30 November 2011

MiaSolé appoints former First Solar and Intel execs as CEO and president

MiaSolé of Santa Clara, CA, USA, which was founded in 2001 to make copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic panels, has appointed two executives to lead the firm into its next phase of growth. John Carrington assumes the role of CEO, and Bob Baker continues as president. Dr Joseph Laia is stepping down as CEO in order to pursue other interests.

Carrington was previously executive VP of global marketing & business development at cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film PV panel maker First Solar, where he directed global sales, marketing and product management initiatives, and supported its targeted expansions in Europe, Middle East, Asia and the USA. Prior to that, he spent 16 years at General Electric in a variety of global leadership roles, including four years in Japan running the Asian marketing and business development team.

Baker is a 32-year Intel veteran with experience across technology development, manufacturing, business and management. While at Intel, he managed the Technology and Manufacturing Group and also grew its NAND and SSD business to a profitable $1bn+.

“MiaSolé is entering into an important time in its evolution,” says Martin Lagod, managing director and co-founder of Firelake Capital Management, on behalf of MiaSolé’s board of directors. “Both John and Bob bring a wealth of experience and the right combination of skills,” he adds.

MiaSolé says that the latest addition to its management team is part of the strategy to scale its capacity and continue building a sustainable and scalable business through innovation and manufacturing improvements.

In October, the firm announced that its latest module energy conversion efficiency of 13% had entered volume production, and that it was on track to meet its cost per watt goals. Under Laia’s leadership, MiaSolé doubled its module efficiency, enabling its CIGS panels to approach crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV performance, it is claimed.

Also, early in November, the firm announced the production of its 50 millionth cell. MiaSolé says that this underscores the viability of its distinctive manufacturing process, which has enabled the production of low-cost, high-efficiency, flexible solar cells at volume scale.

Tags: MiaSole CIGS

Visit: www.MiaSole.com