Image: Sonnen.
Residential energy storage company SONNEN announced Tuesday that Blake Richetta, former North American sales manager for Tesla Energy, will help lead SONNEN’s expansion into the US as vice president of sales.
Prior to his time at Tesla, Richetta spent 15 years at Lutron Electronics — developing Lutron’s smart home lighting and shading business through multiple channels of distribution. Richetta's experience in consumer electronics will be a key factor in advancing SONNEN’s market leadership in the US.
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Richetta’s appointment comes at a time when SONNEN secured an US$85 million investment from a group of companies, including Envision Energy.
Philipp Schroeder, managing director and chief sales & marketing officer of SONNEN, said: “We are extremely happy to see top European and US talent join SONNEN’s ranks to support our vision of clean and affordable energy for all.”
Richetta added: “SONNEN is the global leader in smart energy storage innovations. SONNEN recognizes the vital role that regional distribution partners play in the US. Also SONNEN understands like no other company in this sector, that winning at energy storage requires the smartest not the cheapest battery box. By installing a proven, intelligent network of batteries, SONNEN is creating an additional value for all by aggregating many systems to create a true virtual power plant that increases the resiliency of the utility grid and provides an alternative to conventional power plants. SONNEN is building the future of energy.”
SONNEN develops and manufactures the sonnenBatterie smart energy management systems in Germany and in San Jose, California.
SONNEN was not the only company to bring in new leadership Tuesday, as Eos Energy Storage announced additions to its advisory board.
Eos’ new appointments are Steven Chu, former US Secretary of Energy, Jerry Yang, founding partner of AME Cloud Ventures and co-founder of Yahoo, Lawrence H. Summers, former US Secretary of the Treasury, Wesley Clark, retired US Army General and Commander of NATO and James Kelly, former senior vice president of transmission & distribution at Southern California Edison.
In addition, energy storage company Stem announced last month that Bill Bush will join the company as its new chief financial officer. Prior to joining Stem, Bush served as the CFO of Borrego Solar Systems, where he helped the company raise revenue and profitability tenfold. Earlier, Bush was CFO of Solar Semiconductor, a PV module manufacturer and distributor based in India.
