New Energy Adds Glass Executive to Board of Advisers

New Energy Technologies Inc. of Columbia, Md., the developer of SolarWindow, capable of generating electricity on see-through glass and flexible plastic, appointed J. Patrick Thompson to the company’s board of advisers, according to a February 6 company news release.

In the solar-glass industry, Thompson developed Asahi Glass Co.’s solar glass division, achieving more than $200 million in revenues and growing sales from zero at inception to commanding 70 percent market share in North America, according to the release. As vice president of Asahi’s solar business unit, he’s credited with the development and commercial introduction of 11 new products in 2010 alone.

“I’m pleased to welcome Patrick to the team as part of our proactive effort to introduce New Energy’s SolarWindow technology to industry,” says John A. Conklin, president and CEO of New Energy Technologies, in the release. “Patrick brings us valuable technical know-how in glass manufacturing processes and encapsulation technologies for increasing the lifetime of coatings. This kind of industrial experience is essential to applying our SolarWindow electricity-generating coatings to see-through commercial glass products and ensuring a commercially viable product lifecycle. Importantly, Patrick’s demonstrated record of business success at Fortune 100 companies is directly aligned with the industries we’re targeting for introduction of our SolarWindow – namely, solar, glass, plastics, and specialty chemicals.”

A licensed professional engineer, Thompson earned his mechanical undergraduate degree from Clemson University and completed the Dynamic Leadership program at International Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Thompson’s appointment follows the recent addition of Chris Harris to the company’s board of advisers.

Currently under development for eventual commercial deployment in the estimated 85 million commercial buildings and homes in America, SolarWindow is the world’s first-of-its-kind technology capable of generating electricity on see-through glass windows, according to the release.