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Solar energy company to open new tech center in Houston

The new center will house Sunnova technologies, including a microgrid system powered by a grid simulator and a solar array simulator with the ability to replicate various grid and solar array conditions. Photo via sunnova.com

A Houston energy services company has announced the upcoming opening of a state-of-the-art energy testing and integration technologies hub.

Sunnova Energy International Inc. will open the Sunnova Adaptive Technology Center in 2024. The center, which will come sometime in the first quarter of the year, is part of Sunnova Adaptive Home, Sunnova Adaptive Business, and Sunnova Adaptive Community service offerings. Founded in Houston in 2012, Sunnova aims to “create a better energy service at a better price.”

The ATC will house Sunnova technologies, including a microgrid system powered by a grid simulator and a solar array simulator with the ability to replicate various grid and solar array conditions. An interchangeable inverter and battery test beds, and a fully-functioning model home equipped with full-sized appliances, including a range, oven, refrigerator and HVAC system, will also be part of the new ATC.

This will assist Sunnova engineering teams to perform system level validation to integrate disparate technologies for reliable operation during various grid, solar and home conditions. The ATC will also be the home for service technicians that help with customer issues.

"We've always been committed to ensuring high standards of quality and service excellence for our customers," William J. (John) Berger, CEO at Sunnova, says in a news release. "With the ATC, both our customers and dealers can trust that they are partnering with a company that has an unwavering focus on innovative technologies, integrated energy solutions, quality control, and service excellence."

This announcement comes just two months after the completed expansion of Sunnova’s Global Command Center, which is a similar facility that works with cutting-edge technologies, and customer service. The ATC will also continue to develop its customer-facing experiences like the Sunnova App, and its Sunnova Sentient technology platform, which works with energy management.

“The ATC won’t be a static configuration, but a responsive, flexible arrangement that will effectively pull together top, industry-leading technologies to deliver customized energy solutions to our customers,” Michael Grasso, executive vice president and chief revenue officer at Sunnova, says in the release. “It’s a tremendous effort to qualify hardware and integrate all the technologies we work with – but doing all of this ensures the services reaching our customers are top of the line.”

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A View From HETI

Shell's Woodcreek campus is home to about 67,000 workers. Photo courtesy HOK

Energy giant Shell has put its U.S. headquarters in Houston’s Energy Corridor on the market and is exploring the sale of its U.S. chemical business.

Green Street News reported Shell just listed its longtime Energy Corridor campus at 150 N. Dairy Ashford Road. The asking price is $325 million, The Real Deal reported. Shell plans to lease back half of the nearly 1.5 million-square-foot Woodcreek campus for 15 years.

A sale-leaseback deal could transform the 43.6-acre campus into a multitenant hub, CoStar News reported.

“Houston is a critical hub for Shell globally and the headquarters of our U.S. businesses,” a Shell spokesperson told the Houston Business Journal. “We remain committed to Houston and are evaluating opportunities to optimize our Woodcreek campus as part of our ongoing review of workplace needs while maintaining a strong presence in the city.”

Shell occupied its first building at the West Houston campus in 1980. The company employs more than 6,000 people in Texas.

Shell is one of the highest-profile businesses occupying space in the Energy Corridor. It’s home to 67,000 workers, more than 27 million square feet of office and mixed-use space, and 3.8 million square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Shell considers $8B sale of chemical business

As the company seeks to unload its Woodcreek campus, The Financial Times reported Shell is looking into selling its U.S. chemical business. The price tag: $8 billion.

Potential buyers include Spring-based ExxonMobil and Houston-based LyondellBasell.

Shell operates four chemical plants in Texas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, producing an array of chemicals for use in plastics, detergents and pharmaceuticals.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan said last year that the company had spent $45 billion in capital “that is underperforming for us,” split between its chemical business and renewable energy arm.

Shell also agreed to sell its solar and wind power business in India this summer. Read more here.

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