CEO of Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer to step down

Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer, Tindo Solar, will undergo a change at the top, with the company’s CEO Shayne Jaenisch stepping down at the end of the year after five years in the role.

Tindo Solar says Jaenisch will step down from his position as CEO to allow a new management team to take the South Australia-based company forward. There is no detail, yet, on who that new team might include.

Jaenisch took the helm at Tindo at a time when the company was shifting from ownership under founder Adrian Ferraretto to become Australia’s only maker of high-quality solar panels for the rooftop and utility-scale markets.

A new production line and big plans

The solar panel maker has had a big couple of years, culminating in the launch of new and expanded facilities in Adelaide in May of this year.

The significant milestone even managed to draw an appearance from the clean energy-reluctant former federal energy minister Angus Taylor.

Tindo’s $6 million manufacturing facility at Mawson Lakes, much of which was built during the Covid-19 chaos, includes a “state of the art” manufacturing line capable of producing panels using the latest cell technology.

In February, Tindo launched its first utility-scale panel – the 545W Karra module – branching out from its focus on the residential solar market.

“Over the next decade there will be a steeper increase in demand for panels in large-scale projects than from our core market of rooftop retail and commercial,” Jaenisch said at the time.

“Owners of solar projects want a high-quality Australia-made option, and we now have a market-leading product we can sell them, made right here in Adelaide.”

Building up Australia’s solar supply chain

Tindo said this week that Jaenisch had generated sales-growth at the panel maker in the face of cheap overseas competition, by focusing on Australia-made quality.

Under his leadership, Tindo secured export contracts to Vietnam and collaborated with leaders in Australian industry, government and universities on building up the local PV supply chain and addressing the solar waste problem.

“My enduring goal has been to build a sovereign capability so that our fast uptake of renewables can be partly serviced by Australian supply chains, innovators and skilled workers,” said Jaenisch in a statement on Tuesday.

“We are blessed with mineral resources and high-quality people, and Australia must stay engaged in the science, engineering and manufacturing that underpins the renewables opportunity.

“I look forward to the day that Australian solar panels are made in multiple facilities across the country, utilising 100 per cent Australian materials.”

“I thank the owner of Tindo Solar, Mr Glenn Morelli, for giving me the opportunity to lead this extraordinary company.”