Sungevity, Inc., a recognized leader in the global solar market, today announced that it has appointed Peter Graf as Chief Product Officer, a new position for the company. As CPO, Graf will be responsible for leading the company's online platform strategy and execution. Specifically, he will lead product management, software development and IT, solar system design, as well as corporate marketing and communications.
"Peter is very well-respected for his industry-leading experience in taking innovative software platforms to scale," said Andrew Birch, CEO, Sungevity. "I am excited to have him join our management team, and I look forward to him playing the central role in our plan to be the leading online platform company in the solar industry."
Before joining Sungevity, Graf served as the general manager of the sustainability business at SAP, a multinational software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. During his tenure he successfully built the sustainability vision of the company and drove its execution across SAP's worldwide organization building a new growth business for the company from scratch. During his 20-year career in enterprise software, he served in a wide variety of senior leadership positions in strategy, marketing and development. Graf holds a Ph.D. in computer science.
Sungevity is well known in the solar industry for its leading software innovations, including the company's proprietary iQuote technology, introduced in 2008 as an easy and efficient solution to solar adoption. The iQuote process enables the use of satellite imagery and aerial photography to assess roofs remotely and accurately determine the feasibility of solar installations, eliminating time-consuming and capital-intensive home visits. In July of 2014, the company launched its Instant iQuote software that combines LIDAR, aerial photography and real estate parcel data to produce a 3D model of the property at a given address. It also can be used to rapidly assess the solar potential of entire cities, counties and countries for retailers, utilities and other partners.
"Sungevity was founded on the premise of using the Internet to make solar power an accessible and affordable source of energy for everyone," said Graf. "With only one-percent of U.S. homes equipped with a solar system today, more innovation is required to enable more people to go solar, and at lower costs. I passionately believe in this purpose, and am invigorated to help propel Sungevity's ability to deliver on it."
