Case Study
Trystar GridPak™ Mobile Microgrid
Overview:
Client: Trystar Industry: Portable Power Distribution, Microgrids
Completion: Late 2022 / Early 2023
Trystar came to Caztek with an innovative idea, a set of guiding principles, and a trade-show deadline. To build a mobile microgrid that anyone could tow, deploy, and trust in a crisis, and creating a fully-functional, autonomous, production level unit in 14 weeks - we accepted without flinching. The result is Gridpak™, a self-contained mobile command unit that combines solar, battery, and propane power inside a road-legal trailer and can deploy within ten minutes. On a pressing schedule, we vaulted from sketches to CAD, to a working prototype and, ultimately, to a fully-integrated energy platform primed for emergency deployment.
About Trystar, Power Innovators
Trystar, headquartered in our home state of Minnesota, designs, engineers, and manufactures cables and portable power distribution equipment for critical infrastructure clients, serving a wide array of industries including governments, data centers, hospitals, and even concert venues. Gridpak™ marks the firm’s mission to lead the industry into the future of disaster-response applications with a cleaner, more versatile solution.
GridPak’s Objectives, with a Ticking Clock
The project aimed to develop a turnkey, plug-and-play power system that could operate reliably under tough conditions. Timing was crucial in building both market interest and production viability. When Trystar first brought Caztek into the project, it was to develop their ideas into reality and prepare for an upcoming trade show event.
Their goals included:
To create a fully integrated mobile microgrid that generates reliable green energy.
To create an intuitive product that nearly anyone could operate, especially during emergencies.
Additionally, the unit needed to deploy within 10 minutes of arrival at its destination.
To accelerate development using Caztek's advanced engineering, prototyping and manufacturing capabilities.
To create a fully-functional, production equivalent unit in 14 weeks for the upcoming PowerGen trade show.
To promote Trystar’s mission as a green-tech innovator in energy.
Our Approach and Solutions: From Blank-Page to Breakthroughs
When Trystar approached Caztek, they had a clear vision and a strong set of objectives, but the design itself was still a blank canvas. Caztek responded with a series of focused design sprints, multiple rounds of CAD generation, a rapid Proof-of-Concept (POC) prototyping effort, and close collaboration to begin shaping the concept into a functional system.
By combining the expertise of industrial designers, engineers, and manufacturing specialists across both teams, we accelerated development without sacrificing quality or usability. The result was a polished, production-ready solution delivered on a tight timeline and built to perform in real-world conditions. Here are a few highlights of the project we achieved as a cohesive team.
Timelines That Were Set and Achieved:
Proof of Concept (POC): Completed in 6 weeks
GridPak GP 001 - First Production Equivalent Unit: Fabricated, assembled and tested in 14 Weeks
Two additional Production GridPaks - GP002, GP003: Achieved collaboratively over a 6-month period
Notable Goals and Solutions:
Goal #1
The unit's width needed to be road legal, yet it still had to contain all the energy systems Trystar envisioned.
Caztek’s Solution:
With limited width, GridPak's solar array is compact and unfolds to maximize solar power generation while deploying outriggers to stabilize the GridPak on uneven terrain and against wind loading. Additionally, when the unit is collapsed for transportation, all panels and systems are stored safely and securely for transport over rugged terrain.
Goal #2:
The unit needs to focus on solar as a primary source of power to prioritize green energy goals.
Caztek’s Solution 1:
As the Gridpak system expands during deployment, a tower-mounted solar array was designed to triple the panel's surface area, from its stored configuration, and track the sun across the sky 350 degrees. The result from the solar tracking provides a 30% increase in energy production, while the expanding array is responsible for an additional 200% increase.
Caztek’s Solution 2:
By adding a pivoting weather sensor that monitors the area for charging weather conditions, the unit can detect and automatically collapse the solar panels during high winds (50+mph). This prevents damage to the unit and operators.
Goal #3:
The system needed enough power to keep disaster relief centers operating, road and construction job sites running, concerts powered, and to keep patients safe in mobile hospital units. The Gridpak needs to work just about anywhere you need fast & consistent power.
Caztek’s Solution:
To ensure reliable power, we couldn’t rely on solar alone. Especially for overnight use or complete charging before deployment. We equipped the system with 120 kWh battery storage that can be charged via solar, fast high-voltage utility charging before leaving a client's facility (full charge in ~3.5 hours), or a propane generator. When the battery and propane are used together, these sources can provide up to 250 kWh. Propane was selected for its lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to other fuel options.
Goal #4:
The system had to be safely and reliably operated by first-time users, often in high-stakes, unpredictable environments. It needed to deploy quickly and function across varied terrains and conditions, whether in disaster zones, remote landscapes, or urban sites.
Caztek’s Solution:
To facilitate fast, safe, and user-friendly deployment, the system was designed with an intuitive GUI (Graphical User Interface) and a step-by-step guided setup, allowing various processes to be initiated safely & automatically.
A built-in self-leveling outrigger system extends from the unit to automatically stabilize the platform, compensating for a variety of surface conditions.
Once leveled, the mast is raised, the solar array deploys autonomously and the unit begins producing power immediately.
During real-world testing, first-time operators were able to fully set up and connect the system to their infrastructure in under 7 minutes.
The system includes a wide range of connections to support diverse needs, from disaster relief to mobile hospitals - concert stages and job site machinery. It automates not only deployment but also its charging process.
When ready to move, the tower, multiple outriggers and solar array retract - the unit hitches to a standard trailer hitch and can be relocated with ease.
Results: From Show Floor to Front Line
Gridpak™ made its high-impact debut right on schedule, turning heads at the trade show and proving Caztek’s ability to turn bold ideas into reality under pressure. From blank-page concept to a road-legal, self-deploying microgrid - with a total R&D effort under a year, our team worked side-by-side with Trystar to engineer, prototype, build and train their staff for manufacturing and rollout. By uniting clean power sources in an intuitive, rapidly deployable trailer, Caztek and Trystar set a new benchmark for mobile energy, positioning both companies to lead the next wave of resilient infrastructure.
The success of the initial unit paved the way for the next generation, and we’re excited to continue building the future of mobile energy together with Trystar.