• Heliene Inc

  Participated · Equity · Sep 2023

  Heliene is a North American solar PV module manufacturer that has served the market through multiple cycles over the past 14 years. Its core product is domestically produced solar PV modules, and the company is expanding manufacturing with a new 550MW production line in Rogers, MN that will create 150+ full-time jobs. The MN #3 line will boost Heliene’s total U.S.-based manufacturing capacity to about 1.5GW per year. Heliene has secured long-term supply agreements (2.0GW with Excelsior Energy Capital and 1.5GW with Nexamp) and partnered across the domestic supply chain with Suniva, SOLARCYCLE, OMCO Solar, Premier Energies and NorSun. The company is leveraging the Inflation Reduction Act—including a 45X production tax credit and the Domestic Content Adder—to drive customer value and support its domestic supply-chain strategy. Financially, Heliene recently closed a strategic equity investment of up to $54 million from Transition Equity Partners and a consortium including affiliates of Hamilton Lane, following a $170 million raise in 2023 from Orion Infrastructure Capital and several key customers. Heliene manufactures North American-made solar PV modules and serves utility-scale, commercial and residential customers with in-house logistics and support to deliver modules when and where needed. The company closed a $170M financing package comprising $20M in equity and a $150M credit facility. The debt facility was provided by Orion Infrastructure Capital; the equity tranche included participation from Orion (OIC), 2Shores Capital and two existing customers, Valta Energy and Bullrock Renewables. Heliene plans to use the proceeds to expand manufacturing capacity, add two new 300MW lines at its Mountain Iron facility and bolster workforce development. The company expanded North American capacity in 2022 with an additional 500MW plant and aims to grow US capacity from 1.1 GW to 2.0 GW by the end of 2024. Heliene projects hiring roughly 300 team members in Minnesota and 200 in Ontario to support growth. Heliene is a manufacturer of high-efficiency solar photovoltaic modules with production in Canada and the USA and installations across North America, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. The company, established in 2010 and based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is pursuing product and service diversification through proprietary technology development. Heliene is developing an intelligent photovoltaic module branded iPV — a “module with a brain” — that integrates a specialized string-optimization inverter and control system to optimize energy harvesting, generate reactive power, and provide real-time grid communication. The iPV product targets utilities and local distribution companies by offering real-time data visibility and voltage control, and it is designed as a plug-and-play system that also corrects power factor. To support this shift into the Smart Grid market, Heliene will receive $1.45 million in funding through Sustainable Development Technology Canada as part of a $3.3 million iPV project. The company says the iPV program is intended to meaningfully diversify its business model beyond manufacturing and service streams.

No current team members are available.