Jan 22 2015
Heliene Inc., originally an Ontario based manufacturer of high quality commercial and residential solar panels, announced it has expanded and will begin production at its new St Paul, Minnesota facility.
"We are delighted to be part of the Made in Minnesota program, and expand our operations into the Minnesota market", said Heliene President Martin Pochtaruk. "We see this as a great opportunity to move into both Minnesota, as well as into the U.S. market in a big way."
Heliene and US partner SimpleRay, LLC will produce standard form-factor medium to high efficiency 60 and 72 cell modules ranging in output from 250 watt polycrystalline panels to 335 watt monocrystalline panels, with final assembly and testing taking place at the St. Paul facility. SimpleRay and Heliene will initially add 12-20 employees to their assembly plant and corporate offices to accommodate the expanded operation.
Said SimpleRay's President and CEO Geoff Stenrick, "We couldn't be happier to partner with the leader in North American module production. Heliene brings extensive manufacturing experience to help with any size project from a small residential system to large utility scale. With production in both Canada and Minnesota, we can also offer a high quality product that helps create manufacturing jobs throughout North America."
Blue Horizon Energy (BHE), based in Eden Prairie Minnesota, was selected to be a test site for Heliene's initial product introduction to the Made in Minnesota market (pictured). Said John Aune, founding member of BHE, "We are very excited to finally have a high efficiency, standard module in the Made in Minnesota program. With Heliene we get the best of both worlds, a high quality module that also offers the flexibility we need to install on any project."
Source: http://www.simpleray.com/