Zhengrong Shi
Founder and CEO of Suntech Power Co, Ltd.
Dr. Zhengrong Shi is Founder and CEO of Suntech Power Co., Ltd., a company he established in 2001 to specialize in manufacturing silicon solar cells, modules and systems. Under Dr. Shi’s leadership, Suntech has grown at a phenomenal rate, increasing its manufacturing capacity by more than an order of magnitude in less than three years, reaching 150 MWp earlier this year.
According to Photon International in March 2005, Suntech’s silicon solar cell production volume was ranked the 10th in the world, and was forecast to be the 6th in 2006. The rapid growth and success of Suntech combined with the quality of its products has given PV markets and investors a new confidence in PV manufacturing in China.
Dr. Shi’s impressive achievements have been honored with many awards and prizes from the Wuxi government, the Jiangsu provincial government and the Central government, such as the prize for Excellence in Innovation and Pioneering work from the Wuxi government, the National Prize for Excellent Achievements by Homecoming Chinese from the Central Government. Dr. Shi has also been acknowledged by our State leaders, such as President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.
In March 2004, Premier Wen Jia Bao inspected Suntech in person and affirmed the impressive achievements of Suntech made under Dr. Shi’s leadership. In December 14, 2005, Sunech had a successful IPO (Initial Public Offering) on the New York Stock Exchange. Through the IPO, Suntech Power issued 26.38 million American Depository Shares (ADS) priced at US$15 per piece. The company raised a total of US$400 million through the IPO, becoming the Chinese private enterprise to raise the largest amount of funds in the New York Stock Exchange.
Zhengrong Shi was born in Jjiangsu Province and initially completed his undergraduate and masters degrees in China before conducting his PhD research at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia in 1988 under the supervision of Martin A. Green, a well known world leader in PV. In 1991, he obtained his PhD degree in multi-crystalline silicon thin film solar cells and has been subsequently recognized as a world authority in the area such as, through being chosen as the International expert on thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells for the Wiley journal Progress in Photovoltaics for its special issue on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells.
Since his PhD, Dr Shi worked as a senior research scientist at UNSW, and later worked as Deputy Research Director at Pacific Solar for 6 years. During this period he was involved in developing the thin film technology now being commercialized by CSG Solar in Germany and is one of the inventors on the key patents for this successful technology. Dr. Zhengrong Shi has published many scientific papers and holds many patents for his innovations in solar cells.
