Standards Development

How to Participate

SEIA works to incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice into all aspects of our mission. SEIA’s standards team works to ensure all voices are heard within SEIA’s standards activities, and participation is open to any individual or affected or interested party in the standards development process.

The following opportunities for participation are available:

• Submission of a new proposal for a industry standard.
• Voting membership in a Standards Technical Committee (STC) to develop, review, and approve the publication of the SEIA standard.
• Review and comment on a draft standard via the public review announced by SEIA, or via the reviews announced by ANSI.

Submission of proposals for new standards activities

Anyone may submit a proposal for a new standards activity. The proposal will be reviewed by the ESC and approved proposals will be forwarded to the applicable STC, for consideration. All submissions will be acknowledged. The proposal should include a detailed description of the need for the proposed standards activity, a scope of work, and how the proposed standard will address the stated need. The STC may follow up with the submitter for clarification or to ask for additional information.
Ideas and proposals for new SEIA standards activities should complete the Standard Proposal, Amendment, or Revisions Form.

Participate in the Standards Technical Committees

Part of SEIA’s mission is to promote diversity and inclusion in the solar and storage industry, and for SEIA, it is vital that all voices are heard during the standards development process. For this purpose, a balance of interests is required among the consensus body membership; no one interest group can constitute a majority of members of the consensus body. As such, SEIA invites and welcomes participation from a broad range of stakeholder interests, and any individual interested in or affected by SEIA standards or employed by or representing an organization interested in or affected by SEIA standards, may join a STC.

SEIA’s STC interest group categories are as follows:

• Producer Interest – Individuals that represent an entity that produces or assembles products or materials in the identified SEIA Policy and Standards Development Procedure. These may include manufacturers and distributors.
• User Interest – Individuals that represent the interests of an entity which is directly involved in designing, constructing or in the use or operating. These may include developers, design consultants, contractors, applied research laboratories, building owners, investors, insurance companies, inspection agencies, and product certification agencies.
• General Interest – Individuals that represent the general public. These may include academia, scientists, technical societies, consumer groups, industry associations, environmental groups, government agencies, and other subject matter experts.

Any individual interested in or affected by SEIA standards or employed by or representing an organization interested in or affected by SEIA standards, may apply to join a STC.

Participate in Reviews

SEIA draft standards are open for public review upon the completion of its development and approval by the STC. All stakeholders (i.e., people or organizations interested in or affected by the standard) are invited and encouraged to participate in the review process.

Public review announcements are issued on this website and through ANSI Standards Action publications.

Feedback and New Proposals

SEIA encourages all interested stakeholders to provide technical comments on proposed standards during the announced formal public comment periods. This critical part of the open development process ensures that a consensus of those directly affected by the standards has been achieved.

All feedback within the scope of SEIA Standards must be submitted to the SEIA Executive Administrator. Proposals without adequate justification risk rejection or referral to originator.