NPD Solarbuzz has announced the promotion of Finlay Colville, Ph.D. to vice president and the appointment of Wolfgang Schlichting as research director, Downstream Markets.
Dr. Colville joined NPD Solarbuzz in 2010 and has been responsible for PV supply and manufacturing research, as well as leading strategic customer engagements. He has been active in the PV industry since 2005 and brings more than a decade of global sales and marketing experience to NPD Solarbuzz. Colville previously served as director of strategic marketing for Coherent’s solar business, where he managed PV market intelligence and new product strategy. He holds a B.Sc. in physics from the University of Glasgow and a Ph.D. in laser physics from the University of St. Andrews. He is also a regular contributor to PV-Tech.
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Wolfgang Schlichting joins NPD Solarbuzz in the new position of research director, Downstream Markets, in which he will manage analysts based in Europe, the United States and Asia. Since 2009, Schlichting has been research director at Wolf Research, a provider of consulting, market research, advisory services and technology assessment for solar energy, power electronics and other high-tech markets. Previously, he managed optical, removable and personal storage research services for International Data Corporation (IDC).
Before moving to market research, Schlichting managed the development of a liquid crystal based optical mass storage system. He has an M.S. in optical science from the University of Arizona and a diploma in physics from Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany.
“Over the past two years, NPD Solarbuzz has significantly expanded its coverage of the global PV supply chain. We have created new research in PV equipment, materials, regional markets and policies, supply/demand, as well as monthly tracking of PV installations in growing markets such as China and the United States,” said Paul Semenza, senior vice president, analyst services, the NPD Group.
“Under the leadership of Dr. Colville, who has been instrumental in the development of NPD Solarbuzz’s industry-leading upstream research, we will be able to provide our clients with increasingly comprehensive coverage of the PV supply chain, from materials to installations.”
Added Dr. Colville, “We are pleased to have Wolfgang Schlichting join NPD Solarbuzz and lead our downstream research. His experience in analyzing the interaction of policy and market demand, as well as his expertise in leading global research teams and supporting clients will greatly enhance the value we can provide our growing customer base.”
