The ever increasing integration of renewable energy resources into the electric energy system gives rise to new challenges on a large scale. New and extended information technology is necessary for controlling the corresponding power grids and their components. The need for advanced control functions and ancillary services provided by distributed energy resources is also increasing. As a response to this trend, this paper addresses the concept of an open and interoperable information technology solution specifically designed for the integration of renewable energy sources into smart grid systems. The concept addresses remote programmable and flexible functions used in resource constrained, distributed energy resources controllers. A generic communication infrastructure as well as an accompanying formal modeling and engineering method for distributed energy applications are introduced. The usage of the proposed concept is illustrated via a representative example.