Schneider Electric appointed Laurent Vernerey as president and CEO of its North America operations. Vernerey has been with Schneider for 28 years and worked his way up from plant manager to lead the company’s $8 billion North American line of business. Schneider has more than 150,000 employees and had sales of $31 billion in 2013.
KACO New Energy, a PV inverter manufacturer, named Jurgen Krehnke, previously president and GM of SMA America, as its new CEO for the Americas. Krehnke is currently a board member with the Solar Electric Power Association. KACO is hiring in its San Antonio, Texas offices to support the 400-megawatt OCI/CPS project.
Vivint Solar, one of the largest U.S. residential solar providers, named Dwain Kinghorn as its Chief Strategy and Innovations Officer. Kinghorn joins Vivint Solar from SageCreek Partners. Prior to that, Kinghorn was CTO at Altiris.
OneRoof Energy, a solar services provider, named Valerie Iwinski as SVP of Operations. Most recently, she served as VP and GM at Express Scripts. Prior to that, Iwinski managed multiple business functions at American Express, including merchant and fraud services and customer call centers. OneRoof recently completed a transaction that resulted in the firm being listed as a public company on the Toronto Exchange.
Eric Hafter and Todd Lindstrom announced the founding of Enable Energy, "a technology, product development and business strategy consulting firm" that will seek to accelerate the deployment of solar PV and thermal technologies, energy-efficient lighting and energy storage. The company plans to announce a new commercial flat-roof racking system later this spring.
Misty Benham is now VP of Sales for North America at Norwegian Crystals, a maker of monocrystalline silicon. Benham previously helmed business development at REC Americas.
Greensmith has named Andrew Tang, formerly of AutoGrid, as SVP of Business Development at the energy storage management firm.
Dr. Mohan Narayanan, formerly the VP of technology at Hanwha SolarOne, is now Head of Strategic Marketing and Global Customer Quality Service at JA Solar.
Hanwha SolarOne, a manufacturer of solar modules, announced that its Chairman and CEO Ki-Joon Hong has retired from the firm. No reason was provided for the departure. A replacement is expected to be named by the end of April, according to a release.
Andalay Solar named Steven Chan as CEO and President. Chan has held positions at NRG Energy, GCL-Poly Energy Holdings and Suntech Power. He served as the Vice President of NRG Energy, overseeing residential solar for the company's NRG Residential Solar Solutions business.
Comverge, a supplier of demand response software for residential and C&I customers, named Gregory Dukat as Chairman, President and CEO. Dukat was most recently Chairman and CEO of Campus Management, a provider of software to higher education institutions. Dukat's appointment follows Blake Young's resignation as President and CEO. Comverge was acquired in 2012 by H.I.G. Capital.