French solar manufacturer HoloSolis has appointed former rail executive Henri Poupart-Lafarge as its new CEO.
Poupart-Lafarge replaces former CEO Bertrand Lecacheux, who stepped down on 10 September to take the position of deputy managing director of business at French engineering company CAP INGELEC. Lecacheux spoke on a panel hosted by PV Tech at least year’s Intersolar Europe event, and Holosolis said at the time of his departure that it remains “fully focused” on its project to rebuild solar manufacturing in Europe.
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Poupart-Lafarge said that a number of leading economies have invested in domestic manufacturing of clean energy components and products, but not Europe; he said that he “firmly believes” that this can be rectified in the future.
“All the major economic powers, such as China, the US and India, have built up a sector in this strategic field to ensure their energy sovereignty,” he said. “This project is taking shape at a time when Europe is becoming acutely aware of how far behind it is and of the urgency to act on solar energy issues, so I am excited to be able to play my part in this endeavour.”
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The US and India, in particular, have seen very strong growth in module manufacturing over the last year, driven in part by supportive government policies.
HoloSolis, meanwhile, has secured private capital from a number of sources, including water technology company Ecolab and French industrial firm Calés Technologie, to build a TOPCon solar cell and module manufacturing facility, with an annual capacity of 5GW, in Hambach, in the north-eastern French department of Moselle. The company expects to begin commercial operations at the facility in 2028, and said that it is currently in a “crucial state in its development” at present.
Prior to his appointment at HoloSolis, Poupart-Lafarge worked at French rail transport systems manufacturer Alstom in a number of roles, including a decade as CEO. Under his leadership, Alstom installed commercial and industrial solar projects at a number of its manufacturing facilities, including plants in Spain, Hungary and Mexico, and Poupart-Lafarge announced last year that he would not seek a fourth term at the head of the company and initially planned to step down in 2027.
