Oakland, CA – SOLARCYCLE®, a tech-driven recycling company focused on producing sustainable and domestic materials at scale for the solar industry, today announced the appointment of energy and climate policy expert Michael Brune to its board.
“Michael’s appointment to SOLARCYCLE’s board comes at a critical growth point for our company. His strong track record campaigning for bold climate solutions and American clean energy jobs will benefit our company’s mission to bring sustainable and domestic supply chains to solar manufacturing through innovation, scale, and government collaboration,” said Suvi Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of SOLARCYCLE. “Michael brings an incredible sustainability background and his network inside the environmental movement and at every level of state and federal government will be crucial as we build a circular economy for solar in the United States.”
Brune, who currently serves as an adviser to climate philanthropists, investors, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has led and supported some of the nation’s most effective environmental advocacy campaigns. He served for nearly 12 years as Executive Director of the Sierra Club, the country’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization.
Over the course of his 25-year career, his acumen for partnering with government, business, advocacy groups, labor organizers, and investors accelerated the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy in the power sector, while spurring cities and states to commit to 100% clean energy. Brune previously served as Executive Director of Rainforest Action Network and for more than a decade, served as Co-Chair of the BlueGreen Alliance.
Brune joins the company’s co-founders on the board, as well as leaders from the solar, the advanced waste industry, climate tech, and circular economy. Since its launch in 2022, SOLARCYCLE has raised $37M and assembled a world-class management team with experience scaling companies such as Amazon, SunPower, and Nextracker.
About SOLARCYCLE
SOLARCYCLE (www.solarcycle.us) is a technology-driven platform designed to maximize solar sustainability by offering solar asset owners a low-cost, eco-friendly, comprehensive process for recycling retiring solar panels and technologies and repurposing them for new uses. The company’s proprietary technology allows it to extract 95% of a solar panel’s valuable materials, such as silver, silicon, copper and aluminum, and to recycle or repurpose panels. Experts in solar technology, recycling and sustainability founded SOLARCYCLE in 2022 to accelerate the circular economy for solar and renewables.
