Shift to solar: Westhill delivers new eTRU technology
Frank Annunziato, president of California-based foodservice company Cerenzia Foods, had a question about CARB-approved solar technology firm Westhill Innovation after purchasing a new Thermo King T-890 transport refrigeration unit (TRU), so he called the California Air Resources Board for help.
The person he spoke with didn’t know what he was talking about.
“She told me, ‘I’ve never heard of them,’” he said in disbelief. “It’s on their website, right there, plain as day, in the list of approved dealers for CORE [CARB’s Clean Off-Road Equipment voucher incentive program], and she’s never heard of them.”
That’s a problem for eager adopters of environmentally friendly reefer equipment who want to comply with CARB’s zero-emission truck TRU rule—which called for companies with seven or more of these truck box-mounted units to convert 30% of them from diesel to electric power by the end of 2024—without filing for an extension or going broke in the process, and it needs a correction, Annunziato asserts.
Westhill executives agree—and say the time is right to shine a light on SunShifter.
“The world is becoming more knowledgeable about sustainability and going green, and shippers are asking fleets about their strategies,” Westhill CEO Ajay Dhingra said. “Governments are applying regulatory pressure, so that’s a market driver, in terms of moving fleets toward zero-emission transportation technologies; and then, more acutely for us and our business is that now we have a working system that’s proven in the marketplace, and the financial aspects are starting to make sense as well.”
The Canadian supplier’s solar energy kit is TRU agnostic for easier implementation, and its supplemental solution promises to extend reefer run times, improve battery life, and increase payload capacity—all while saving fleets up to 20% in operating costs compared to fueling and maintaining a traditional machine.
“It really behooves fleets that are hauling refrigerated goods to take a good, hard look at us, and technologies like ours, because there are so many advantages, even regarding setup cost and infrastructure,” Gina Succi, Westhill president and chief technology officer, said.
“Fleets are having a hard time addressing these adoption issues—and we’re trying to minimize the pain by easing them in.”
Innovation’s inception
Succi worked as an engineer in the mining, steel, and construction industries before co-founding Westhill in 2017 with the aim of developing her idea for durable, lightweight, multi-layer panels with embedded solar cells for trailers and truck bodies capable of withstanding the rigors of transportation. “The goal for the company was always to look for ways to be more sustainable,” Succi explained.
Her team pivoted to powering reefers before the pandemic and developed the first prototype piloted by Loblaw, one of the largest grocers in Canada, in 2019. “We specifically chose refrigeration because it’s a large polluter,” Succi said. “It’s also one of those things that’s really under the radar for government and industry and needs to be addressed.”
She expected to deploy the first unit in March 2020, then COVID-19 put their plan on pause. “So we spent the next nine months fine-tuning the technology and finally launched it in early 2021,” she said. “The whole focus over the last three-plus years has been on further weight reduction, cost reduction, and manufacturability—because the technology has to be economically viable for fleets to adopt.”
Westhill’s composite panel, which features R6 thermal efficiency and exceptional impact resistance in a package Succi says is 70% lighter than its first iteration, is now patented as a “laminate structural panel for vehicles with integrated solar power generation” in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. Patents are pending in the U.S. and Canada. Westhill also filed patents for a “solar power distribution and control system for movable storage containers” in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
A sensible solar system
The SunShifter system includes the solar array with no exposed wiring, a box that houses the power electronics, software, and a five-year extendable warranty. The solar modules are designed to Westhill specifications by approved suppliers and transformed into proprietary panels at the company’s 40,000-sq.-ft. facility in Simcoe, Ontario. Westhill also works with specific battery manufacturers to incorporate their charging technology.
CORE’s website currently offers 14 new and retrofitted SunShifter options for various truck and trailer applications, including frozen and refrigerated food transport, with battery size as the primary variable. Westhill’s “solar-as-a-service” also offers global visibility, remote programming, and intuitive user interfaces. “We can integrate with any fully electric and hybrid electric TRU,” Succi explained. “We just deliver the solar power. That’s our focus. We’re not looking to build our own refrigeration units.”
SunShifter’s modular assembly can be mounted on, or bonded into, a vehicle’s roof system—and even moved between vehicles. Installation at a customer facility, Westhill’s shop, or one of two licensed California installers takes two days. “We’ve taken a very pragmatic approach to building out our system,” Dhingra said.
The forefront of foodservice
Cerenzia began building its brand in 1984, when Annunziato’s two older brothers, Joe and Tony, founded the food distributor in Rancho Cucamonga. Frank and younger brothers Chris and Michael joined in the late '80s, and they now have five children in the business, including Frank’s son, Nick. Cerenzia supplies small pizzerias and Italian restaurants with 3,500 food items from across the U.S. with 20 22-ft. Freightliner trucks with American Truck Bodies reefer boxes, and four refrigerated tractor-trailers.
The company has pursued green initiatives for decades. The energy-efficient, 90,000-sq.-ft. warehouse it opened in 2003 boasts a $1 million solar system on the roof, 25% more skylights than comparable facilities, and yard outlets that supply shore power for Cerenzia’s fleet of Carrier Transicold and Thermo King reefer units. “We definitely want to run our business sustainably—and we want to be at the forefront,” Frank said.
He discovered Westhill’s technology through a consultant he trusts and started testing the SunShifter in 2022 to see if the system could help Cerenzia commence the electric TRU transition while making sure customer products were fully protected on routes that typically cover 150 miles, with seven or eight stops. Satisfied with the early results, Cerenzia deployed two more SunShifters, and Frank expected to have seven in service by the end of this year, pushing his fleet past CARB’s 30% threshold.
“Why is everybody filing for extensions?” he wondered. “The technology is available.”
Reefer risk vs. reward
Frank’s primary concern was reefer run time. With the SunShifter using solar energy to keep batteries charged, Cerenzia’s electric TRUs are running 8-10 hours, giving trucks time to perform their duties and return home safely. Without the sun’s help, Cerenzia would stick with diesel TRUs, Frank indicated. “I was concerned at first, but after evaluating the system for a year and a half, I grew more comfortable with it and satisfied with how it’s produced and implemented, so we moved forward,” he explained.
Cost is another significant barrier, but CORE provides up to $65,000, or half the price of a new SunShifter, Dhingra said. Fleet managers also worry about solar array functionality and durability, but Westhill diminishes these dangers. Solar energy always is available, even on rainy days, impact testing confirms the composite panels are virtually “indestructible,” and a special coating discourages snow accumulation.
Additionally, SunShifter helps fleets extend battery life and save weight, he contended.
The “grid-friendly” system replenishes power during operation, so reefer batteries never fully deplete and require only a 15-20% “top-up” when plugged in, allowing Westhill to “at least double” typical lithium-ion battery life by controlling “depth of discharge,” Succi asserted. And maximizing auxiliary energy conversion enables fleets to reduce TRU battery size up to 60%, and fuel-tank capacity for hybrid units.
Furthermore, deploying electric reefers offers more “bang for the buck” in carbon savings compared to electric vehicles, which Frank doesn’t believe are ready to meet Cerenzia’s needs from a range perspective.
“If you compare the cost difference for an electric truck vs. the SunShifter, assuming it’s utilized at least 16 hours per day, it’s about one-tenth the cost per ton of carbon savings,” Succi said.
That’s why Dhingra insists they’re “waking people up.”
Buying into a better way
The goal now is to accelerate fleet buy-in. Westhill executives have ramped up their efforts to spread the word about SunShifter’s benefits at investor meetings, industry conferences—like the Truckload Carriers Association’s Refrigerated Meeting Dhingra and Succi attended earlier this year in Vermont—and in the media while still searching for ways to spur adoption with new suppliers, OEMs, and leasing partnerships.
They’ve already had discussions with at least one trailer manufacturer about incorporating the system into new builds, Succi reported. They’re also looking for financing and leasing firms, like current partner Mitsubishi Capital Canada, that can make SunShifter make sense for more folks.
“We want to displace an operating cost [diesel fuel] with a capital asset, so having a partner who can help us is really important,” said Dhingra, who also pointed out technology historically is “deflationary,” unlike diesel fuel prices, which likely will continue to rise.
Currently, “payback” time is three to five years, depending on the use case.
Westhill also plans to build more demonstration, or “customer-acceptance,” systems for refrigerated fleets to test, and it is preparing to launch a range-extension solution for battery-electric vehicles next year.
“That is generating a lot of interest from electric truck manufacturers,” Dhingra said.
Futuristic food transport
That’s music to this early adopter’s ears. Frank envisions a near future in which the sun—“essentially a nuclear reactor in the sky,” as Succi says—supplies power for the TRU and truck batteries to ensure serviceability.
“We’ll have to change the way we do things,” he predicted. “You will start with the delivery closest to you and work your way toward the farthest. At that point, you’ll shut off the reefer unit, because you’re empty, and feed all the solar into the truck battery to increase the range."
“It’s a win-win down the road—but we’re not there yet,” Frank said.
Frank hopes to eventually take Cerenzia’s fleet off the grid entirely, and Nick would like it to send power back into the building. “A company like Sysco or U.S. Foods, with hundreds of trucks, doesn’t use them all every day, so they’re just sitting there,” Nick said. “With solar, they could be feeding power into the building. It’s like having solar on your roof, but it’s in your parking lot—mobile, basically.”
Westhill executives can see it, too. But they also know fleets need to have a plan in place that’s effective and achievable before abandoning diesel fuel, so they’re still listening to customers and adjusting their strategy.
“We’re not in the food-and-beverage business,” Succi said. “We’re supplying equipment to them. They’re not engineers, so a lot of learning happens in both directions, and that feedback is important. The right customer partners will help us bring SunShifter to market.”
