounded in the topic of DER communication and develop a strategic plan of action:

• Learn about California Rule 21, its roll-out schedule, and its impact on the industry

• Discuss how California standards will be propagated across the U.S. in 2019 and 2020

• Participate in an industry-wide program to address communication requirements, cybersecurity requirements, and skills gaps impacting stakeholders across the value chain

Participants in this exclusive event can expect to come away with a clear picture of how the Distributed Energy Resources market will develop in the coming weeks, months, and years, as well as an understanding of how their leadership can influence the market for decades to come.

Who should participate?

If you are senior executive working in solar project development, electric utility operations, equipment manufacturing, DER asset management, data communications, cybersecurity, testing and verification, or energy policy, your participation is vital.

Technologies Covered

Though we will focus on business strategy, we will touch on technologies that are relevant to the DER networking including: IEEE 2030.5; the Common Smart Inverter Profile (CSIP) 2.0; the SunSpec California Rule 21 Communication Conformance Test Procedures; utility-to-aggregator and utility-to-DER communication; IEEE 1547-2018; TCP/IP; embedded computing; wireless and mesh networks; and cryptography and cybersecurity.

Agenda

• 8:00 AM Registration, breakfast and networking
• Session 1: Strategy basics: understanding secure DER communication in California
  • 9:00 AM Welcome and opening remarks
  • 9:10 AM Dissecting CA Rule 21: phases, timeline, participants, and protocols
  • 9:40 AM Building DER communication networks: who’s talking to whom?
  • 10:10 AM Establishing trust: who and what is in the chain of DER trust?
  • 10:30 AM Networking break
• Session 2: Building blocks of an industry-wide program
  • 10:45 AM Testing and certification: how will it work and why is it important?
  • 11:15 AM Professional training: who needs education and how will they get it?
  • 11:45 AM Deployment timeline: critical elements, milestones, success factors
  • 12:15 Lunch
• Session 3: Organizing for success
  • 1:30 PM Brainstorming: breaking down the problem, identifying solutions
  • 2:15 PM Networking break
• Session 4: Developing a plan of action
  • 2:45 PM Business models: understanding the value chain and your place in it
  • 3:30 PM Mobilization: outlining the plan of action
  • 4:15 PM End of day summary and next steps
  • 4:30 PM Cocktail reception
• 6:00 PM Symposium closes