The ETB Developer modeling platform undergoes consistent updates to ensure that it provides our users the most accurate economic and utility rate analysis. Last year, we released the biggest platform update in the company’s history, providing new, powerful features and interfaces for users to efficiently model their projects. Another notable milestone of the platform is the recent addition of financing integrations, allowing our users to generate instant financing quotes from some of the industry’s leading financial providers.
Our Product and Engineering teams played a critical role in mapping out these new features and putting them into production.Brooke Morales, Product Manager for the ETB Developer platform, leads her team in determining what’s next for the platform. Being with the company for nearly 7 years, she has seen it become more robust and its userbase grow, and she shares more about what she’s excited for our users to see in the future:
Q: You’ve been at ETB for over 6 years. What roles have you been in?
A: I’ve bounced around a bit at ETB. I started as a Utility Rate Specialist in 2016, managing the department for about 3 years. In 2019, I was allowed to work with our engineers to help build ourv4 platform. Then in May 2020, I accepted the role of Product Manager of ETB Developer. My career journey has given me unique insight into each team I’ve worked with, which helps me immensely in my newest role.
Q: Tell us about your job responsibilities as Product Manager of ETB Developer?
A: As the Product Manager of ETB Developer, I work closely with every team across our organization to release products and features that our users will love, ensuring we remain the industry’s gold standard modeling tool. Being able to oversee our newest features and products from conception to launch is exciting for me.
Q: Which platform features within ETB Developer do you feel are the most important for developer project modeling?
A: ETB Developer is a robust project modeling tool. Platform features like our ETB Optimizer and ETB Analytics, along with several other features, are the ones I believe are most important to the platform. These features simplify complicated processes while maintaining accuracy. A notable example of this is our newfinancial integration feature, which I was lucky enough to see through to completion and beyond. We’ve always enabled users to model cash flows and project economics for any third-party transaction, such as cash purchases, PPA’s, loans, and leases. With this new feature, we’re taking it a step further by providing users access to instant financing quotes within the platform, streamlining quote generation, and expediting the process of right-sizing the project.
Q: How have you seen the platform grow over the years?
A: These changes have allowed us to implement the new features our users are asking for. Things like new rate schedule charge types, new document templates, and even our new financial integration feature were mostly built using the updated transaction structure that came with the release of v4.
We also recognized early on how important energy storage would become, and we built a solution allowing users to model their storage systems seamlessly. Since that release, we’ve expanded on these capabilities within the platform. We’ve taken every opportunity to partner with some of the industry’s leading hardware and battery providers to keep up with the growth of the energy storage market. We now have direct integrations in the platform with BYD, Delta, Socomec, CPS, and Tesla, allowing users to analyze the economics of these energy storage systems and how they will operate in the field, controlled by ourAcumen EMS™.
Q: What excites you about what’s to come for the platform?
A: Lately, I am most excited about ETB Developer providing easy access to our other offerings within the platform. For example, with the implementation of Lead Closeout and Account Page (coming soon), users can close a lead as won and automatically spin up a site in ETB Developer. This will allow users to connect sites that use our Acumen EMS controls toETB Monitor, allowing users to monitor their live assets efficiently.
Q: What is a project that you’ve recently worked on (released or not yet released) that you’re particularly excited about?
A: I hinted at it above, but the Lead Closeout and Account Page has been a project I’ve been working on for a while now. A feature for closing out leads has been highly requested, along with the added abilities accompanying this project are sure to wow our users.
Q: What has been your favorite project to work on in your time at Energy Toolbase?
A: Once I understood the struggle our users face when trying to find solar + storage financing options, I made it a priority to design a workflow that would simplify this process. Putting our users in direct contact with our ETB-trusted financial partners makes it possible to receive instantaneous quotes.
So far, this feature has received great feedback and has had remarkable traction. Seeing the value it provides ETB Developer users puts it at the top of the list of my favorite projects that I have worked on.
Here are some fun facts to help you get to know Brooke a little better:
