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Capstone and Israel’s HelioFocus Get R&D Grants To Fire Up Solar Powered Micro-Turbines.
Israel, Ness Ziona Nov. 25, 2009 - Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq:CPST) the world's leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems announced today that it has received notice of grant awards by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Israel's Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation to participate in a separate clean energy product development project valued in USD 800,000.

In a milestone of U.S. - Israeli cooperation on clean energy technology development the U.S. Department of Energy and Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation Energy Executive Committee have selected a product development effort by Capstone Turbine and Israel's HelioFocus Ltd. The award of up to $800,000 is to further the development and commercialize a microturbine to produce electric power from concentrated solar energy.

HelioFocus has previously developed a proprietary solar receiver to convert concentrated solar energy into super heated air. That super heated air will be used to drive a specially-designed externally fired C65 Capstone microturbine to produce efficient solar power. The system will be designed with the option to use natural gas to provide continuous power to supplement the solar energy when it is not available.

"The ability for solar projects to generate energy more efficiently and at night is the value proposition driving this joint product development effort between HelioFocus and Capstone," said Darren Jamison, Capstone President and CEO. "Efficiency is extremely important in solar power systems as a means to reduce size, space, and ultimately drive down installation costs," added Jamison.

"There is a strong demand for viable solar power that is already ahead of what can practically be delivered today using existing solar technologies. The objective of the program is to achieve a high efficiency modular dish system that can be quickly and cost-effectively deployed for large scale projects," said Jim Crouse, Executive VP of Sales and Marketing at Capstone. "We have already demonstrated excellent durability and reliability of our microturbines, and our UL listed power electronics allow simple interconnection with utility grids. This is a natural extension into the renewable energy space," added Crouse.

The BIRD Energy Foundation is supported by funding from both the U.S. and Israeli governments with the mission to encourage cooperation between Israeli and American companies. They award grants in the form of risk-free loans that are to be repaid in the event that the products become commercial. Both HelioFocus in Israel and Capstone in the U.S. have been working together toward integrating their technologies to achieve a concentrated solar power system with high net efficiency.