SunPower's Co-Founder Is Second American to Receive This Honor
SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dr. Richard
Swanson, president and chief technology officer of SunPower Corporation
(Nasdaq: SPWR), was today awarded the prestigious Becquerel Prize for
Outstanding Merits in Photovoltaics at the 21st European Photovoltaic Solar
Energy Conference and Exhibition in Dresden, Germany. Swanson is the second
American, and 14th recipient, to receive this honor bestowed by the
Commission of the European Communities.
Swanson receives this year's Bequerel Prize for his outstanding
contributions to the development of high-efficiency solar cells. He is one
of the world's most-recognized leaders in the advancement of photovoltaics
(PV) and a pioneer in commercializing cost-effective PV power systems. In
2002, Dr. Swanson was presented with the William R. Cherry Award by the
IEEE for outstanding contributions to the photovoltaic field.
"I am deeply honored to receive the Becquerel Prize for 2006. It is
even more special to me because it comes from colleagues who reached out
across the Atlantic, showing the true global spirit of our wonderful PV
community," said Swanson. "Solar power is within five to ten years of
becoming mainstream in most of the developed world. The work of my friends
and colleagues from around the globe is bearing fruit and creating the
fastest growing energy industry world-wide."
Swanson graduated from Ohio State University in 1969, with his
bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering. He then earned his
Ph.D. at Stanford University, where he received a post-doctoral fellowship
to study techniques for solar-electric power generation. Swanson then
joined the faculty at Stanford as an assistant professor of electrical
engineering where he obtained funding from the U.S. government's Electric
Power Research Institute to investigate thermophotovoltaic energy
conversion for solar applications.
In 1991, Swanson resigned from his faculty position to focus his
attention to SunPower Corporation, a company he founded in 1985 to develop
and commercialize cost-effective, high-efficiency photovoltaic power
systems. SunPower's all-back contact solar cells powered Honda to victory
in the 1993 World Solar Challenge, and were also used to power Helios,
NASA's high- altitude solar powered airplane to a world-record altitude of
96,500 feet. Swanson received the IR100 Award in 1995 for providing Honda
and NASA with these record-setting solar cells.
The Becquerel Prize was established in 1989 to mark the 150th
anniversary of French physicist Alexandre-Edmond Bequerel's experiment,
laying the foundation of both photovoltaics (PV) and photography, by
detecting the PV effect. Swanson received this distinguished award during
the opening session of today's conference.
About SunPower
SunPower Corporation designs and manufactures high-efficiency silicon
solar cells and solar panels based on an all-back contact cell design.
SunPower's solar cells and panels generate up to 50 percent more power per
unit area than conventional solar technologies and have a uniquely
attractive, all-black appearance. For more information on SunPower or solar
technology, please visit the SunPower website at
http://www.sunpowercorp.com . SunPower is a majority-owned subsidiary of
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY).
Forward-Looking Statement
Statements made in this release that are not historical in nature and
that refer to SunPower's plans and expectations for the future, are
forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We use words such as "estimates,"
"anticipates," "believes," "expects," "future," "look forward," "planning,"
"intends" and similar expressions to identify such forward-looking
statements. Our actual results may differ materially due a variety of
factors, including but not limited to the risks identified in our filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements
included in this release are based upon information available to SunPower
as of the date of this release, which may change, and are based on current
expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties which could
materially affect the company's results. These and other risk factors are
contained in documents that the company files with the SEC, including the
Form 10-K for fiscal 2005 and its recent 10-Qs. SunPower is under no
obligation to, and expressly disclaims any responsibility to update or
alter, its forward looking statements, whether as al result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
NOTE: SunPower is a registered trademark of SunPower Corporation.
Cypress is a registered trademark of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE SunPower Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.sunpowercorp.com
CONTACT:
Julie Blunden, Vice President External
Affairs, +1-408-240-5577, or Helen Kendrick, Communications
Manager, +1-408-240-5585, both for SunPower
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