Heron Power

Heron Power

Develops solid-state transformers for grid modernization

Compliance Engineer Intern

Summer 2027, Fall 2027Posted on 9/29/2026
No salary listed
Internship
Bachelor's
Scotts Valley, CA, USA
In Person

About the job

Requirements
  • An undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or equivalent is required.
  • A strong foundation in electrical engineering principles, power systems, and power electronics is required.
  • Hands-on experience with test automation using Python, LabVIEW, or embedded scripting for power hardware validation is required.
  • Ability to interpret requirements and convert them to test specifications is required.
  • Ability to use first-principles engineering experience to identify creative solutions to difficult problems in ambiguous situations is required.
  • Ability to remain engaged, proactive, and positive under pressure, own assignments, and take accountability is required.
  • Effective communication and negotiation skills, with attention to detail, are required.
  • Hands-on experience designing and operating test equipment and data acquisition systems, such as oscilloscopes, power analyzers, and data loggers, is required.
  • Availability to work across the summer and fall semesters is required.
Responsibilities
  • Research, interpret, and apply compliance requirements from IEEE, IEC, ISO, NERC, FERC, and other organizations to support product listings and entry into new markets.
  • Partner with engineering leads across the product lifecycle to integrate compliance into product architecture and design.
  • Develop and execute compliance test plans, including identifying and building test infrastructure and resources.
  • Debug test failures and develop design solutions in collaboration with engineering design teams.
  • Contribute to thought leadership through white papers and regional codes and standards activities.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience in regulatory and compliance certification for solar, wind, battery, or other power electronics products.
  • Experience testing medium-voltage systems, such as 5kV–35kV systems.
  • Familiarity with grid-tied hardware such as medium-voltage converters, switchgear, circuit breakers, or protective relays.
  • Knowledge of insulation materials, shielding techniques, and arc flash mitigation for high-voltage systems.
  • Exposure to manufacturing processes and material selection for high-power assemblies, such as busbars, potting, conformal coating, and high-voltage connectors.
  • Experience designing and developing a Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop (CHIL) setup for feature testing and regression.
  • Knowledge of power systems modeling.
  • Awareness of cybersecurity and functional safety programs.
  • Experience interfacing with Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs).
  • Involvement in Data Acceptance Programs.
  • Participation in developing a Laboratory Quality Management System.
  • Ability to proactively manage business risk by monitoring evolving standards, engaging with Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) and utilities, and participating in standards development.
  • Working experience with UL, IEC, and ISO standards.

About the company

Heron Power modernizes the electrical grid with solid-state transformer technology. Its flagship Heron Link is a modular, megawatt-scale power converter that connects directly to medium voltage, replacing traditional transformers and using wide-bandgap semiconductors for high density and fast voltage/frequency regulation. The system integrates software controls to manage power flows across renewables, storage, and data centers, improving grid stability and reducing equipment footprint. Its goal is to accelerate the all-electric future by delivering scalable, robust grid infrastructure with domestic US manufacturing and pilots starting in 2026.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Debt Financing

Total Funding

$238M

Headquarters

Scotts Valley, California

Founded

2024

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • RWE signed Heron's first utility-scale pilot on September 21, 2026.
  • Heron closed $140 million Series B in February 2026, then added $60 million debt.
  • Morgan Hill factory and LG collaboration position Heron for data-center and storage demand.

What critics are saying

  • Heron still lacks revenue; the first RWE pilot installs in April 2027.
  • Enphase shipped IQ SST modules in Texas; customer pilots start in 2027.
  • Late-2027 manufacturing misses or SST failures could kill Heron's 40GW factory thesis.

What makes Heron Power unique

  • Drew Baglino left Tesla in 2024, bringing powertrain-scale execution to Heron Power.
  • Heron Link replaces inverters and transformers with one 5MW solid-state medium-voltage platform.
  • Heron targets U.S.-made grid hardware, giving utilities domestic content for 2027 procurement.

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Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

↓ -2%

1 year growth

↑ 2%

2 year growth

↑ 13%
Energy-Storage.news
Sep 25th, 2026
US power conversion manufacturers in spotlight: Power Electronics builds Houston factory, Heron Power lands RWE pilot.

US power conversion manufacturers in spotlight: Power Electronics builds Houston factory, Heron Power lands RWE pilot. September 25, 2026 Spain-headquartered Power Electronics has opened a new factory in Houston, Texas, as the US market increasingly looks to build domestic content supply chains. Power Electronics, which provides solar inverters and power conversion systems (PCS) for battery storage, as well as solutions for the data centre and e-mobility industries, held a groundbreaking celebration yesterday (24 September). The 53-hectare site will integrate functions, including logistics, production, electronics manufacturing, R&D, and training, into a single campus. It is expected to create more than 400 jobs in the Houston area. Power Electronics said the site will have an annual production capacity of 40GW when fully ramped up, although the company did not say what the initial capacity is, what the product split at the factory will be, or provide a date by which ramp-up is expected. The Spanish company said the Houston campus will become its most automated inverter production site to date and claimed it represents long-term investment in US industry, skilled employment, technological innovation, and energy infrastructure. The new campus will bring Power Electronics' total annual production capacity worldwide to 105GW. M&A interest in PCS manufacturers. The announcement comes amid growing demand for power electronics from both the energy and, increasingly, data centre markets, coupled with a growing appetite for a US-based domestic content supply chain. The transaction brings to an end Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Cleanhill Partners' four-year ownership of the inverter manufacturer. During that time, other power electronics companies have also been the target of M&A activity within the battery energy storage system (BESS) industry, perhaps most notably US system integrator Powin and then subsequently Hitachi Energy's purchase of Eks Energy after Powin went out of business. RWE to pilot Baglino's Heron Link with integrated SST technology. Limited access to technologies that can expand and enhance the grid was identified by Drew Baglino, founder and CEO of Heron Power, as a bottleneck to meeting rising electricity demand. The former Tesla senior VP of powertrain and energy engineering hopes his new power electronics startup will be able to produce up to 40GW of its Heron Link integrated power conversion solution annually from a factory in Morgan Hill, California, by late 2027. That equates to up to 10,000 Heron Links, a 5MW medium-voltage PCS for large-scale energy and data centre projects, integrating bidirectional inverters with solid-state transformers (SST). Heron Power said in August that it intends to invest more than US$100 million in the facility. Heron Power has raised US$200 million in two funding rounds since February 2026, and just recently hired former Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn to its board. In its latest announcement, earlier this week (21 September), Heron Power said RWE Americas will pilot the deployment of Heron Links at a renewable energy and storage project in Texas. Low-voltage inverters and 60Hz transformers at an RWE BESS installation adjacent to the energy company's 249MW Pyron Wind Farm in Texas' Scurry County will be replaced with Heron Link units. Traditionally, low-voltage inverters and medium-voltage transformers convert DC electricity from solar PV and battery storage plants into medium-voltage AC for the grid; Heron Link replaces both components. Heron Power claims the product delivers 98.6% DC-to-MV conversion efficiency and 99.5% lifetime availability. Other claimed advantages include lower maintenance costs, a US-based domestic supply chain and native grid-forming (GFM) controls. Other manufacturers are now pursuing success with solid-state transformers, including Enphase, which has already brought one to market, and Canadian Solar's E-Storage subsidiary, which, according to the company's CTO, Dr Shawn Qu, is currently "exploring" SST technology. Enphase co-founder and CTO Raghu Belur told ESN Premium in a June interview that SST technology can help address the "power problem" in data centres by consolidating and making more efficient the power delivery chains that carry electricity from the utility to the server racks. RWE has an operating renewable energy and battery portfolio exceeding 13GW across 27 US states, including 6GW of solar PV and 1.2GW of BESS. Based on the outcome of the pilot, RWE may order more Heron Links, beginning with an initial 500MW capacity reservation from Heron Power's US manufacturing facilities.

PR Newswire
Sep 10th, 2026
Heron Power lands $60M credit facility, adds ex-Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn to board

Heron Power, an American advanced power electronics manufacturer, has secured a $60 million credit facility from J.P. Morgan and TriplePoint Capital. The company also appointed Zach Kirkhorn, former Tesla CFO, to its board of directors. The facility follows Heron's $140 million Series B round in February 2026, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism Fund and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The company is converting a 286,000 square foot facility in Morgan Hill, California, into a factory with mass production targeted for late 2027. Heron has identified over 40 gigawatts of customer interest in Heron Link, its 5 megawatt medium voltage power conversion system. Kirkhorn, who spent 13 years at Tesla including a stint as CFO, has backed Heron since its Series A in 2025.

Morgan Hill Times
Aug 27th, 2026
Editorial: Morgan Hill's economic development plans are coming to fruition.

Editorial: Morgan Hill's economic development plans are coming to fruition. August 27, 2026 Morgan Hill has spent years talking about economic development. Now, the results are becoming increasingly difficult to miss. The city is emerging as a significant hub for advanced manufacturing, clean technology and next-generation engineering. Major investments by Archer Aviation, Mir Mosaic and Heron Power are bringing hundreds of jobs, millions of dollars in capital investment and cutting-edge manufacturing to a community that has long sought to strengthen its economic base. This is good news - not just for the companies moving into Morgan Hill, but for the entire community. During the past four years, more than 1.5 million square feet of Class A industrial space has been built. That development has helped address a problem that once constrained Morgan Hill's ability to grow: industrial vacancy was only about 3%, leaving little room for existing businesses to expand. As of today, the industrial vacancy rate is at 6.5%, down from a high of 17% before the recent acquisitions. Much of that new industrial capacity was developed by Trammell Crow Company, including the 410,000-square-foot Butterfield 5 Tech Park and the 501,000-square-foot Cochrane Technology Center. Mir Mosaic recently purchased a 90,000-square-foot building at Butterfield 5, expanding its Morgan Hill footprint by 25,000 square feet and adding 15 jobs to its existing workforce. Then came Heron Power's announcement of a more than $100 million investment to create Heron Factory One. The company plans to transform a 286,000-square-foot former warehouse and distribution facility into a high-tech manufacturing plant. The project is expected to create 600 jobs. And Archer Aviation is expanding its Morgan Hill presence by leasing the entire 500,000-square-foot Cochrane Technology Center. The facility will serve as a West Coast hub for tooling, component manufacturing and aircraft production, with an estimated 300 new jobs. In just the past 60 days, nearly 900,000 square feet of Morgan Hill industrial space has been leased or sold. But the real story isn't measured in square feet. It is measured in people. When the city adopted the economic blueprint in 2017, 28% of residents worked in Morgan Hill. Today it's 36.5 percent. Bringing nearly 1,000 new jobs in advanced manufacturing, engineering and operations closer to home could give residents more opportunities to build careers without spending hours commuting. And the benefits won't stop with the employees who work in these facilities. New workers will buy lunch at local restaurants, shop at local businesses, rent or purchase homes and use local services. Growing companies generate additional economic activity, strengthen the commercial tax base and create opportunities for other businesses that serve them. That is how economic development is supposed to work. Morgan Hill should celebrate these investments while also recognizing that growth brings responsibilities. The city must continue investing in infrastructure, transportation, housing and public services so that economic success translates into a higher quality of life for all residents. The temptation with major corporate announcements is to focus on the impressive numbers - $100 million investment, 600 jobs, 500,000 square feet. But the bigger achievement is what those numbers represent. Morgan Hill is no longer simply a place where companies can locate because there is available land. It is becoming a place where innovative companies want to build, manufacture and grow. That didn't happen overnight. It is the result of years of planning, investment and a community vision focused on creating a stronger local economy. The new businesses are important additions to that story. So are the many existing manufacturers and businesses that have chosen to remain in Morgan Hill and expand here. The challenge now is to build on that momentum. Morgan Hill has an opportunity to create something rare in the region: a community where people can live, work and build careers without having to leave town every morning. That is a future worth investing in.

Transformer Technology
Aug 14th, 2026
Heron Power to build $100M factory in Morgan Hill.

Heron Power to build $100M factory in Morgan Hill. 14 Aug 2026 Heron Power has selected Morgan Hill, California, for its first large-scale manufacturing facility, where it plans to produce its Heron Link medium-voltage power conversion system. The company will convert a former 286,000-square-foot distribution warehouse into a manufacturing facility. Heron expects to invest more than $100 million in the site, create more than 600 jobs, and begin mass production in late 2027. The factory is designed to produce up to 10,000 Heron Links per year, representing more than 40 GW of annual capacity. The 5 MW systems are intended for large-scale energy and data center projects. Site preparation is set to begin immediately. The project is supported in part by a $26.4 million California Competes tax credit. Heron Power CEO and founder Drew Baglino said the facility will allow the company to manufacture its power electronics technology at scale in the United States. The company said Morgan Hill was selected following an evaluation of manufacturing locations in several states. The site is close to Heron's engineering headquarters and the Bay Area's engineering and manufacturing workforce.

The Registry
Aug 13th, 2026
Heron Power leases 286,000 SQFT in morgan hill for first US factory, pledging $100MM and 600 jobs.

Heron Power leases 286,000 SQFT in morgan hill for first US factory, pledging $100MM and 600 jobs. American power-electronics startup Heron Power has committed to a 286,000-square-foot building at 85 Partner content. 2026 northern california CRE rising stars. Signup for news and special announcements!