FROM DESIGN TO COMPLETION
Stellar Power and Control Solutions may not be a household name, but the Canadian company’s innovative products help drive critical public infrastructure projects and support major industrial applications.
Working with a select group of strategic partners, Stellar provides integrated solutions in the electrical power and control technologies to numerous sectors including mining, forestry, agriculture, marine, manufacturing, oil and gas, and port facilities.
As a leading electrical systems integrator and motor control expert, Stellar products and services include control panels, motor control centers, sewer lift station kiosks, including automation, HMI, PLC, SCADA, instrumentation and programming.
Stellar Power was established in 2015 with the merging of Vector Drive Systems and Advanced Drive Systems, both long-established companies specializing in variable speed drive solutions.
UNSUNG HEROES
Company co-founder Glen Follett, who was president and owner of Advanced Drive Systems, acknowledges that Stellar’s work goes unnoticed by the general public.
“The products we sell aren’t very compelling, but what they do is very important in a particular chain of events,” says Follett, adding that Stellar is involved in many water-related projects.
“For example, we play critical roles in everything from retrieving water from a reservoir to getting it from a well to somebody’s kitchen faucet. We help remove water from floodplains. We have dewatering applications. There’s sewage that needs to be pumped safely and effectively to a treatment plant.”
Follett says while Stellar expertise focuses on variable speed drives systems, the company is moving more into automation and programming.
CLIENT PROJECTS
After multiple early successes, Stellar’s reputation grew to the point where clients actively sought out the team for specific niche projects.
Selected client projects by the numbers:
- Mining client: Complete electrical package, including ‘E’ houses, medium voltage switchgear, PLC control panels, low voltage MCCs, low voltage variable frequency drives, severe duty motors, engineering services for ground grid design, structural loading and restraint.
- Oil & Gas client: 10,000A VFD center on a drilling rig to feed six 1,100HP mud pumps, 500HP mooring winches, and 1,500HP draw works.
- Aerospace client: MCC with 3 x 500HP, 2 x 200HP VFDs and PLC.
- City of Surrey, Pattullo pump station: MCC with 3 x 600HP, 125HP VFDs, 800A ATS and PLC sections
- Metro Vancouver, Iona wastewater treatment plant: 4 x 816HP and 2 x 350HP VFD cabinets.
- Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District, water supply facility: MCC with 4 x 250HP VFDs, 2 x 700HP soft starters, 2 x 2500A circuit breakers and a 3500A tie circuit breaker
STRATEGIC PARTNERS
Although Stellar is recognized as an independent system integrator, it relies on a number of strategic partners, including leading global manufacturers, distributors and suppliers.
One such entity is Schneider Electric Canada, part of the France-based Schneider Electric, a multinational corporation specializing in digital automation and energy management. Founded in 1836, Schneider employs more than 150,000 people and in 2024 reported a revenue of €38 billion.
“We build some products under a licensing agreement with Schneider,” says Follett. “They’re a huge company, but they look to people like us, electrical system integrators, to assemble from their designs, which include modules and parts.”
WORKING WITH PROTOCASE
Stellar turned to Protocase several years ago when Schneider requested “locally-sourced fabricated parts.
“They supplied us with the design drawings, but we needed another partner because we’re not a fab shop,” says Follett, adding that Stellar required an electrical enclosure completely enclosed on all sides with ventilation, cooling fans and ventilation hoods.
Protocase supplies Stellar with ventilation components and enclosures.
“For simple parts we used Protocase Designer (an online CAD configuration tool) and we were amazed at how easy the process was, so we sent requests for more complex parts based on our own CAD drawing. This process has been streamlined with the creation of parts numbers, making it easy to repeat order for the same and similar orders.
“We’re very happy with the products and services provided by Protocase.”