Ascent Solar names former Applied exec Farhad Moghadam as new president/CEO

Thin-film PV developer Ascent Solar Technologies has named former Applied Materials executive Farhad Moghadam as the company's new president and CEO, effective August 3. The announcement culminates a nine-month executive search conducted by the flexible CIGS module company.

Most recently, Moghadam was a senior VP/GM at Applied, where he led the solar, semiconductor, and LCD capital equipment company's largest business unit, the thin films product group. He also served on the board of Sokudo, a joint venture between Applied and Dainippon Screen.

Before joining Applied, Moghadam held management positions at Intel. He received his PhD in materials science and engineering from Stanford University and has authored more than 250 publications and is a named inventor on approximately 65 patents.

Since 2007, Moghadam has been engaged with prominent private equity firms, and he recently assisted companies seeking to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee program with independent engineering assessments and bankability evaluations.
 
“Ascent Solar is moving rapidly on many business fronts, and we expect that the addition of Dr. Moghadam to lead our company will help us meet the challenges associated with the rapid growth we see ahead," said the Colorado-based company's founder/chairman, Mohan Misra. "Moghadam possesses an impressive track record at Applied and Intel in shaping and building the businesses of those leading companies. We are confident that Ascent Solar will benefit significantly from [his] outstanding, broad-based qualifications and experience."
 
Moghadam said that “Ascent Solar is among a very few PV companies which has proven technology ready for high-volume manufacturing of CIGS PV material on a plastic substrate. There are two key constraints in solar industry today---efficiency and cost. I believe that Ascent Solar, through extensive process development and characterization, has a unique product ready for scale-up."

The news about Moghadam's appointment marks the second executive move in the CIGS space in recent days. SoloPower named VC and semiconductor industry vet Lou DiNardo as interim president/CEO last week.