Howard Wenger currently serves as President of Nextracker, Inc., a leading provider of solar tracker and software solutions used in utility-scale and distributed generation projects. An accomplished solar industry business leader and executive spanning 35 years, Wenger brings global commercial and operations management expertise to Nextracker from his prior leadership roles, including president and board member of Solaria Corporation, president and chief executive officer of SunPower Corporation Systems, and executive vice president at PowerLight Corporation.
Howard Wenger is passionate about enabling a clean all-electric future powered by a 100% renewable grid and distributed generation. He has worked for more than 35 years in the solar and utility power field, including executive and board member positions - from start-ups to leading multi-billion-dollar public companies. Mr. Wenger founded Wenger Ventures in 2017, an active clean power venture capital fund which has invested in over twenty companies and clean energy funds.
During his career, Wenger has led and scaled companies, driven the establishment of public policies to mainstream solar including the first net metering law in the US and first rebate incentive program for grid-connected photovoltaics (California, 1994), and written software programs and tools that are still used today to design and engineer solar power systems. He has authored or co-authored over 75 technical papers and reports principally in the solar power field, most of which have been published and in the public domain.
Wenger earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Other Experience:
Solaria Corporation as investor and advisor since 2017; board director 2019-2022; and served a 1-year assignment as President. Solaria merged with Complete Solar November 2022 to form Complete Solaria (NASDAQ : CSLR).
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR), section 16 executive officer for 10 years, including president and CEO of SunPower Systems Corporation, with global responsibility for the company's residential, commercial, and utility power plant businesses. SunPower (and PowerLight) grew from $20 million to over $3 billion in revenue with over 10,000 employees during Wenger's tenure.
PowerLight Corporation, executive vice president and board director. PowerLight was a global leading commercial and large-scale solar power company when it was acquired by SunPower in 2007 for over $300 million.
Management positions at Pacific Gas & Electric Company of San Francisco, AstroPower Corporation (acquired by GE) and Pacific Energy Group, a company he co-founded and operated with Tom Hoff (see cleanpower.com).
