California's Next Big Play: Shared Solar Storage Systems Are About to Transform Multi-Unit Housing

The renewable energy landscape is shifting, and Holu Hou Energy just made a bold move into one of America’s most competitive energy markets. After proving their concept works in Hawaii, the company is now rolling out an integrated solar energy storage system designed specifically for multi-dwelling units across California.

How the Technology Works

What makes Holu Hou Energy’s approach different? Instead of each unit operating independently, their system uses DC-level power sharing between networked properties. Translation: residents can pool their excess solar energy, dramatically cutting hardware costs while improving system reliability. The modular energy controller isn’t just smart—it’s designed to be safer, more efficient, and easier to integrate across different dwellings.

The real kicker? Apartment owners can now offer “energy as a service” to tenants. It’s a rental model for clean power that could fundamentally reshape how California’s real estate market approaches energy management, especially for affordable housing complexes and HOA-managed properties that typically struggle with rising energy costs.

Who’s Backing This?

Holu Hou Energy is a majority-owned subsidiary of Borqs Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: BRQS). Earlier in 2022, Borqs secured strategic funding of $16 million specifically earmarked for expanding the solar and energy storage business across mainland U.S. markets—with California as the primary target. The investment signals serious confidence in both the technology and the market opportunity.

The Team Behind It

Leading the charge are Ted Peck (President) and Brad Hansen (CEO), who collectively bring 55+ years of leadership and engineering experience. Their backgrounds span power electronics, semiconductors, energy storage, and international stints at Boeing, Applied Materials, and the U.S. Navy. It’s the kind of pedigree that suggests this isn’t just another startup pitch.

Why Now, Why California?

California’s multi-dwelling unit market is exponentially larger than Hawaii’s, making it the obvious next frontier for scaling. The target audience includes residential and commercial solar developers, property managers, HOA boards, government agencies, and nonprofits—basically anyone managing multiple properties looking to cut energy costs while going greener.

For low-income housing and rental communities especially, this represents a major opportunity. Residents save on energy bills. Property managers reduce operational costs. The economics work. Holu Hou Energy’s flagship product, EnergyShare, essentially lets you deliver more power with fewer batteries installed, which fundamentally improves the cost-benefit calculation for solar adoption at scale.

The renewable energy sector continues to evolve, and solutions that make solar more accessible, affordable, and reliable will likely capture significant market share. California’s aggressive clean energy mandates mean there’s real demand for innovations that can work within existing infrastructure constraints. Holu Hou Energy appears to have built exactly that.