Markets & Finance

Solar cell, module, and system manufacturer SunPower has selected Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide as its newPR agency of record. The account will be based in San Francisco, withsupport from team members in Denver, Washington, DC, Sacramento, Milan,Madrid, London, Seoul, Manila, Sydney, and other international offices.

Advent Solar has added financial veteran Dick Trueblood andmanufacturing expert Bernard Wilimitis to its executive managementteam. Trueblood joins the company as its CFO, responsible for financial management, taxation, and global businessstructuring in support of international growth. Wilimitis was promotedto VP of manufacturing and operations, where he oversees allmanufacturing and operations.

Solar inverter company Sputnik Engineering has announced a management change in the replacement of Alejandro Lupion with Fernando Sánchez García as General Manager of the Sputnik Engineering Ibérica S.r.l. in Madrid. The change came into effect on September 15th, 2008.

Peter Schwartz has joined Solaicx as the vice president of productengineering for the solar silicon ingot and wafer manufacturer. Hecomes to Solaicx from Nanoconduction, where he served as VP of processand equipment. His more than a decade of production and engineeringexperience includes a stint as a director at Applied Materials, whichhe joined after the capital equipment giant purchased Torrex, where heled a manufacturing team.

Ten-year veteran at BP Solar, Luis Torres has joined SunPower Corporation as Managing Director, Market Development Southern Europe, in a newly created role by SunPower. Torres will be responsible for working with public policy officials, industry colleagues and solar advocates to grow solar markets throughout southern Europe, a role similar to that when at BP Solar.

Tigo Energy has brought aboard veteran sales and marketing executive, Jeff Krisa. Krisa brings over 20 years of noteworthy experience in semiconductor technology, systems development, international marketing, and general management as well as a long history of involvement in alternative energy.

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. has, in a restructuring of its senior management, appointed a new COO in Johnson Chiang, and a new General Manager in Robin Chen, as well as announcing the departure of Frank Zhang, former General Manager of Suntech's Shanghai thin-film plant. Mr. Chiang takes over the role of COO from Graham Artes (pictured), who will now serve as Managing Director of KSL-Kuttler and as Suntech Corporate Vice President of Engineering, while Philip Yue has been appointed Vice President of Value Chain Development.

Bloo Solar, the California-based thin-film solar company, has added two new members to its Senior Advisory Board. The company has announced the addition of Kevin Davies (pictured) and Steve Harrer, who between them bring years of engineering and operations experience to the company from companies such as BP Solar.

M+W Zander has announced the appointment of Rick Whitney, company COO since 2002, as the new CEO with immediate effect. He served as COO and President of the Total Facility Solutions (TFS) division within M+W Zander, and in his new role as CEO will oversee the company’s development in the U.S. and overseas.

Gilad Almogy, Ph.D., has been promoted to Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Display and Thin Film Solar Products Business Group at Applied Materials. Dr. Almogy was named general manager of Applied's Display and Thin Film Solar Products Business Group in August 2007. Previously, he was general manager of Applied's Process Diagnostics and Control (PDC) business group based in Israel.