The founder and current chief executive officer of Solyndra, Inc., Chris Gronet, will step down from his management position and hand control of the company over to Brian Harrison, the current CEO of flash memory firm Numonyx and a veteran of many years at Intel Corporation. In a press release on Tuesday, the California solar panel maker said that Gronet will retain an executive role and will stay on as chairman of the Board of Directors.
"Brian has proven he can ramp operations while aggressively driving down costs in a very competitive global industry," said Steve Mitchell, managing director at Argonaut Private Equity. Argonaut is a high-profile PE firm with a substantial stake in Solyndra.
Solyndra, based in Fremont, California, manufactures cylindrical solar photovoltaic modules, a unique form factor. Solyndra's technology has been used in a number of high-profile California solar installations, and the main factory was visited by President Barack Obama.
However, a cancelled initial public offering in June raised some questions about the long-term cost-effectiveness of the company's technology and manufacturing. The company's goal is to reduce its total system cost - including panel and mount costs - to less than $2 per watt by 2013.
Mr. Harrison's task will be to drive innovation at Solyndra, while cutting down on manufacturing costs and reassuring private investors of the company's future.
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The founder and current chief executive officer of Solyndra, Inc., Chris Gronet, will step down from his management position and hand control of the company over to Brian Harrison, the current CEO of flash memory firm Numonyx and a veteran of many years at Intel Corporation. In a 
