SAN JOSE, Calif., March 27, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- R. James Woolsey, a seasoned veteran of Washington and Silicon Valley, has joined the board of directors of Solexant, according to an announcement made by the company's CEO Brad Mattson.
"After two years in which we have reengineered our business, Solexant is out of stealth mode with new technology and we are assembling a dream team to advance America's widespread adoption of solar energy – what we refer to as Solar 2.0," said Mattson. "Jim Woolsey is a wise and experienced hand on the government side of things, and a tireless advocate for viable clean technologies. He fully grasps the benefit of distributed solar as America's best solution for both energy independence and energy security."
Woolsey has served in the U.S. government on five different occasions, holding presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations, most recently as Director of Central Intelligence from 1993-1995. He has also been a Vice President and Officer of Booz Allen Hamilton and a partner at the law firm of Shea & Gardner in Washington, DC (now Goodwin Procter) where he practiced for 22 years in the fields of civil litigation, arbitration and mediation.
Woolsey currently chairs the Strategic Advisory Group of the Washington, D.C. private equity fund, Paladin Capital Group, the Advisory Board of the Opportunities Development Group, and he is Of Counsel to the Washington, D.C. office of the Boston-based law firm, Goodwin Procter.
On the investment side, Woolsey is a Venture Partner with Lux Capital. He is also Chairman of Woolsey Partners LLC and prior to joining Lux, a Venture Partner and Senior Advisor to VantagePoint Venture Partners.
Woolsey specializes in a range of alternative energy and security issues. He co-founder of United States Energy Security Council and serves as an officer or advisor to the National Commission on Energy Policy and the Clean Fuels Foundation. He was former honorary co-chair of the Center for Security Policy and has also been a member of the National Commission on Terrorism, the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the U.S. (Rumsfeld Commission), the President's Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform, the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management (Packard Commission), and the President's Commission on Strategic Forces (Scowcroft Commission).
Woolsey received his B.A. degree from Stanford University, an M.A. from Oxford University, and an LL.B. from Yale Law School.
When asked "Why Solexant?" Woolsey commented, "Brad Mattson is determined to make solar happen and I'd bet on the team he's putting in place. I look forward to helping Solexant achieve their goals as they coincide with my passions as well."
About Solexant Corp. and its Dream Team
In two years of stealth since 2011, Solexant CEO, Mattson and his board of directors tripled the company's R&D budget, pulled the plug on a 100-megawatt Oregon factory, acquired Wakonda, focused on reducing the cost of making thin film and migrated to roll-to roll co-evaporated CIGS.
Wakonda Technologies founder and CEO, Les Fritzemeier, joined Solexant a year ago as its executive vice president spearheading all aspects of program implementation and business development into both commercial and government sectors.
Robert Wendt, former CTO, Vice President of Engineering and Technology Officer at XSunX, joined Solexant 9 months ago as vice president of process and equipment development, including development of all thin film layers, cell current collection, grid interconnect technology, module encapsulation, and reliability. Robert became the third C-level executive to join Solexant's new dream team.
Solexant Corp is based in San Jose, California, where it produces thin film solar cells that incorporate high efficiency PV materials on flexible substrates in high speed roll-to-roll equipment. This technology platform of high efficiency and high speed will dramatically reduce manufacturing costs in the coming gigawatt era of Solar 2.0. Solexant has been named by London's Guardian as a Global Cleantech 100 company and won Annual 100 Award recognition from R&D Magazine.
For more information, please visit www.solexant.com.
Media Contact:
Mary P. Curtis
Pacifico, Inc.
(408) 888-7872
Solexant Corp is based in San Jose, California, where it produces thin film solar cells that incorporate high efficiency PV materials on flexible substrates in high speed roll-to-roll equipment. This technology platform of high efficiency and high speed will dramatically reduce manufacturing costs in the coming gigawatt era of Solar 2.0. Solexant has been named by London's Guardian as a Global Cleantech 100 company and won Annual 100 Award recognition from R&D Magazine.
For more information, please visit www.solexant.com.
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