Jul 17 2007
Applied Materials, Inc. announced today that Dr. Chris Eberspacher has joined the company’s Solar Business Group to lead advanced R&D programs. In this new role, Dr. Eberspacher will lead efforts for both silicon and non-silicon based solar materials and will report to Dr. Winfried Hoffmann, chief technology officer of Applied’s Solar Business Group. Before joining Applied, Dr. Eberspacher was most recently chief scientist at Nanosolar, Inc., a solar start-up focused on roll-to-roll processing of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) products.
“I am pleased to be joining Applied Materials, a world-class manufacturing company uniquely positioned with the expertise, experience and resources necessary to provide the solar industry with the high-volume, low-cost manufacturing infrastructure needed to achieve grid-competitive solar electric power,” said Dr. Eberspacher.
Dr. Eberspacher has a doctorate degree in applied physics from Stanford University and brings 25 years of experience in leading edge solar development to Applied Materials. He is well known for his significant contributions to thin-film solar cell technology, in particular solar cells based on thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). Dr. Eberspacher began his career at ARCO Solar, which later became Siemens Solar Industries, where he led development teams in crystalline silicon and thin-film solar cell technologies. Most recently, Dr. Eberspacher delivered pioneering contributions to nanoparticle-based thin-film CIGS solar cell technology at Unisun and Nanosolar.
“We are excited to have Chris join the Applied Materials team at a time of great business and technology momentum for our group,” said Charlie Gay, vice president and general manager, Applied Materials Solar Business Group. “He brings a wealth of practical experience in advanced PV technologies that will be critical to delivering next-generation nanomanufacturing innovations that will drive future solar cost reductions.”