Ucilia Wang: December 10, 2009, 1:20 PM

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Abound Solar Gets New CEO

Solar startup Abound Solar will get a new CEO come January. The new guy is Thomas Tiller, who was CEO of Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) for nine years.

Tiller is set to start his job on Jan. 18. Abound, based in Loveland, Colo., makes cadmium-telluride solar panels. The company began commercial production only earlier this year, and had expected to reach $1 per watt manufacturing cost quickly. It started with a 65-megawatt line in a factory in Longmont, Colo.

Tiller seems to bring a wealth of experiences growing a company and working large corporations. 

While at Polaris, a maker of snowmobiles, motorcycles and other recreational vehicles, Tiller managed the launch of more than 170 new products, Abound said. Those efforts caused the company to double its size and triple its stock price, Abound said.

Before Polaris, Tiller was with General Electric for 15 years. He was the general manager of GE Silicones, and before that, the vice president of manufacturing at GE Appliances.

The GE connection might work out well for Abound, given GE's big investments in renewable energy generation projects and equipment manufacturing. The company has invested in Arvada, Colo.-based PrimeStar Solar, also a cadmium-telluride solar panel maker, and plans to launch cadmium-telluride solar panels with GE brand.

Incidentally, PrimeStar just lost its CEO, Brian Murphy, who left last week.