Green Job Moves at Xtreme Power, MiaSolé, Lumenergi, Oasys Water, Ascent Solar

CEO shifts at energy storage, solar, and water firms

Eric Wesoff February 16, 2012

Eric Wesoff

Editor-at-Large
Greentech Media

Eric Wesoff is Editor-at-Large at Greentech Media. Prior to joining GTM, Eric Wesoff founded Sage Marketing Partners in 2000 to provide sales and marketing-consulting services to venture-capital firms and their portfolio companies in the alternative energy and telecommunications sectors. Mr. Wesoff has become a well-known, respected authority and speaker in these fields.

His expertise covers solar power, fuel cells, biofuels and advanced batteries. His strengths are in market research and analysis, business development and due diligence for investors. He frequently consults for energy startups and Silicon Valley's premier venture capitalists.

Xtreme Power, a developer of utility-scale energy storage and power management systems, promoted CTO Alan J. Gotcher to president and CEO. Xtreme's former CEO, Carlos Coe, is now the chairman of the company’s board. The firm’s projects include the world’s largest storage-integrated wind farm in partnership with Duke Energy. Xtreme's investors include SAIL Capital Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, The Dow Chemical Company, Fluor, BP Alternative Energy, Dominion Resources, POSCO ICT, SkyLake & Co. and Spring Ventures.

MiaSolé appointed Richard (Rich) Hossfeld as Vice President of Global Business Development and Sales following the recent appointment of new CEO, John Carrington. Both Hossfeld and Carrington have worked at First Solar. MiaSolé, a CIGS thin-film PV manufacturing startup, placed third in CIGS panel production in 2011 behind Solar Frontier (at 577 megawatts) and Solibro (at 95 megawatts), according to GTM Research. The firm just announced a 17.3-percent-efficient champion device, while the "manufacturing process for 14 percent efficiency is now in production," according to the firm.

Oasys Water of Boston, Mass. added Bob Muscat as its new CEO. Oasys develops forward-osmosis-based water treatment technologies, as well as desalination technology. Muscat was previously the general manager of GE Energy’s Environmental Services business.

Lumenergi, a maker of networked lighting energy management technology, added an entire new leadership staff headed by Barry Weinbaum as CEO. The CEO and many of the other senior-level hires hail from Acuity Brands.

Ascent Solar (NASDAQ:ASTI), a manufacturer of flexible CIGS solar panels, appointed Victor Lee, Director of TFG Radiant and Ascent’s largest shareholder, as President and CEO of the troubled solar company. Ron Eller, the former CEO, was wished "the best in his future endeavors.”

John Rayfield, ~~longtime~~ employee at Nanosolar, is no longer with the firm. Rayfield was VP of Worldwide Marketing and joins CEO Geoff Tate and VP Brian Stone as recent former Nanosolar employees -- coinciding with the arrival of Eugenia Corrales as the new CEO of the firm.