New Member spotlight: SwitchDin

We spoke with Ryan Kaveney, CEO at SwitchDin, about what they do, why they joined Mercury, and where they see the next five years going.

What SwitchDin Does

SwitchDin helps energy customers, networks and energy service providers get more value from distributed energy resources (DER), such as solar, batteries, EV chargers and flexible loads. Its secure, standards-based solution provides interoperability across devices, manufacturers and protocols, connecting DER to the systems that manage them.

That covers two layers. Behind the meter, SwitchDin supports energy management and optimisation. At grid level, it enables networks, aggregators and system operators to manage DER across their customers and fleets.

By combining expertise in power systems, software, telecommunications and cybersecurity, SwitchDin helps customers improve how their energy assets perform. It also gives system operators the visibility, control and reliability they need to support the grid as DER grows.

Why SwitchDin joined the Mercury Consortium

SwitchDin joined Mercury because it has spent more than a decade working in the gap Mercury is designed to close.

“A protocol tells us a device speaks the language," Ryan told us. "It doesn't tell us how fast it responds, what it reports or what happens when communications drop."

SwitchDin knows first-hand the cost and complexity that gap creates when deploying DER at scale. For Ryan, that's where Mercury comes in:

"Mercury addresses this at the right layer. Rather than creating another protocol, it builds on existing standards with capability-driven profiles and testing to enable practical interoperability, multi-vendor solutions and customer choice."

SwitchDin has been a core contributor to CSIP-AUS (IEEE 2030.5), and wants to bring that experience from DER-rich Australian networks to help shape the next stage of interoperability, including behind the meter. With battery and inverter requirements being developed now, they see it as a way to contribute what they've learned while working alongside manufacturers and platforms across the industry.

Where the opportunity is

SwitchDin's opportunity within Mercury is bringing operational experience from a grid where this already matters.

In Australia, inverters and batteries routinely operate under dynamic export limits, and network operators depend on predictable telemetry and safe behaviour when communications fail. Those are exactly the behaviours Mercury certifies. SwitchDin can help define them using real deployment experience, particularly around IEEE 2030.5.

The bigger opportunity is to combine that experience with the work of manufacturers, platforms and other organisations globally to build a broader ecosystem of devices that work reliably together. For the industry, that means certification that can hold up across different grids and markets, reducing repeated integration effort so more focus can go into optimisation and creating value for customers and the grid.

What this means for consumers

With SwitchDin as part of the Mercury Consortium, their customers get more choice and greater assurance that their energy devices will work together, and keep working as technology and energy markets evolve. Certified devices should be easier to integrate and less likely to become stranded if a provider changes.

Over time, better interoperability also makes it easier to coordinate rooftop solar, batteries, EVs and other flexible energy resources at scale. That can enable more households to benefit from the flexibility they provide, while helping grids accommodate more renewable energy and potentially reducing the need for costly network upgrades.

What this means for Mercury members

SwitchDin is one of a growing number of organisations shaping how Mercury works. Alongside manufacturers, utilities and flexibility providers, Mercury includes organisations that bring years of real-world deployment experience from markets where DER interoperability is already an operational requirement, not a future one.

If your organisation is working on DER, energy flexibility or smart energy integration, and you want to understand what Mercury membership involves, reach out to our membership team: membership@mercuryconsortium.com.

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