New SolarCity CFO Brings IPO Experience

Rooftop solar power systems developer SolarCity recently announced that it has appointed a new chief financial officer who has experience managing an IPO and raising funds.

In a company release, SolarCity chief executive Lyndon Rive said that new CFO Bob Kelly boasts more than 25 years of finance and business experience and has raised a significant amount of capital for energy projects throughout his career.

"Bob Kelly has raised more than $48 billion to finance energy projects across a range of capital markets, and created a number of innovative structures to enable rapid growth for capital-intensive businesses," Rive noted.

According to the release, Kelly was also responsible for managing Calpine Corp.'s initial public offering in 1996. At Calpine, Kelly is credited with helping increase the company's electricity generation capacity from 1 megawatt to more than 25,000 megawatts. Most recently, Kelly served as CFO of clean technology company Calera, the release noted.

Brian Yerger, the CEO and co-founder of renewable energy consultant Aerca Advisors, told Bloomberg that such a hire may suggest that SolarCity is considering making its own IPO, as "the pieces are beginning to come into place."