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eSolar Brings On Senior VP of Engineering from Sandia National Laboratories
Solar Thermal Pioneer Joins Team to Enhance Technology Solutions
Pasadena, Calif. – September 18, 2008 – eSolar, a producer of modular, scalable solar thermal power plants, announced
today the addition of Craig Tyner, Ph.D., as Senior Vice President of Engineering.
Dr. Tyner, an energy engineering veteran with nearly 30 years of experience,
has spent much of his career advancing and deploying solar thermal technologies.
He will lead the ongoing development of eSolar's technology, which has
already attracted key utilities across the Southwest United States.
Dr. Tyner joins eSolar's executive team following its recently announced
245 megawatt deal with Southern California Edison.
"eSolar embarked on an aggressive technology deployment strategy, focused on
working with utilities and power providers to deliver clean, renewable, and
low cost energy from the sun," said Asif Ansari, Chief Executive Officer of eSolar.
"The decades of experience Craig has in solar research and development – he
was actively involved with Solar One, the first solar thermal power tower
system ever built – will help to continue to improve upon eSolar's technology
roadmap as we bring our power plants to market."
Prior to joining eSolar, Dr. Tyner spent 31 years at Sandia National Laboratories
where he managed Sandia's solar and geothermal research and development programs
and conducted extensive research in solar power tower technology and solar chemistry.
He was program manager for all Sandia activities on the Solar Two Project, which
included the project technical advisory committee and acting as the Department of
Energy's primary advisor. From 1994-2004, Dr. Tyner served in a variety of roles
for the International Energy Agency's SolarPACES solar thermal working group,
including Chairman of the Executive Committee from 2002-2004. Dr. Tyner holds
a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois, where he was a
National Science Foundation Fellow, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree from
the California Institute of Technology.
"Upon reviewing the solar thermal technologies currently coming online in the
private sector, I was truly impressed how eSolar had designed its technology
with rapid power plant deployment in mind, overcoming the key obstacles that
utility-scale solar has faced," Dr. Tyner said. "I look forward to applying
my experience in solar thermal technology development to guide eSolar along
its established technology roadmap."
eSolar is currently completing a commercial demonstration facility in Southern
California, and the company's technology and business model recently put eSolar
on the AlwaysOn Going Green list of the top 100 privately held cleantech companies.
About eSolar
eSolar is an Idealab company founded in 2007 to develop, construct and deploy modular,
scalable solar thermal power plants. eSolar's approach marries a low-impact,
pre-fabricated form factor with advanced optics and computer software engineering
to meet the demands of utilities of any size for clean, renewable and cost-competitive
solar energy. By focusing on the key business obstacles that have characterized
large solar installations – price, scalability, speed of deployment and grid impact –
eSolar has developed a proprietary solution to make a dramatic reduction in the cost
of solar thermal technology. eSolar is based in Pasadena, California.
For more information please visit www.esolar.com.
Media Contact:
eSolar
Antenna Group for eSolar:
Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen
(415) 977-1922
caitlin@antennagroup.com
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415-977-1922
Amy Deavoll
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press@esolar.com
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