Global Solar Gets New CEO

Global Solar Energy announced that Jeffrey Britt has been appointed its new CEO. He is replacing the retiring Michael Gering.

Gering, 73, will remain on the board of directors and serve as chairman, the Tucson company said Thursday.

Global Solar develops copper-indium-gallium-diselenide thin films, and has increasingly focused its resources on marketing its products to building material makers.

The flexible CIGS thin films will be embedded in roof shingles by Dow Chemical, which plans to launch the product next year.

The building material market is new for solar energy equipment manufacturers. Most of the solar panels on the market today are installed on top of the roof or on the ground.

Integrating solar cells into building materials presents technical challenges. Skeptics also question whether those materials would be affordable for the masses or become niche products.

Britt has been Global Solar's chief technology officer since 2005 and will keep that post, the company said. Britt joined the company in 1998.

Global Solar has a 40-megawatt factory in Tucson and a 35-megawatt factory in Germany.