Board of Directors
Jim Flanary, Chief Executive Officer and President
Jim has over three decades of extensive operating and start-up experience in the solar and high tech manufacturing industries. Jim's solar industry work includes most recently his role as the Chief Operating Officer of HelioSphera, a micromorph silicon module manufacturer located in Tripolis, Greece. From 2001 to 2003 Jim was the Chief Operating Officer of First Solar and responsible for developing and launching the core manufacturing process that allowed First Solar to address early implementation and scale up rapidly to the successful company it is today.
Known for his execution and focus on operational excellence, Jim has held a number of other key roles during his career, including President of OEA Aerospace, and President of Networks Electronic Corporation. Additionally, during a 10 plus year career at ITT Night Vision, Jim developed his operational skills in robust engineering, six sigma, and lean manufacturing and became their Division President and General Manager. Jim was awarded the coveted ITT Ring of Quality and the Harold S. Geneen Award as part of a leadership team that helped establish ITT Night Vision as the world leader in military and commercial night vision products. Jim began his career in semiconductor manufacturing where he spent over 10 years in various operational roles.
Dr. B.J. Stanbery, Chairman of the Board, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
Dr. B.J. Stanbery has achieved an illustrious career spanning more than 30 years in the solar industry. He is an expert in the business and science of photovoltaic materials. In 2008, his innovation of inkjet printing of CIGS, won a 2008 R&D 100 Award, often called the "Oscars" of technology commercialization. He founded HelioVolt to develop and commercialize a revolutionary FASST® process for applying CIGS thin-film photovoltaics that is now covered by sixteen issued patents globally. Prior to founding HelioVolt, Dr. Stanbery managed Boeing's terrestrial PV program. During his 17-year tenure, his accomplishments included registering seven patents in thin-film PV technology and successfully manufacturing and deploying PV for spacecraft. In 1990, he achieved the world record in multi-junction thin-film PV conversion efficiency, a distinction he still holds today. Dr. Stanbery completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2001 at the University of Florida, having previously obtained an M.S. in Physics from the University of Washington and B.S. in both Physics and Mathematics from the University of Texas.
Jimmy Treybig, Venture Partner, NEA
Mr. Treybig joined NEA in 2002 as a Venture Partner. Prior, he was the principal founder of Tandem Computers. From 1974 to 1996, he served as the company's president and CEO. Under his leadership, Tandem delivered its first product in 1976, first issued public stock in 1977 and, in 1980, was ranked by Inc Magazine as the fastest-growing public company in America. Mr. Treybig has been recognized with Entrepreneur of the Year awards from both Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Graduate School of Business. He received a B.A. and BSEE from Rice University and an MBA from Stanford.
Scott Sandell, General Partner, NEA
Since 1996, Mr. Sandell has specialized in investments in emerging energy and information technology at NEA. During his tenure, he has successfully sponsored investments in IT frontrunners, such as NetIQ, Salesforce.com and WebEx. Mr. Sandell holds an MBA from Stanford University and a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College.
Tim Costello, CEO, Builder Homesite, Inc.
As the CEO of Builder Homesite, Mr. Costello leads a consortium of more than 36 American homebuilders representing more than 275,000 new homes and $60 billion in revenue. BHI was founded to provide affordable and scalable technology solutions to the homebuilding industry. Mr. Costello also co-founded Greenlight LLC, a service provider that enables builders to easily adopt and implement green building practices, including solar system installations. Prior to BHI, he was Vice President, Global Operations at Applied Materials (AMAT), the world's leading manufacturer of semiconductor capital equipment. In this role, he was responsible for analyzing the global manufacturing value stream and the strategic direction of technical programs aimed at driving efficiencies. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
Ron Bernal, Partner, Sequel Venture Partners
Ron Bernal joined Sequel Venture Partners in May 2006 as a partner and his investment focus includes energy, systems and software sectors. He has led investments in HelioVolt and Buzzwire and works closely with SkyeTek.
Before joining Sequel, Ron served as a Venture Partner at Sutter Hill Ventures where he led investments in Data Domain (NasdaqGM: DDUP), Data Robotics, Indicative Software, LifeSize Communications, ProStor Systems, and Red Seal Systems.
He joined Sutter Hill in 2002 from Cisco Systems where Ron was the Vice President of Operations for the Product Technology Groups and the Service Provider Line of Business. Ron joined Cisco via the acquisition of Growth Networks in March 2000 where he was President and CEO. Growth Networks was a fabless Internet switching fabric semiconductor company Ron co-founded in October 1998 while he was an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at NEA.
Ron was previously an executive with Silicon Graphics for over seven years. He was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the $1+ Billion Server Division. Earlier he was President of the MIPS Group, the microprocessor subsidiary of SGI. Ron was also the Vice President and General Manager of the Supercomputing Systems Division, growing the company to the largest supercomputing vendor in the world.
Previously, Ron was Vice President of Engineering and COO of Edge Computer, a computer company he cofounded in October 1983.
Ron received a BSEE degree from DeVry Institute of Technology in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1978.
Ken Pentimonti, Paladin Capital
In his current role at Washington, DC-based Paladin Capital, Ken Pentimonti guides private equity investment in early stage companies that address homeland security issues and concerns. Pentimonti has extensive experience with the Paladin Homeland Security Fund where he is actively involved in Paladin's investment activities in alternative energy and renewable fuels. Prior to joining Paladin, Pentimonti spent six years as an investment banker with JP Morgan Chase. Pentimonti received his B.A. degree in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University, and his M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA.
Ravi Khanna, President and CEO of Scatec Solar
Prior to Scatec, Mr. Khanna was President and CEO of Moser Baer Photo Voltaic in India, one of the earliest manufacturers of large area thin-film modules. At Moser Baer PV, Mr. Khanna was responsible for the acquisitions of technology firms and the founding of a technology center--while creating one of the fastest manufacturing capacities, positioning the company to reach gigawatt-level capacities by 2012. He was also on the board of US firms Sol Focus, Solaria, and Stion Corporation. Prior to Moser Baer, Khanna was an executive with Delphi Corporation for more than ten years, and was involved in various positions globally.
