SunPower Announces 160-Megawatt Solar Panel Manufacturing Facility in South Africa

Company Increases Commitment to this Region; Estimates 150 Local Jobs

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Nov 04, 2014, 01:00 ET

SAN JOSE, Calif. and CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Nov. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), a leading solar technology and energy services provider, today announced plans to own and operate a solar panel manufacturing facility in Cape Town, South Africa, to meet the growing demand for solar in that region.

At this new plant, SunPower will manufacture its high efficiency SunPower E20/440 Solar Panels and expects to produce up to 160-megawatts (MW) annually. The company estimates that it will create up to 150 local jobs and will begin recruitment efforts in the first quarter of 2015. This facility will also house SunPower's Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) and Operations & Management (O&M) offices, consolidating its South African business into one building.

"SunPower has a significant presence in the South African solar market, including two large power plants built this year and another one that will begin construction soon. By manufacturing our high efficiency solar panels at this new facility, we will not only help the local economy, but continue to deliver clean, renewable energy to this region," said Marty Neese, SunPower COO. "Our investment in this new plant is part of our commitment to the local South African PV market, and meets our objective to build a sustainable business through local investment and create jobs in the medium and long-term."

Earlier this year, SunPower completed construction of two ground-mounted solar projects totaling 33-MW located near Douglas in the Northern Cape Town province. Additionally, SunPower has been appointed as the preferred EPC and O&M contractor for an 86-MWdc project in the round three Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement program by the MULILO-TOTAL consortium.

SunPower, an affiliate of Total, operates solar panel manufacturing plants in North America, Europe and Asia, and plans to open its factory in South Africa in 2015. These facilities bring solar panels to local projects worldwide, minimizing expensive transportation costs while reducing environmental impact.

About SunPower Corporation
SunPower Corporation (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, Africa and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpower.com.

Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our plans and objectives for existing and future project development and construction, as well as project management and development. These forward-looking statements are based on our current assumptions, expectations and beliefs and involve substantial risks and uncertainties that may cause results, performance or achievement to materially differ from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) competition in the industry and downward pressure on average selling prices; (2) our liquidity, substantial indebtedness, and our ability to obtain additional financing for our projects and our customers; (3) our ability to meet our cost reduction targets; (4) regulatory changes and the availability of economic incentives promoting use of solar energy; (5) challenges inherent in constructing and maintaining certain of our large projects, such as the Solar Star projects; (6) the success of our ongoing research and development efforts and commercialization of new products and services; (7) fluctuations in our operating results; (8) manufacturing difficulties that could arise; and (9) challenges managing our joint ventures. A detailed discussion of these factors and other risks that affect our business is included in filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from time to time, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, particularly under the heading "Risk Factors." Copies of these filings are available online from the SEC or on the SEC Filings section of our Investor Relations website at investors.sunpowercorp.com. All forward-looking statements in this [press release/presentation] are based on information currently available to us, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.

SOURCE SunPower Corp.