Phoenix Solar Announces Formation of North American Leadership Team

SAN RAMON, California, February 28, 2011—Phoenix Solar today announced the formation of its North American executive leadership team, now positioned to leverage the company’s global market leadership and proven expertise at delivering solar PV power plants and long-term Operations services. Since 1999, Phoenix Solar has installed solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants generating over 650 MWp globally and is operating over 180 MWp under long-term contracts.

Phoenix Solar AG (www.phoenixsolar.com) previously announced its entry into the North American market with Phoenix Solar Inc. (www.phoenixsolar.us) in August 2010. The Company’s North American headquarters is located at the Bishop Ranch office park in San Ramon, California. Paul J. Caudill, with over 30 years of power generation and renewable energy industry experience, was appointed by the Board of Directors to serve as Chief Executive Officer & President. Mr. Caudill comes to Phoenix Solar from a leading global solar industry company, where he served as head of Global Operations.

Stated Mr. Caudill, “Phoenix Solar is fortunate to have been able to attract a world-class North American leadership team with a keen understanding of what it takes to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain commercial and large-scale PV power plants. The team shares a consensus view that our business success will almost entirely be determined by how we meet the needs of each and every customer for our solar power plant services.”

Mr. Caudill continued, “Because we don’t manufacture solar cells or modules, we are technology-neutral. Our team’s goal in North America, as it has been for over 11 years on a global scale, is to meet the unique design, budget and technical requirements of each of our customers by providing solar power plants with the optimum price-to-performance ratio.”
Phoenix Solar’s North American leadership team includes:

• Paul J. Caudill, Chief Executive Officer & President, is a proven senior executive with leadership experience in conventional utility-scale power generation, transmission, and distribution. A significant portion of his professional training and work experience is founded in the U.S. commercial nuclear power generation business. Paul began his career in project management and project controls with Bechtel Power Corporation, one of the world’s most successful engineering, procurement and construction companies. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Public Management from the University of Arizona.
• Peter Beucke, Chief Operating Officer, is a licensed architect, real estate broker and contractor with over 25 years of design, engineering, and construction experience. Prior to joining Phoenix Solar, he served as the Director of Global Design Engineering for a solar industry leader. In this role, Mr. Beucke was deeply involved in the design and construction of some of the world’s largest roof and ground-mounted solar plants in the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Beucke has previous experience as Senior Vice President for the San Francisco Bay Area division of Lennar Homes, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Design from Arizona State University’s College of Architecture.
• Bryan Meier, Chief Financial Officer, joins Phoenix Solar from Verasun Energy Corp., where he served as Vice President of Finance and then Chief Financial Officer. Bryan has previous experience as Vice President and Corporate Controller at ViaSystems Group, Inc., a leading provider of complex multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs) and Electro-Mechanical Solutions to OEMs. Over the course of his 23-year career in finance, Mr. Meier has also held senior financial management positions at several other firms and started his career at accounting firm Arthur Andersen. Bryan is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance from the University of Missouri in St. Louis.
• Arra Yerganian, Chief Sales Officer, brings broad senior management experience to Phoenix Solar, having held key leadership roles in sales, marketing and general management at a range of customer-focused companies. Over the course of his 25-year career, Mr. Yerganian has served in senior sales and marketing roles at Procter & Gamble, Dial Corp., and Infogrames Entertainment (Atari). He was a senior executive at two of the nation’s largest homebuilders and President of both a business marketing solutions firm and a web-based consumer marketplace. Arra received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in International Marketing & Operations Management from Boston University, and upon graduation earned the Scarlet Key distinction for academic excellence and campus leadership. He completed an Executive Education Program in Strategic Marketing Management at Harvard Business School.
• Les A. Lifter, Chief Marketing Officer, brings over 22 years of corporate and brand marketing expertise to Phoenix Solar Inc. Prior to joining Phoenix Solar, he was Vice President, Strategic Marketing for Lennar Homes, overseeing marketing and sales efforts for the company’s residential solar initiatives. Les has leveraged his strong customer-focused approach while leading marketing efforts for small, mid-sized and large organizations, holding key marketing and leadership positions with Unilever, Hasbro and AutoZone. Les holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration in Marketing & International Business from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Emory University.
• Charles “Chip” Pospisil, Vice President, Project Controls, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and has served as project manager and project control specialist on dozens of successful large-scale projects in the energy field. Chip has actively managed large-scale Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects, enterprise project management solution implementations, information technology initiatives and company start-ups. Chip draws on over 30 years of experience to design and implement cost control and risk management solutions for project portfolios. Chip received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Connecticut.
• Nick de Vries, Vice President, Plant Operations & Engineering, has over 15 years of solar energy, semiconductor and military experience. He comes to Phoenix Solar from Applied Materials, a technology leader in both the solar and semiconductor industries. With Applied Materials, Nick served as Director of Field Operations in the Solar Business Division, where he was involved in the design, construction and operation of the company’s first thin-film solar factories. Prior to Applied Materials, Nick was an Infantry Captain in the United States Army and served in active duty in Kuwait and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nick graduated from Lehigh University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He holds two patents related to photovoltaic technology and one patent related to semiconductor technology.

Commenting on the North American market opportunity, Mr. Caudill said, “We are in the enviable position of being able to leverage Phoenix Solar’s well-established international reputation, proven project engineering expertise and proprietary operations and maintenance technology for the benefit of solar customers operating in the U.S and Canada.“

About Phoenix Solar
Founded in 1999, Phoenix Solar is a global leader in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of solar photovoltaic power plants. The company’s technology-neutral approach allows us to objectively provide the best solar solutions for our customers. Phoenix Solar Inc. (Phoenix Solar Incorporated) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Phoenix Solar AG (www.phoenixsolar.com), headquartered in Sulzemoos, Germany. For more information, please visit www.phoenixsolar.us or call 925-659-3700.

U.S. media contact:
Bruce Entin
Phoenix Solar Inc.
[email protected]
Direct: 925-659-3715

Investor contact:
Anka Leiner
Phoenix Solar AG
[email protected]
Tel.: +49 (0)8135 938-315

Non-U.S. Media contact:
Andrea Wegner
Phoenix Solar AG
[email protected]
Tel.: +49 (0)8135 938 -313