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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12/21/2009:

Colorado Firm Releases 31% Efficient SunCube CPV Module
Highest Efficiency Solar PV in the World

Helios Solar LLC in partnership with designer-integrator Vibrant Solar, Inc, announced today the release of Helios Solar's SunCube™ Mark 9.2 module. Sales have begun with installations slated to begin in Spring 2010. Vibrant will do all sales and installation in the initial phase while Helios focuses on supply and building US factories to produce the SunCube domestically.

The SunCube™ is 31% efficient, whereas the standard PV thin film and flat panels have a 10% to 18.5% efficiency range. This means that fewer solar modules are required, with a lot lower cost, to produce enough electricity to power a home, commercial business, factory or large power user, city, even a utility. Helios' VP Marketing & Sales Mark Simmons noted "Other CPV modules have been announced but none that we know of have near the efficiency of the SunCube."

The SunCube™ CPV uses technology which has been in satellites and spacecraft for more than a decade. Emcore, in Albuquerque, manufactures the triple junction gallium arsenide cells which are the heart of the SunCube. These cells have three layers, converting the visible light spectrum, infrared and ultraviolet. Silicon cells convert only part of the visible spectrum. The chips are housed in a highly specialized ground mounted dual axis tracking system, optimizing the available sunlight, concentrating 750+ suns on the chips. The result is about double the electrical output compared to standard solar panels. Triple junction cells have a very high tolerance to heat and produce power when silicon cells fail in the heat. SunCube arrays could be placed in desert areas throughout the southwestern USA where temperature prohibit standard PV panels.

The SunCube™, developed by Australia's Green and Gold Energy Pty (GGE), is licensed exclusively to Helios Solar LLC of Denver, for the Southwestern USA and Hawaii. Until there are other American licensees Helios can sell throughout the country. GGE's CEO and SunCube's developer Greg Watson and Deepak Kelkar, Managing Director of GGE's India licensee Square Engineering have been in Denver for two weeks of consultation and planning at Vibrant's Denver office. Helios is sharing space, given the shared ownership of the two firms, until their factory is built. They completed installation of Helios' demonstration array last week.

Helios' CEO President Scott VanKirk stated "I watched Green and Gold develop from one inventor, Greg Watson, and one working model nearly four years ago through his R&D facility opening in January 2008, licensing to India then Spain, until they were ready for us." VanKirk founded Helios in 2007 and awaited the time when GGE could supply the American market.

Simmons, one of the Helios partners, stated "We recently quoted a project for military base housing which required $14.6 million in standard rooftop solar panels. Using SunCubes instead the project only costs $9.1 million, for the same amount of electricity production." Simmons estimates he and Vibrant's Director of Sales Robert Quist have delivered proposals for over 3,000 Megawatts of SunCubes thus far. Quist said "A lot of RFPs from government and other non-profits are non-starters with the cost of standard solar modules, but work economically with SunCubes." Vibrant has Leasing and Power Purchase Agreement partners who can offer the product on a 10 to 25 year basis at very competitive power production rates– as low as $.04/kWh when local or state incentives are available. This makes it competitive with new coal plants, a cost parity essential for renewables to eliminate coal.

The SunCube represents a paradigm shift, though, which requires some educating. Most Requests for Proposal (RFPs) stipulate an array size such as One Megawatt or, in the recent case of the Denver Public Schools RFP, 100 Kilowatts of solar times 30 to 50 sites. "With SunCubes," Simmons observed, "we have to ask "Do you want the output of one megawatt of standard solar, about 1.4 million kilowatt hours (kWh), which would only require 600 Kilowatts of SunCubes, or do you want one megawatt of SunCube which outputs up to 2.5 million kWh/year?"

The SunCube™ requires half the acreage of standard solar ground arrays per megawatt hour of production. It can be repaired and retrofitted in the field. Emcore is already working on chips with 50% and higher efficiency. The SunCube's plug and play feature allow it to keep up with current chip technology. These and its obvious competitive advantages give Helios' founders, ten local entrepreneurs, confidence to move forward on plans to build the assembly plant.

VanKirk said a primary goal is to create American jobs, by hiring for the assembly plant, by sourcing all parts locally, and by contracting installation through Vibrant and its large array and civil engineering partners. "The farthest we will need to go for parts supply is Albuquerque" said VanKirk. He stressed that Helios is not yet ready to receive resumes, saying "We are in the process of site selection, while sales ramp up. We should start hiring in second quarter 2010."

Helios is planning to build one or more manufacturing plants in Colorado and possibly more across the southwestern USA, to produce these revolutionary solar modules. Until the Colorado plant is opened, Helios is importing the SunCube™ from Square's ISO 9001 certified Satara, India plant. Each assembly line at the factory is capable of producing 100 Megawatts of SunCubes per year, with capacity of four lines, to produce 400 Megawatts per year. Vibrant Solar will do all sales and installation for the near future.

VanKirk and Simmons have been meeting with Economic Development Corporations and Colorado state officials in the process of site selection for the first plant. An RFP to all EDCs and cooperative groups along the Front Range will be sent out soon. Each assembly line in the plant is expected to employ 180 staff directly and over a thousand indirectly. Therefore the full factory can employ thousands, in well-paid long term positions. This is the essence of sustainable business.

An alliance between Helios and the only independent nuclear power plant company in the USA is in the planning. Colorado commercial real estate broker Thorne Davis, of Davis Company, with ex-State Representative Dr. Juan Trujillo consulting, is spearheading the effort to develop the Colorado Energy Park outside Pueblo, intending 20 Megawatts or more of SunCubes along with other renewable energy producers plus a state of the art nuclear plant. But the client has also requested and received a proposal for 2,000 MW of SunCubes per 3,400 MW nuclear plant. Now THAT is a solution for continued greenhouse gas emissions.

Illustrations & Photos Available Upon Request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Simmons
Vice President, Marketing & Sales
Vibrant Solar, Inc. & Helios Solar LLC
4321 Broadway Ste 3
Denver CO 80216-3500
Office 303-604-6696
Cell 720-985-8522
mark.simmons@vibrantsolar.com
www.vibrantsolar.com
www.heliossolarcpv.com

SunCube™ is a trademark owned by Green and Gold Energy Pty., Ltd. Used under exclusive license authority. All Rights Reserved.

Press Release 11/7/2009

Denver based Helios Solar LLC is proud to present the highest efficient solar photovoltaic product on the market. The 31% efficient SunCube™ Mark 9.2 CPV is exclusively licensed to Helios from Green and Gold Energy, Australia (GGE). Local Designer-Integrator Vibrant Solar Inc. will do design, sales and installation. Helios will build an assembly plant along the Front Range to locally produce the SunCube, importing from GGE until the plant is commissioned.

Helios' CEO President Scott VanKirk stated "I watched Green and Gold develop from one inventor, Greg Watson, and one working model nearly four years ago through his first factory opening in January 2008, licensing to India then Spain, until they were ready for us." Mr. VanKirk founded Helios in 2007 and awaited the time when GGE could supply the American market.

The SunCube CPV uses technology that has been in satellites and spacecraft for more than a decade. Emcore, in Albuquerque, manufactures the triple junction gallium arsenide chips that are the heart of the SunCube. The chips are housed in a highly specialized ground mounted dual axis tracking system, optimizing the available sunlight, concentrating 750 suns on the chips. The result is about double the electrical output as compared to standard solar panels. The SunCube is a ground mount installation. In some areas, rooftop mounts will be available at a later date.

Vibrant's VP Marketing & Sales, Mark Simmons, one of the Helios partners, stated, "We recently quoted a project for military base housing which required $14.6 million in standard rooftop solar panels. Using SunCubes, instead of standard panels, the project only costs $9.1 million for the same amount of electricity production." Simmons estimates he and Vibrant's Director of Sales Robert Quist have delivered proposals for over 3,000 Megawatts of SunCubes thus far. Quist said "A lot of RFPs from government and other non-profits are not fiscally viable with the cost of standard solar modules, but work economically with SunCubes." Vibrant has Leasing and Power Purchase Agreement partners who can offer the product on a 10 to 25 year basis at very competitive power production rates.

The SunCube represents a paradigm shift, though, which requires some educating. Most Requests for Proposal (RFPs) stipulate an array size such as One Megawatt or, in the recent case of the Denver Public Schools RFP, 100 Kilowatts of solar times 30 to 50 sites. "With SunCubes," Simmons observed, "we have to ask "Do you want the output of one megawatt of standard solar, about 1.4 million kilowatt hours (kWh), which would only require 600 Kilowatts of SunCubes, or do you want one megawatt of SunCube which outputs up to2.5 million kWh/year?" The SunCube also requires much less space than standard PV.

The SunCube requires half the acreage of standard solar ground arrays. It can be repaired and retrofitted in the field. Emcore is already working on chips with 50% and higher efficiency. The SunCube’s plug and play feature allows it to keep up with current chip technology. These and its obvious competitive advantages give Helios' founders, ten local entrepreneurs, confidence to move forward on plans to build the assembly plant.

VanKirk said a primary goal is to create American jobs, by hiring for the assembly plant, by sourcing all parts locally, and by contracting installation through Vibrant and its large array and civil engineering partners. "The farthest we will need to go for parts supply is Albuquerque,” said VanKirk. He stressed that Helios is not yet ready to receive resumes, saying, "We are in the process of site selection, while sales ramp up. We should start hiring next year."

Helios is thinking large– schools districts, military bases and utilities are among the many prospective customers. It has a working relationship with a nuclear power plant producer and is discussing 20+ megawatt SunCube arrays with each nuclear plant project. Colorado Springs commercial real estate broker Thorne Davis is proposing construction of the Colorado Energy Park (CEP) in southeast Pueblo County. CEP would include a variety of renewable energy projects as well as a state of the art nuclear reactor. According to Mr. Davis "Current generation III nuclear technology is 95% efficient and the remaining 5% of spent fuel rods get recycled until they are ash, making nuclear the right solution to replacing coal fired power plants as the primary source of electricity base load."

Both economically and environmentally the SunCube is a hands-down winner.