Burnaby, Canada, April 25, 2014 – Schneider Electric, the global leader in Solar power conversion equipment, is proud to announce its selection as a finalist for the BCTIA 2014 Technology Impact Award for Team of the Year.
The recognition comes for Schneider Electric’s construction of a high-power MicroGrid Lab in Burnaby to facilitate the design and testing of Schneider Electric’s revolutionary SE1 1500V platform for utility-scale solar plants.
“Construction of such an impressive facility in four short months was an immense team achievement that places Schneider Electric at the forefront of the global Solar industry” said Laurent Bataille, SVP of Schneider Electric’s Solar Business.
“The MicroGrid Lab team epitomized the ‘can do’ spirit and their passion and determination was an inspiration,” continued Jill Tipping, Vice-President Finance & Operations. “We are so proud to have the achievement recognized by the BCTIA Technology Impact Awards and we can’t wait to show off the Lab at our formal launch event later this year.”
The Solar MicroGrid Lab team was led by Paul Sikora and John Vail of Schneider Electric’s utility scale solar engineering team with support from colleagues Luc Vail, John Gibb, Edwardo Custodio, Antoine Destribats, Rachel Paterson, Luigi Esposito and Greg Arthur. Also critical to the success of the project was the strong contribution from key suppliers Power Pros and BLC Engineering and the partnership approach shown by BC Hydro, the City of Burnaby and landlord Willmore Holdings.
“Schneider Electric’s decision to invest at this scale is a testament to the strength of the cleantech ecosystem in BC,” commented Bill Tam, President and CEO of BCTIA. “We are pleased to recognize this significant achievement.”
Schneider Electric’s global solar business is comprised of 450 employees, approximately half of which are based in the BC headquarters. With 1GW in utility scale shipments in 2013, Schneider Electric was recently named by GTM Research one of the world’s top 3 Solar inverter companies.
