SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SunPower Corp.
(NASDAQ:SPWR), a leading solar technology and energy services
provider, today announced that it has named proven global
executive Jeff Waters as CEO of the
SunPower Technologies business unit. This group includes the
company's global manufacturing, research and development (R&D)
and SunPower Solutions. Waters begins his new role immediately.
"We're pleased to welcome someone of Jeff's caliber to lead our
global manufacturing operations, R&D work, and our ongoing,
successful cost reduction activities," said Tom Werner, SunPower CEO and chairman of the
board. "SunPower is a known solar technology leader with the
highest reliability and efficiency solar panels on the market. With
Jeff at the helm, we expect to continue to hold this leadership
mantle, especially as we ramp our game changing Next Generation
Technology (NGT) cells and modules and deliver on our commitment to
American manufacturing."
Waters joins SunPower from Isola, where he worked from Silicon
Valley as the company's president and CEO. Isola is a leading
material sciences company that designs, develops, manufactures and
markets copper-clad laminates and dielectric prepregs used to
fabricate advanced multilayer printed circuit boards. Like
SunPower, Isola has a significant global footprint with
manufacturing, R&D and offices in Asia, Europe
and the U.S.
Prior to Isola, Waters was senior vice president and general
manager with Altera Corporation and also with Texas
Instruments/National Semiconductor in both the U.S. and
Japan for 18 years in a variety of
executive positions, including global sales. He holds a bachelor's
degree in engineering from the University of
Notre Dame, a master's degree in engineering from
Santa Clara University and a MBA from
Northwestern University.
SunPower's NGT cells and modules will offer customers similar
performance to its X-Series products with significantly lower
manufacturing costs. Panels with a 72-cell format at 450 watts have
been UL certified and will be delivered to initial commercial
customer sites in the first quarter of 2019.
"When we reach full production, we expect that the cost per watt
of the world's highest efficiency NGT cells and modules will be
similar to mono-PERC technology, but with superior levelized cost
of energy due to higher performance and durability," Werner said.
"With the recent funding of our second NGT manufacturing line, we
will now have approximately 250 megawatts of nameplate NGT capacity
by the end of 2019 and plan to deliver meaningful volumes this
year, as well."
In addition to ramping NGT, SunPower will begin full production
in the coming weeks of its Performance Series (P-Series) solar
panels at the recently acquired SolarWorld Americas facility in
Hillsboro, Ore.
SunPower also announced that Bill
Mulligan, executive vice president of operations will
transition out of his role over the course of 2019.
About SunPower
As one of the world's most innovative
and sustainable energy companies, SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) provides a
diverse group of customers with complete solar solutions and
services. Residential customers, businesses, governments, schools
and utilities around the globe rely on SunPower's more than 30
years of proven experience. From the first flip of the switch,
SunPower delivers maximum value and superb performance throughout
the long life of every solar system. Headquartered in Silicon
Valley, SunPower has dedicated, customer-focused employees in
Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. For more information about how
SunPower is changing the way our world is powered, visit
www.sunpower.com.
SunPower's Forward-Looking Statements
This press
release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including,
but not limited to, statements regarding expected cost reduction,
product focus and timelines, projected energy output, efficiency
and cost savings, anticipated cost per watt and levelized cost of
energy, and the timing and success of production ramps. These
forward-looking statements are based on our current assumptions,
expectations, and beliefs and involve substantial risks and
uncertainties that may cause results, performance, or achievement
to materially differ from those expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute
to such differences include, but are not limited to: regulatory
changes and the availability of economic incentives promoting use
of solar energy; the success of our ongoing research and
development efforts and our ability to commercialize new products
and services; and our ability to contain manufacturing and
logistics difficulties that could arise. A detailed discussion of
these factors and other risks that affect our business is included
in filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) from time to time, including our most recent reports on Form
10-K and Form 10-Q, particularly under the heading "Risk Factors."
Copies of these filings are available online from the SEC or on the
SEC Filings section of our Investor Relations website at
investors.sunpowercorp.com. All forward-looking statements in this
press release are based on information currently available to us,
and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking
statements in light of new information or future events.
©2019 SunPower Corporation. All Rights
Reserved. SUNPOWER and the SUNPOWER logo are registered
trademarks of SunPower Corporation in the U.S. and other countries
as well.
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SOURCE SunPower Corp.