SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPERATING A MARKETPLACE SERVICE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES

• US 20120084172A1
• Filed: 10/01/2010
• Published: 04/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Alta Energy, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Alta Energy, Inc.
• Inventors: Lee, Sam H., Smith, Erik C.
• Application Number:
  US12/896,776
• Publication Number:
  US 20120084172A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0611 Request for offers or quotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/10 Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for operating an exchange service for renewable energy resources. In one embodiment, an exchange service, implemented on an exchange entity server, receives inputs from property entities related to assets available for installation of a renewable energy setup. The exchange server places this asset in a marketplace, allowing other provider entities to place a bid for installing the renewable energy setup at a location associated with the asset. Examples of the provider entities include a developer entity, a manufacturer entity, a financier entity, etc. In embodiments, the marketplace enables interaction among the provider entities to enable the provider entities to develop and place a composite bid for a selected asset available through the marketplace.

Claims

1. A method for operating a marketplace and an exchange service for renewable energy resources, the method comprising:

receiving, by an exchange server implementing the exchange service, a property owner'"'"'s input associated with an asset available to host a renewable energy setup; and

placing, by the exchange server, the asset in an exchange market operated by the exchange server, wherein the exchange market is accessible by a plurality of resource providers, and wherein the exchange market enables each of the plurality of resource providers to perform transactions for the purpose of establishing the renewable energy setup at a location of the asset indicated by the property owner.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to placing the asset in the exchange market, analyzing the input associated with the asset to determine whether the asset qualifies for installation of the renewable energy setup.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the renewable energy setup is one or more of:

a solar energy setup;

a geothermal energy setup;

a wind energy setup;

or

a tidal energy setup.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the property owner'"'"'s input associated with the asset includes one or more of:

a property location;

a dimensional area of the asset;

an unusable area of the asset with respect to an installation of the renewable energy setup;

a desired requirement of the property owner in having the renewable energy setup installed;

a current power usage pattern related to the property;

or

a current energy payment related to the property.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of resource providers further includes:

a first subplurality of energy developers;

a second subplurality of energy equipment manufacturers; and

a third subplurality of energy setup financiers.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving, by the exchange server, a plurality of bids from the plurality of resource providers to establish the renewable energy setup at the location of the asset.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a given bid of the plurality of bids is placed collectively by a particular combination of one or more of a given energy developer, a given energy equipment manufacturer, or a given energy setup financier, and wherein the exchange service transmits the given bid as a composite bid to the property owner.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein a given bid of the plurality of bids is placed individually by one of an energy developer, an energy equipment manufacturer, or an energy setup financier.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

selecting, via the exchange server, a particular combination of bids from one or more of a given energy developer, a given energy equipment manufacturer, or a given energy setup financier, wherein the exchange server transmits the particular combination as a final bid to the property owner.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

enabling, by the exchange server, each of the plurality of resource providers to form an alliance with a given subplurality of the plurality of resource providers for establishing the renewable energy setup, wherein the exchange server transmits a combination of a given plurality of bids placed by each of the resource providers of the alliance as a composite bid to the property owner.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting one or more composite bids to the property owner based on the plurality of bids received from the plurality of resource providers;

receiving a selection of a successful bid from the property owner; and

communicating the selection to one or more resource providers associated with the successful bid.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by the exchange service, a monetary commission from the one or more resource providers associated with the successful bid.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the monetary commission from the one or more resource providers includes one or more of:

a first one-time commission from a winning energy developer in response to securing the successful bid;

a second one-time commission from a winning energy equipment manufacturer in response to securing the successful bid;

a third one-time commission from a winning energy setup financier in response to securing the successful bid;

a first ongoing commission on utility payments received by the winning energy developer;

a second ongoing commission on PPA payments received by the winning energy developer;

a third ongoing commission on IPP payments received by the winning energy developer;

a hardware resale commission;

or

an excess power trading service commission.

14. A method for operating a marketplace and an exchange service for renewable energy resources, the method comprising:

maintaining, by an exchange server implementing the exchange service, a database of pre-approved assets, each asset associated with a property available for installation of a renewable energy setup;

operating, by the exchange server, a marketplace, the marketplace allowing a plurality of renewable service providers to place a bid to acquire rights to install a particular renewable energy setup at a selected one of the pre-approved assets;

receiving, by the exchange server, one or more bids from the plurality of renewable energy service providers for a specific pre-approved asset; and

transmitting, by the exchange server, the one or more bids to a property owner associated with the specific pre-approved asset.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, by the exchange server, a property owner'"'"'s selection of a final bid from the one or more bids; and

transmitting, by the exchange server, an indication of the selection to one or more renewable energy service providers associated with the final bid.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the renewable energy setup is one or more of:

a solar energy setup;

a geothermal energy setup;

a wind energy setup;

or

a tidal energy setup.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of resource providers further includes:

a first subplurality of energy developers;

a second subplurality of energy equipment manufacturers; and

a third subplurality of energy setup financiers.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

establishing, by the exchange server, a dashboard for a property owner to track details related to the renewable energy setup subsequent to a completed installation of the renewable energy setup.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

establishing, by the exchange server, a second marketplace for sale of excess power generated by a particular renewable energy setup installed at a given asset.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

establishing, by the exchange server, a third marketplace for hardware resale related to a particular renewable energy setup installed at a given asset.

21. A system for implementing a marketplace and an exchange service for renewable energy resources, the system comprising:

a processor;

a memory configured to store a set of instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the system to perform a method, the method including;

receiving, by an exchange server implementing the exchange service, a property owner'"'"'s input associated with an asset available to host a renewable energy setup; and

placing, by the exchange server, the asset in an exchange market operated by the exchange server, wherein the exchange market is accessible by a plurality of resource providers, and wherein the exchange market enables each of the plurality of resource providers to perform transactions for the purpose of establishing the renewable energy setup at a location of the asset indicated by the property owner.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

prior to placing the asset in the exchange market, analyzing the input associated with the asset to determine whether the asset qualifies for installation of the renewable energy setup.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the renewable energy setup is one or more of:

a solar energy setup;

a geothermal energy setup;

a wind energy setup;

or

a tidal energy setup.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the property owner'"'"'s input associated with the asset includes one or more of:

a property location;

a dimensional area of the asset;

an unusable area of the asset with respect to an installation of the renewable energy setup;

a desired requirement of the property owner in having the renewable energy setup installed;

a current power usage pattern related to the property;

or

a current energy payment related to the property.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the plurality of resource providers further includes:

a first subplurality of energy developers;

a second subplurality of energy equipment manufacturers; and

a third subplurality of energy setup financiers.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the exchange server, a plurality of bids from the plurality of resource providers to establish the renewable energy setup at the location of the asset.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein a given bid of the plurality of bids is placed collectively by a particular combination of a given energy developer, a given energy equipment manufacturer, and a given energy setup financier, and wherein the exchange service transmits the given bid as a final bid to the property owner.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein a given bid of the plurality of bids is placed individually by one of an energy developer, an energy equipment manufacturer, or an energy setup financier.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the method further comprises:

selecting, via the exchange server, a particular combination of bids from one or more of a given energy developer, a given energy equipment manufacturer, and a given energy setup financier, wherein the exchange server transmits the particular combination as a composite bid to the property owner.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the method further comprises:

enabling, by the exchange server, each of the plurality of resource providers to form an alliance with a given subplurality of the plurality of resource providers for establishing the renewable energy setup, wherein the exchange server transmits a combination of a given plurality of bids placed by each of the resource providers of the alliance as a composite bid to the property owner.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting one or more composite bids to the property owner based on the plurality of bids received from the plurality of resource providers;

receiving a selection of a successful bid from the property owner; and

communicating the selection to one or more resource providers associated with the successful bid.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the exchange service, a monetary commission from the one or more resource providers associated with the successful bid.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the monetary commission from the one or more resource providers includes one or more of:

a first one-time commission from a winning energy developer in response to securing the successful bid;

a second one-time commission from a winning energy equipment manufacturer in response to securing the successful bid;

a third one-time commission from a winning energy setup financier in response to securing the successful bid;

a first ongoing commission on utility payments received by the winning energy developer;

a second ongoing commission on PPA payments received by the winning energy developer;

a third ongoing commission on IPP payments received by the winning energy developer;

a hardware resale commission;

or

an excess power trading service commission.

34. A system for implementing a marketplace and an exchange service for renewable energy resources, the system comprising:

a processor;

a memory configured to store a set of instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the system to perform a method, the method including;

maintaining, by an exchange server implementing the exchange service, a database of pre-approved assets, each asset associated with a property asset available for installation of a renewable energy setup;

operating, by the exchange server, a marketplace, the marketplace allowing a plurality of renewable service providers to place a bid to acquire rights to install a particular renewable energy setup at a selected one of the pre-approved assets;

receiving, by the exchange server, one or more bids from the plurality of renewable energy service providers for a specific pre-approved asset; and

transmitting, by the exchange server, the one or more bids to a property owner associated with the specific pre-approved asset.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the exchange server, a property owner'"'"'s selection of a final bid from the one or more bids; and

transmitting, by the exchange server, an indication of the selection to one or more renewable energy service providers associated with the final bid.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the renewable energy setup is one or more of:

a solar energy setup;

a geothermal energy setup;

a wind energy setup;

or

a tidal energy setup.

37. The system of claim 34, wherein the plurality of resource providers further includes:

a first subplurality of energy developers;

a second subplurality of energy equipment manufacturers; and

a third subplurality of energy setup financiers.

38. The system of claim 34, wherein the method further comprises:

establishing, by the exchange server, a dashboard for a property owner to track details related to the renewable energy setup subsequent to a completed installation of the renewable energy setup.

39. The system of claim 34, wherein the method further comprises:

establishing, by the exchange server, a second marketplace for sale of excess power generated by a particular renewable energy setup installed at a given asset.

40. The system of claim 34, wherein the method further comprises:

establishing, by the exchange server, a third marketplace for hardware resale related to a particular renewable energy setup installed at a given asset.