News

3 September 2010

 

Sunovia appoints CEO

Sunovia Energy Technologies Inc of Sarasota, FL, USA, which is commercializing solar technology as well as LED lighting products, says that Art Buckland has joined its management team as CEO, effective 7 September.

The firm says that Buckland’s leadership has resulted in corporate turnarounds, hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue growth, billion-dollar increases in book value, initial public offerings (IPOs) and leveraged buy-outs (LBOs). He has raised $175m in private and public capital while starting nine companies, completed 36 merger & acquisition (M&A) transactions worth over $1.45bn, and turned around seven companies. 

Buckland has 24 years of experience serving on public company boards, and has led profitable growth and innovation in energy and clean tech for many years. He guided some of the first developments of smart meters in the 1980s, using his semiconductor background working with a diverse array of utility companies and municipalities. 

Sunovia says that Buckland received the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award (from NASDAQ, Ernst & Young, Sprint, USA Today, and others) for his work with CP Clare, where he grew a small $5m failing semiconductor firm to $147m of annual revenue in three years, leading to an IPO that resulted in a 122% internal rate of return (IRR) for investors.

Recently, in his two years at Soliant Energy, Buckland pioneered the development of a strategic vision for the next generation of solar panels that could generate distributed electricity at utility costs without government subsidies.

Buckland brings broad experience in operations and governance to Sunovia. His industry experience spans renewable/solar and traditional energy companies (Schlumberger, Enertec, Solartron and Soliant), advanced semiconductors (CP Clare, Texas Instruments, Engim, and Fairchild), supply chain and value-added distribution (Lex, Indivers, and Richardson Electronics), and capital equipment (Teradyne, Fairchild Test, Applicon, and FourPi). He has also held CEO, CFO and board chairman roles in startups as well as NASDAQ, NYSE and LSE firms.

“I have spent my career developing and growing companies within the semiconductor and related systems markets, and the incredible potential of Sunovia’s proprietary technologies and products is very clear,” comments Buckland. “The opportunity to lead a company with this much potential while uniquely operating in this large and dynamic clean-tech energy space and poised for rapid growth, is an ideal fit for my talents and experience,” he adds. “I expect to grow Sunovia efficiently and effectively to realize the tremendous value that has already been created in EvoLucia [Sunovia’s LED lighting fixture product range], and look forward to the challenge of realizing the value in our solar initiative soon after that.”

“Art brings the executive pedigree and Wall Street credibility that I feel have been missing from the company,” comments continuing chairman and outgoing CEO Carl Smith. “His experience and reputation with both institutional investors and large banks will be critical to the company as we enter a phase of rapid growth," he adds. "I will continue to work as chairman of the board of Sunovia.”

Sunovia is developing a solar CPV tracking system compatible with either III-V or II-VI wafers.  As with other CPV systems currently in the market, the firm says that its system will operate optimally at high solar insolation levels (>5).  The use of high-volume, low-cost optics and automatic assembly methods, with low capital and labor costs, should enable rapid scaling.

See related items:

Sunovia expands national sales network from 4 to 55 in last 6 months

Search: Sunovia CPV CdTe solar cells LEDs

Visit: http://sunoviaenergy.com