Despite boardroom spats, technology deviation, and financial concerns, Solar Millennium said that Hannes Kuhn has resigned from company's supervisory board with immediate effect.
“The media campaign directed against me has now started to affect my family and my private life, reaching a level where objective discussion becomes impossible,” wrote Kuhn in a resignation letter. “In light of this media witchhunt [sic], I have decided to resign my position on the supervisory board with immediate effect and good cause.”
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“Recent accusations made against me in the form of countless systematic and primarily anonymous criminal complaints are unsupported and without foundation. Naturally, I fully cooperated with the authorities from the very beginning. Since the day Solar Millennium was founded almost 13 years ago, I have always acted exclusively in the interest of the company,” added Kuhn.
In a statement, Solar Millennium’s board said, “The Board expects that this personal decision helps to put an end to the public discussion regarding his role that has proved an immense strain on the company, its staff and Mr. Kuhn himself.”
Problems for the company have included changing technologies and forgoing a US DOE grant for a solar thermal plant and delaying the project so that it can shift the project to use PV modules. It has also had problems with former CEO Utz Claassen over settlement negotiations and paying back a multimillion signing on fee after being at the company for months, before resigning.