The History of Morningstar
For over 25 years, we have remained steadfast in helping to create a more sustainable world and business marketplace.
We are committed to conducting our business with integrity, reducing the environmental impact of our products and operations, supporting our communities, striving for improved conditions in our supply chain and creating an inclusive, safe and healthy workplace. From helping over 2 million global installations lower their environment carbon footprint, to accomplishing it ourselves at home; Morningstar’s employees & facilities live and breathe clean, renewable energy! Here are just a few examples of our commitment:
Facilities & Operations:
We can quickly and cost-effectively model, plan, construct and build our ideas, with a team capable of working through mechanical & thermal designs and simulations, build advanced prototypes (using metals & plastics), and design on-site printed circuit board layouts. Our dedicated engineering center has its own advanced R&D facilities, test lab, EMI and environmental chambers, and full-thermal modeling tools including 3D CAD Software for mechanical & thermal design and product simulation.
Manufacturing:
Fully-automated ISO 9001 facilities use Quality Control standards that include 100% functional testing of every product with the latest computerized test equipment and processes.
Packaging Innovation:
Reducing the weight and volume of our product packaging, improving recyclability and expanding our use of recycled materials.
Supply Chain:
Supporting high labor and environmental standards in our supply chain—strengthening the work product of both Morningstar and the suppliers we work with. These efforts are essential to maintaining the quality of our products and the success of our business.
Community Support:
From supporting education, to volunteerism, to environmental protection, to helping non-profit aid organizations bring clean, dependable solar-electric power to the developing world; Morningstar is happy to be helping the communities where we work, live and operate.Our sustainability goals are simple and have been at our core since we started operations in 1993. We strive to always maintain our focus on environmental excellence and to help build a more sustainable world. We endeavor to positively influence the impact on our climate and to save our planet’s natural resources by lowering carbon dioxide (& other greenhouse gasses) and reducing waste. The success of our environmental stewardship efforts is echoed & supported by the commitment and enthusiasm of our employees. Together we are protecting the environment & supporting the communities where we work, live and operate.
Milestones in solar innovation and leadership
| 1993 | Morningstar Founded |  |
| 1995 | ProStar Mid-Range Solar Charge Controller |  |
| 1996 | SunSaver Solar Charge Controller |  |
| 1997 | Patent Morningstar awarded a Patent for a highly effective battery charging algorithm, based on true PWM switching & constant voltage charging |  |
| 1999 | SunLight Solar Lighting Controller & SunGuard™ Single Module Controller |  |
| 2001 | ProStar (GEN 2) Mid-Range Solar Charge Controller |  |
| 2003 | TriStar 3-Function Solar Charge Controller |  |
| 2004 | SHS Solar Controller for Solar Home Systems |  |
| 2004 | Patent Morningstar awarded a Patent for our innovative Spring Assembly—helping to further improve the reliability, quality & performance of our controllers & inverters | |
| 2006 | SunKeeper Junction Box Mounted Solar Controller |  |
| 2006 | SureSine 300W DC-to-AC Pure Sine Inverter |  |
| 2007 | SunSaver Duo 2-battery Solar Controller w/Remote Meter |  |
| 2008 | SunSaver MPPT Solar Controller w/TrakStar Technology |  |
| 2008 | Morningstar introduces the TrakStar™ Advanced Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithm Technology—delivering the Industry’s Best-in-Class Peak Solar Array Efficiency Rating |  |
| 2009 | TriStar MPPT Solar Controller w/TrakStar Technology |  |
| 2011 | SunSaver (GEN 3) Solar Charge Controller |  |
| 2012 | SHS Night Light Solar Controller for Solar Home Systems |  |
| 2013 | TriStar MPPT 600V Controller & Ground Fault Protection Device Introductions |  |
| 2014 | TriStar MPPT 30 Amp Controller |  |
| 2014 | Synchronization Software for the TriStar MPPT 600V Controller |  |
| 2015 | Patent Morningstar awarded a Patent for a modulation control scheme for a dual active bridge (DAB) DC to DC converter in a charge controller | |
| 2015 | Transfer Switch version of TriStar MPPT 600V Controller |  |
| 2015 | ProStar MPPT Controller |  |
| 2016 | EMC Ethernet MeterBus Converter |  |
| 2016 | IEC 62109 certification for all MPPT controllers and the TriStar PWM |  |
| 2016 | ProStar Gen3 Controller |  |
| 2017 | EcoPulse Controller, new price point for PWM |  |
| 2018 | Over four million Morningstar products sold |  |
| 2018 | EcoBoost MPPT Controller– with EcoPulse, forms new Essential Series to bring Morningstar technology and quality to a wider audience |  |
| 2019 | Energy Storage Partner Program |  |
| 2020 | Morningstar’s most popular charge controllers support Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) |  |
| 2021 | New Hazardous Location (HazLoc) ratings for PWM and MPPT versions of SunSaver and ProStar controllers |  |