Frost & Sullivan Recognizes REC for Creating the Highest Value for Customers in the Solar Power Market

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Frost & Sullivan Recognizes REC for Creating the Highest Value for Customers in the Solar Power Market

PR Newswire MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, July 18, 2012

- The company has gained a competitive edgeby identifying operational and customer improvement opportunities while leveraging technological innovation MOUNTAIN VIEW, California,July 18, 2012/PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the solar power market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) with the 2011 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Enhancement for leveraging its proprietary Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) technology and automated solar production processes to make solar power solutions more accessible to customers across the globe. "Compared with retail electricity, solar electricity costs are higher," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Georgina Benedetti. "Reducing the manufacturing costs of solar panels can reduce solar electricity costs and put it on par with conventional sources of electricity generation, thereby increasing its uptake." A dominant player in the global solar power market, REC is active throughout the solar value chain from silicon production through to wafer, cell and module production as well as systems development. Through innovation, operational excellence, and industry-wide expertise, REC has become a highly competitive solar energy solution provider that creates enhanced value for its customers. Offering a host of solar energy solutions, REC invests a considerable amount of its resources in research and development to focus on new technology. It spent Norwegian Kroner (NOK) 89 million on R&D, approximatelyUSD 15.9 millionor EUR 11.4 millionin the fourth quarter of 2011, compared toNOK 69 million, approximatelyUSD 11.4 millionorEUR 8.6 million, spent in the fourth quarter of 2010. A key technological achievement for the company has been its proprietary FBR technology that produces solar-grade granular polysilicon, known as NextSi™, which provides operational efficiencies for both mono and polycrystalline wafer manufacturers. "The FBR technology not only aids in energy savings of up to 80 to 90 percent in the course of the silicon refining process, it reduces both REC's solar panels' manufacturing cost and its Energy Payback Time to one year," noted Benedetti. "Since no other market participant uses such technology, REC has developed a distinct competitive edge by delivering high value for money to its customers." REC products are amongst the first crystalline modules with an energy payback time of one year. This is the time it takes for a module to generate the same amount of energy required for its manufacture including all the balance of system components (BOS). As a result of technological innocation throughout the value chain, the carbon footprint of an REC system is only between 18 and 22 g/kWh CO2 depending on the manufacturing chain while a more conventional PV system has a footprint around 35 g/kWh. The company's customer-centric business strategies also include a solar installer and partner program for solar distributors and project developers,