SatCon receives $1M award for development of photovoltaic inverter.

SatCon Technology Corporation (Nasdaq NM: SATC), a developer and manufacturer of electronic power control systems, today announced that it received a $1 million contract award from the United States Department of Energy, acting through the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, for the development of advanced inverter technology for residential and light commercial photovoltaic and Distributed Energy Resource (DER) applications.

"The cutting edge inverter research and development SatCon is conducting holds great promise for improving energy efficiency in the United States and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels," Senator Edward M. Kennedy said. "I'm gratified that the Department of Energy has recognized the work of this dynamic Massachusetts company."

The technology will provide to the photovoltaic industry a highly reliable and cost-effective inverter and improve the viability of photovoltaic systems for residential and light commercial usage with the goal of helping reduce our national dependency on oil imports. At the conclusion of the contract, in the fall of 2004, SatCon will deliver prototype hardware that can be used in a modular 5- to 8-kilowatt size system with the goal of introducing this capability into next-generation photovoltaic systems.

"SatCon has seen an increase in the work we are doing for high power inverters for alternative energy applications," said David Eisenhaure, president and chief executive officer. "We recently introduced a new 100kW Photovoltaic Power Conditioning System (PCS) for industrial solar applications and announced work we are doing for fuel cell applications for large industrial distributed, on-site, power generation. The work we will be doing here complements that effort by introducing our inverters into the residential and commercial photovoltaic market, which we believe will be another component of a networked energy system that could replace our outdated utility grid and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil."

Sandia is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.

SatCon Technology Corporation manufactures and sells power control systems for critical military systems, alternative energy and high-reliability industrial automation applications. Products include inverter electronics from 5 kilowatts to 5 megawatts, power switches, and hybrid microcircuits for industrial, medical, military and aerospace applications. SatCon also develops and builds digital power electronics, high-efficiency machines and control systems for a variety of defense applications with the strategy of transitioning those technologies into multiyear production programs.