Sydney-based Australian copper-plated solar cells innovator Sundrive Solar, has announced a restructure of the company, which it explains as a necessary precursor to the next phase of commercialisation.
A number of employees have been laid off and Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Allen has assumed the role of Chief Technical Officer, replaced by former Chief Operating Officer Natalie Malligan.
“As part of the review, Sundrive has made the difficult decision to streamline its operations, resulting in some members of the team departing the business,” a company statement said.
“Sundrive is supporting all affected employees through this process. This decision was not made lightly but we believe it is necessary to support Sundrive’s long-term success in continuing to deliver world-leading solar technology breakthroughs.”
Of Allen’s new role, the statement said as a founder of the business his passion and expertise is in solar innovation and Sundrive will benefit from his sole focus on leading the company’s technology development.
“Sundrive’s strength is in developing new technologies to advance solar power. We are committed to focussing on our core strengths of improving solar technology while continuing to pursue commercial partnerships to bring these technologies to market and accelerate the path to domestic manufacturing,” the statement said.
Sundrive is committed to an $11 million (USD 7.2 million) Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) grant to expand from prototype scale (1.5 MW/year to a commercial capacity of over 100 MW / year. It had previously received $3 million in ARENA funding to demonstrate copper metallisation technology to the prototype scale.
In early 2024, Sundrive partnered with energy company AGL to explore a solar manufacturing facility at the former Liddell coal plant’s site in the New South Wales Hunter Region, 240 kilometres north of Sydney.
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