Sunovia Energy Chief Executive Featured in CEOCFO Magazine

SARASOTA, Fla., June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Mel Interiano, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of Sunovia Energy Technologies (OTC Bulletin Board: SUNV) recently was interviewed by CEO/CFO Magazine.  Interiano outlined plans for bringing the company's patented EvoLucia Aimed Optics™ LED (light emitting diode) street and roadway lighting products to the global infrastructure market.  The environmentally friendly lighting products save up to 80% in energy consumption while providing a bright targeted white light that avoids light trespass.  The company's products are gaining traction in cities, towns, military bases, college and university campuses and business locations across the world. A transcript of the article follows:  

Bringing to Global Markets LED Lighting Components and Fixtures for Military Bases, Universities and Municipalities, Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc. is Revolutionizing the Industry with their "EvoLucia Aimed Optics™" that Hits the Target Area as Efficiently as is Mathematically Possible

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120327/CL74214 )

Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine

CEOCFO: Mr. Interiano, would you tell us about Sunovia Energy Technologies?

Mr. Interiano: Sunovia is a cleantech company that designs and produces products for the LED lighting market. LED (light emitting diodes) is the latest trend in the lighting technology. Lighting started with incandescent light bulb over 100 years ago and now it has evolved through improvements in efficiency and new technologies to solid state lighting.

CEOCFO: What types of products are the focus at Sunovia?

Mr. Interiano: Our competency and strength is designing LED lighting fixtures. Our primary focus has been fixtures for roadway lighting. For example, when you are driving down the street at night, you are able to see the road because of the street lighting. The majority of our portfolio is focused on street lighting. We also have designed and developed fixtures for parking lot lighting, as well as for the exterior of buildings, which we call, "wall packs", and also interior parking garage lighting.

CEOCFO: Are you designing these for mass consumption or for specific projects?

Mr. Interiano: When the company started designing products, it was for roadway lighting, which is very standard, so it was for mass consumption. As our technology improved, we proactively developed custom features to meet specific customers requests. Since I have taken over as CEO a few weeks ago, we are re-focusing our efforts on designing, developing and producing technologically advanced and cost effective products for the mass markets once again. In essence, taking all that we learned through the years and delivering a suite of the best roadway lighting fixtures on the market.

CEOCFO: What is special about a Sunovia product?

Mr. Interiano: I have to give the credit here to the founders of Sunovia. They were visionaries and they developed very innovative fixture designs. They analyzed the entire roadway light fixture market and identified the weaknesses in the old technologies. Then they corrected the weaknesses and incorporated these solutions into the Sunovia product lines and developed a unique product offering based in proven and protected IP. Our lighting brand is EvoLucia and we have patented a concept and technology called Aimed Optics™, our light platform is our Aimed Optics Platform. To give you a little background, when you emit light from a fixture you can do it in three ways. You can shoot it directly onto a target area, you can refract it onto the target area or you can reflect it onto the target area. Now when you refract and reflect, you lose light efficiency along the way. When you shoot it directly or aim it at the target efficiency is greatly increased. We have broken away from the old lighting paradigm of refraction or reflection and designed our intellectual property around targeting light directly and this is what we call our Aimed Optics platform. We are aiming the light and hitting the target area as efficiently as is mathematically possible.

CEOCFO: What is different about the Sunovia approach?

Mr. Interiano: Most of our competitors arrange their LEDs on a single plane, populating their LEDs on one flat surface, and then adding secondary optics to distribute light. We use more than one plane. We use three planes; three dimensions to position our lighting. This technique allows us to tightly control the optics of our fixtures, giving EvoLucia fixtures the most targeted light distribution and the most optically efficient products on the market.

CEOCFO: What is the market potential?

Mr. Interiano: I do not have actual statistics to give you, but the market potential is estimated to be about $100 billion. How much penetration is there with this new technology? The last number published that I saw from, I believe the Department of Energy, was less than 5% penetration. Therefore, there is still plenty of market available and now with the cost of LEDs coming down, life expectancy on the product is a lot longer than old technology. In addition, there are some utility rebates out there, so now the return on investment to the potential buyer is there. Therefore, we are beginning to see a lot of interest and activity from potential customers due to the fact that the technology is available and the ROI makes sense.

CEOCFO: How does Sunovia reach potential customers and what is your overall marketing strategy?

Mr. Interiano: For our marketing strategy, we use the different channels to sell and distribute our product. We work with lighting agents and lighting specifiers to get our products specified into lighting projects and to reach end-users. We work with electrical distributors, who carry our products and sell to installers and contractors. We also form partnerships with OEMs—where our products are co-branded, re-branded or private labeled.

CEOCFO: Do most of your end users understand the differences and the types of LEDs or do they tend to look at price?

Mr. Interiano: Most of the end users are knowledgeable about both the technology and product offerings. What has happened lately though is the transition from old technology to new has required the end users to look at the investment from a different perspective.  Rather than just the upfront capital cost, now in the industry, what we are looking for is the total cost of ownership. For example, a LED light engine does not fail within the same period of time that old technology fails, so life expectancy has increased. When you increase life expectancy, there is no more need for continually replacing light bulbs. Therefore, there is no more need to have a maintenance crew out on the streets frequently replacing light sources, because the LED product lasts a lot longer. The other piece is the energy savings. Our new LED technology saves somewhere from 50% to 65% when compared to the old technology.

CEOCFO: There have been a number of changes at Sunovia, including yourself coming on as CEO; is the team in place?

Mr. Interiano: Growing a company in a new technology area is always going to be a moving target. However, the key team is in place. We have recruited new board members that are very experienced in the lighting industry. I come from the lighting industry and I have started to form my team, with a strong focus on the technological piece. When you have a technology that is so disruptive and it is improving every six to twelve months, you need to have a very good research and development function in your company to keep up with the changes and to introduce products at the same rate.

CEOCFO: What is the financial picture like for Sunovia Energy Technologies today?

Mr. Interiano: The financial picture is a lot better, compared to the financial picture from last year. We just completed a private placement where we raised a total of about $5 million in capital. We are covering our cost, ramping up production to be able to meet increased demand. Overall, I am happy with the state of financial status today, and again as I mentioned, with our team, this is a continued progression.

CEOCFO: Why should investors pay attention to Sunovia Energy Technologies today?

Mr. Interiano: Sunovia has intellectual property, which we trademarked under Aimed Optics. With Aimed Optics, we will always have a mathematical advantage as long as we use the latest components. We have won awards, such as the US Department of Energy award for the best outdoor LED light. One of the major lighting brands has engaged us, as their vendor for roadway lighting. These three big categories are something that not every roadway lighting company has. We are a pure LED play. What I mean by that is that we are a company that sells only LED lighting products. We do not come from the old technology where we would have fluorescent or high intensity discharge products. We are 100% LED.

CEOCFO: What should people remember most about Sunovia?

Mr. Interiano: We are poised to go through an explosive growth phase. We will be focusing a good amount of energy on marketing and branding. We will be working on getting the message out that we are one of the most intelligent LED companies in the marketplace.

About Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc.

Sunovia Energy Technologies is an industry pioneer in the design, engineering, manufacture and marketing of high performance LED lighting systems to the global lighting markets.  Sunovia received the United States Department of Energy's highest award for lighting within the LED category, and has installed thousands of its fixtures at military bases, universities, municipalities, and large commercial entities.  Sunovia's LED lighting products are sold under the brand, EvoLucia Lighting (www.evolucialighting.com).

All EvoLucia products offer highly energy efficient, durable, commercial-grade LED lighting for both indoor and outdoor applications. The company's award winning cobra head and shoe box fixtures employ EvoLucia's proprietary Aimed Optics™ technology, which increases light levels and visibility by strategically directing light to the target area.  EvoLucia fixtures require 50%-80% less energy than traditional lighting, and last for approximately 12 years without maintenance.

More information about Sunovia Energy and its EvoLucia LED lighting subsidiary is available in the company's Securities and Exchange filings, which can be found at www.sec.gov or at www.sunoviaenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements made by Sunovia in this press release are forward-looking in nature. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Sunovia believes that its primary risk factors include, but are not limited to: development and maintenance of strategic acquisitions; domestic and international acceptance of our product lines; defending our intellectual property and proprietary rights; development of new products and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; successfully completing commercial testing of new technologies and systems to support new products and services; and attracting and retaining qualified management and other personnel. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Sunovia's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors.

SOURCE Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc.