Polar Power, Inc. (NASDAQ: POLA), a global provider of prime, backup and solar hybrid DC power solutions, has appointed Peter Gross to its board of directors and audit committee. His appointment increases the total number of board members to four, with three members serving independently.
Mr. Gross brings more than 30 years’ experience in power systems engineering and design, particularly for data center and telecommunications applications. He is currently vice president of Mission Critical Systems at Bloom Energy, a fuel cell power systems company based in Sunnyvale, California. Prior to Bloom Energy, Peter was Managing Partner for Hewlett Packard’s ‘HP’ Carbon, Power and Critical Facilities Services, where he was responsible for strategic technology planning and business development.
Mr. Gross’ notable entrepreneurial achievement that led to his role at HP began in 1997 where he co-founded EYP Mission Critical Facilities, a premier consulting and engineering firm dedicated to the design and operations of data centers. Gross played a pivotal role in the rapid growth of EYP MCF’s business, leading to its acquisition by Hewlett Packard in 2008.
Mr. Gross has also made notable contributions to the evolution of the data center industry, including being co-awarded patents for the modular, pre-fabricated Flex DC product for DC power distribution topologies in data centers. As a frequent publisher of technical papers and the 2010 recipient of the Data Center Dynamics “Outstanding Contribution to the Industry” award, he is widely acknowledged as a thought leader in his field.
A Senior IEEE Member and Registered Professional Engineer, Mr. Gross was one of the contributors to IEEE Standard 3006.7-2013, “Recommended Practice for determining the reliability of 7×24 Power Systems in industrial and commercial facilities”. He was also the co-founder of the Critical Power Coalition (CPC), a non-profit consortium of electric power companies committed to addressing operational, technological and political issues relating to on-site continuity of electrical power in mission-critical facilities.
Arthur Sams, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Polar Power, commented, “We are humbled to welcome a renowned industry thought leader such as Peter to our board and are excited by his energy and depth of knowledge, particularly as we continue to execute on new sales initiatives with our new Tier-1 wireless customers both domestically and abroad. His incredible depth of experience working with data center power systems will prove invaluable as we begin to commercialize exciting new products in these markets.”
“The Polar Power team has done an outstanding job proving out market demand for their innovative DC power systems,” said Peter Gross. “Now that validation from all of top four U.S. wireless carriers and 32 overseas carriers has been established, I believe Polar Power is poised for significant near-term growth. I am thankful for the opportunity to join such an innovative company and look forward to leveraging my experience to help Polar Power accelerate its penetration into the promising data center market.”
