Company offers first fully UL9540 certified mobile battery energy storage system
by Katie Liu | June 22, 2026
It was a cold wintery day last September when Scott Calhoun and engineer Buri Mkaya watched their mobile BESS being forklifted into an Intertek testing facility in Cortland, N.Y. After they painstakingly installed the 130 thermocouple sensors required for the procedure, they retreated into a separate room and anxiously watched as they began to push the threshold of their technology.
“You’re hoping that things go right,” said Calhoun, who is the COO and president of battery startup Power Up Connect. “We were the first MBESS system Intertek had ever tested, so being the guinea pig was a bit nerve-racking — especially since no one in the room knew what the outcome would be.”
On the first attempt, two of the primary thermocouple sensor wires burned out before anything like thermal runaway could occur, while the system held at 600 degrees. On the second attempt, however, they decided not to stop at the 600-degree threshold, instead letting the test run to temperatures peaking at 1,200 degrees.
That was the moment Calhoun and Mkaya realized they had done it: Power Up Connect’s module was the first mobile battery energy storage system to become fully UL9540 certified.
“That’s when we knew that all the hard work and research we had done was finally paying off,” Calhoun said.
As the demand for energy spikes around the U.S. and world, Power Up Connect’s portable energy storage systems offer safe and clean charging, anywhere and anytime. It is one of nine battery companies comprising the ChargeUp Accelerator’s biggest cohort yet, with ventures spanning the supply chain, from material refining to thermal decarbonization. ChargeUp Accelerator, which runs under Binghamton University-led coalition New Energy New York, is the premier U.S. accelerator program dedicated solely to supporting battery and energy storage startups.
Mobile energy
Power Up Connect’s charging solutions on wheels incorporate LFP batteries and a solar array on top that offer the ability to self-charge: resulting in a slimmer footprint and lighter system structured out of aluminum. So far, its products include its 90 kilowatt-hour MBESS, a miniature version of the same MBESS offering 20 kilowatts-hour, and a multimedia trailer similarly providing mobile power.
“We believe that this is going to be the next safest utility-grade mobile battery energy storage system,” Calhoun said, “whether it’s temporary power, or for resiliency power.”
Safety was the primary consideration behind the design of these systems, from cybersecurity to fire protection. Alarms and ventilation systems built into the MBESS can trigger its doors to open if any fire or fumes are detected inside, pre-emptively stopping thermal runaways before they can happen. System components, at the same time, allow for tracking and monitoring to prevent potential hacking attacks. These components were approved by Dominion Energy, Power Up Connect’s partner which initially funded its MBESS project.
To offer a reliable alternative to fossil fuel generators or “dirty diesel,” Power Up Connect’s solutions utilize solar power to take it completely off the grid.
“We always looked at it like the concept of your cell phone. If it sits for two weeks on your desk at 50%, it’s not going to be at 50% two weeks from now with the phantom loads running in the background. So why not have a renewable source like solar, where it doesn’t have to do any miracles, but it can actually keep the unit topped off, while not relying the unit to be connected to shore power?” Calhoun said.
Being fully independent means that even if the main grid goes out, Power Up Connect’s GreenGrid MBESS can continue offering clean and quiet power for its users when most needed — whether that’s contacting loved ones after a disaster or powering medical equipment and important mobility aids such as wheelchairs.
Maintaining communications during blackouts and dispersing power has been a longtime focus of Power Up Connect, starting with its roots in manufacturing and distributing cell phone charging stations when it was originally founded in 2008. Back then, the company had become the first to deploy charging stations throughout the U.S., from hospitals to amusement parks.
“Our big claim to fame was Six Flags,” Calhoun added. As a Baltimore-based company, Power Up Connect has also deployed 200 units of charging stations to all Johns Hopkins Hospital property waiting rooms.
The company, under a contract with Dominion Energy, began expanding into the emergency response space in 2016, starting with its multimedia trailer. This application — which stands alongside and also evolved into Power Up Connect’s later MBESS systems — could keep people’s devices charged, while incorporating digital screens offering live updates on when power would return or which organizations and first responders to contact.
“All these things became how we developed what we have today,” Calhoun said. “It was built for purpose.”
Building slow
Calhoun sees Power Up Connect as an integrator that brings products from the pilot stage to commercialization. He said the team’s core philosophy has always been to build products that genuinely respond to evolving customer needs and pain points. That mindset also shapes how the systems are built — welding, redesigning, and adjusting components in real time and on site to make sure the final product works in the field.
“The first unit was somewhat pieced together, but it gave us the opportunity to establish the right form factor and design around all the different components that needed to fit within the system,” Calhoun said.
Power Up Connect is in the process deploying its products in multiple sectors, starting with backup power for cell towers, as well as partnerships with emergency response agencies including manufactures that build temporary housing following natural disasters. Its technology has also received interest from the U.S. Department of War.
Through ChargeUp, Calhoun is already beginning to leverage the mentorship and financial modeling resources offered. He added he found the program helpful in developing manufacturing connections and financial strategies.
“I think the whole program, not just from being on site and engaged in different areas — like manufacturing, seeing what others are doing in the cohort and learning from their experiences, and being able to share our own experience — but also just the tools that are provided within those meetings, on or off site, has been a huge benefit for us,” Calhoun said. “They’ve allowed us to rewire the way we look at things and help us to take the right path forward, and be efficient about it.”
Staying uncomfortable
Calhoun has been in the entrepreneurial space for two decades now, during which the world and its needs have changed rapidly. But entrepreneurs are naturally resilient, he said, with a problem-solving instinct.
“What I’ve learned — and what I know works — is the ability to get others to buy into the vision,” he said. “If people engage and believe in what you’re building, the path to success moves much faster. When everyone is aligned, it really works.”
Solutions don’t necessarily come as quickly or easily for such a complex problem like clean energy. But for Calhoun, the friction is what makes the journey worthwhile.
“I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to this work, but lately I’ve realized that discomfort often leads to growth — you learn more that way, both professionally and personally,” Calhoun said. “So stay uncomfortable.”
Before Power Up Connect became the company it’s known as today, it went through a few iterations of names and markets. But one thing that threaded every version of the company together was its mission to provide power whenever and wherever it was necessary.
But while Power Up Connect’s technology can empower people through some of the most difficult points or emergencies of their lives, it can also sustain ordinary joys too. Kids playing on their tablets in waiting rooms, fans watching sports events, or partygoers roaming food trucks at massive festivals or concerts, could all benefit from its MBESS and trailers.
“Small little wins is the way we looked at every obstacle,” Calhoun said.
Fourteen years ago, Power Up Connect attended Baltimore’s street-circuit race called the Grand Prix, building its first charging trailer in the paddock of the arena while drivers raced around the track. It was the company’s first time attending such an event, and the team wasn’t sure what to expect.
By the time Calhoun and his team returned, they found 50 GoPros plugged up to their trailer, all from the drivers who were recording their lap times.
“That was the origin of Power Up Connect — connecting moments that matter,” Calhoun said. “Whether it was helping someone charge a device to capture a special moment at an event, or providing power after a disaster when people needed to recharge and reconnect, we were supporting the moments that mattered most.”