Heila Technologies Announces Successful Commissioning of Collaborative Community Microgrid Project in Sandwich, MA
SANDWICH, Mass. — July 1, 2024 – Heila Technologies, a leader in innovative energy solutions, announced today the commissioning of a community microgrid project in Sandwich, Massachusetts. The project’s success stems from the partnership between Heila, Lodestar Energy, Yaskawa Solectria Solar, and Customized Energy Solutions (CES).
Lodestar owns and operates the site, which CES controls via remote signals. It uses Yaskawa Solectria Solar inverters and converters for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
The microgrid’s distributed control architecture, powered by Heila EDGE®, employs a decentralized approach, with each DER managed by its own controller while seamlessly coordinating device interactions to optimize and manage the entire system. This groundbreaking design ensures unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and resilience, setting a new standard for modern energy infrastructure.
With an estimated annual production of 2,098,383 kWh, this community solar microgrid will generate clean, renewable energy, offsetting nearly 3.3 million pounds of CO₂ emissions annually. This remarkable achievement will power almost 300 homes’ annual electricity usage, underscoring Heila’s commitment to sustainable energy solutions and environmental stewardship. The project is also part of the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program, a long-term solar incentive program to accelerate Massachusetts’ transition to renewable energy.
“Heila’s experience in microgrids and energy storage controls was a natural fit for us,” said Jonathan Helmuth, Director of Sales for Yaskawa Solectria Solar. “As well as being able to scale from a single unit into multiple megawatts.”
“The Heila EDGE is a groundbreaking technology, second-to-none in our industry,” said Jeff Macel, Managing Director of Lodestar Energy. “We plan to use it going forward on all of our projects.”
“We are thrilled to unveil this pioneering community solar microgrid, which exemplifies our dedication to innovation and sustainability,” said Jorge Elizondo, President and Co-Founder of Heila Technologies. “By harnessing the power of our cutting-edge EDGE control platform, we have created a resilient, optimized, and scalable energy system that will benefit both the community and the environment for years to come.”
The successful commissioning of this community solar microgrid marks a significant milestone in Heila’s mission to transform the energy industry from the ground up, paving the way for a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable grid powered by distributed energy resources.
About Heila Technologies
Founded at MIT in 2015, Heila consists of a team of energy experts working to build the future of clean, resilient, and sustainable energy by using innovative yet simple solutions for monitoring, analytics, control, optimization, and O&M for energy systems of all kinds. Heila’s EDGE® microgrid control platform is embedded across various industries and sectors, from a local vineyard to large manufacturing plants and from a rural co-op to a US military base. Heila is expanding the impact of its systems and solutions, strengthening the collective mission to deliver resilient energy to people, companies, and communities worldwide.
About Yaskawa Solectria
Yaskawa Solectria Solar is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yaskawa America, Inc. and the largest inverter manufacturer based in the USA, with headquarters in Lawrence, MA, and world-class production facilities in Buffalo Grove, IL and Oak Creek, WI. The Yaskawa Solectria Solar product family features the American-made SOLECTRIA® XGI inverters for 1500V utility-scale systems, a full lineup of string combiners designed for the XGI inverters, 1-2MW factory-integrated Power Racks, and DC-coupled and AC-coupled storage solutions. All of Solectria’s three-phase utility inverters are made in the USA with global components. Meeting the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) definitions of a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) item, this also qualifies our inverters as domestic end products, compliant with the Buy American Act (BAA) and enables our customers to qualify for the 10% Domestic Content Bonus Credit under the new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provisions. Leveraging the strengths and resources of Yaskawa America, Inc., Solectria’s experienced engineering and product development team has created the highest quality solar inverter product line that is unmatched in the PV industry. Solectria is backed by Yaskawa, with over 100 years of power electronics and inverter experience and continues to provide new innovations in the marketplace. To learn more please visit www.solectria.com.
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CONTACTS:
Danielle Foster
Heila Technologies
Nicki Schmidt
Yaskawa Solectria