LGCY Power Expands Residential Solar Business Through National Homebuilder Partnerships

Castillo Engineering, a leading national solar and energy storage engineering firm, has invested $2.5 million in project and process management tools and has expanded its senior leadership team to better meet growing demand in the utility-scale solar market across the entire project lifecycle.

Castillo is strengthening its executive leadership to support rapid growth and evolving industry needs. The company has appointed Gary Joseph as Vice President of Sales & Marketing and Arun Ramadass as Vice President of Operations. Additionally, the firm’s founder Rick Castillo has transitioned into the role of Chief Operating Officer, where he now leads a newly enhanced Project Management Office (PMO).

Under Rick’s leadership, the PMO gains strategic guidance and daily mentorship, complemented by the launch of PMO 360, a client-facing project management platform designed to enhance visibility and efficiency. Its intuitive dashboard provides clients with greater ease of communication and complete visibility into engineering information, timelines, and plans. PMO 360 also equips project managers (PMs) with the data and insights they need to make informed decisions, improve timelines, control budgets, and boost client satisfaction. Castillo’s Project Management Institute (PMI)-certified PMs align their strategies with PMI’s gold standard to help clients minimize risk, optimize budgets, and stay on schedule throughout a project.

To further support internal engineering teams, Castillo Engineering has also launched a proprietary design tool: Design IQ. Developed in collaboration with a global software provider, Design IQ automates the real-time collection of calculations and design assets from multiple sources, making them available in a single interface for the Castillo team. This automation of engineering calculations and AutoCAD drafting enables Castillo engineers to reduce human error, standardize workflows, and increase scalability, allowing the company to deliver projects faster with superior quality.

“In our discussions with utility-scale EPCs, almost every leader expressed an urgent, unmet need for an Engineer of Record that can offer excellent project management and unwavering quality at the utility scale as the market grows,” commented Christopher Castillo, CEO. “Our response is a bold investment in talent, tools, and technology that ensures our ‘A Team’ is ready to support EPCs as their pipelines expand – without sacrificing quality.”

356 GWdc of utility-scale solar is expected to come online by 2035, fueled by surging energy demand from AI applications and data centers.

Profiles of Castillo Engineering’s Strengthened Senior Leadership Team

Rick Castillo, PE, SE, Chief Operating Officer

As the founder of Castillo Engineering, Rick has cultivated Castillo Engineering’s company culture and prowess in project and process management from day one. In his current role,he has honed his focus on leading Castillo’s Project Management Office (PMO), which has set the industry standard for power engineering project management. Most recently, he developed and launched PMO 360, a proprietary dashboard that provides EPCs and owners with the clarity needed for informed decision-making.

Gary Joseph, Vice President of Sales & Marketing

With 14 years of leadership experience in the utility-scale solar industry, most recently as Vice President of Sales at Voltage LLC, Gary brings a unique perspective that bridges deep technical knowledge with global commercial experience. Born in England, Gary began his career as a licensed electrician and became a seasoned sales leader working with EPCs, developers, and manufacturers for distributed generation and utility-scale projects in domestic and international markets.

Arun Ramadass, Vice President of Operations

Arun brings over 15 years of diverse solar industry experience, including leadership roles at Primoris, Pivot Energy and Scale Microgrids. Focused on engineering utility-scale projects, strategic growth, and technical excellence, he has been instrumental in delivering innovative renewable energy solutions by guiding teams through complex challenges and scaling processes for large-scale operations.

Through this strategic investment, Castillo Engineering aims to further empower utility-scale projects with innovative, customized, and process-driven engineering solutions across the entire project lifecycle – enhancing communication, shortening timelines and optimizing costs to deliver tomorrow’s energy with efficiency and ease.

Castillo Engineering | castillope.com

mPower Technology, the leading provider of solar power solutions for space, announced it has secured over $21 million in Series B funding led by Razor's Edge Ventures and joined by Shield Capital. The new funding will be used to further scale production capacity, continue the advancement of DragonSCALES and position the company for sustained leadership in the rapidly expanding commercial and national security space markets. The capital raise builds upon mPower's Series A financing led by Cottonwood Technology following its spin-off from Sandia National Laboratories.

"mPower has emerged as the only solar provider in the space market with a flight-proven design that can meet both the aggressive cost targets and production volumes required by large-scale Space 2.0 missions, such as LEO constellations," said Kevin Hell, president and CEO of mPower Technology. "This new funding from highly regarded space sector investors that focus on national security, is a testament to the confidence our customers have in our proven ability to rapidly deliver space power at scale."

"Space capabilities have been used as an economic engine and to enhance national security for decades. The entire space ecosystem is on the cusp of transformational growth, and nothing happens in space without power. It is a critical enabler," said Mark Spoto, managing partner of Razor's Edge. "The confidence we have in mPower is based on real-world proof - its solar solutions are in orbit and delivering value now. It is the only company in the market with proven automated manufacturing that is now ready for high-rate production."

With a significant new business pipeline and over 12 years of combined on-orbit space heritage, mPower is rapidly becoming the leading provider of power solutions for the next generation of space missions. mPower has been chosen as a solar power provider for key industry players such as Airbus, Blue Origin/Honeybee, Firefly Aerospace, Lynk Global, Gravitics and many others.

This growing roster of customers will be supported by mPower's first high-volume automated manufacturing line which is located at mPower's contract manufacturer Universal Instruments Corporation in Conklin, New York. This line dramatically expands throughput and will produce over 2 megawatts of DragonSCALES modules annually, a capacity greater than the total combined global production output of traditional gallium arsenide (III-V) solar module suppliers. High-volume operations commence next month and will produce solar modules for hundreds of spacecraft, including mPower's contract to supply more than 1.1 megawatts of solar modules for Airbus' MDA AURORA program, one of the largest space solar deals in history.

mPower Technology | https://mpowertech.com/

Razor's Edge | www.razorsvc.com

Solidion Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:STI), an advanced battery technology solutions provider, announced that a series of key patents on solid-state batteries have been granted to Solidion, which have potential to transform the entire lithium battery industry.

Flame-resistant electrolytes are key to safe operations of energy storage systems (ESS) for smart grid and renewable energy storage, and power sources for driving all-types of electric vehicles, such as drones, electric bikes, e-automobile, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL), and e-boats. The fire and explosion danger in conventional lithium-ion batteries is caused by certain highly volatile and flammable organic solvents commonly used in the liquid electrolytes. The newly granted patents provide an innovative solution that readily converts certain liquid solvents into quasi-solid or solid-state electrolytes, thereby reducing or eliminating flammability.

The invented technology essentially includes using any current lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility to produce dry battery cells, injecting a proprietary liquid electrolyte into the dry cells, and then converting the liquid electrolyte in situ (inside a cell) into a solid electrolyte. Solidion scientists are key pioneers in this "in situ solidification" or "liquid-to-solid conversion" technology in the battery space.

A major advantage of such a breakthrough in situ solidification technology is that solid-state batteries can be manufactured at-scaletoday rather than tomorrow, using existing lithium-ion battery cells manufacturing facilities. There is no need to develop new processes and equipment. This would position Solidion as a leader in helping to readily transform the lithium-ion battery industry into producers of quasi-solid and solid-state batteries.

By working with strategic partners, Solidion is aimed at fully commercializing this technology in 2-3 years.

Solidion | www.solidiontech.com

Powin LLC, a U.S.-based global energy storage integrator, unveiled the Pod Max, the company’s most powerful and energy-dense product to date. Delivering 6.26 MWh of capacity in the same 20-foot liquid-cooled container as previous models, the Powin Pod Max offers a 25% increase in energy density over Powin’s standard 5 MWh system—driving down total system costs and maximizing long-term value.

Designed with efficiency in mind, the Pod Max reduces on-site work time, requiring less cabling and fewer connections per megawatt-hour. This results in faster deployment, easier installation, and lower long-term maintenance requirements.

“Pod Max is the culmination of our relentless focus on performance, deployment costs, and scalability,” said Himanshu Khurana, Chief Technology Officer at Powin. “By delivering higher energy density in the same proven form factor, Pod Max enables our customers to deploy more powerful systems with a lower total cost of ownership. This product represents the next evolution of our mission to optimize energy storage at every level of the system.”

The Pod Max Key Features:

• 6.26 MWh capacity in a 20-foot liquid-cooled enclosure
• 25% increase in energy density over Powin’s standard 5 MWh unit
• Significant reduction in on-site work time due to simplified cabling and fewer containers
• Streamlined commissioning and optimized O&M over system lifetime

At the heart of every Pod Max is Powin’s advanced StackOS platform—a fully integrated software suite that combines Energy Management System (EMS), Battery Management System (BMS), and Thermal Management System (TMS) into a single, intelligent control layer. This integration enables real-time monitoring and control down to the cell level, ensuring industry-leading system availability, optimal performance, and built-in safety.

The Pod Max marks a major milestone in Powin’s commitment to advancing compact, high-performance storage solutions that strengthen grid resilience, enhance efficiency, and accelerate the transition to a new energy future. Purpose-built to meet the evolving needs of grid operators, utilities, and developers, it offers a flexible and future-ready platform that combines robust technology with scalable architecture to support a wide range of use cases and deployment environments.

Powin | https://powin.com/

Georgia Power announced that construction is underway on 765-megawatts (MW) of new battery energy storage systems (BESS) strategically located across Georgia in Bibb, Lowndes, Floyd and Cherokee counties. The BESS projects were authorized by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) through the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) process and provide quickly dispatchable capacity for customers. The new projects follow the company's first-ever BESS facility at Mossy Branch near Columbus, which entered service last year (read more here).

BESS projects support the overall reliability and resilience of the electric system, while also enhancing the value of intermittent renewable generation resources such as solar. Storage systems can improve the efficiency of renewable energy by storing excess energy produced during periods when the demand for electricity is lower, for use when the demand is higher, such as on cold winter mornings. Because battery storage can provide stored energy to the grid for hours on demand, BESS resources enhance the overall reliability of the electric system.

"At Georgia Power, we work with the Georgia PSC and many other stakeholders to make the investments required for a reliable and resilient power grid, integrating new technologies to better serve our customers today and as Georgia grows," said Rick Anderson, senior vice president and senior production officer for Georgia Power. "As we expand our diverse energy mix to include more renewable energy, which requires careful advance planning and flexibility to accommodate times when that source is not available, these batteries will be an invaluable part of the electric system." 

Construction is currently underway at the following BESS locations:

• Robins BESS (Bibb County, 128 MW). This strategic site is co-located with the existing solar facility adjacent to the Robins Air Force Base and allows Georgia Power to leverage existing infrastructure, thereby eliminating the need to construct new transmission generator step-up (GSU) project-level substations and eliminating potential expenses and long lead time projects associated with transmission interconnection and network upgrades. This project is being engineered and constructed by Burns & McDonnell and has a projected commercial operation date in June 2026.
• Moody BESS (Lowndes County, 49.5 MW). Similar to the Robins BESS project, this strategic choice is co-located with the existing solar facility adjacent to the Moody Air Force Base and allows Georgia Power to leverage existing infrastructure, thereby eliminating the need for constructing new transmission GSU project-level substations and eliminating potential expenses and long lead time projects associated with interconnection and network upgrades. It also offers expedited deployment capabilities and ensures known transmission deliverability. This project is being engineered and constructed by Crowder Industrial Construction and has a projected commercial operation date in May 2026.
• Hammond BESS (Floyd County, 57.5 MW). The Hammond BESS project is a standalone BESS that leverages existing infrastructure from the retired coal-fired Plant Hammond facility. With the repurposing of an existing generation site and the utilization of already identified transmission capacity, the Hammond BESS project provides significant benefit to customers while aiding the company in meeting its capacity needs. This project is being engineered and constructed by Crowder Industrial Construction and has a projected commercial operation date in November 2026.
• McGrau Ford Phase I & II BESS (Cherokee County, 530 MW). Given the existing site work, land acquisition, and contracting for McGrau Ford Phase I BESS, Georgia Power will realize efficiencies in contracting and construction by using the same construction company and company-owned land. In addition, the preliminary design for McGrau Ford Phase I BESS provides an opportunity for Georgia Power to cost effectively expand the project level substation and generation tie line rather than construct a new project level substation. These projects are being engineered and constructed by Burns & McDonnell, and Phases I & II have projected commercial operation dates in October 2026 and September 2026, respectively.

Future Georgia Power Battery Storage
Georgia Power continues to work with the Georgia PSC to procure and develop BESS projects across Georgia. An additional 1,000 MW of new battery energy storage is expected to be procured in the coming years through competitive bidding processes and a 13 MW demonstration project is in development at Fort Stewart Army Installation near Savannah, Georgia. All-source capacity Request for Proposals (RFPs) proposed in the 2025 and 2022 IRPs are also expected to include BESS assets.

Georgia Power is also committed to supporting customer-sited generation resources to meet the state's growing energy needs. The 2025 IRP includes two customer expansions of BESS programs including enhancements to the Customer Connected Solar Program and launching a new Customer-Sited Solar Plus Storage Pilot. This pilot aims to secure an initial 50 MW of capacity, providing opportunities for residential and small commercial customers to add solar and storage resources. The goal is to encourage more customer-sited renewable generation by pairing dispatchable BESS with behind-the-meter solar systems.

Georgia Power | www.georgiapower.com

Trilliant, a leading international provider of solutions for next generation Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), smart grid, smart cities, and IIoT, has partnered with OZZ Electric to roll out a commercial-grade electric vehicle (EV) charging energy management solution in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada.

Since 1995, OZZ Electric has provided services in Canada and the United States, including design/build, EV and solar, mixed-use residential, technology, and a B.C. apprenticeship program. With over 100 projects and more than 1,200 employees across B.C., Ontario, and Washington, D.C., OZZ Electric specializes in large-scale projects, high-profile design-build work, retrofit applications, and clean energy solutions, supporting residential, industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) spaces.

Trilliant and OZZ Electric B.C. have been partners since 2022 in sub-metering and energy management. This expansion will leverage Trilliant’s best-in-class sub-metering solution to help better manage the energy consumption data and capabilities of EV chargers as they become an important component of modern multi-residential buildings. In addition to providing accurate energy usage data and advanced control capabilities, Trilliant will also empower resident EV owners with information to make responsible energy-efficient decisions.

“Our long-standing relationship with Trilliant has always supported best practices in the pursuit of energy management and efficiency—all very important to our customers,” said David Recchia, Executive Vice President for Western Canada and the U.S. at OZZ Electric. “The Trilliant solution is utility-grade and accurate, and will provide the much-needed insights to building managers and property owners regarding EV infrastructure.”  

“We’re delighted to expand our partnership with OZZ Electric in B.C. and enable them to help their customers better manage their energy consumption,” said Brad Sandbrook, Trilliant’s Vice President of Business Development. “At Trilliant, our focus is helping our partners and customers achieve their energy transition goals, and we look forward to supporting OZZ Electric in B.C. on this and future projects.”

Trilliant | www.trilliant.com

OZZ Electric | https://www.ozzelectric.com/

EDP Renewables continues with the dismantling of its wind projects in La Guajira (Colombia) and Cartagena. The company has put out to public auction transformers of brands such as WEG or Siemens and auxiliary material. These are new, high-powered, highly sought-after pieces of equipment, with immediate delivery for the assembly of wind farms or energy facilities

Open on the Escrapalia portal until May 14.

The materials and equipment will be auctioned at a starting price of 150 euros, and grouped into one or more specific lots, depending on their characteristics. The auction, which is being conducted through the specialized portal Escrapalia (Surus Group), is now open for bids until May 14. The bidder offering the highest amount will be declared the winner of the lot.

Specifically, large power transformers and reactors are being auctioned: 30 500 kV current transformers; 4 500/34.5 kV transformers; 2 350 kVA auxiliary service transformers; 2 34.5 kV grounding choke units; 3 500 kV inductive voltage transformers for line output; as well as 6 Shunt Reactor units (23MVar, 500k).

On the other hand, electrical cabling is offered for sale: 9 new coils of bare copper cable (CU EN 60228 CL.2 CU-ETP Coils 050.00MM2), about 50,000 meters without sheathing; 57 new coils of aluminum cable (cable/NA2XS2Y(F) 35 kV 500 kcmil PH16), a total of 62,025 meters; 44 new coils of fiber cable, 154,600 meters of direct buried cable (LSZH) GYXTH68 12G.652D; 119 new coils of aluminum cable (Cable/NA2XS2Y(F) 35 kV 800 kcmil PH16), 97,714 meters; as well as 351 new coils of aluminum cable (Cable/NA2XS2Y(F) 35 kV 1250 kcmil PH16 (630 mm2), a total of 265,060 meters.

Visit to the facilities 

For further information, visits to the facilities where the equipment is stored in Puerto Brisa - La Guajira have been organized. To attend, it will be necessary to contact with the person in charge of the auction and the visit will be organized upon request.

Thanks to its strategic location in a port with sea and land access, the equipment can be transported to different international markets.

Framed in the exit of Colombia

This equipment was acquired for projects in La Guajira, one of the areas with the greatest wind potential in Colombia, but could not be implemented due to various regulatory obstacles. In Latin America, EDP Renewables has actively participated in the development of renewable infrastructures, standing out in countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Chile. EDPR entered the Colombian market in 2019 with projects in La Guajira that sought to take advantage of the country's enormous wind potential.

At the beginning of April, EDPR launched a first auction of 90 Vestas V162-5.6 MW wind turbines from EDP Renewables (EDPR), located in Puerto Brisa -La Guajira- and Cartagena (Colombia). This operation offers an opportunity for the global wind energy sector. The wind turbines available correspond to the Vestas V162-5.6 MW model, belonging to the EnVentus platform. 

EDP Renewables | www.edpr.com

Surus Inversa S.L | www.surusin.com

Scrapalia | www.escrapalia.com