Sol Voltaics Appoints Arno Stassen as Product Marketing director
Swedish solar materials company Sol Voltaics has named Arno Stassen as its new director of product marketing. Stassen, who most recently was head of business development of the solar energy division at German technology group Heraeus, will oversee Sol Voltaics' product marketing as the company nears commercialisation of its highly anticipated solar nanowire technology.
Sol Volaics believes that its GaAs nanowire thin film has the potential to boost solar module conversion efficiencies by more than 30 percent in the first generation.
"I am very excited to join Sol Voltaics at such a promising time for the company," commented Stassen. "Having worked in advanced PV for the past ten years, I fully understand the current limitations for the industry in achieving breakthrough efficiency technology at low costs. Sol Voltaics' compelling tandem-layer technology and novel Aerotaxy nanowire manufacturing process show enormous potential to enable module efficiency improvements up to and above 30 percent. I believe Sol Voltaics is one of the only companies that can deliver a revolutionary change in solar technology, which the industry needs to fully mature into a mainstream energy solution."
Prior to his role at Heraeus where he was instrumental in growing the company's leadership in metallisation of silicon and 3rd generation solar cells, Stassen was project leader and part of the consultancy team at the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), where he led several large research and development programs in crystalline silicon solar cells.
Stassen also contributed towards the 2014 and 2015 International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV), the leading organisation in crafting the technology roadmap and driving future innovation in crystalline silicon PV.
Stassen's appointment follows Sol Voltaics' record $17 million series C funding round in May. Earlier this year, the company also announced successful alignment of GaAs nanowires in a thin film, a technology breakthrough showing measurable progress towards Sol Voltaics' ambition to commercialise its solar offering for module manufacturers.
"After securing significant funding and achieving a number of important technology milestones this year, the appointment of Arno as director of product marketing is another major win for Sol Voltaics," commented Erik Smith, CEO of Sol Voltaics. "His experience, reputation and technology expertise will add a new dynamism to our management team as we continue to improve our offering and fulfill our ambition of bringing this transformative technology to market."
