Most solar asset owners still manage performance data the same way they did 10 years ago. Dan Leary, founder of Denowatts, says that needs to change. In this episode, recorded live at RE+ Northeast in Boston, Tim Montague sits down with Leary and Doug Macmillan of Portside Systems to explore energy accounting, a method for identifying exactly where solar production losses occur and what owners and operators should do about them. Denowatts is collaborating with Sandia National Laboratories to build what Leary calls "GAAP for solar," a common standard for reporting and benchmarking solar asset performance. If you manage solar assets or invest in solar projects, this conversation explains how better data practices lead to more predictable returns.

Dan Leary is the founder of Denowatts and a serial entrepreneur in the solar industry. Denowatts is a modeling and energy accounting company that helps solar asset owners identify production losses, categorize them, and recover lost value. Doug Macmillan is an engineer at Portside Systems, an engineering services company that specializes in commissioning, field services, systems engineering, and building auxiliary equipment for distributed generation sites.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Dan Leary explains that most solar operators still manage data the way they did a decade ago, despite significant advances in monitoring and analysis tools. Denowatts built a smarter weather station (the Deno) and a real-time analytics platform to close that gap.

Denowatts breaks down solar production losses into four categories: climate-related issues, modeling errors, external factors beyond anyone's control, and problems within the commercial boundary that owners and operators are able to fix. This framework gives asset managers clear direction on where to focus recovery efforts.

Leary describes the company's collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories to create generally accepted accounting principles for solar, modeled after GAAP in finance. The goal is a common reporting standard that makes solar projects more tradable, bankable, and transparent. A white paper is expected within six months.

Doug Macmillan explains Portside's role as the system integrator for the Denowatts platform on distributed generation sites. Portside handles design, equipment fabrication, delivery, and commissioning, working from their UL 508 panel shop.

This episode is for solar asset managers, project developers, EPCs, and clean energy investors who want more from their performance data. With Denowatts and Sandia Labs working toward a common reporting standard, the solar industry is moving closer to the kind of financial transparency that attracts long-term capital. If you own or operate solar assets, the time to modernize your data strategy is now.

Connect with Dan Leary and Doug Macmillan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-leary-30b02311/
https://denowatts.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-macmillan-2b344a54/
https://portsidesys.com/

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