US Air Force Increases Research Contract Award Value to Ascent Solar Technologies' High-temperature Substrate Program

Business Wire, March 27, 2007

LITTLETON, Colo. -- Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. ("Ascent Solar") (NASDAQ:ASTI) (BSE:AKC) announced today that it has been granted a contract modification from the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to continue development of flexible high-temperature substrates for monolithically integrated CIGS photovoltaics. This program originated at ITN Energy Systems, Inc. (ITN) and was novated, or transferred, to Ascent Solar in January 2007. The contract modification adds an additional $607,365 of funded contract value to the original contract of $925,283 and extends the period of performance to March 2009.

Ascent Solar was formed in October 2005 by ITN to commercialize certain thin film photovoltaic technology for space, near-space, and terrestrial applications that had been developed under internal and government funding. AFRL has sponsored a significant portion of the development of the flexible CIGS photovoltaics with the ITN/Ascent Solar team for space and near-space applications, including the development of a flexible high-temperature material upon which CIGS can be deposited. The ability to deposit the CIGS material onto a flexible substrate that can withstand higher process temperatures than existing materials can lead to higher device performance.

Ascent Solar Chief Technical Officer Dr. Joseph Armstrong stated "Completing the modification to our AFRL contract provides additional funds for development of a suitable high-temperature CIGS substrate. Depositing at a higher temperature than is possible with our baseline plastic substrates can lead to higher performance that is required for space and near-space applications. We have already demonstrated efficiencies of nearly 14% in the space environment with high-temperature substrates, which is equivalent to well over 15% for terrestrial applications, and we believe that further performance improvement is possible. In addition, the fabrication process used in these high-performance cells is directly related to our existing prototype monolithically integrated manufacturing operations, and will be compatible with our manufacturing line presently under construction."

About Ascent Solar:

Ascent Solar is a developer of state-of-the-art, thin-film photovoltaic materials and modules and is located in Littleton, Colorado. Please visit our website for additional information at www.ascentsolar.com.

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