Blue Square Energy: Solar plans stalled at funding round
CEO Jeff Barnett and father/consultant Dr. Allen Barnett asked to tender resignations.
Since Blue Square Energy also presents at Alternative Energy Innovations 2007, Blue Square Energy (BSE) has failed to raise the outlined $30 million round of venture capital to fund their expansion plans.
In a recent conversation with BSE Chairman Ray Moyer and Board member Joe Babin, I learned that Blue Square Energy has missed hitting critical milestones in the commercialization of Bright Point and confirmed rumored layoffs had occurred at the company.
“Leadership issues” have contributed to a morale problem at BSE resulting in the resignations of core technical team members. CEO Jeff Barnett is studying for a Wharton MBA at the University of Pennsylvania rather than committing one-hundred (100) percent to running start-up BSE. BSE shut down the silicon wafer recycling business last November 2007 citing reduced wafer availability from key supplier Intel Corporation because of Quality Assurance procedure and process changes. Government contracts and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHESC) program are the revenue streams for BSE now.
BSE failed to raise $30 million in VC funding due to concerns surrounding Allen Barnett and the failure at AstroPower along with serious questions related to Jeff Barnett’s ability to manage.
Members of the Board also have come to realize that Allen Barnett is no longer a technical asset to the company. Board members also confirmed that Jeff Barnett has failed to meet almost all timing objectives for Bright Point commercialization.
Contrary to these developments, the BSE Board of Directors still strongly believes in the promise of Bright Point technology and has been careful to maintain relationships with departed members of the company’s core technical team. However, a prerequisite for their return to BSE are changes in the company’s management prompting the Board to take the formal step of asking Jeff Barnett and Dr. Allen Barnett to tender their resignations from Blue Square Energy.
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