QBotix growth sparks adding new executives Matt Lugar as VP of Sales & Marketing and Kirk Johnson as VP of Finance
August 27, 2013—SAN FRANCISCO, CA and MENLO PARK, CA— QBotix, makers of innovative mobile robotic and tracking solutions for the commercial and utility-scale solar sectors, announced that the company has hired solar power industry veterans Matt Lugar to serve as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Kirk Johnson as Vice President of Finance. Lugar will lead global sales and marketing, while Johnson will oversee finance, strategic planning, and accounting.
“With four commercial installations this year so far and more on the horizon, QBotix is gaining significant commercial traction,” said Wasiq Bokhari, CEO of QBotix. “As part of this, we are delighted to have Matt Lugar and Kirk Johnson on board to manage and lead this growth. Matt’s deep experience at organizations throughout the solar value chain is invaluable in enabling QBotix to best understand our customers and convey our significant value proposition. In addition Kirk’s proven finance and strategy expertise greatly strengthens our capability to bring reliable, innovative technologies to the increasingly competitive, risk adverse financial driven solar industry.”
Matt Lugar comes to QBotix with almost 18 years of experience in the solar energy industry. He has held leadership roles in various segments of the value chain, particularly in early stage companies and young divisions of larger companies. Prior to QBotix, Mr. Lugar was the Senior VP of Sales and Marketing at Stellar Energy, a leading California-based solar integrator. His tenure at Stellar Energy entailed the development and construction of over 20 MW of commercial solar projects. Prior to this, he was a founding member and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at solar developer and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) provider Tioga Energy. While at Tioga, Mr. Lugar was instrumental in developing and financing some of the first commercial solar PPA’s in partnership with leading solar EPCs.
“QBotix addresses one of the primary challenges facing the solar industry: lowering balance-of-system costs while increasing system efficiency. Our product is truly one of the most creative and powerful concepts to enter the solar industry in years,” said Lugar. “I am proud and excited to be working with this innovative team, and look forward to amplifying the financial returns of solar developers, EPCs and system owners around the world with our product.”
Kirk Johnson joins QBotix with thirty years of financial experience at semiconductor, silicon materials and solar companies. Prior to QBotix, Mr. Johnson was responsible for financially guiding a number of private companies including: Scifiniti; Integrated Materials; Torrex; and Guidetech. These companies collectively raised a combined $100M from venture and strategic investors. Additionally, he was integral in the strategic positioning and acquisition of both Integrated Materials and Torrex. In addition, Mr. Johnson served as VP and Corporate Controller of Cypress Semiconductor, a $1.5B company, where he successfully guided the company through a $110M bond offering.
“Solar is, and will continue to be, one of the fastest-growing segments in technology, and I believe QBotix will play an important role as the industry expands. Our technology provides the strongest financial returns for those who own solar power plants when compared with any other mounting or tracking solution on the market today,” Johnson said.
About QBotix. QBotix is an optimized solar PV tracker company that employs rugged, intelligent, mobile robots to deliver innovative robotic and tracking solutions in the commercial and utility-scale solar sectors. Using the new paradigm of Solar Robotics™, the QBotix Robotic Tracking System™ (RTS) maximizes energy generation to produce up to 15% more energy than single-axis trackers and up to 40% more than fixed-tilt systems — at installed costs similar to single-axis tracking. www.qbotix.com.
Contact:
Paul Breslow
QBotix
[email protected]
650–521–0286