Concentrix Solar, a Soitec Company, Expands U.S. Market Presence

INTERSOLAR NORTH AMERICA TRADE SHOW, SAN FRANCISCO, July 13, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Strengthening its presence in the U.S. market for solar power plants, Concentrix Solar GmbH, a leading supplier of concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems and a division of the Soitec Group (Euronext Paris), has launched a U.S.-based subsidiary, hired additional industry professionals and won listing from the California Energy Commission. Concentrix Solar's utility-scale power plant technology is proven and commercially ready for large scale deployment with all the key capabilities in place for increasing the company's business in the U.S.

"With the development and growing importance of solar farms in the U.S., the time is right for us to form our U.S. venture," said Hansjorg Lerchenmuller, CEO of Concentrix Solar. "Due to our CPV technology's extreme efficiency, modularity and flexibility, we are prepared to meet the needs and challenges of the U.S. market."

The company's new U.S. subsidiary - Concentrix Solar, Inc. - is based in San Diego, where Concentrix Solar installed a CPV demonstration system in July 2009 to test its solar modules under California's climate conditions. Since its installation, the 6-kilowatt system has proven exceptional performance, achieving 25 percent efficiency in generating electricity.

After evaluating the market potential for Concentrix Solar's CPV technology, the company decided to open this first U.S. office which will be led by new general manager of business development, Clark Crawford. Previously, Crawford led sales and marketing efforts at CPV systems supplier Amonix, Inc. He has a successful track record of securing large-scale commercial orders of CPV systems, and brings his extensive experience in the solar energy market to Concentrix Solar.

As Concentrix Solar expands its presence in the U.S., the company's multi-junction CPV module has achieved a listing with the California Energy Commission (CEC). This listing is vital to doing business in California and a key step in financing commercial projects with customer companies and state energy utilities. Concentrix Solar's CX-75 module has now been listed by the CEC after testing at TUV Rheinland Photovoltaic Testing Laboratory LLC in Tempe, AZ.

Concentrix Solar's CPV technology is designed for use by large-scale solar power plants in hot, arid regions. With characteristics such as low heat degradation and high durability, the company's equipment is well suited for power plant installations in the American southwest. Performance benefits include a constant power-output curve to maintain the electricity supply needed to meet peak-load demands, the ability to operate without active cooling mechanisms, and almost no energy loss at high ambient temperatures.

These attributes helped Concentrix Solar to win a project with Chevron Technology Ventures to install the energy giant's first megawatt solar farm in the U.S. at a site in New Mexico, as announced in February. Construction has begun on this project, which will be one of the largest CPV power plants ever built in the U.S. It is scheduled for completion before the end of this year.

Concentrix Solar will exhibit in booth #8629 in Moscone Convention Center's West Hall at the Intersolar North America trade show, July 13-15 in San Francisco.

About Concentrix Solar

Concentrix Solar GmbH is a leading supplier of concentrator photovoltaic equipment and turnkey power plants for sunny locations. The company was founded in February 2005 as a spin-off from the world-renowned Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. In December 2009, Concentrix Solar became a division of the Soitec Group.

Concentrix Solar operates a fully automated industrial production line in Freiburg, Germany, with an annual production capacity of 25 megawatts. Its FLATCON(R) concentrator modules use Fresnel lenses to concentrate sunlight 500 times and focus it onto small, highly efficient solar cells that convert the light into electrical energy. With this technology, Concentrix Solar achieves AC system efficiencies of 25 percent - almost twice as high as those achieved by conventional silicon technology. As a result, Concentrix Solar's systems can reduce the cost of electricity generation by 10 percent to 20 percent compared to other solar technologies, depending on the location of the installation. For more information, visit: http://www.concentrix-solar.de.

About the Soitec Group

The Soitec Group is the world's leading innovator and provider of the engineered substrate solutions that serve as the foundation for today's most advanced microelectronic products. The group leverages its proprietary Smart Cut(TM) technology to engineer new substrate solutions, such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) semiconductor wafers, which became the first high-volume application for this proprietary technology. Since then, SOI has emerged as the material platform of the future, enabling the production of higher performing, faster chips that consume less power.

Today, Soitec produces more than 80 percent of the world's SOI wafers. Headquartered in Bernin, France, with two high-volume fabs on-site, Soitec has offices throughout the United States, Japan and Taiwan, and a new production site in Singapore.

Three other divisions - Picogiga International, Tracit Technologies and Concentrix Solar - complete the Soitec Group. Picogiga delivers advanced substrates solutions, including III-V epi wafers and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers, to the compound materials market for manufacturing high-frequency electronics and other optoelectronic devices. Tracit provides thin-film layer transfer technologies used to manufacture advanced substrates for power ICs and microsystems as well as generic circuit transfer technology, Smart Stacking(TM), for applications such as image sensors and 3D integration. In December 2009, Soitec acquired 80 percent of Concentrix Solar, the leading provider of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar systems for the industrial production of energy. With this acquisition, Soitec has entered the fast-growing solar market. Shares of the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext Paris. For more information, visit: http://www.soitec.com.

Soitec, Smart Cut, Smart Stacking and UNIBOND are trademarks of S.O.I.TEC Silicon On Insulator Technologies.

    Media Contact Concentrix Solar
    Silke Hajunga
    +49(0)761-214-108-24
    [email protected]

    Soitec:

    International Media Contact
    Camille Darnaud-Dufour
    +33(0)6-79-49-51-43
    [email protected]

    Investor Relations
    Olivier Brice
    +33(0)4-76-92-93-80
    [email protected]

    French Media Contact
    Muriel Martin, H&B Communication
    +33(0)1-58-18-32-44
    [email protected]

SOURCE Soitec

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