Former First Solar CTO Enters Storage Industry

First Solar’s Ex-Chief Technology Officer Raffi Garabedian Joins Iron Flow Battery Energy Storage Company ESS’ Board Of Directors

Former First Solar CTO Enters Storage Industry

After stepping down from his CTO job at First Solar, Inc. in November, Raffi Garabedian (in the picture) has now joined the Board of Directors of ESS that supplies long-duration iron flow batteries for commercial and utility scale energy storage applications. (Photo Credit: ESS Inc.)

Raffi Garabedian has been announced to have joined the Board of Directors at US based long-duration iron flow batteries company ESS Inc., that supplies its products for commercial and utility scale energy storage applications.

Other ESS board members include Chairman Mike Niggli, SVP of Strategy and Investments at SoftBank Energy Rich Hossfeld, Cycle Capital’s Shirley Speakman, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ Kyle Teamey.

Garabedian was till recently working with American solar module maker First Solar, Inc. as the company’s CTO. In August 2020, First Solar introduced a co-CTO in the form of Markus Gloeckler assigning him the job to drive its flagship Series 6 platform, while Garabedian was to focus on advanced research and development of CdTe thin film module technology (see Executive Leadership Changes At First Solar).

In November 2020, First Solar announced Garabedian will step down from his position as the co-CTO effective as of November 5, 2020 and retire from the company in March 2021.

At ESS, Garabedian brings to the table his extensive experience of the renewables industry, especially utility scale solar. He also holds more than 20 issued patents, and has spent more than 15 years in the semiconductor and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) industries. Garabedian also founded Touchdown Technologies and was its CEO.

“Having worked with utility-scale solar for much of my career, I know firsthand the need for long-duration storage to support deployment of large renewable resources,” said Garabedian. “ESS’s sustainable iron flow battery technology is the cleanest, lowest-cost long-duration storage system available, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to add my expertise and experience to the company.”

First Solar CTO Enters Energy Storage Industry

Former First Solar CTO Enters Storage Industry

About The Author

Anu Bhambhani

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Anu is our solar news whirlwind. At TaiyangNews, she covers everything that is of importance in the world of solar power. In the past 9 years that she has been associated with TaiyangNews, she has covered over thousands of stories, and analysis pieces on markets, technology, financials, and more on a daily basis. She also hosts TaiyangNews Conferences and Webinars. Prior to joining TaiyangNews, Anu reported on sustainability, management, and education for leading print dailies in India. [email protected]

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