A Conversation with Surinder S. Bedi, Executive Vice President: Quality, Engineering & Customer Success

Bedi has built a 25-plus-year career in CA high tech growth companies and remained focused on a simple belief: innovation creates value only when it is successfully commercialized and adopted by customers. Prior to joining SunPower, Bedi held executive leadership positions with Applied Materials, SunPower Corporation, Lucid Motors, Digital Equipment Corporation, and SunPreme - a run that includes innovating and commercializing the industry's first Smart High-Performance Bifacial Solar Panel, which won a Frost & Sullivan North America Innovation Award in 2018. He is recipient of 12 US Technology Patents, and the recipient of the Applied Materials President's Gold Leadership Award, Intel Quality Leadership Award, and the Philippine State Quality Award. Today, as Executive Vice President of Quality, Engineering & Customer Success at SunPower, Bedi is responsible for introduction and commercialization of Monolith, SunPower's next-generation premium solar platform built on advanced Heterojunction (HJT) technology.

We sat down with Bedi to discuss why Monolith matters, how advanced HJT technology is reshaping the solar industry, and why technology leadership, not commodity pricing, will define the next era of solar energy.

Q: Describe Monolith and its strategic significance.

A: Monolith represents one of the most advanced product technologies in SunPower's portfolio and a major step forward in our innovation roadmap.

Built on advanced N-Type Heterojunction (HJT) technology, Monolith delivers superior power density, higher lifetime energy production, exceptional reliability, and long-term customer value. The product features 22.6% module efficiency, an industry-leading temperature coefficient of -0.24%/°C, 92.5% warranted power retention at Year 25, and a comprehensive 25-year product and performance warranty.

Strategically, Monolith is far more than a new solar panel. It enables SunPower to accelerate its transition away from commodity products toward a differentiated premium offering built on technology leadership, customer value, and long-term profitability. Innovation creates differentiation and value. Value creates sustainable growth. Monolith sits squarely at the intersection of both.

Q: How did Monolith come to life?

A: It started with a strategic meeting between T.J. Rodgers, SunPower Chairman and CEO, REC Solar's Executive Management, and me. We recognized that Heterojunction technology represented the next significant advance in solar performance and reliability. The goal was to engineer a differentiated product built on advanced N-type HJT. From there we moved fast. The results were Monolith 470W Product introduced in Q2 2026, that was 50 pounds in weight, 2.08 m2 area, solid black panel with 22.6% module efficiency. That's not a lab number or R&D performance. That's what we are shipping, and commercially available.

Q: For readers who are not solar cell experts, what is HJT technology and why is it important?

A: Heterojunction Technology, or HJT, combines crystalline silicon with ultra-thin amorphous silicon layers and advanced transparent conductive oxide structures.

What matters most is the customer outcome. HJT delivers higher efficiency, superior energy production, lower degradation, improved temperature performance, and greater lifetime energy yield than conventional technologies. For example, Monolith's temperature coefficient of -0.24%/°C is significantly better than traditional mono-PERC and TOPCon alternatives at -0.37%/°C and -0.31%/°C respectively. In practical terms, Monolith produces up to 6% more energy when the sun is strongest and holds 92.5% of its power at year 25, against an industry standard closer to 89%. As temperatures increase, Monolith retains more of its rated output and continues to generate more energy precisely when customers need it most. Simply put, Monolith was designed to eliminate many of the trade-offs that have historically limited solar performance. It is one of the key technologies enabling the next generation of premium solar products.

Q: You've worked across semiconductor, automotive, computer, and solar industries. What lessons have shaped your perspective?

A: One lesson stands above all others: companies that successfully commercialize innovation become market leaders. Throughout my career, I have witnessed disruptive technologies transform industries. The organizations that succeed are those willing to invest early, move decisively, and execute with discipline. Innovation is not simply about inventing something new. It is about creating measurable customer value. Monolith embodies that principle. It combines advanced technology, superior lifetime energy production, outstanding reliability, and lower cost per kilowatt-hour. Those advantages directly translate into stronger customer economics and enhanced competitive positioning.

Q: How does Monolith compare against leading competitors in real-world performance?

A: We modeled 25-year warranted production across six cities: Sacramento, Tampa, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Seattle. In every market, Monolith's warranted output exceeded comparable modules from the tier one solar companies we evaluated. That advantage comes from higher efficiency, better temperature performance, and lower degradation, which means more energy over the life of the system.

Q: Why is price competitiveness important to the Monolith strategy?

A: Historically, customers often faced a difficult choice between advanced technology and affordability. Monolith changes that equation. Through our strategic partnership and supply chain collaboration, we have significantly improved product economics while preserving premium technology, quality, and reliability. Today, customers can access premium HJT technology at pricing that is highly competitive with mainstream commodity alternatives. Removing the price barrier accelerates adoption. Once customers see superior technology, superior energy production, and superior economics in a single product, the decision becomes much easier.

Q: Why does this combination of performance and value matter strategically?

A: Look, the solar industry is still evolving. Competing solely on price ultimately leads to commoditization. Competing through innovation creates sustainable differentiation. Monolith allows SunPower to compete based on technology leadership, lifetime energy production, aesthetics, reliability, warranty strength, and customer value. Price parity may open the door, but technology leadership wins the market. Our objective is to accelerate SunPower's position in the premium segment where customers evaluate not simply the purchase price, but the value delivered over the next 25 years. That is the future of solar we believe.

Q: Is the product available today in the US?

A: Absolutely. Monolith has been commercially available in the United States since Q2 2026, and SunPower continues to expand shipments nationally. Availability is not a future milestone. It is a present reality. Our focus now is accelerating customer adoption, and scaling commercialization across residential and commercial markets.

Q: How important are quality and reliability in the Monolith strategy?

A: Product Quality and reliability are foundational. At SunPower, our objective is simple: Zero Defects and industry-leading customer outcomes. Monolith undergoes extensive reliability validation including accelerated lifetime testing, environmental stress testing, degradation analysis, hail resistance, corrosion resistance, wind loading, fire safety compliance, and long-term energy yield verification. Premium products require evidence, not adjectives. Customers are making a 25-year investment decision. Our responsibility is to provide confidence that the product will perform throughout that lifetime.

Q: What's next on the roadmap?

A: Monolith is only the beginning. Our next milestone is Monolith II Bifacial, which combines advanced HJT architecture with bifacial energy generation in a premium all-black design. Monolith II will extend our leadership in power density, energy yield, reliability, and customer value while advancing the industry's transition toward higher-performance solar solutions. Our roadmap is clear: More power. More energy. Less degradation. Lower cost per kilowatt-hour.

Q: What final message would you like sales teams, residential and commercial, and industry partners to take away?

A: Monolith represents the successful commercialization of innovation and greater customer value. Innovation is a journey, and SunPower is committed to staying at the forefront. It demonstrates that customers no longer need to choose between performance, reliability, and affordability. I believe the future belongs to products that create measurable customer value through innovation. Monolith is the first step in that journey. As we continue to evolve the platform and introduce next-generation technologies such as Monolith II and Monolith III, our mission remains unchanged: create the lowest long-term cost of energy for homeowners and commercial businesses.