With the principals of Heila Technologies having strong MIT ties, the firm efforts organize around simplifying the integration and operation of individual Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and microgrids. Deployment of renewable energy in the form of distributed energy resources is of growing importance but trend is limited by gridâs ability to manage this approach. By coordinating load, storage, and generation, Microgrids are potentially of critical importance to future electricity systems since they can accommodate more renewables and increase overall system resiliency. Current restraining factors include the fact that microgrids may be technology incompatible, represent operational complexity, and design inflexibility, severely. Heila is strcurured around actively working to overcome these barriers with the deployment of the firm's distributed control platform: the Heila IQ - one grid perational in Sonoma, CA and another in a testing facility in NREL. Effectively, Heila IQ is a distributed controller bringing intelligence to each controllable asset in a microgrid. Addressing the interoperability challenge, the system serves as an intermediate layer that homogenizes and standardizes the system - simplifying system operation by performing primary control functions and processing data continuously at the local level. Effectively the system implements a modular and decentralized optimization suite of techniques that can be used by any energy management system. In early 2022 it was announced that Wisconsin based Kohler Power - itself a small firm manufacturing and marketing generators for marine, residential, industrial, and mobile applications - had acquired Helia Technologies. GIven that the two firms togther still are within the definition of "small' and therefore SBIR eligible. it will be interesting to see whether the created entity wil continue active SBIR involvement on existing awards
