North America / Commercial & demonstration

Caterpillar Tucson Proving Ground Microgrid

Organizations, planners, suppliers, equipment, controls, and reported system specifications—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations1
System facts7
Sources reviewed4
Last researched2026-07-19

Caterpillar Tucson Proving Ground Microgrid is catalogued as a commercial & demonstration system in North America.

Research status
Operational
Historical classification
Industrial
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
31.84395, -111.10029
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.

Project delivery

Who was involved in Caterpillar Tucson Proving Ground Microgrid?

1 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Caterpillar

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

System evidence

Reported capacity and specifications

Values can describe different project phases or components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

Storage
NA [1]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

No controller or equipment model was found in the reviewed public sources. This is a disclosure gap, not evidence that the project lacks coordinated controls.

Recovered detail

Additional technical notes

Concise system facts recovered from the historical project record. Treat these as historical unless a newer primary source confirms them.

  • General

    Described as one piece of a very big puzzle, the Caterpillar Tucson Proving Ground (TPG) is now enjoying the benefits of solar energy. [1]

  • General

    The new commercial offering pairs solar energy, with the reliability of Cat gensets and industry-leading energy storage technology. [1]

  • General

    Now, just a few steps from the roaring generator room that powers TPG, five acres of rolling desert hills are covered in solar panels. [1]

  • General

    The solar panels, manufactured by First Solar and installed by Empire Cat, are perfectly positioned to capture the abundant Arizona sun, reducing the genset requirements. [1]

  • General

    To account for these frequent, sudden and unpredictable drops in energy, the microgrid solution uses bidirectional inverters and energy storage in order to balance out the load. [1]

  • General

    This hybrid solution will reduce the facility’s diesel fuel use and emissions by 33 percent each year. [1]

Provenance

4 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  2. [2]
    Caterpillar Press Release

    caterpillar.com · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  3. [3]
    cat.com/microgrid

    cat.com · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  4. [4]
    Caterpillar.com/sustainability

    caterpillar.com · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06