Energy Conversion Devices and Enfinity Corporation to
Co-Develop 10 Megawatts of Rooftop Solar Projects in
Ontario
Rochester Hills, Mich., and Ottawa, Canada,
January 28, 2010 - Energy Conversion Devices, Inc.
(ECD) (NASDAQ: ENER) and Enfinity Corporation today announced plans
to collaborate on the development of a 10MW portfolio of rooftop
solar installations in Ontario, Canada.
ECD and Enfinity will partner to co-develop a series of rooftop
solar projects throughout Ontario, Canada under the province's new
feed-in-tariff program. The companies expect to complete
construction of approximately 10MW of projects during calendar
2010. ECD, through its wholly owned subsidiary, United Solar
Ovonic, will provide a combination of UNI-SOLAR®
photovoltaic laminates and its new PowerTilt™ product for
the projects.
The rooftop installations will be on a number of different
roofing materials, and ECD's new PowerTilt product is
particularly well-suited for the Ontario market given its easy
installation on any roof type, light weight, and higher energy
production. ECD will also provide development equity during the
construction phase of the projects.
Enfinity will lead the rooftop acquisition from its
Ottawa office, and will arrange construction debt and take-out
equity financing for the projects. Upon commercial operation, the
projects portfolio will be sold to the permanent equity owners.
Mark Morelli, ECD's president and CEO, said, "We are pleased to
announce this expanding partnership with Enfinity with the
collaboration on this Ontario portfolio. Since announcing the
Framework Agreement with Enfinity last year, thus far we have
partnered on nearly 6MW of projects in Belgium and France that are
being supplied by our roofing materials channel partners.
This co-development approach in Ontario is a further example of
our demand-creation strategy where we will partner on solar
projects that have attractive rates of return for project
investors. The Ontario Power Authority has demonstrated an
impressive commitment to the promotion of renewable energy
development and ECD intends to be a major player in the province in
the years to come."
"We consider ECD to be one of our key global partners, and
together we are moving quickly on this co-development effort,"
explained Rafael Dobrzynski, CEO of Enfinity Corp. "The
feed-in-tariff structure in Ontario rewards investors with higher
incentives for distributed rooftop solar and it is the objective of
Enfinity to finance and develop projects that produce steady,
predictable power for stable and secure investments. The UNI-SOLAR
laminates are ideal, having proven capable of meeting our
performance requirements given the environmental and climate
variables of this region."
About Energy Conversion Devices -Energy
Conversion Devices, Inc. is the leader in building integrated and
commercial rooftop photovoltaics, one of the fastest growing
segments of the solar power industry. The company manufactures and
sells thin-film solar laminates that convert sunlight to energy
using proprietary technology. ECD's UNI-SOLAR® brand products are
unique because of their flexibility, light weight, ease of
installation, durability, and real-world efficiency. ECD also
pioneers other alternative technologies, including a new type of
nonvolatile digital memory technology that is significantly faster,
less expensive, and ideal for use in a variety of applications
including cell phones, digital cameras and personal computers. For
more information, please visit www.energyconversiondevices.com.
About Enfinity Corporation - Enfinity is a
worldwide renewable energy developer operating in twenty countries
across Europe, North America and Asia. As a project specialist,
Enfinity ensures the implementation of solar and wind energy power
plants, and is in the process of developing, building and financing
solar PV projects with a total capacity of more than 4,000 MW and
is planning to initiate several more through 2010. In 2009,
Enfinity consolidated its international position as a global player
with a $64 million investment from Waterland. For more information,
visit www.enfinity.ca.