Lightsource BP appoints new president for Americas expansion

January 15, 2019
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

Lightsource BP has announced the appointment of Kevin Smith as CEO for the Americas, with the renewable-energy industry veteran tasked with helping lead Lightsource BP’s expansion across the region.

Smith joins Lightsource with over 30 years of experience in the renewables sector, with his most recent post standing as CEO and one of the founding executives at California-based SolarReserve. During his time there, Smith drove SolarReserve’s global expansion and commercialization of their proprietary solar energy storage technology.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Prior to his time at SolarReserve, Smith was senior vice president at Invenergy, where he led the growth of the company from a start-up in 2004 to one of the largest privately-owned renewable energy businesses in the world within a few years.

Throughout his career, Smith has led the development, financing and construction of privately-owned energy projects both in the US and across five continents, including both PV and wind projects over the past 14 years.

Nick Boyle, Lightsource BP CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome Kevin to Lightsource BP. As Lightsource BP continues its rapid growth across North, South and Central America, Kevin’s knowledge and experience makes him an exciting and valuable addition to the Lightsource BP family.”

Smith added: “I’m thrilled to be joining Lightsource BP at this exciting period of the company’s expansion. I look forward to applying Lightsource BP’s winning formula that has made it such a success story and driving the business forward to support the demand for solar energy in the region.”

Smith’s appointment comes recently after Lightsource BP announced two new partnerships within the US. By signing PPAs with both California’s Sacramento Municipal Utility District and New Mexico’s Continental Divide Electric Cooperative, Lightsource will provide 25MW of PV power to both utilities over a 20-year span.

16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2028 and beyond.
13 October 2026
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 13-14 October 2026 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023, 2024 and 2025 were a sell out success and 2026 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

January 21, 2026
Yield Energy has launched Yield Edge, a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) for grid-ready flexibility from farms.
Premium
January 21, 2026
To say that it has been a busy time for the US solar industry lately would be an understatement, especially at the policy and tariff level.
January 21, 2026
Energy generation and storage developer Estuary Power has completed the final phase of construction at its Escape solar project in Lincoln County, Nevada. 
January 21, 2026
The USPTO has denied three challenges to patents held by US solar manufacturer First Solar pertaining to its production of TOPCon cells.
January 20, 2026
Radial Power has secured US$355 million from Goldman Sachs for 214MW of distributed solar across 106 projects nationwide.
January 19, 2026
US solar firm SunPower has signed a letter of intent to acquire California-based residential and commercial installer Cobalt Power Systems in an all-equity transaction. 

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 24, 2026
Dallas, Texas
Solar Media Events
April 15, 2026
Milan, Italy
Solar Media Events
June 16, 2026
Napa, USA
Solar Media Events
October 13, 2026
San Francisco Bay Area, USA