SIA New Member Profile: Morningstar Corporation

New Security Industry Association (SIA) member Morningstar Corporation is a provider of solar charge controllers and inverters.

SIA spoke with Brad Berwald, director of marketing at Morningstar, about the company, the security industry and working with SIA.

Tell us the story of your company.

Brad Berwald: Morningstar was founded in 1993 by Lee Gordon and Ken Gerken. With a vision of starting an employee-owned company that manufactures world-class solar controllers and inverters, their dream eventually became a reality. Thirty years later, now under the direction of President and CEO WIlliam Mellema, Morningstar has over 100 distributors with over four million products sold to mission-critical customers in diverse applications, including the security sector.

The U.S.-based, privately owned company is headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, with an engineering research and development center in Maryland, and a global network of dedicated, best-in-class distribution and manufacturing partners. With some three decades of consistent, independent ownership and management behind it, Morningstar today enjoys stability and staying power unique in the industry – a result of the high-morale, independent culture carefully cultivated by its founders and their original vision.

Backed by our reputation for dependability under extreme conditions in demanding applications – and enhanced by our coveted hazardous location certifications (HazLoc) – Morningstar products are standard equipment now in installations ranging from the North Sea to the Sahara Desert.

What solutions/services does your business offer in the security industry? And what makes your offerings or your company unique?

BB: With security stations typically at the edge of perimeters and far from any source of grid electricity – and often in very high locations where changing batteries frequently isn’t practical – solar PV systems are often both the first and only choice in security deployments incorporating video, sensors, infrared imaging and more.

Morningstar charging technology is eminently suitable and flexible for power over ethernet, internet protocol video, Internet of Things devices, pan/tilt/zoom cameras and all the other tools comprising the portfolios of today’s security professionals. Morningstar components incorporate all required certifications, provide layers of on-board protection for sensitive electronic components and are engineered for extremely long life and trouble-free operation in remote, inaccessible locations and enclosures – the ideal powering safety net for the most sensitive and critical security systems conceivable today and ready for the future.

What’s something we might not know about your company – or something new you’re doing in security?

BB: Morningstar products have been incorporated in many types of security applications. For example, our ProStar MPPT solar controllers have been installed in solar-powered portable turnstiles for stand-alone access control. Sensitive military and other installations – such as construction sites for hospitals along with fertilizer plants, solar array “farms” and oil and gas facilities – require high-level security access control, even if in some cases on a temporary basis (such as construction sites). “Smart” turnstiles with electronic access control are often the best way to secure the premises, manage the entry and exit of authorized personnel and prevent those unauthorized from entering.

In another security project, to combat poaching, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) formed a consortium of companies including Morningstar to develop a solution that would transmit real-time information to antipoaching teams and allow them to stop poachers before they act. Working with FLIR, Cisco and Dimensions Data, WWF created an electronic monitoring network that would alert rangers as soon as an unauthorized person enters the park. The remote security surveillance stations in the network use photovoltaic/solar electricity for a reliable, consistent power source. Project managers selected Morningstar’s TriStar MPPT solar controller for on-site solar electricity production, based on their proven ability in long-term operation under extreme conditions.

What does SIA offer that is most important to you/your company? And what do you most hope to get out of your membership with SIA?

BB: SIA offers a large network of security professionals and a platform in which to interact with potential customers and gain valuable insight into the issues and trends facing the industry. As a new member, we look forward to gaining more knowledge about the security industry and taking advantage of the benefits offered by SIA.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association.