Solarmax announces the appointment of Derek Durham as the new Regional Manager East to strengthen its management team in Australia.
Derek Durham will, as part of the company’s global executive leadership team, oversee SolarMax’s growth and expansion in Australia.
Based in Biel, Switzerland, Durham will oversee the management of SolarMax’s Australian operations and in Eastern Europe. Durham has been with SolarMax for 18 months and was previously the Area Sales Manager for Sputnik Engineering International (SolarMax). He has over 15 years of experience in PV systems design, engineering and sales management.
Durham will be responsible for setting the company’s strategic direction and charting its growth and expansion. He will be supported by Gavin Merchant, Key Account Manager Australia, who will report to Durham and continue to be responsible for developing and managing distribution and installer partnerships in Australia.
In addition to Durham’s appointment, SolarMax Australia will be increasing its local headcount to further strengthen its footprint in the market, with a technical support specialist and additional sales staff to be announced later this year.
Christoph von Bergen, CEO, Sputnik Engineering AG commented that SolarMax has seen tremendous potential for growth in Australia since establishing its presence in October 2012. The company has made significant inroads in growing their distribution partnerships and received positive feedback from partners and customers for their products.
With changes in Australian government policies that had previously driven the demand for residential solar systems, SolarMax anticipates growth opportunities in large scale commercial projects. While the company will continue to be focused on the residential market, Derek and Gavin will be instrumental in delivering on plans to expand SolarMax’s market share in large scale commercial projects together with their partners.
SolarMax will introduce its highly acclaimed SolarMax P-series inverters in Australia towards the middle of 2014 to meet the demand for high efficiency solar inverters.
