Momentum Builds as HelioVolt Secures New Technical Advisory Board Member, Solar Fab and 2006 Frost & Sullivan Innovation Award for Thin-Film Photovoltaics

Business Wire, June 6, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas -- Thin-Film Solar Pioneer Expands Product Development and Manufacturing Capabilities

HelioVolt Corporation today announced that Frost and Sullivan has honored the next-generation solar energy technology company with the 2006 Innovation of the Year Award in the field of thin film photovoltaics. The Frost and Sullivan recognition follows closely on a strategic new addition to HelioVolt's technical advisory panel, Dr. Vish Krishnan, a specialist in innovation and technology commercialization at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Krishnan will lend his expertise to HelioVolt as the company prepares to deliver its proprietary copper indium gallium selenide-based (CIGS) thin film photovoltaic technology to market from its new R&D and fabrication facility.

"HelioVolt's FASST process has enabled a rapid technique to develop high quality CIGS thin films with a very low thermal budget. The fundamental research carried out to understand the physics of the functioning mechanism of CIGS films has enabled the company to attain a strategic position from where it could deliver high quality thin film CIGS based photovoltaic modules," notes Hari Ramamoorthy, Research Analyst from Frost & Sullivan.

After a rigorous assessment of competitors in the thin film solar energy market, Frost and Sullivan awarded the Innovation of the Year Award to HelioVolt for achieving one of the most outstanding industry contributions. The award honors HelioVolt for its proprietary FASST(TM) process, a high-speed method for manufacturing silicon-free CIGS thin film at the commercial scale. Leveraging FASST to produce efficient CIGS photovoltaics at least ten times faster than its thin film competitors, HelioVolt's solar technology can be applied directly onto conventional construction materials including steel, architectural glass, and roofing materials. Transforming roofs and walls into solar-powered electricity-generating systems, HelioVolt's customizable building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) sidestep the bulky retrofit panels that have traditionally dominated the solar power industry.

"It is a period of high growth at HelioVolt. In addition to Frost & Sullivan's recent recognition of our FASST(TM) process and a new facility designed to meet our product development and manufacturing needs, we've also assembled an extraordinary group of distinguished technical experts committed to guiding HelioVolt's product development," said HelioVolt CEO Dr. B.J. Stanbery. "Dr. Krishnan's technology, logistics, and product innovation expertise will be a critical asset as we bring our thin-film solar technology out of the lab and into the rapidly growing market for BIPV."

Dr. Krishnan joins Colorado State University's Dr. James Sites, Princeton University's Dr. Kyle Vanderlick, and Nobel Prize winning physicist Dr. Arno Penzias on HelioVolt's technical advisory panel.

"HelioVolt's flexible method for printing efficient photovoltaics throws the door wide open for a new spectrum of valuable applications for solar power. I look forward to working with Dr. Stanbery's team in delivering on the promise of a suite of innovative, practical, and profitable solar energy products," said Dr. Krishnan.

One of the world's foremost scholars on the topics of product, process, and business innovation, Dr. Krishnan holds an endowed chair at the University of California, San Diego's Rady School of Management where he leads the school's efforts in the areas of innovation, technology and operations. He has published numerous well-cited articles and serves in editorial positions in the top Management journals. Prior to the Rady School, Dr. Krishnan was IC2 Senior Research Fellow and Management Professor at the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin. He received his Doctorate degree in Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

About HelioVolt

HelioVolt Corporation was founded in 2001 in order to develop and market new technology for applying thin-film photovoltaic (PV) coatings to conventional construction materials. The company's proprietary FASST(TM) process, based on semiconductor printing, was invented by HelioVolt founder Dr. B.J. Stanbery, an eminent expert within the international PV community in the materials science of CIS and related compound semiconductors. FASST(TM) is a low-cost, flexible manufacturing process for CIGS synthesis and is protected by both eight issued US patents and by global patents pending. For additional information, visit www.heliovolt.com.