SunPower Corporation has let go of its Vice President, Market Strategy and Policy Tom Starrs who is joining EDP Renewables (EDPR) North America as its vice president of Government Affairs. Starrs left SunPower in late July after working with the American solar power company for over 11 years.
At SunPower, Starrs was responsible for the company's market analysis, policy analysis, and policy advocacy with a focus on federal legislative and regulatory affairs. A long-time solar advocate in the US, he worked with Solar Energy Ventures LLC as the company's CEO before he joined SunPower.
Starrs has left SunPower at a time when the company is about to officially spin-off parts of its cell/module manufacturing business through Maxeon Solar Technologies that has recently launched its Performance 5 shingled bifacial solar panels that are scheduled to reach a power rating of up to 625 W power rating in 2021 (see SunPower Spin-off Launches 600W+ PV Panel).
In a farewell note on his LinkedIn account, Starrs recalled his happy years with SunPower and announced his new innings with EDPR North America to begin in a week's time. EDPR is the renewables arm of leading Portuguese utility EDP.
"I'm thrilled to join a fast-growing leader in utility-scale renewable power, and excited by the opportunity to support an extraordinary team developing wind, solar and storage projects throughout North America. I haven't even started yet but I'm excited by the company's success, its appetite for growth, and its culture," stated Starrs.
He will be replacing Roby Roberts at EDPR who, Starrs said, will be stepping down from his position.
SunPower's Maxeon Solar Technologies will publicly introduce and showcase the new SunPower Performance 5 panel during TaiyangNews' Virtual Conference on 500W+ Solar Modules on July 29 & 30, 2020. Maxeon Solar COO Peter Aschenbrenner will participate in the Exec Panel on July 30. Registrations free here.