Posted at 12:32 a.m. PST Saturday, Jan. 20, 2001

Anxiety a blessing for solar power BY DANA HULL Mercury News

Power rate hikes and rolling blackouts have been a blessing for the state's solar energy industry.

Solar companies have seen a surge of inquiries, and many contractors who do solar installations are now booked solid for the next several months.

``People that have been thinking about going solar for a long time needed this crisis to push them over the edge,'' said Andy Cazzato, the owner of Santa Cruz Solar. ``I'm telling people that if they wait too much longer, they won't be able to find anyone to install their system.''

In San Rafael, the Solar Depot is hiring additional salespeople and warehouse help. AstroPower, based in Delaware, opened a Concord office last year and recently targeted the Bay Area with mailers. And in Sunnyvale, EcoEnergies has been bombarded with people who were referred by their existing clients.

``It's sort of like Y2K has come back -- it's an anxiety-driven situation,'' said EcoEnergies President Pete Cary. ``We are being run ragged right now, which is great.''

State officials say that California's energy crisis has inspired a fresh wave of consumers to explore solar energy.

``We all take it for granted that the lights will always be there,'' said Sanford Miller of the California Energy Commission. ``Now people are realizing that may not be the case. People want control. We're getting a lot of calls from people who are looking at solar as a way to stabilize their electric bill.''

The power in Jim Kubon's San Jose neighborhood was disrupted so frequently last summer that he took the plunge and bought a $40,000 solar system that should generate all the electricity needed at his East Hills home.

``I've been pretty annoyed with PG&E because my power keeps going off,'' said Kubon, who worried that power outages or surges would destroy his computer and home electronics equipment.

Last week, engineers from M C Solar Engineering, a Sunnyvale company, installed photovoltaic panels on his roof. PV panels, which have become more affordable at $135 to $700 apiece, are the most popular type of solar power for the average homeowner. Mounted on rooftops, the panels absorb sunlight and convert the sun's ``direct current'' into usable volts of electricity with the help of an inverter. Battery backups are also available to store electricity for future use.

During the hours when the sun is blazing hot and strong, the Kubons may get to watch as their power meters spin backward as electricity is fed back into the beleaguered PG&E grid.

``The PV systems tend to be more popular right now because of concerns about blackouts,'' said M C Solar owner Mike Clifton. ``We're putting them in as fast as we can right now.''

In California, more than 8,000 solar energy enthusiasts are thought to live ``off-grid'' -- or independent of any utility company. But most Bay Area residents have what is known as ``grid-ties,'' solar electric systems that feed into the PG&E power supply. The California Energy Commission estimates that about 450 grid-tie systems are in place in the state.

Worldwide, sales of solar generators have become a $2.5 billion market, said Paul Maycock, editor of ``Photovoltaic News'' in Virginia. Grid-connected home power systems account for nearly one-third of the U.S. market.

Though the solar business is enjoying a bit of a boom right now, expense remains the No. 1 obstacle to solar power becoming mainstream. The cost of a solar electric system is still high, ranging from $10,000 up to $90,000 for some of the larger systems -- prohibitive for most Bay Area families.

``People who buy a solar electric system don't just do it at the drop of a hat,'' said Duane Campbell, the owner of Light Energy Systems in Concord. ``The investment itself takes a bit of research. You can't just go buy a couple of solar panels and throw them up on your roof.''

Norm Rhett, a computer programmer for a small biotech firm, already had an electric car and recently decided that he wanted solar power to generate electricity in his San Ramon home. Rhett plans to charge his car off of the PV panels recently installed in his backyard.

``I've been worrying about global warming and resource depletion for a long time,'' said Rhett. ``California's energy crisis has strengthened my interest.''

Many states provide a variety of rebates and incentives to subsidize solar power. Although many consumers are not aware of it, the California Energy Commission offers a ``Buy Down Program'' of cash rebates for buying an eligible renewable energy system.

Between December 1999 and December 2000, the CEC received 947 requests for the rebate. By Wednesday, the number had climbed to 1,053.

``In the last three weeks we've gotten another 100 applications,'' said Miller, the program's account manager.

Solar industry executives have urged the state to more aggressively market the Buy Down Program as well as expand the size of the rebate offered. The hope is that the cost of solar systems will come down further as more are installed.

``People are still having to pay a lot of out-of-pocket money to own these systems,'' said Les Nelson, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industries Association. ``When prices go up for conventional energy, it does very good things for the solar industry. But we need to make it easier for families to own them.''

http://www0.mercurycenter.com/cgi-bin/edtools/printpage/printpage_ba.cgi

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 20, 2001

Answers

http://www.astropower.com/press_releases.htm

ASTROPOWER AND ELKEM FORM ALLIANCE

TO SUPPLY SILICON FEEDSTOCK TO SOLAR INDUSTRY

Venture Aims to Accelerate Industry Growth by

Removing Raw Material Constraints

NEWARK, DE – December 12, 2000 – AstroPower, Inc. (NASDAQ: APWR) announced today that it has signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement with Elkem (OSLO and FRANKFURT STOCK EXCHANGES: ELK), the world’s largest producer of silicon metal. The agreement involves the final development of a low-cost process for manufacturing solar-grade silicon – the raw material used to make solar cells. The agreement also calls for the future establishment of a jointly-owned manufacturing venture, based in Norway and managed by Elkem, that will supply low-cost silicon feedstock to the global solar power industry.

Currently, the solar power industry depends on a semiconductor industry silicon by-product for the production of solar cells, the core component in systems that generate solar electric power. The limited availability and high price of solar-grade silicon feedstock have historically constrained solar industry growth. The AstroPower – Elkem alliance will remove a fundamental barrier to widespread adoption of solar electric power by developing a dedicated source of low-cost solar-grade silicon feedstock for the solar industry. AstroPower and Elkem estimate that the annual market for solar-grade silicon is currently approximately $75 million, and it is forecasted to grow at 25% - 30% over the next five years.

"Elkem and AstroPower have been working together on the development of feedstock for AstroPower since February, 1998. However, research and development in the area of solar-grade silicon began long before that within both organizations," said Dr Allen M. Barnett, President of AstroPower. "By combining several key proprietary process technologies we have separately developed, we now believe that we have designed and demonstrated an integrated production process that will enable us to produce large volumes of cost-effective solar-grade silicon feedstock for the entire solar power industry. This agreement delineates the path forward from final process development through establishment of a manufacturing joint venture."

"We expect that this partnership will be very significant, not only in supporting AstroPower’s continued rapid capacity growth, but also in allowing the solar power industry at large to move beyond the growth constraints imposed by the current supply of appropriate raw material," said Ole Enger, Elkem’s President and CEO. "As a world leader in the manufacturing and science of silicon, we’ve made a commitment to protect the environment. This venture allows us to apply our proprietary technology toward solving an important problem for the solar power industry and, thus, make a significant long-term environmental contribution."

About AstroPower

Headquartered in Newark, Delaware, AstroPower is the world’s largest independent manufacturer of solar electric power products, and one of the world’s fastest growing solar electric power companies. AstroPower develops, manufactures, markets and sells PV solar cells, modules, panels and systems for generating solar electric power. Solar electric power systems provide a clean, renewable source of electricity in both off-grid and on-grid applications. In Nov. 1999, AstroPower was selected by Industry Week magazine as one of the 25 most successful small manufacturers in the U.S. For more information, please visit www.AstroPower.com.

About Elkem

Elkem is the world's largest producer of silicon metal, serving the aluminum, chemical, electronic and solar industry. Silicon metal is produced at Elkem Alloy in West Virginia and at the Norwegian plants Elkem Bremanger, Elkem Fiskaa Silicon, Elkem Meraker and Elkem Thamshavn applying the most advanced manufacturing technologies. In addition, Elkem is a recognized producer of aluminum, carbon products and microsilica and is the western world's leading supplier of ferrosilicon. The Group is one of Norway's most important industrial companies, and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange as well as on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (OSLO and FRANKFURT STOCK EXCHANGES: ELK). For more information, please visit www.elkem.no.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as described in the Company’s registration statement and periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, there can be no assurance that the Company’s future results will not be materially different from those projected. The projections contained herein speak only of the Company’s expectations as of the date of this press release. The Company hereby expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which such statement is based.

Contact Information: Michael Wright Director, Marketing Communications AstroPower, Inc. (302) 366-0400 Ext. 195 Christian F. Dethloff Corporate Business Development Elkem ASA +47-22450242

-- K (infosurf@yahoo.com), January 20, 2001.