LightPath Technologies wins U.S. Government subcontract for solar energy technology for next generation of space satellites

Business Wire, Oct 2, 1996

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 1996--

Immediate Implications for Commercial Satellite and

Terrestrial Solar Energy Industries

LightPath Technologies Inc. (symbol - LPTHU Nasdaq, SmallCap Market) has received a U.S. Government-funded subcontract to provide the enabling solar energy technology that will allow satellites to produce their own power more efficiently at low earth orbits, LightPath Chairman Leslie A. Danziger announced today.

The subcontract, received through D-R Technologies Inc., San Diego, also has direct implications for commercial satellites and the terrestrial solar power industry.

LightPath will adapt its patented GRADIUM(TM) glass, which has unprecedented light-bending capabilities, to produce first a glass and later an acrylic, GRADIUM solar "light conduit." It will channel light from a satellite's solar collector to its photovoltaic cells, which will turn the concentrated light into electrical power for the satellite.

The GRADIUM conduit will enable photovoltaic cells to be static, separate from the solar collector and thus shielded from damaging radiation. Because of GRADIUM's lightbending properties, there will need to be far less "tracking" and movement by the solar concentrator.

"I know of no material other than GRADIUM that can satisfy our requirement for a large axial gradient solar light guide," said Dr. Ugur Ortabasi, program director at D-R Technologies and inventor of the Graded Index Solar Concentrator. "A prototype flat panel using GRADIUM will be rugged and monolithic -- important features for satellites -- and get light accurately to the photovoltaic cells."

The $225,000 subcontract establishes solar energy as an additional market and revenue stream for LightPath, Ms. Danziger said. The company, which raised approximately $8 million in a Feb. 22, 1996, initial public offering, is building a revenue base from the following GRADIUM glass applications: high-performance optics for industrial lasers; devices to cost-effectively multiply the information-carrying capacity of optical fiber used in telecommunications; medical imaging devices and rifle scopes.

A "light conduit," or graded index solar concentrator, based on GRADIUM technology also presents the opportunity to improve commercial satellites. The ability to shield photovoltaic cells could lengthen a commercial satellite's life and provide more payload capacity.

"The main reason commercial satellites must regularly be abandoned in space is the deterioration of their photovoltaic cells due to space radiation like protons and electrons," said Paul Dempewolf, LightPath's director of new product development. "GRADIUM represents an energy-efficient, cost-effective solution."

LightPath is also targeting for the long-term the terrestrial solar power industry, a growing market, particularly in developing countries needing to quickly produce more electricity. Solar energy plants may be able to halve the cost of the electricity they produce by using rugged GRADIUM lenses to deliver higher concentrations of light to photovoltaic cells. This would increase the productivity of the cells and reduce the acreage needed for collectors.

"Although telecommunications, lasers and other imaging products have merged as our core markets, LightPath and GRADIUM have their research roots in solar energy. We are convinced that satellites and terrestrial solar energy are substantial long-term markets and that accelerating their progress hinges, in part, on GRADIUM," Ms. Danziger said.

LightPath Technologies Inc. manufactures GRADIUM materials at its headquarters facility and has 10 patents, and several more pending, associated with the process to manufacture GRADIUM glass and plastics. GRADIUM lenses have internal light-bending properties and reduce optical aberrations typical in lenses made of conventional glass or plastic.

CONTACT: Frank Sommerfield Communications Inc.

212/255-8386

LightPath Web site: http://www.light.net