The SunShot Initiative announced changes and a new face, while saying goodbye to leadership team members who have shaped their office’s work since the beginning.
Here is an overview of the changes to the leadership team:
Dr. Becca Jones-Albertus has transitioned to a temporary role as the acting director of SunShot from her previous role as the program manager of SunShot’s Photovoltaics (PV) team. In her new role, Dr. Jones-Albertus will manage and balance the portfolio of research, development, demonstration, and deployment programs in achieving our national SunShot goals. Dr. Jones-Albertus has spent her career advancing solar cell materials and devices, from research and development to manufacturing. She will remain in this role until a permanent hire is made for the SunShot director, which is expected in the coming months.
Dr. Paul Basore has recently joined the SunShot staff in a new role as chief engineer. In this role, Dr. Basore will be responsible for technical and strategic leadership across SunShot. Dr. Basore’s thirty-year career in PV has spanned university, government, and industrial positions across three continents. He is the principal developer of leading industry software tools for PV characterization and cost modeling.
Dr. Lenny Tinker has been named the acting program manager of SunShot’s PV team. Lenny has been with SunShot since 2011, where he started as a policy fellow and was hired as a federal technology manager handling early-stage applied research and development programs at national laboratories, universities, and companies to develop advanced PV systems.
Dr. Avi Shultz has been named the acting program manager of SunShot’s Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) team. Avi has been with SunShot since 2013, where he started as a policy fellow and was hired as a federal technology manager focusing on thermochemical energy storage, CSP systems and cost analysis, and non-electricity applications of solar thermal process heat.
Meanwhile, SunShot has the deepest appreciation for the vital contributions the departing leadership team members have made to the mission to bring affordable solar energy to all Americans:
Dr. Lidija Sekaric has moved on from her role as Acting Director of SunShot to a new position as a senior advisor to Roland Risser, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Renewable Power for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). She was a member of the SunShot team for five years, spending time in various roles including technology manager, PV Program Manager, Technology to Market Program Manager, Deputy Director, and finally as Director. We look forward to continuing to work with Dr. Sekaric in her new role with EERE.
Joe Stekli has departed SunShot for a new role as a federal contractor supporting DARPA. For the past year+, Stekli has led both SunShot’s CSP and Technology to Market teams. He started in SunShot in 2009 as a technology manager on the CSP team, and later served stints as a Presidential Management Council fellow at the White House and as an advisor at DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E).
