The 1.5 GW Bet on Solid-State: Heron and Intersect Rewrite Grid Hardware

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. – November 12, 2026 — In the high-stakes race to power the next decade of American industrial and computational growth, the most critical battles are no longer being fought over land or permits, but over the physical hardware that connects generation to the grid. Today’s announcement that clean energy developer Intersect has reserved 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of manufacturing capacity from Heron Power Electronics is a glaring signal of this new reality.

The agreement, which secures a massive pipeline of Heron Link power conversion units for deliveries beginning in 2028, is more than a standard procurement contract. It is a strategic maneuver by Intersect to bypass one of the most severe supply chain bottlenecks in the global energy transition: the medium-voltage transformer. By locking down capacity at Heron’s upcoming Morgan Hill, California facility, Intersect is telegraphing a fundamental shift in how heavy industrial loads and hyperscale data centers will be powered in the late 2020s.

Heron Power Electronics, founded in 2025 by former Tesla powertrain and energy engineering chief Drew Baglino, is attempting to do for grid-scale power electronics what his former employer did for the electric vehicle. The company’s flagship product, the Heron Link, aims to consolidate conventional low-voltage inverters and medium-voltage transformers into a single, modular 5-megawatt (MW) solid-state platform.

“This platform will accelerate our speed to power by improving energy delivery efficiency and is projected to decrease maintenance and downtime, while supporting manufacturing jobs in America,” said Sheldon Kimber, founder and CEO of Intersect, in a statement today.

For industry analysts watching the intersection of capital and technology, this 1.5 GW reservation is a commercial validation of a radical technological pivot—one that could redefine the economics of utility-scale solar and industrial power deployment.

Eliminating the Substation Bottleneck

To understand the gravity of Intersect’s play, one must look at the current state of grid infrastructure. The traditional architecture of utility-scale solar and industrial power relies on a two-step process: low-voltage inverters convert direct current (DC) from solar panels into alternating current (AC), which is then fed into passive, electromagnetic medium-voltage transformers to step up the voltage for grid transmission.

This legacy architecture is currently buckling under unprecedented demand. Conventional transformers are facing multi-year lead times and skyrocketing costs, creating a massive backlog in grid interconnection queues. Enter the solid-state transformer (SST).

Heron’s approach utilizes wide-bandgap semiconductors, such as silicon carbide—components that have plummeted in cost thanks to the EV boom—to rectify AC power to DC, switch the polarity at high frequencies, and provide voltage transformation without the massive iron cores of legacy equipment. The Heron Link integrates these functions into a single system boasting a 98.6 percent DC-to-medium-voltage efficiency. According to the company, this effectively halves the conversion losses of a conventional inverter-plus-transformer skid.

More importantly, solid-state systems maintain their rated output even at extreme temperatures, unlike traditional inverters that derate in intense heat. This fail-operational design, targeting 99.5 percent availability, is a critical feature for developers like Intersect who operate in harsh environments.

“Independent power producers are facing mounting challenges developing and operating their projects,” noted Heron founder and CEO Drew Baglino. “Intersect leaned in early with Heron to ensure our next-generation power electronics solved their deployment and operations pain points. Their long-term commitment secures the benefits of Heron Link for their projects as we ramp up production at Heron Factory One.”

However, independent power systems engineers caution that while SSTs offer immense theoretical advantages in real-time voltage regulation and harmonic filtering, they remain an emerging product category at the medium-voltage scale. Field-proven reliability and utility acceptance are still developing. Intersect’s willingness to act as Heron’s initial lighthouse customer over the past 18 months of technical collaboration suggests they have seen enough behind-the-scenes performance data to bet billions of future project dollars on the architecture.

The Domestic Hardware Race for Heavy Industry and AI

Intersect’s business model revolves around pairing energy-intensive industrial loads with dedicated generation. While the press release highlights utility-scale solar, the subtext of this 1.5 GW reservation points directly to the explosive growth of artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.

Hyperscale data centers require gigawatts of power, and their developers are increasingly desperate for rapidly deployable power conversion solutions. The traditional grid simply cannot move fast enough to accommodate the compute boom. By securing 1.5 GW of advanced power electronics years in advance, Intersect is effectively hoarding the picks and shovels required for the AI gold rush.

This hardware race is forcing early, deep commercial partnerships. Heron is not just selling a product; it is selling speed to market. The company recently published a blueprint for 800-volt DC data centers, outlining how Heron Link units could directly power AI facilities by replacing multiple legacy equipment categories. The market is responding. Beyond Intersect, hyperscale players like Vantage and Crusoe have reportedly been circling Heron’s technology, eager to adopt solutions that can plug directly into 34.5 kV lines and deliver highly efficient DC power directly to server racks.

In a landscape where capital is abundant but physical equipment is scarce, the ultimate competitive moat for a power developer is a secured, de-risked supply chain. Intersect’s early reservation ensures that when its massive industrial off-takers are ready to plug in, the power conversion hardware will actually be waiting on the concrete pad.

A Silicon Valley Hardware Revival

The physical manifestation of this technological shift is taking shape in Morgan Hill, California, where Heron is investing more than $100 million to build Heron Factory One. The 286,000-square-foot facility is designed to produce up to 10,000 Heron Links annually—representing more than 40 GW of manufacturing capacity—with mass production slated for late 2027.

Choosing to build a massive hardware manufacturing facility in the notoriously high-cost San Francisco Bay Area might seem counterintuitive, but it underscores a broader macroeconomic trend driven by federal policy. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has fundamentally altered the math of global supply chains.

Under Sections 45X and 48 of the IRA, clean energy projects that utilize domestically manufactured components are eligible for highly lucrative advanced manufacturing production credits and domestic content bonus credits. By sourcing from Heron’s California factory, Intersect significantly increases the probability that its upcoming multi-billion-dollar project pipeline will qualify for these tax equity windfalls.

Furthermore, Heron’s strategy relies heavily on high-volume automation and software-defined manufacturing, leveraging the deep talent pool of Silicon Valley engineers. By keeping research, development, and mass production geographically tethered, Heron aims to iterate on its solid-state technology at a pace legacy manufacturers cannot match. It is a calculated wager that the premium of California real estate and labor will be offset by federal incentives, reduced shipping logistics, and the sheer velocity of product development.

De-risking the Grid of Tomorrow

Despite the momentum, the path forward is fraught with the unique perils of hardware scaling. First-of-a-kind manufacturing ramps in power hardware have a notorious history of delays, yield issues, and cost overruns. Heron’s $100 million initial investment and recent $140 million Series B funding round provide a solid runway, but scaling from prototype to 40 GW of annual production will require flawless execution and likely further capital injections.

Moreover, the grid is inherently conservative. Utility operators and independent engineers demand bankability studies, extensive field runtime, and rigorous compliance with evolving grid codes before authorizing widespread deployment of novel medium-voltage equipment. Solid-state transformers must prove they can manage leakage currents, electromagnetic interference, and total harmonic distortion at scale without degrading grid stability.

Yet, the sheer scale of the demand signal—Heron has cited approximately 40 GW of expressed customer interest from over a dozen prospective clients—indicates that the market is willing to absorb these risks. The pain of the status quo has simply outgrown the fear of the new.

Intersect’s 1.5 GW reservation is the opening salvo in what will likely be a prolonged scramble for next-generation grid hardware. As AI data centers and electrified industrial bases demand ever-greater shares of American power, the companies that control the flow of electrons will dictate the pace of economic growth. By betting on solid-state power electronics and domestic manufacturing, Heron and Intersect are not just adapting to the future of the grid; they are actively engineering it.