ABB Selects Distributed Sun as Their Preferred U.S. Microgrid Origination, Development and Finance Platform

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Apr 18, 2013, 12:45 ET

RALEIGH, N.C. and WASHINGTON, April 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ABB (NYSE: ABB), a global leader in power and automation technologies, and Distributed Sun LLC (D-SUN), a leading solar development and finance platform company, today announced they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding for Distributed Sun to provide a wide range of services acting as ABB's preferred "go-to market vehicle" for U.S. microgrid project development and finance solutions.

The companies will drive development and finance of urban and island microgrids, including solar generation, to demonstrate the economic viability of microgrid solutions in the U.S. market. By the end of the decade, the U.S. urban microgrid market size is estimated to be $5B to $10B and growing 18-20%+ annually.

D-SUN is assembling a team of microgrid development and finance leaders via strategic partnerships with dominant global players like ABB and with the goal of deploying $1B of capital in combination with ABB technology solutions. Ultimately, the microgrid is where renewable energy, smart-grid technologies, energy security and energy efficiency all come together.

"We are excited about the opportunity to leverage our distributed generation and microgrid expertise on behalf of ABB and our platform partners," says Chase Weir, chief executive officer of D-SUN. "In more places each year, microgrids are becoming the reliable choice for achieving energy surety, security and long-term value and savings." By the end of the decade, US policy and capital markets will discover conclusively that energy confidence and independence has a name – the microgrid. As these solutions are deployed on an ever wider scale, renewables will be increasingly integrated with low-cost domestic natural gas.

D-SUN will provide comprehensive development and finance solutions to increase the rate at which ABB executes its business strategy. In addition, the companies will work closely together to develop microgrid decision-making methods based upon existing and adapted proprietary analytics. D-SUN's software platform will better inform ABB's microgrid strategy with customized market and policy databases and comprehensive, lifecycle yield and risk analysis.

ABB will also benefit from truSolar^® screened and scored projects originated through the 100+ member strong Distributed Solar Network™. "We have been looking for a great partner in the industry," said Brad Luyster, VP/GM of ABB Smart Grid Center of Excellence. "We believe D-SUN brings a level of expertise and sophistication which is rare to find in the marketplace. This relationship provides us with deep market intelligence and better tools which results in better technology deployments for ABB."

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PR CONTACT - For more information, contact Doug Payne at 408-768-0449, or [email protected].

SOURCE Distributed Sun