Q-Cells Malaysia has appointed Franz Vollmann as its new managing director. Vollmann succeeds Q-Cells Malaysia founder Bernhard Rack and will be responsible for managing the operation and future growth of the company’s production facilities. He starts his new role on April 1.
During the European Photovoltaics Industry Association’s (EPIA) annual general meeting in Paris, France, the members of the association elected Dr. Martin Heming as its new director of the board. In addition to his board appointment, Heming serves as Schott Solar’s CEO.
David Goldman and Jay Meridew have joined Solon as executives in the company’s finance division. Goldman has been appointed the new vice president of project finance and strategic planning and will manage all financing for Solon’s commercial and utility-scale solar projects. Meridew will oversee accounting and information technology practices in his role as vice president of finance.
Hanwha Holdings (USA) has established Hanwha Solar America LLC as a U.S. subsidiary, which will set up an advanced photovoltaic technology research and development center in Silicon Valley. Industry veteran Chris Eberspacher has been named president of HSA and will also serve as global CTO of Hanwha’s various solar businesses.
Wagner Solar U.K. has appointed Kamil Shah as its new Marketing Manager. Shah, who arrives from Sanyo where he was European corporate communications manager, will be responsible for setting up the marketing department and coordinating all promotion and communication activities in the U.K.
Acciona Energy has promoted Daniel Foley to CEO of its Energy North America division. Foley will be charged with using his experience in power marketing and the energy industry to consolidate the company's market position in both wind and solar sectors.
SolFocus has promoted chief operating officer Bob Legendre to president and COO, reporting to CEO Mark Crowley. In his new, expanded position, Legendre will oversee a broad range of activities including manufacturing, supply chain, engineering and deployment. As the COO, Legendre led SolFocus’s engineering organization and finalized SolFocus’s product realization and product certification for deployment in EMEA, Australia and North America.
Akrion Systems has appointed Dr. Mehran Asdigha as its new vice president of engineering. Asdigha joins the surface preparation specialists from BlueShift Technologies where he was senior vice president of engineering.
Dr. Thomas Surek is known as a pioneer of terrestrial PV research who started his 37-year career with his growth of shaped silicon crystals at Harvard University in 1973. Recently, Surek has been appointed to Magnolia Solar’s technical advisory board (TAB) where he will be able to help the company further its promotion of PV systems as an alternative energy source. His experience in the field includes research at Mobil Tyco Solar Energy and a contributor to the large-scale commercialization of the edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) process through his shaped crystal growth of silicon.
Enphase Energy’s two new European offices, located in France and Italy, have been established in order for the company to better accommodate growing demands of its microinverter system. Both France and Italy have been cited as areas with a burgeoning solar market that stand on the brink of better implementing microinverter technology.
