GreenVolts and U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab to Collaborate on Commercialization of IMM Multi-Junction Solar Cell Technology

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - March 16, 2009) - GreenVolts, a leader in concentrating photovoltaic technology, today announced that it has entered into a development relationship with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to commercialize the Inverted Metamorphic (IMM) advanced multi-junction solar cell design. The Department of Energy has committed $500,000 for GreenVolts to co-develop NREL's patents and bring this new technology to market. Additionally, GreenVolts has signed a licensing agreement with NREL to commercialize their patents.

The purpose of this two-year agreement is to transfer NREL's IMM solar cell technology to GreenVolts so that the company can develop a customized cell tailored to its optical system, and accelerate the widespread commercialization of the technology through its high volume manufacturing partners. The development agreement will be completed in multiple phases, each of which will build towards GreenVolts delivering a customized, reliable IMM device cost effectively fabricated at high volume.

"We believe this new IMM technology is key to a tremendous leap forward in solar cell efficiency," NREL Director Dan Arvizu said. "We are pleased to be working with GreenVolts to both refine these advancements and provide for a viable way to bring them to market."

The NREL IMM technology has demonstrated one of the world's highest reported solar cell efficiencies at 40.8 percent, and holds the promise for even further substantial increases. A customized solar cell will enable GreenVolts to optimize its concentrating photovoltaic system by increasing efficiency and reliability while reducing the overall cost of energy.

"This is an exciting opportunity to make significant advancements in the performance of solar cell technology," said Bob Cart, founder and CEO of GreenVolts. "We look forward to working closely with NREL to develop a quality high volume, low cost manufacturing process to ensure that this next generation technology will be readily available."

Under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), technical representatives from both parties cooperate to make important technical advancements. Throughout the CRADA, NREL will provide necessary technology specifications and process information as well as advice and assistance in the device optimization and technology transfer. NREL will also provide test and measurement services to qualify the results of the transfer process, including its reliability.

About GreenVolts

GreenVolts, Inc., based in San Francisco, was founded in 2005 to deliver solar power at costs competitive with that derived from fossil fuels. The company's breakthrough concentrating photovoltaic technology efficiently integrates tracking and optics into a system that lowers the cost of energy. In addition, the low-profile tracker design minimizes issues associated with wind loading and eliminates the need for concrete supports to allow for rapid deployment. Through low cost, high efficiency systems, the company can access large markets previously inaccessible to solar.

Contact Information: Press Contact: Michael Azzano Cosmo PR 415/596-1978