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Tesla chief accounting officer, former SunPower executive, departs

Tesla Inc.'s Chief Accounting Officer Eric Branderiz has left the electric car and battery maker, according to a March 8 Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Tesla's 8-K said Branderiz departed from the company March 7 for personal reasons. A Tesla spokesperson told S&P Global Market Intelligence that the company had no further comment beyond the information contained in the SEC filing. In an email to CNBC, Branderiz said he had enjoyed working for the company but wanted to take some time off.

Before joining Tesla in 2016, Branderiz worked for SunPower Corp., where he held multiple executive positions during his six-year tenure with that company. Tesla in November 2016 completed a $2.61 billion acquisition of rooftop solar installer SolarCity Corp.

Since the acquisition, Tesla and its solar business have been hit with major changes in staff. In May 2017, former CEO and co-founder of SolarCity Lyndon Rive announced he would be leaving Tesla. The following October, an estimated 1,200 employees were laid off from Tesla and SolarCity.

Tesla also has been struggling with maintaining market share in the solar market. The company installed 87 MW of solar in the fourth quarter of 2017, including commercial systems. That is down from the 201 MW installed during the same period in 2016, and 20% less than in the third quarter of 2017. Meanwhile, competitor Sunrun Inc. has been catching up; executives told analysts in that company's March 8 earnings call that it installed 85 MW of solar in the fourth quarter of 2017 and grew its market share by an estimated 4%.