Dr. Billy J. Stanbery Becomes President of Siva Power

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Siva Power, pioneering the next generation of thin film solar technology, is pleased to announce that Dr. Billy J. "BJ" Stanbery has joined the team as President of Siva Power effective March 23, 2015. Dr. Stanbery has had an illustrious career spanning more than 30 years in the solar industry and is an expert in the field of photovoltaics (PV). Dr. Stanbery is especially well-respected by the solar industry as a pivotal early-developer of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) technology, the same technology being commercialized by Siva Power.

"We are thrilled to have BJ join our team. He was one of the early pioneers in CIGS and commands a lot of respect across the entire solar industry. He is further proof that Siva Power is assembling the solar 'Dream Team'," said Siva Power CEO Brad Mattson.

"I am very excited to be joining Siva Power," said Dr. Stanbery. "CIGS is the winning solar technology that the world needs, but more importantly Siva Power has the right plan and the best team to bring it to market. This is an outstanding group to be working with and all of us are very excited to take CIGS technology to the next level."

Dr. Stanbery will join Siva Power's prestigious Technical Advisory Board, building on its already impressive set of resumes. Mr. Mattson's claim that Siva Power is "cornering the market on CIGS and PV talent" may have merit. Dr. Charlie Gay, former President of Applied Materials Solar Group and former Director of the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), commented, "With the addition of BJ, Siva Power now has three of the top CIGS technologists in the world." John Benner, Director of the Bay Area PV Consortium, stated, "Dr. Stanbery knows more about CIGS than anyone in the world." Dr. Kannan Ramanathan, Principal Scientist of the CIGS group at NREL, stated, "It is impressive when you see how many leaders for CIGS thin film are now working together; they have built a well-respected team."

In Dr. Stanbery's role as President of Siva Power, all technical and program management will report to him and he will report to Mr. Mattson, CEO. Mattson and Stanbery will share leadership responsibility for finance and marketing.

Before Siva Power, Dr. Stanbery was the founder and CEO of HelioVolt, a well-known innovator in CIGS technology. HelioVolt was an exciting company but was unable to achieve full-scale manufacturing before running out of cash. Dr. Stanbery's comment on HelioVolt versus Siva Power was, "HelioVolt shared Siva Power's vision of bringing the revolutionary advantages of CIGS technology to the market at scale, but the remarkable skills, vast experience, and proven track record of the Siva Power team I am privileged to join is unprecedented in this industry."

Before HelioVolt, Dr. Stanbery managed Boeing's terrestrial PV program for 17 years, where he and his team achieved the world record in multi-junction thin-film PV conversion efficiency in 1990. Dr. Stanbery holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida, an M.S. in Physics from the University of Washington, and B.S. in both Physics and Mathematics from the University of Texas. Dr. Stanbery serves on the board of the Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium.

Mr. Mattson stated, "This is a very important year for Siva Power. We have finished developing the technology, and are now looking to build the world's first true solar giga-factory. Dr. Stanbery is a key addition to make that happen. We are very glad to have him aboard."

About Siva Power
Siva Power is a leader in advanced manufacturing technology for solar modules and aims to be the world's best-in-class manufacturer of high efficiency, low-cost solar panels. Siva Power is developing a solar factory for the "gigawatt era" that will produce solar panels at unprecedented scale and the lowest production cost. For more information, visit www.sivapower.com.

SOURCE Siva Power

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