By Ucilia Wang
Jeannine Sargent, who took over the fledging solar business at Swiss thin-film factory equipment company, Oerlikon Solar (OERLF.PK), in 2007, is leaving.
The company issued a brief announcement about her departure, and the appointment of Jurg Henz as the interim CEO. Henz has been an executive within Oerlikon.
Sargent joined Oerlikon Solar after serving as the executive vice president and general manager of Veeco Instruments' metrology and instrumentation business.
Oerlikon develops equipment for making amorphous-silicon solar panels, and has 10 customers with over 450 megawatts of generation capacities.
The solar company saw its sales decline by 2 percent for the first nine months of this year to reach CHF 432 million.
Oerlikon won two big contracts during the second quarter: a 120-megawatt contract with Nano solar Technologies in Russia and a 30-megawatt contract with HelioSphera in Greece.
But it didn't sign any major contracts in the third quarter, and is expecting a weak forth quarter.
For 2010, it expects to see a bit more orders but flat sales.
