ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., and OTTAWA, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 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(TM) 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 http://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 http://www.enfinity.ca/. This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning our plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events, future net sales or performance, capital expenditures, financing needs, plans or intentions relating to expansions, business trends and other information that is not historical information. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us on the date of this release and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Risks that could cause such results to differ include: our ability to successfully integrate the acquisition of Solar Integrated Technologies; our ability to maintain our customer relationships; the worldwide demand for electricity and the market for solar energy; the supply and price of components and raw materials for our products; and our customers' ability to access the capital needed to finance the purchase of our products. The risk factors identified in the ECD filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, could impact any forward-looking statements contained in this release. DATASOURCE: Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. CONTACT: Mark Trinske, Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications, ECD/United Solar Ovonic, +1-248-299-6063; Jurgen Van Damme, Press and Communication, Enfinity Head Office, Phone +32 9 245 15 70 Mobile +32 473 22 03 01 Web Site: http://www.energyconversiondevices.com/

Copyright