French Utility Selects SunPower High Efficiency Solar Panels for 3.8-Megawatt Solar Power Plant in Southeastern France

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), today announced that it has delivered 12,000 high-efficiency SunPower™ E19 / 320 solar panels to La Compagnie du Vent, a subsidiary of French utility giant GDF SUEZ Group.  Estimated for completion in the summer of 2012, the 3.8-megawatt dc (MW) power plant will be La Compagnie du Vent's largest ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) installation to date. The solar power plant is expected to generate approximately 6,270,000 kilowatt-hours of power each year, which represents the electricity consumption of approximately 3,500 persons and, according to RTE 2011, carbon offset of approximately 5,000 tons per year.

"SunPower is delighted to partner with La Compagnie du Vent to provide them our high-efficiency solar panels, the most reliable on the market today," said Howard Wenger, SunPower president, regions. "We are confident that, with SunPower's proven performance, La Compagnie du Vent will experience exceptional energy output and achieve robust return on investment over the 25-year minimum life of the solar panels."

"La Compagnie du Vent, GDF SUEZ Group has followed SunPower and its unrivalled high efficiency PV technology for the past several years," said Gilles Leandro, La Compagnie du Vent's PV development director. "We are impressed with the company's highest efficiency solar panels, which maximize capacity on space-constrained areas; a key driver for our choice of this PV technology."

French pioneer of wind energy, La Compagnie du Vent, is considered a major player in renewable energy due to its diversification in the production of solar electricity.  Today, wind farms and PV power plants in operation and under construction by La Compagnie du Vent represent a total of approximately 280 MW dc.

About SunPower

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) designs, manufactures and delivers the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar panels and systems available today.  Residential, business, government and utility customers rely on the company's quarter century of experience and guaranteed performance to provide maximum return on investment throughout the life of the solar system.  Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpowercorp.com.

SOURCE SunPower Corp.

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