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OUR STORY
Tandem PV was founded in 2016 to build a new kind of solar panel, one that captures more energy from the sun and can be made at commercial scale in the United States.
Using perovskite-silicon tandem technology, the company’s high-efficiency solar panels integrate into existing manufacturing supply chains, and can be rapidly deployed to support booming electricity demand from AI, electrification, and data infrastructure.
The company’s roots trace back to pioneering perovskite-silicon tandem research by founder and CTO Colin Bailie at Stanford University, where he developed the first such tandem solar cell. Bailie partnered with long-time solar industry veteran Chris Eberspacher to form the company, combining breakthrough materials science with decades of experience translating new technologies into commercial solar products.
As the technology matured, Tandem PV built a leadership team to support the next phase of the company’s growth. Under the leadership of CEO Scott Wharton, the company has focused on designing its technology to be manufactured at scale, assembling deep expertise in high-volume solar manufacturing and operations, and aligning the organization for commercialization and production.
Today, Tandem PV is advancing U.S.-based manufacturing of high-efficiency tandem modules, combining high efficiency, demonstrated durability, and long-term bankability.
As solar becomes the backbone of new power generation worldwide, perovskite-silicon technology represents the most significant solar advance in decades — reshaping the economics of global electrification. Tandem PV is at the forefront of that shift.
“From the beginning, it was clear that low-cost tandem solar was the next frontier. The challenge — and the opportunity — was not just achieving higher efficiency, but turning that potential into a product that could be manufactured reliably and deployed at scale.”
- Colin Bailie, Founder & CTO
“What makes Tandem compelling today is the combination of differentiated technology and an execution-driven team. The company is entering the phase where manufacturing discipline, durability, and scale matter most.”
- Scott Wharton, Chief Executive Officer
“With the core technology in place, Tandem PV is focused on market readiness — building the partnerships, manufacturing pathways, and customer confidence required to deploy a next-generation solar product at scale.”
- Saritha Peruri, Vice President of Commercialization
Our Leadership Team
We are a close-knit team united by a mission to build a cleaner, more secure energy future. Our shared commitment to advancing American energy independence drives us to push the boundaries of science and technology every day. With deep expertise in research, manufacturing, and large-scale deployment, we are developing breakthrough innovations backed by a growing portfolio of patents. Supported by $87 million in funding from leading investors—led by Eclipse Ventures—and strengthened through partnerships with U.S. government agencies and research institutions, including the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, California Energy Commission, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, we are building the foundation for America’s next era of solar leadership.
Scott Wharton
CEO
Scott is the CEO of Tandem PV, a disruptive solar panel company based in Silicon Valley.
Prior to Tandem, Scott was the Vice President and General Manager of Logitech for Business, a division that generates ~$2 billion in annual revenue and includes all products, software, and services for business and enterprise customers. Before leading the B2B group, Scott drove 25x growth in the Video Collaboration division, starting as a small player in 2015 ($62m) to over $1 billion in revenue, becoming the global market leader for video equipment. Under his leadership, Logitech has developed award-winning products recognized by CES, iF Design, Red Dot, and IDA for design innovation. For product excellence, the honors include TIME Best Inventions in 2022 and 2024 and Fast Company Next Big Thing in Tech for two consecutive years.
Scott has held market-leading roles throughout his career in the communications space including as the founder of Vidtel, a pioneer in cloud-based video conferencing services. Vidtel had a successful exit in 2013.
Scott was an early executive at BroadSoft (IPO; acquired by Cisco) and VocalTec (IPO) where he spearheaded numerous groundbreaking initiatives, including the development of the first commercial VoIP product, the creation of the cloud PBX market, and the VoIP service provider industry. Scott holds an MBA from Yale University.
Colin Bailie
Founder & CTO
As a doctoral candidate at Stanford University, Bailie performed seminal research on a then-new class of solar technology—perovskite-based tandem panels—which have the potential to substantially improve the power output of conventional solar modules. In fact, he developed the first perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell. Bailie co-founded Tandem PV with Chris Eberspacher, our managing director, while an Activate fellow at Cyclotron Road, the U.S. Department of Energy startup accelerator based at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Bailie holds a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University. He was named by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 30 leaders in the world under 30.
Chris Eberspacher
Co-Founder
Eberspacher has worked in the solar energy industry for over 35 years with some of the world's leading solar innovators. Prior to co-founding Tandem PV, he led solar technology development at Hanwha Solar, a global leader in green energy solutions, and SoloPower Systems, an early developer of thin-film solar technology. Prior to that, he held senior solar technology posts at Nanosolar and Applied Materials and co-founded Unisun, where he led the development of innovative non-vacuum processes for fabricating thin-film PV. Early in his career, Eberspacher led research and development teams that pioneered thin-film CIGS photovoltaic materials, processes and product designs at ARCO Solar/Siemens Solar Industries. He holds a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University and a B.S. in physics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Saritha Peruri
Vice President of Commercialization
Peruri, who brings over 20 years of solar and finance expertise to Tandem PV, joined the company from Elemental Excelerator, a nonprofit climate tech investor. As head of corporate partnerships, she grew and diversified Elemental’s partnerships network to create more commercial opportunities for the nonprofit’s expansive portfolio. In her final year at Elemental, Peruri shifted her primary focus to building a broad and collaborative ecosystem of capital and other providers to help enable startups to reach commercial scale. Her early achievements in the solar industry included developing over a dozen rooftop solar installations across Amazon’s fulfillment centers in the Northeast for Sol Systems. Peruri later worked for Pattern Energy, where she originated long-term wind and solar power purchase agreements with utilities and large commercial and industrial customers across the U.S. Peruri started her career as an investment banking analyst in Credit Suisse First Boston’s Global Energy Group and later worked as a management consultant with Bain & Company in Chicago. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor of arts in economics and international relations from Brown University.
Robert Meagley
Vice President of Quality
Robert Meagley brings more than two decades of experience in materials science, process engineering, and clean energy manufacturing to Tandem PV. As Vice President of Quality, he leads quality management systems, AI-based innovation and data analytics, materials sourcing, and continuous improvement as the company scales U.S.-based manufacturing. Prior to joining Tandem PV, Meagley served at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office, where he managed national R&D and commercialization programs focused on photovoltaics, advanced materials, and U.S. solar manufacturing. Earlier, he spent more than a decade at Intel Corporation, where his work in process engineering generated over $250 million in cost savings and resulted in 43 U.S. patents. At Tandem PV, Meagley is focused on ensuring high-efficiency tandem modules are manufactured with the consistency, reliability, and discipline required for long-term performance and bankability. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Delaware.
Jean-Claude Calegari
Chief Financial Officer
Calegari joined Tandem PV after holding several executive roles in corporate finance and operations. He served as CFO for Riffyn, a SAAS business for scientific research that was acquired by Siemens; Vice President of finance at Womply, a SAAS financial technology company; and head of supply chain operations at Amyris, a renewable fuels and chemicals company. Calegari also led operations at the SchoolHouse division of LeapFrog Toys and was founder and co-owner of Skuut, the leading children's balance bike company. Calegari serves on the board of the Teacher Salary Project, a non-partisan organization dedicated to raising teacher pay to attract and retain America's best educators. He holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a bachelors in sociology from Harvard University.
Clemens Hofbauer
VP of Manufacturing
Clemens Hofbauer brings more than 25 years of global leadership in solar and battery manufacturing to Tandem PV. He most recently served as General Manager of SunPower’s high-efficiency module facility in Oregon, directing 500 + staff and >400 MW of annual output. Earlier, as Vice President of Manufacturing at Sila Nanotechnologies, he scaled pilot lines for next-generation lithium-ion anodes from lab to pre-commercial volumes. Hofbauer has held executive roles across the solar value chain, including at SolarWorld and Silicor Materials, where he oversaw silicon, wafer, cell, and module operations on three continents. As COO of Silicor, he led engineering and finance teams that secured funding and broke ground on a U.S. $1 billion solar-grade silicon plant in Iceland.
Hofbauer earned a Graduate Engineering degree in Microsystem Technology from the University of Applied Sciences Regensburg and a Master of Business and Engineering from Steinbeis University Berlin.
Frank Blohm
VP of Operations
Frank Blohm brings 20 + years of global operations and supply-chain leadership to Tandem PV. He most recently served as Chief Operating Officer at Relyion Energy, building a multi-continent vendor network and scaling production lines that shipped >5,000 next-generation battery modules in under 18 months. Before that, as COO of EnerVenue, Blohm commercialized metal-hydrogen storage technology, negotiating long-term supply contracts that cut bill-of-materials costs 28 % while launching the company’s first U.S. gigafactory. Earlier in his career he steered high-volume manufacturing and logistics at Infinera (photonics), Velodyne LiDAR (autonomous sensors), and Sanmina (EMS). During nearly 14 years at Extreme Networks Blohm rose to EVP of Global Operations leading 250+ employees across supply chain, manufacturing, engineering, IT, sales operations, and quality, and driving revenue from $200 million to $1 billion.
NEWS
Tandem PV in the news
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