SunPower Partners with GRID Alternatives to Supply High Efficiency Solar Panels for Low-Income Houses in 2012

SunPower Employee Volunteers Inaugurate Partnership by Installing Rooftop Solar System for San Francisco Family in Need

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Mar 07, 2012, 08:00 ET

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems today announced that it is an official 2012 solar panel provider for GRID Alternatives, a Bay Area-based non-profit solar installer. SunPower and GRID Alternatives celebrated this new agreement on March 2, 2012, by installing a SunPower rooftop system on a low-income home in San Francisco with the help of SunPower employee volunteers and local solar job trainees.

Under terms of the supplier agreement, SunPower will provide GRID Alternatives with its high efficiency solar panels through a combination of donations and fair market value sales, bringing the power of solar energy to low-income households in 2012.

SunPower has worked with GRID Alternatives for the past six years to help hundreds of families in need, providing more than 1,000 employee volunteer hours, philanthropic gifts, equipment donations and sales. This partnership is expected to generate a combined $10 million in electricity savings for these families over the life of the systems.

"Partnering with GRID Alternatives aligns perfectly with SunPower's commitment to building clean-powered communities around the world, and in this case, right here in our backyard." said Tom Werner, SunPower president and CEO. "By providing GRID with the highest efficiency, highest-reliability solar panels commercially available today, SunPower is helping families in need to reduce their electricity costs over the life of each system, while our employees support local volunteerism."

"We're often trying to make solar work on modest homes with small roofs," said GRID Alternatives Program Director and Co-Founder Tim Sears. "SunPower's high efficiency panels can make the difference for those families being able to go solar."

"SunPower is one of our longest-running solar sponsors and has helped us support families, job trainees and the environment since 2006," said Erica Mackie, GRID Alternatives Executive Director and Co-Founder. "We're excited to welcome SunPower as an official solar module provider this year."

To see photos and video footage of the recent SunPower and GRID Alternatives volunteer installation, please visit www.gridalternatives.org/sunpower-2012-partnership.

About SunPower Corp.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) designs, manufactures and delivers the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar panels and systems available today. Residential, business, government and utility customers rely on the company's quarter century of experience and guaranteed performance to provide maximum return on investment throughout the life of the solar system. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpowercorp.com.

About GRID Alternatives

GRID Alternatives is a non-profit solar installer that trains and leads teams of volunteers and job trainees to install solar electric systems for low-income families throughout California. Its mission is to empower communities in need by providing renewable energy and energy efficiency services, equipment and training. Since 2004, GRID Alternatives has installed over 1700 solar electric systems and provided hands-on solar installation training over 8000 community members statewide. These systems represent over 4.7 MW of generating capacity, which translates to over $44 million in energy cost savings over the systems' projected life spans, while preventing 148,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. GRID Alternatives also manages the Single-family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) Program, part of the California Solar Initiative that is funded by California ratepayers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). For more information, please visit http://www.gridalternatives.org.

SunPower is a registered trademark of SunPower Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE SunPower Corp.