Sandia National Laboratories, which is operated by a subsidiary of Honeywell, developed a new software that can run a detailed simulation—known as quasi-static time series analysis—of how individual rooftop solar panels would interact with the local electrical grid throughout the year. This new technology would be useful to utility companies because they need to make sure installing new solar panels will not lead to extreme voltage fluctuations and damage household electronics.

With the help of these much faster and detailed simulations, Sandia's researchers hope that more solar panels will be installed. Given that both Sandia and Honeywall lack recently published patent documents in the Thin Film Photovoltaics sector, they may have been focusing on bridging the gap between solar manufacturers, utility companies, and customers. The new software will hopefully lead to greater market and patent activities.