The Silicon Valley company has broken ranks with European business DNV GL.
Image: DNV GL
PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) is on its own again. After five years as part of European quality assurance and risk management company DNV GL, at the beginning of the year the Silicon Valley solar and battery testing laboratory emerged as a newly independent company via a management buy-out.
Jenya Meydbray is returning as CEO to lead the solar panel testing company he co-founded, after a stint at developer Cypress Creek Renewables. In addition to Mr. Meydbray, the company will be led by executives who have been with the business since before the merger, including Tara Doyle as chief commercial officer, Chris Faith as chief operating officer and Ryan Desharnais as chief technology officer.
PVEL says it will continue to collaborate with Norway-headquartered DNV GL “where appropriate”, but notes its newly independent status will allow it to be more nimble. “The technology is moving faster than ever before,” Mr. Meydbray told pv magazine. “There are certain advantages to being large, and there are advantages to being small and agile.”
Apparently that includes being able to work with other partners and to be able to enter independent markets and work as an independent lab.
But PVEL executives stressed the move is not as big a change as is often the case with a split. “Even within DNV GL we operated as an independent test lab,” said Ms. Doyle. She noted, within DNV GL there was a “firewall” between the independent engineers and the testing lab to protect manufacturing clients, including those trying out new products and approaches, and she added the lab always worked with independent engineers.
PVEL also alluded to new services it plans to roll out this year, but did not provide details.
Source: pv magazine
