INFO PACK

ENERGY

www.csiro.au/solarhackathon

Table of contents
1. CSIRO who we are
2. When & where
3. Prizes
4. Agenda
5. How to get here
6. Food and drink
7. Accommodation
8. IT requirements
9. Teams
10. Challenges
11. Data use
12. Data sets

2 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

13. Judging panel

14. Judging criteria
15. Mentors
16. Devpost profile & submissions
17. Team agreement
18. Social Media
19. Sponsors
20. Hackathon success
21. Checklist

CSIRO who we are

At CSIRO, we do the extraordinary every day

We innovate for tomorrow and help improve today for our

customers, all Australians and the world.
Our innovations contribute billions of dollars to the Australian
economy every year. As the largest patent holder in the nation, our
vast wealth of intellectual property has led to more than
150 spin-off companies.

With more than 5,000 experts and a burning desire to get things
done, we are Australias catalyst for innovation.
CSIRO. We imagine. We collaborate. We innovate.

3 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Did you know?

CSIRO is the leading key solar
(and renewable energy)
research body in Australia.

4 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

When and where

Date:
Friday, 8 April: 7:30pm 10.00pm
Saturday, 9 April: 8:00am 10:00pm

Address:
10 Murray Dwyer Circuit
Mayfield West, Newcastle
NSW Australia 2304

Solar Hackathon mission:

To bring together cutting-edge software developers, designers, researchers and brilliant
business minds to develop solar solutions and technology, and to foster
new business and collaboration.

5 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Prizes
There is a total of $10,000 in prizes, generously donated by our
sponsors, that will be awarded to the top four winning solutions and
distributed between team members.
1st prize - $4000
(plus tickets to the Clean Energy Council's Summit 2016)

2nd prize - $3000

3rd prize - $2000
People's Choice Award - $1000

6 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Agenda
FRIDAY 8 APRIL

SATURDAY 9 APRIL

7:30pm* Arrival and event registration

8am Doors open and hacking begins

8pm 8:30pm Welcome and speakers

10am Morning tea

8:30pm 9pm Team formation

and rules

10.30am 12pm Hacking

9pm 10pm Team sign-ups and

Devpost team registration

12.30 3.30pm Hacking

* Canapes and drinks will be served

from 7.30pm 9.30pm

6pm Submission deadline

12pm 12.30pm Lunch

3.30pm 4pm Afternoon tea

6.15 pm Pitch to judges
7.30pm Speakers
7.45pm 8.30pm Dinner
8.30pm 10pm Winners announced
and celebration

7 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

How to get here

Parking: parking is strictly limited on site so please carpool where
possible

Shuttle bus: a free shuttle bus is available to take you to and from the
event. Book your seat here by 12pm on Wednesday 6 April.
Pick up locations are:
o Hamilton Train Station
o Honeysuckle Drive
o Newcastle University
o Darby St, Newcastle
Taxi: if you require a taxi, please call 13 CABS (13 2227)

8 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Food and drink

Be rest assured, you will be kept well-fed and hydrated
throughout the Solar Hackathon. If you havent already told us
your dietary requirements, please do so!
Friday is a cocktail event with canapes and alcohol, but please
drink responsibly as youll need to use your brain the next day.
For Saturday, please arrive having had breakfast. Morning tea,
lunch, afternoon tea and dinner will be provided.

Coffee, tea, juice and water will be available throughout the

event. We also have a vending machine on site.

9 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Accommodation
Newcastle is a vibrant coastal city with plenty of accommodation
options. It will be important to get a good night's rest before the
hackathon fun begins so here are some suggestions near the
CSIRO office:

The Gateway Inn

Best Western Travellers Motor Village
Mayfield Motel
Ibis Newcastle
Newcastle Beach YHA

10 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

IT requirements
Wi-fi: you will receive individual guest wi-fi log-in details when you
arrive for registration. Please keep these details safe and secure.
Dont forget to bring your laptop, charger and mobile phone.
No other IT equipment should be used.
Please download any data sets or information you need beforehand
to ensure better and quicker access to our network.

11 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Teams
We recommend forming teams before the event.
If you do not have a team, dont worry, as we can team you up
at the event.
We recommend 3-5 per team with each team member bringing
different skills to the table (i.e an ideal team would be two
developers, one finance, one designer and one researcher)
Dont forget that no hacking can start until 8am on Saturday 9 April.

12 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Challenges
You can bring your own ideas around solar or here are some ideas that you may want to work on:
1.

The way people use energy is influenced by air-conditioning, solar systems, electric vehicles and batteries. To
avoid electricity system upgrades and overloading, identify a low cost solution to accurately predict energy use
and to manage demand taking in to consideration energy, weather and demographics. Create a consumer
engagement strategy for your solution.

2.

Create accurate solar system energy estimations which fully quantify the dollar value to the end user for any
potential PV system considering the type of solar technology, available roof area, orientation and generation
and demand profiles.

3.

Identify a low-cost cleaning solution for large numbers of tightly packed solar PV systems or heliostats
(computer-controlled mirrors that keeps the sun reflected on panels).

4.

Concentrated solar thermal (CST) can be effected by external weather factors such as wind. Create an
application or tool that can be attached to the heliostat mirrors to measure and track movement, increase
performance assessment and improve energy yield. Options could include optical cameras or photodiodes.

5.

Create a creative marketing campaign to increase public awareness of the benefits of solar energy. This can
include PV, CST and flexible PV.

6.

Solar panels can underperform or produce less energy under high temperatures. Explore methods to cool solar
panels for better energy output.

13 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Data use
Data provided during the CSIRO event is for the participants to use during the
event only. If you need to reorganise, modify, or delete the data, you may do so
during the event.
However, after the event you must either delete the copies of data you received,
or contact the data provider / owner to arrange a long-term licensing agreement.
If a sponsor provided the data set, feel free to reach out to a mentor to get
connected with that sponsor. Theyll help answer your questions to the best of
their ability.
Winning teams are subject to a code review to ensure the code was built during
the CSIRO Solar Hackathon.

14 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Data sets
The full list of Data Sets are available on Devpost
These will include:

MERRA: Modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications

Nasa Surface meteorology and Solar Energy

AURIN: Australias urban intelligence network geo-datasets

BoM one Minute Solar Data

Air-conditioner location running hours data

Datasets from 2015 GovHack

15 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Judging Panel
We have a talented, respected and innovative judging panel that includes:

Danny Kennedy
Managing Director
of CALCEF,
Co-Founder of
Powerhouse and
Sungevity

Dr Renate Egan
Chair, Australian
PV Institute,
Co-Founder of
Solar Analytics

16 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Michelle Taylor
Technology
Development
Manager, Ergon
Energy

Rhett Morson
Managing Director
of Da Vinci Capital,
Treasurer of
Eighteen04

Riccardo
Pagliarella
Technology Lead,
Telstra Energy

Judging criteria
Mission: How well does the solution address the goals defined for this
challenge? (20%)

Quality: How creative, innovative, interesting, and unique is the solution in

meeting contest requirements? (20%)
Implementation: How well is the idea executed by the team and how well is the
solution integrated with potential customers or systems? (20%)
User Experience: How successful is the design, user functionality, graphics,
typography, ease of use and visual aesthetic? (20%)

Potential Impact: To what extent will the submission impact the solar industry?
(20%)

17 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Mentors
John Laird
CTO
Solar Analytics

John Ward
Principal Scientist
Grids & Energy Efficient Systems
CSIRO

Peter Pudney
A/Prof of Industrial and
Applied Mathematics
University of South Australia

Kate Cavanagh
Research Project Manager
CSIRO

Steph Hinds
Business Ninja
Growthwise

Dan Rowe
Business Development
CSIRO

18 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Mentors
Stuart Johnston
Executive Director, Assets and
Network Transformation
Energy Network Association

Dan Linsell
Project Engineer
CSIRO

James Crowther
Innovation Analyst
CSIRO

19 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Andrew Mears
Founder & CEO
SwitchDin

Kenrick Anderson
Experimental Scientist
CSIRO

Devpost profile
All hackers need to set up a Devpost individual profile prior to the event.
When you arrive, well help you link your profile to your Hackathon team.

Submissions
All submissions must be uploaded to Devpost by 6.00pm on Saturday 9 April.
Be sure to include the following:
A team name
A team icon, image or logo
Upload your solution
Once you have submitted your solution, all teams are required to deliver
a 2-3 minute pitch to the judging panel

20 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Team agreement
Should I sign an agreement with my Hackathon team?
To ensure the success of promising start-ups, founders need to determine terms
and responsibilities to avoid disputes between founders. Often these disputes
arise from ambiguity over who contributed and who owns what.
We highly recommend considering signing a co-founder agreement or hackathon
collaboration agreement. Here are some excellent resources below:
http://www.shakelaw.com/blog/dont-get-winklevossed-get-writing/
https://lawpath.com.au/legal-documents/co-founder-agreement
http://www.docracy.com/0e4e5cc0kce/re-re-revised-hackathoncollaboration-agreement

21 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Social media
Please follow @csiroevents on Twitter to keep up to date.
We will be tweeting live with all the latest information and news.
And dont forget to tweet using the hashtag #hackthesun

We will have a photographer and videographer on site capturing

all of the action.

22 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Sponsors

23 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Hackathon success!
Previous international solar
hackathons have been a great
success explore past hackathon
winners and submissions here or
view the highlights reel.
We cant wait to see what ideas
are created at this years CSIRO
Solar Hackathon!

24 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

Checklist

Confirm booking for shuttle bus if required

Set up your individual Devpost profile
Flag any dietary requirements if you havent done so already
Please read the Terms and Conditions
Check out the FAQs
Bring your excitement and ideas!
If you have any other questions, please contact
natalie.kikken@csiro.au

25 | Solar Hackathon 2016 | Info Pack

www.csiro.au/solarhackathon
#hackthsun
natalie.kikken@csiro.au
ENERGY