For over 30 years, Dan Shugar has been a leading voice in business, technology and climate policy, advancing solar and climate technology solutions in the U.S. and around the globe. As founder and CEO of Nextracker, Dan brings together solar expertise and technology innovation in a way few cleantech leaders can.
In less than ten years, Dan founded a solar start-up in the Balance of Systems (BOS) solar manufacturing category, maintained worldwide market share leadership for six consecutive years and has shipped over 50 gigawatts of smart solar trackers to 40 countries. Prior to Nextracker, Dan grew Solaria Corporation’s annual revenue five times over a three-year period and led successful deals and acquisitions worth over $1 billion with Powerlight, Sunpower and now Nextracker. Dan holds a BS in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Golden Gate University. Dan has numerous patents, published 50 technical papers. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) and Powerhouse Ventures.

Howard Wenger serves as President of Nextracker and is passionate about enabling a clean all-electric future. He has worked for more than 35 years in the solar and utility power field and has served in leadership and board positions of industry-leading companies. Most notably, Mr. Wenger served as an executive officer of SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) for ten years, joining the company upon the acquisition of PowerLight. He served as president and CEO of SunPower Systems, with global responsibility for the residential, commercial, and utility power plant businesses. SunPower/PowerLight grew from $20 million to over $3 billion in revenue with over 10,000 employees during Wenger’s tenure. Mr. Wenger currently serves as an advisor and board member for the California Solar and Storage Association, Solaria Corporation, Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), and as a trustee for the University of California at Santa Barbara. Mr. Wenger holds a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies from UCSB and a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, and has authored over 75 technical publications.

Dave is a CPA with 30 years of experience servicing public companies primarily in finance, accounting, tax, treasury, and audit related activities. He joined the Nextracker team in 2021 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to that, Dave served as a Vice President of Finance at Flex since 2009, Corporate Controller since 2011, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since 2014. Prior to his engagement with Flex in 2005, Dave was a Senior Manager at Deloitte and served over 12 years in the Accounting Assurances Group (Audit). He earned a Bachelor of Business & Administration (Cum Laude) – Emphasis in Accounting and Finance from the University of Colorado Boulder.

As Chief Technology Officer of Nextracker, Alex Au leads the Company’s technology road map, research and development efforts, and engineering teams, driving the development of holistic PV plant solutions, in addition to the creation of the Company’s award-winning single axis tracker portfolio and software monitoring and controls suite. The Nextracker co-founder has over 20 years of PV and energy storage product development experience, ranging from residential to utility-scale. Alex is responsible for over 200 Nextracker patents and currently serves on the Board of Powerhouse Ventures.

Kristan Kirsh is the VP of Global Marketing at Nextracker, where she has driven the company’s brand, marketing and communications strategy since 2015. In her Nextracker tenure, she spearheaded the company’s world-wide training program, PowerworX Academy for solar installers and has driven Nextracker’s community relations initiatives and DEIJ efforts to promote diversity in the solar industry. Prior to working at Nextracker, Kristan was the Senior Director of Marketing at cleantech firm, Energy Recovery, the Director of Communications for a host of nonprofits, and an international development practitioner in public health and infrastructure with USAID and the World Bank throughout Latin America. Kristan earned her Bachelor’s degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Master’s in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

As Nextracker’s Chief Operating Officer and a co-founder, Marco Miller is an experienced solar industry executive with more than two decades managing successful large scale utility projects in the US and around the globe. Marco directs multiple global teams from project engineering, supply chain, project management, construction and asset management to ensure customer success and that Nextracker’s 50 GW fleet is successfully operating and maintained to the fullest extent. Prior to Nextracker, Marco managed global project construction and operations for SunPower and PowerLight while based in Geneva, Switzerland. Marco is passionate about working in the field of Renewable Energy, and finding effective solutions to meet the global expanding energy demand. Marco earned his Bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Mike Mehawich is a co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Nextracker. A veteran of the solar industry, Mike has spent close to two decades commercializing transformative solar technologies for global markets. Prior to Nextracker, Mike served as VP of Product and Strategy for Solaria Corporation. Mike’s experience has encompassed a broad series of leadership positions in strategy, marketing, product management, and business development with companies ranging from pre revenue stage to the Fortune 500. Mike holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University.

Marco has developed and closed over 60 gigawatts of PV projects at Nextracker and worked with some of the world’s largest solar developers and EPCs including Atlas Renewable Energy, Elecnor, Enel, Engie, FRV, Lightsource BP, Mortenson and SOLV Energy. His tenure in the solar industry spans 20 years with executive leadership positions at PowerLight, SunPower, Suntech, Suniva and Solaria. As Chief Commercial Officer, Marco was instrumental in helping drive sales growth from $1M in 2013 to over $1.2 Billion in 2020. With a dual degree in Electrical Engineering and Economics from Brown University, Marco is well-known for building long term customer partnerships, growing successful global sales teams, and driving solar industry growth in emerging markets and solar tracker adoption worldwide.