Konarka Technologies, Inc. announced that Alex Valenzuela has joined the company as vice president of European business development. With extensive experience in the solar energy market in Europe, Valenzuela will focus on business development efforts to further expand and deliver the company’s patent-protected thin film solar material fabricated from organic photovoltaics (OPV) into the region.

“Alex’s experience in the solar energy market in Europe with a particular emphasis in Spain, Portugal, Germany and France makes him the ideal candidate to help Konarka expand into the region,” commented Rick Hess, president and CEO at Konarka. “We are making great strides domestically in several key markets, including building and construction, fashion and accessory, marine, agriculture and various consumer applications, and we are now ready to put an even stronger emphasis to grow these same markets in Europe.”

Valenzuela was previously regional manager at United Solar Ovonic, a leading manufacturer of integrated rooftop photovoltaics, focusing on development efforts in Spain and Portugal. He has extensive business development and product positioning experience in building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and building attached photovoltaics (BAPV) innovations for thermal and photovoltaics products. He has also held business development positions at Schüco Solar International and Joint Venture Solar Energy. He is fluent in Spanish, German, Russian and English. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from the IE Business School in Madrid, Spain and a bachelor’s degree in architecture.

“There is great potential in the European solar market for Konarka’s unique light weight, flexible Power Plastic solar material, and I am looking forward to developing solutions for opportunities demanding cost-effective power,” said Valenzuela.