Collaborative Enterprise Networks for Solar Energy Luis M. Camarinha-Matos, Ana Inês Oliveira, Filipa Ferrada New University of Lisbon & Uninova Campus de Caparica, 2829-616 Caparica, Portugal cam@uninova.pt Petr Sobotka 1 , Andrea Vataščinová 1 , Victor Thamburaj 2 1 KOMIX s.r.o., Czech Republic 2 iPLON GmbH, Germany Abstract— Development, operation and maintenance of complex products, such as solar energy plants and associated business services, along their life cycle typically require the involvement of various collaborative enterprise networks. In order to support the launching and operation of these networks, a suitable cloud-based system is proposed. Special attention is devoted to the interactions among the life cycles of the product and the involved enterprise networks. The developed prototype and its evaluation in the solar energy sector are discussed. Keywords — Collaborative Networks, Collaboration Platforms, Cloud Computing, Consortia Formation. I. INTRODUCTION The idea of service-enhancement of products (also known as product-service systems) represents a growing trend, particularly in the context of complex products and is closely related to product differentiation. In many industries it is difficult to differentiate manufactured products and thus the profit margins tend to narrow [1]. By offering business services that add value to the products, greater forms of differentiation can be achieved and new business opportunities emerge [2]. For instance, in the case of the solar energy plants, which have a long life-cycle, typically over 20 years, there are interesting opportunities to introduce new services and particularly new forms of service delivery through collaboration of multiple stakeholders (Fig. 1). Physical complex product Product design & sub-systems Remote supervision Remote monitoring & diagnosis Predictive maintenance Product usage: training, assistance, interaction Product design Product assembly Which services? How to deliver? Fig. 1. Service-enhanced complex products In this context, customers typically demand for integrated business services (which are composed of simpler / atomic services) and that provide a specific business solution. Provision of such services more and more involve the collaboration of multiple stakeholders, organized in collaborative enterprise networks [3]. In the solar energy sector, most participants are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that can only reach larger markets, namely in different geographical regions, if organized in collaborative networks. Participation in global market, while benefiting from Internet and other technical means to overcome the traditional barrier of geographical distribution, calls for collaboration and involvement of customers and local suppliers in target markets. This is reflected in the notion of glocal enterprise, which represents the idea of thinking and acting globally, while being aware and responding adequately to local specificities. Internet and cloud computing not only facilitate the development of new collaborative processes, but can also enable new ways of (remotely) delivering services associated to products. In this context, an important research question is: What is a suitable infrastructure to support multiple enterprise networks involved in the life-cycle of service-enhanced products? This paper introduces a solution to this question which was developed in the context of GloNet, a research project funded under the “Factories of the Future” program of the European Commission. GloNet aims at supporting complex, highly customized and service-enhanced products through collaboration between networks of manufacturers and the customers and local suppliers [4]. II. SOLAR ENERGY CASE The sector of renewable energies, including solar energy, is attracting considerable attention, offering new business opportunities, namely for SMEs [5]. A solar energy plant represents an example of a complex and highly customized product, with a long life-cycle. A large diversity of stakeholders are typically involved in a number of roles: Product / project designers; Product manufacturers, including sub-systems / components providers; Service providers; Support entities, including financial, insurance, training, cloud infrastructure provision, regulator entities; and Customers. During the operation and maintenance phase of the plant, a growing number of business services can be added to bring additional value to the customer and other stakeholders (regulators, funding institutions, insurance companies, etc.). This includes monitoring, preventive maintenance, warranty Proceedings of ICCCT’15 - IEEE International conference on Computing and Communications Technologies, pp 93-98, 26-27 Feb 2015, Chennai, India. DOI 10.1109/ICCCT2.2015.7292726, IEEE Xplore