SEIA elects industry veterans to its board

As the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) continues its transformation under President and CEO Abigail Hopper, it continues to bring new blood into the fold.

Tom Starrs, vice president of market strategy and policy for SunPower Corp., was elected to be the Chair of the association, effective immediately. Starrs is succeeding Nat Kreamer of Spruce Finance, whose term as chairman ended earlier this year.

SEIA also added Michael Maulick, president and CEO of SunLink Corp., who was elected to serve as Vice Chair.

“The level of experience and passion these two men bring to their careers and to SEIA’s executive committee is going to help advance our organization and the industry as a whole,” Hopper said. “It’s an exciting chapter for the U.S. solar industry and on behalf of SEIA, we welcome their strong leadership and guidance.”

Starrs brings experience to the board as a strategist on solar energy market assessment, business development and public policy. He has served on the boards of the American Solar Energy Society, the California Foundation on the Economy and the Environment, the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, the Solar Alliance, the Solar Electric Power Association, SEIA and Vote Solar.

Maulick brings more than four decades of technology industry expertise to facilitate the converg nce of the technology and energy sectors on an international scale. His more than 20-year career in engineering and sales executive management at IBM will bring a fresh perspective to some of the challenges facing the solar industry as it heads into what one industry titan has called “The Solar Century.”