Residential SunPower Systems Available to HP Employees At Preferred Rates
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SunPower Corporation
(Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of
high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels, and solar systems, and GE (NYSE:
GE) announced today the completion of a 1.1-megawatt solar-electric power
system on the roof of HP's printing technology research and development
facility in San Diego. The companies are jointly dedicating the system
today at the HP site.
SunPower is also providing HP employees with preferred rates on solar
power systems for their homes.
At the San Diego facility, SunPower installed a SunPower(R) T10 Solar
Roof Tile commercial roof system, which is a non-penetrating product that
tilts at a 10-degree angle to increase energy capture. The system will
reduce more than 60 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the
next 30 years, which is equivalent to providing electricity to 3800 homes
or removing more than 5250 cars from the road.
"We applaud HP's vision for the future as well as its understanding
that solar makes good business sense today," said Tom Werner, chief
executive officer of SunPower. "For leading companies and individual
homeowners, clean, reliable solar power will become a core energy
investment over the next decade. Solar power can be delivered anywhere, at
any scale, when and where we need it."
As an alternative to purchasing the commercial system itself, HP is
buying electricity from GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE that
owns the system under SunPower Access(TM), a power purchase agreement
program. HP owns the renewable energy credits and environmental benefits
associated with the system, which it may retire or sell. The solar
electricity is competitively priced against retail rates, providing HP with
a long-term hedge against rising peak power prices.
"Collaborating with SunPower enables us to provide HP with an efficient
and cost-competitive way to realize the financial savings and environmental
benefits of solar power," said Kevin Walsh, managing director and leader of
renewable energy at GE Energy Financial Services. "For us, this project
diversifies our renewable energy portfolio with more solar assets and
supports ecomagination, GE's program to help its customers meet their
environmental challenges while expanding its own portfolio of cleaner
energy products."
SunPower has also collaborated with HP to provide SunPower residential
solar electric systems to U.S.-based HP employees at reduced rates. To
date, more than 500 HP employees have signed up for the program, and about
60 have completed the installation of SunPower systems at their homes.
"HP has set aggressive goals to reduce the environmental impact of both
our operations and that of our customers through product innovation," said
Ron Coughlin, senior vice president and leader of environmental strategy
for HP's Imaging and Printing Group. "By generating clean, affordable solar
power with this flagship installation in San Diego, SunPower and GE are
helping us achieve those goals with no initial out-of-pocket expenses,
offering us long-term savings on electricity costs."
About SunPower
SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB) designs, manufactures and
delivers high-performance solar electric systems worldwide for residential,
commercial and utility-scale power plant customers. SunPower
high-efficiency solar cells and solar panels generate up to 50 percent more
power than conventional solar technologies and have a uniquely attractive,
all-black appearance. With headquarters in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has
offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information,
visit http://www.sunpowercorp.com.
About GE Energy Financial Services
GE Energy Financial Services' 400 experts invest globally with a
long-term view, backed by the best of GE's technical know-how and financial
strength, across the capital spectrum and the energy and water industries,
to help their customers and GE grow. With $19 billion in assets, GE Energy
Financial Services, based in Stamford, Connecticut, invests more than $5
billion annually in two of the world's most capital-intensive industries,
energy and water. In renewable energy, GE Energy Financial Services is
growing its portfolio of more than $4 billion in assets in wind, solar,
biomass, hydro and geothermal power. For more information, visit
http://www.geenergyfinancialservices.com
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified global infrastructure, finance and media
company that is built to meet essential world needs. From energy, water,
transportation and health to access to money and information, GE serves
customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people
worldwide. GE is Imagination at Work. For more information, visit the
company's Web site at http://www.ge.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are statements that do not
represent historical facts. The companies use words and phrases such as
"will," "can," "may," "providing," "offering," and similar expressions to
identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this
press release include, but are not limited to, the companies' plans and
expectations regarding: (a) reducing more than 60 million pounds of carbon
dioxide emissions over the next 30 years, which is equivalent to providing
electricity to 3800 homes or removing more than 5250 cards from the road;
(b) solar power becoming a core energy investment over the next decade for
leading companies and individuals; (c) solar power being delivered
anywhere, at any scale, when and where needed; (d) HP being able to retire
or sell renewable energy credits and environmental benefits associated with
the system; and (e) the electricity providing HP with a long-term hedge
against rising peak power prices and offering long-term savings. These
forward-looking statements are based on information available to the
companies as of the date of this release and management's current
expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Such risks and
uncertainties include a variety of factors, some of which are beyond the
companies' control. In particular, risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ include: (i) actual electricity generation; (ii)
the actual energy consumption rate; (iii) unexpected changes in utility
service rates; (iv) variations in carbon dioxide emissions reductions; (v)
and economic conditions and growth trends in the solar power industry; (vi)
the continuation of governmental and related economic incentives promoting
the use of solar power; (vii) the continued availability of third-party
financing arrangements for the company's customers; (viii) construction
difficulties or potential delays in the project implementation process;
(ix) unanticipated delays or difficulties securing necessary permits,
licenses or other governmental approvals; (x) unanticipated problems with
deploying the system on sites; and (x) other risks described in SunPower's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 29, 2008, and
other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the
companies' views as of any subsequent date, and the companies are under no
obligation to, and expressly disclaim any responsibility to, update or
alter their forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
SunPower is a registered trademark of SunPower Corp. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE SunPower Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.sunpowercorp.com
http://www.geenergyfinancialservices.com
http://www.ge.com
CONTACT:
Ingrid Ekstrom of SunPower Corporation,
+1-510-868-1368, iekstrom@sunpowercorp.com; or Andy Katell of GE
Energy Financial Services, +1-203-961-5773
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