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Who are the leading figures in the solar industry - can you name 5? on
Solar Energy
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Aviv Scheinman
03-05-2014 12:00 AM
Who are the leading figures in the solar industry - can you name 5?
Solar, solar , solar, everyone is talking about it but who can we trust that what they are saying is the reality?
Can you name 5 people in the industry who you consider as a "Solar Guru"?
03-05-2014 02:38 AM
Top #2
Giovanni (John) Foggiato
03-05-2014 02:38 AM
Hello Aviv
In terms of launching the industry, Richard Swason of Sunpower is one. In terms of launching a company for affordable solar power, I would say that First Solar founder is one. The founder and president of Q-Cell in Germany should be considered.
That is three I would name.
Regards
John Foggiato
03-05-2014 05:28 AM
Top #3
David Dunnison
03-05-2014 05:28 AM
Yes, I can provide five different sets of five.
1. Industry founders/pioneers
2. Consultants
3. Writers (and bloggers)
4. Academics
5. Top investment minds
Sticking with just five names, though, how about:
1. Industry Pioneers/Fathers (alphabetic)
Dr. Aulich (Siemens Solar to Crystalox), Dr. Shi (U of New South Wales to Suntech), Dr. (Richard/Dick) Swanson (Sunpower), Dr. Woditsch (Bayer to SolarWorld), Bill Yerkes (Arco to Solaicx)
Dr. Shi arguably is part of the new generation, but this takes into account the long pedigree starting with his work under Martin Green.
There are many (!) honorable mentions just to this list that would include Professor Martin Green (University of New South Wales), Anton Milner (Q-Cells founder), Takashi Tomita (Sharp), and Germany's Mr. Solar - Professor Eicke Weber (Fraunhofer). Harold McMaster (founder of First Solar) as noted by Giovanni is also an interesting choice - though arguably he was even more important in the glass industry.
03-05-2014 07:46 AM
Top #4
Aviv Scheinman
03-05-2014 07:46 AM
Thanks!
With all the new development it is easy to forget those who started when solar wasn't so popular and supported.
03-05-2014 09:59 AM
Top #5
Raju Dave
03-05-2014 09:59 AM
Hi David, Thats interesting compilation. can you also complete the list of balance four sets.
03-05-2014 12:26 PM
Top #6
David Dunnison
03-05-2014 12:26 PM
How about the next one - #2, Consultants/Industry Analysts.
Rather than five, let me provide seven of the best. The reason for the extra addition (I first started with five, and then six) is that this can be a very (!) contentious area. Some of these consultants have strong followings, and may have detractors whose opinions are also very strong. Thus, other people may want to drop a name or two from this list.
These seven (alphabetic) are:
Johannes Bernreuter (Bernreuter), Travis Bradford (Prometheus), Hilary Flynn (previously worked with both Travis and Michael), Paula Mints (Navigant), Michael Rogol (PHOTON), Ted Sullivan (Lux), Richard Winegarner (Sage Concepts).
03-05-2014 02:34 PM
Top #7
Raju Dave
03-05-2014 02:34 PM
This is kewl. can u reveal the others categories too. i am keen on 3 & 4.
03-05-2014 04:54 PM
Top #8
David Dunnison
03-05-2014 04:54 PM
Eric Wesoff (Greentech Media), one of my current picks for top writers (Category #3), just did an article on the ten top VC investors in solar (one view of Category #5). The updated version includes important firms missed in the original (e.g. Nth Power and Good Energies): http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/top-ten-solar-vc-investors/. Nth Power was almost alone when they started investing in alternate energy. Another firm that is still missing from this list, that was involved very early on, was ARETE and their Utech funds.
As for equity analysts (a different view of Category #5 - Top Investment Minds), I would encourage consideration of Mehdi Hosseini (ex-FBR, now SIG), Jesse Pichel (was Piper Jaffray now at Jefferies), Satya Kumar (Credit Suisse) and the team at Goldman (excellent recent overview). I haven't seen much from MacMurray Whale at Cormark recently, but he had very good insights in the past.
Back to #3 (writers and bloggers), there are now arguably teams of good writers that are allied with a number of firms. I like both Shyam Mehta and Eric Wesoff of GTM. There are many to choose from at PHOTON, so will opt for Anne Kreutzmann and Michael Schmela (Managing Director/Editor-in Chiefs) as placeholders and key influencers; freelance reporter Jennifer Kho; Ucilia Wang and Katie Fehrenbacher at Earth2tech/Gigaom. News service Solarbuzz has been an incredible resource and is still commonly cited for fundamental industry data. Ed Gunther's blog also deserves a special mention.
In terms of #4 Academics, I have thought about this a lot since my first comment here. For the moment, I am going to punt and only name Martin Green. He would clearly be on just about anyone's list. There are two challenges to providing names in this category. One is the nature of Research and the breadth of the subject matter - what area is the most important now, in the future, in the past? The second challenge is that citing and endorsing scientists and institutions arguably can get political.
03-05-2014 07:11 PM
Top #9
Gordon Terlier
03-05-2014 07:11 PM
Solar Guru, yes our very own Sam Myles, Managing Director Engineer, celebrating his 34 years in the manufacturing of PV solar panels for the global markets, got his start at BP solar and Siemens Solar now he is one of the founders of Centennial Solar Celebrating our 8th year and currently the ONLY manufacture using 4 different cell technologies (Crystalline, ATF, CIGS, and our new Spherical) on our production line , we are the largest custom mfg globally ! Really ! and we are privately owned ! you don't have to go public to get noticed, our products speak for themselves !
03-05-2014 09:32 PM
Top #10
Very Interesting!
03-06-2014 12:07 AM
Top #11
Seth Warren Rose
03-06-2014 12:07 AM
Thermal: We wish more people were talking up facility-based solar thermal. Our annual market report published in Solar Industry magazine represents a large proportion of what is being said in the media. The Eneref Institute will continue to work on getting a positive word about thermal into the media.
