Green Jobs: KP's Ray Lane Now Emeritus; Solexant Nabs Markus Beck for CIGS

Green Jobs: KP’s Ray Lane Now Emeritus; Solexant Nabs Markus Beck for CIGS

Executive and investor moves in greentech. Plus EnerNoc, Tollgrade, AWEA, and Lowfoot.

Eric Wesoff April 30, 2013

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.

As part of assembling Solexant CEO Brad Mattson's thin film PV dream team, the solar startup added CIGS expert Dr. Markus Beck as CTO. Previously, Beck drove CIGS thin-film efforts as CTO at First Solar and Solyndra. As part of Solexant's unstealthing last month, the firm announced that Jim Woolsey, former Director of the CIA, had joined its Board of Directors.

Ray Lane stepped down as HP's chairman earlier this month. Involved with automotive smoking crater Fisker and less famous automotive smoking crater Next Autoworks while a managing partner at venture firm, Kleiner Perkins, Lane is now Partner Emeritus. Prior to KP, Lane was President and COO at Oracle. Here is the Partner Emeriti page at KP.

Neil Moses was named EnerNoc's next CFO. Previously he served as CFO of Dunkin' Brands, helping lead the firm's 2011 IPO. EnerNoc is a demand response service provider.

Tollgrade Communications, a provider of grid sensors and predictive analytics to utilities and telecommunications providers, promoted Thomas J. Kolb to COO.

Tom Kiernan, formerly President of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), New Hampshire Audubon Society President, and EPA Clean Air official, was unanimously elected the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) CEO. Kiernan replaces Denise Bode, who resigned in January.

Lowfoot added Roberta Konicki and Paul D. Thomas to its Board of Directors. Konicki is SVP of Macquarie Energy. Thomas was CEO and COO from 2000 to 2012 of Green Mountain Energy. Shirley Rouse was added as president and Andy Roehr as CTO. Lowfoot shares smart grid data with consumers and works on customer engagement for the utility.