Etrion and SunPower Partner on Italian Solar Power Plants Totaling 10 Megawatts

GENEVA and SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Etrion Corporation (TSX: ETX) (OMX: ETX), an independent solar power producer, and SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB), a US-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, today announced an agreement to build two solar power plants, totaling 10 megawatts, in the Puglia region of Italy. Etrion will own the power plants, and SunPower will design, construct and provide operations and maintenance services for the plants.

"We are pleased to contract with SunPower for another solar power project in Italy," said Marco Northland, Etrion's CEO. "The two, 5-megawatt sites in Brindisi and Mesagne are part of our internal portfolio and once again demonstrate our team's development and execution capability. Solar is a clean, silent, renewable source of energy that is becoming an increasingly valuable and necessary part of the world's energy mix."

SunPower is installing proprietary SunPower® Tracker technology at the Italian sites. The Tracker follows the sun during the day and delivers up to 25 percent more energy than fixed-tilt systems, while significantly reducing land use requirements.

“SunPower offers a unique value proposition to power plant developers in terms of technology and bankability,” said Yoram Amiga,  president of utility and power plants international at SunPower. “Our proprietary Trackers optimize our clients’ return on investment while our proven performance gives financial institutions confidence. We are very pleased to partner with Etrion to deliver clean, reliable solar power to the rapidly expanding Italian market.”

The 10-megawatt ground-based solar photovoltaic project is expected to produce 17 million kilowatt hours of electricity and 6 million euros of earnings to Etrion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) per year.

Construction of the solar project is targeted to begin by the end of November 2010. The first electricity sales from the project under the Italian feed-in-tariff regime are expected during the third quarter of 2011. The Italian feed-in-tariff guarantees the purchase price for solar electricity by the Italian government for 20 years from the start of operations.  

SunPower has more than 650 megawatts of solar power plants installed or under contract around the world, including Italian power plants such as Etrion's 33-megawatt Montalto plant, the largest operational solar park in Italy.

Editors' Note:

The capacity of power plants in this release is described in approximate megawatts on a direct current (DC) basis unless otherwise noted.  On an alternating current (AC) basis, the Puglia power plants are 9 megawatts in total, and the Montalto solar park is 28 megawatts.

About Etrion

Etrion Corporation develops, builds, owns and operates solar power plants in Italy. Etrion currently owns 40 megawatts (MW) of operational, ground-based solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants, has 8 MW of solar parks under construction and has more than 200 MW of solar development pipeline in Italy. Etrion is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm exchange (with the same ticker symbol "ETX"). For additional information, visit www.etrion.com.

About SunPower

Founded in 1985, SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB) designs, manufactures and delivers the planet's most powerful solar technology broadly available today. Residential, business, government and utility customers rely on the company's experience and proven results to maximize return on investment. With headquarters in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpowercorp.com.

Etrion's Forward-Looking Information:

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that Etrion Corporation (the "Company") believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements relating to the timing of construction on the solar projects in Italy, the production and sale of electricity and EBITDA margins therefrom) are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: (i) construction difficulties or potential delays in the project implementation process; (ii) unanticipated delays or difficulties securing necessary permits, licenses or other governmental approvals; (iii) the risk of continuation of supply of products and components from suppliers; (iv) unanticipated problems with deploying the system on the sites; (v) unanticipated delays in actual electricity generation.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

SunPower's Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that do not represent historical facts and may be based on underlying assumptions. The company uses words and phrases such as "to build," "expected," "will" and "targeted" to identify forward-looking statements in this press release, including forward-looking statements regarding (a) design, construction, operation and maintenance of the two power plants by SunPower, (b) the expected start of construction in November 2010, and (c) the expected sale of electricity during third quarter 2011. Such forward-looking statements are based on information available to the company as of the date of this release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some beyond the company's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties such as: (i) construction difficulties or potential delays in the project implementation process; (ii) unanticipated delays or difficulties securing necessary permits, licenses or other governmental approvals; (iii) the risk of continuation of supply of products and components from suppliers; (iv) unanticipated problems with deploying the system on the site; and (v) other risks described in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 3, 2010 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 3, 2010, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the company's views as of any subsequent date, and the company is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any responsibility to, update or alter its 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 Corp.