Dr. Weiming Zhang (pictured left) has been selected as the new vice president of technology for the PV business unit of Heraeus Photovoltaics. His new position will see him leading and expanding an international group of scientists, engineers and technicians while also developing and implementing strategies to amplify Heraeus’ product channel, customer collaboration and market penetration.
Equity Solar has appointed Greg Knight, formerly of GT Solar, as its chief technology officer. Knight was brought on board to assist in the commercialization of the room temperature wet chemical growth (RTWCG) technology licensed by Equity Solar.
Ranier Aringhoff has been appointed as chief operating officer and management board member of the Desertec Industrial Initiative joint venture. The former president of Solar Millennium will be responsible for the conceptual preparation and planning of reference projects.
BrightView Systems has announced the addition of Hai Benron to its management team, to support global marketing and sales efforts within the thin-film market. Benron will be positioned as the company's director of global business.
SolarEdge Technologies has appointed former SMA America president John Berdner as its general manager for North America, where he will direct operations in the region for the distributed solar power harvesting and PV monitoring solutions company.
Preliminary 2009 market figures for the PV industry have been issued by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), after its recent workshop was held in Rome, Italy. The EPIA said that 6.4GW of newly installed capacity was achieved in 2009, reaching a total capacity of over 20GW worldwide. Although this was hailed as being the most important annual capacity increase ever, due in part to the economic recession, 2010 is expected to see installations increase by at least 40%, while the annual growth is expected to increase by more than 15%.
Odersun has appointed Frank Prein as its chief operating officer and member of the board of management, effective from April 1. Prein brings to the position experience from various executive technology and operations posts.
In a post CEO departure management shake-up, the supervisory board of Solar Millennium has appointed Thomas Mayer spokesman for the management board, effective immediately and Oliver Blamberger as new member of the management board.
ECM, the custom developer and manufacturer of electrically conductive interconnect adhesives and gridinks, has appointed Mark Francis as it global business manager for the solar industry.
ReneSola has made several management changes including the appointment of a new chief strategy officer, CFO, vice president of finance and vice president of wafer sales. All management appointments have been approved by the company's board of directors and will take effect as of April 1, 2010.
