FCC Approves Spectrum Bridge as First White Spaces Platform – Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC Set to Become the First TVWS Customer

LAKE MARY, FL, Dec 22, 2011 — Spectrum Bridge, Inc. today announces the launch of its TV White Space (TVWS) platform as the first solution approved to provide service in the United States. The company’s cloud-based spectrum management platform gives wireless broadband service providers access to TVWS frequencies while protecting TV broadcasters and other incumbent operations. This approach is essential in allocating additional unlicensed spectrum for wireless applications.

“We have taken a major step forward in advancing technology solutions that manage wireless frequencies,” said Rod Dir, CEO of Spectrum Bridge. “Now that the solution is approved by the FCC, TV White Space will be the proving ground for showing the market how our solutions can be used for other spectrum bands in the US and globally.”

The first TVWS network is being deployed with devices manufactured by KTS Wireless, the first product approved to operate in conjunction with the Spectrum Bridge TVWS platform.

“We are very excited to be a part of the next generation of wireless technology, creating innovative new applications that build on the unlicensed spectrum band,” said William Koos, President of KTS. “We have worked closely with Spectrum Bridge on many wireless trials and demonstrated that our technology along with the Spectrum Bridge platform will greatly enhance services in and around underserved communities.”

The company also announces the first commercial TVWS customer with the City of Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. Wilmington was the first city to transition to digital TV, and quickly became the first Smart City trialing TVWS spectrum in 2010. Spectrum Bridge worked with wireless system integrator TV Band Service to deploy the network and will further develop the network to establish Wilmington as a test bed for TVWS technology.

“New Hanover County is proud to lead the nation with the first commercial installation of a white space network at our flagship park, Hugh MacRae,” said New Hanover County Commissioners Vice Chairman Jason Thompson. “We will be using this new technology to extend the range of our wireless networks beyond the parks and gardens and provide enhanced services to our citizens.”

Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo also noted, “Wilmington is proud to continue its participation in wireless innovation. We continue to support the development of emerging wireless technology.”

Spectrum Bridge is building on this success by working closely with partners to further develop TVWS-compatible radio platforms and services. The company offers advanced wireless solutions and value added services that enhance the performance and management of TVWS networks. (source spectrumbridge.com)

About Spectrum Bridge, Inc.
Spectrum Bridge, Inc. (SBI) develops technology and intellectual property that virtualizes spectrum by giving wireless devices access to available bandwidth more efficiently. SBI’s cloud-based platform provides customers with greater network capacity, coverage and utilization through efficient allocation of spectrum resources. The company’s platform also enhances service providers and radio manufacturer’s solutions by utilizing a database-driven cognitive networking technology designed to promote co-existence. SBI was named a top innovator in the area of technology for its TV White Spaces network by the Andrew Seybold 2010 Choice Awards. The company is privately held and headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida. For more information, contact us at (866) 598-7426 or visit SpectrumBridge.com.

What Channels Within White Space are Actually Available?

Spectrum Bridge has launched a Web site called ShowMyWhiteSpace.com that offers an easy online tool to find open TV channels available at any location in the U.S. Now there is a place to figure out what parts of “white space” are really accessible in a given location.

www.showmywhitespace.com

UCF Earns $1.3 Million National Green Challenge Grant for Clean Tech

The University of Central Florida is leading a team that just won $1.3 million in a national White House competition aimed at driving technology commercialization and entrepreneurship to support a “green innovation economy.”

The Obama Administration Thursday announced the winning i6 Green Challenge projects from Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, New England and Washington. Each project will receive about $1 million from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration and up to $6 million in additional funding and technical assistance from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, as well as Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

All of the competition’s winners will support emerging technology-based businesses as they mature and demonstrate their market potential, making them more attractive to investors and helping entrepreneurs turn their ideas and innovations into viable companies. UCF is leading the state’s only winning team, which includes the Technological Research and Development Authority and the University of Florida’s Florida Energy Systems Consortium.

According to a 2009 study, the Central Florida region is ideally situated for the cleantech industry.

The Florida partners will work together to speed up the development and commercialization of research in clean technology areas, such as solar power, building science, energy efficiency, hydrogen fuel cells and ethanol production. Research centers at universities across the state, economic development agencies, incubators and entrepreneur support organizations will participate in an online network to share proven techniques and encourage technology development in cleantech industries.

“We proposed this network to utilize the existing resources we have in the state and bring them together to help jumpstart the development of clean technologies statewide,” said Tom O’Neal, associate vice president for UCF’s Office of Research and Commercialization and the lead investigator on the project.

“Not only do we have outstanding energy research expertise, we have a skilled technical workforce located in Florida’s Space Coast to develop a strong energy innovation cluster in Central Florida,” O’Neal added.

Among the resources the program will offer is a catalog of energy research conducted at Florida universities, a dedicated market research team to identify opportunities for research while helping with market evaluation and business plan development and a statewide network of experienced mentors, investors and industry experts to assist entrepreneurs in business strategy, financing and management.

Venture capitalists are now investing more heavily in later stages of research, making it difficult to find funding for early-stage projects, according to a Kauffman Foundation study. The UCF-led project will help bridge that gap.

“We congratulate the organizations and entrepreneurs who came together to form these vibrant public-private partnerships in an effort to promote new green technologies and green jobs in the United States,” Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank said. “These investments will help boost U.S. competitiveness and better position the nation to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.” (source UCF TOday http://today.ucf.edu)

The winning projects of the i6 Green Challenge include:

• Ames, Iowa: Iowa Innovation Network i6 Green Project
• Holland, Mich.: Proof of Concept Center for Green Chemistry Scale-up
• New England: iGreen New England Partnership
• Orlando, Fla.: Igniting Innovation (I2) Cleantech Acceleration Network
• Ruston, La.: Louisiana Tech Proof of Concept Center
• Washington State: Washington Clean Energy Partnership Project

Neo Solar Power to Invest in BlueChip Energy’s 120 MW Sorrento Solar Farm Project

LAKE MARY, Fla., Oct 11, 2011 — BlueChip Energy, LLC (BCE) an independent solar power producer, today announced it has signed a letter of intent with Neo Solar Power, a Taiwan-based solar cell manufacturer, for an equity participation in BCE’s 120 MW Sorrento Solar Farm project.

As part of the agreement, Neo Solar Power will contribute at least 10 MW of its high efficiency solar cells for an equity stake in the project, which is currently under construction in Lake County, FL. The cells will be converted into solar panels by Advanced Solar Photonics, BCE’s manufacturing subsidiary. Neo Solar Power focuses on high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar PV cells. As of the second quarter of 2011, the company had installed capacity of 1.3 GW.

“We are delighted to be working with NSP as a partner. They are one of the largest cell producers in the world, their product is top quality and, most importantly, NSP’s executive management understands that to truly thrive in the PV industry, it is necessary to put your product to work in project generating electricity revenue,” said Yongshuang Wang, VP of Strategic Development for BCE.

The LOI between BCE and Neo Solar Power is a major milestone in the US solar power industry as it marks the introduction of a new business model for developing solar power projects, without the use of power purchase agreements (PPAs) and financed by manufacturers themselves, rather than financial institutions. BCE’s new solar power development model will be described in more detail in an upcoming series of Executive Briefings to be released by the company over the next few weeks.

The Sorrento Solar Farm is unique among announced solar power projects in the United States in that is:

– Fully permitted: Rezoning authorization issued by Lake County Zoning Board and the Lake County Board of Commissioners; Environmental Permit issued by Florida Department of Environmental Protection (permit No ERP35-0307272-001-SI);

– Ideally Located: The project is located on land owned by BCE, gently sloping from north to south (eliminating the need for grading) and adjacent to two substations owned by Progress Energy Florida and SECO; and

– Federally Licensed: The project has Qualifying Facility status (FERC Docket Number QF11-240-000) and Wholesale Generator status (FERC Docket Number EG11-58-000) certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Sorrento Solar Farm is one of only a few dozen solar projects listed on PV Insider’s Map of Utility Scale Solar Projects in the US (www.pv-insider.com/optimizationusa/pdf/Map.pdf)

With the growing PV equipment supply glut — solar market research provider Solarbuzz estimates panel oversupply as high as 11 GW in 2012 (www.solarbuzz.com/our-research/recent-findings/production-cutbacks-insufficient-prevent-solar-module-inventory-buildup) technology providers are starting to move “downstream” in the solar value chain to electricity production and sales.

BCE has signed LOIs with other solar panel and cell producers to contribute their products in the first 40 MW stage of the Sorrento Solar Farm and expects to finalize supply and joint venture contracts with them before the Solar Power International trade show in Dallas, October 17-20.

About BlueChip Energy, LLC
BlueChip Energy, LLC (BCE) is a fully integrated solar PV power generator, occupying all segments of the solar power value chain — from the manufacturing of solar panels and balance of systems components by its wholly owned subsidiary Advanced Solar Photonics, to the sale of turnkey solar power plants, to the sale of solar electricity to utility, commercial and residential customers. BCE develops, finances, builds, operates, and monitors solar plants for companies and individuals, as well as for its own portfolio. BlueChip Energy’s two flagship utility scale solar projects, the Rinehart Solar Farm (10 MW) and the Sorrento Solar Farm (two phases of 40 MW and 80 MW), received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as self-certified small power production facilities, or Qualified Facilities (QFs) earlier this year, requiring the local utility to provide interconnection to them and purchase the electricity they produce. Additionally, these two solar farms have received approval to operate as Exempt Wholesale Generators (EWGs), providing the facilities with undisputed access to the power distribution network. FERC has also granted the company Market-Based Rate Authorization, allowing BCE to purchase and sell wholesale electricity and offer renewable energy products to customers.

About Advanced Solar Photonics, LLC
Advanced Solar Photonics, LLC (ASP), a wholly owned subsidiary of BlueChip Energy, is a manufacturing and research and development center for crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for utility, commercial and residential applications. Based on the latest cell efficiency, light transmission, and encapsulation technologies, ASP focuses on high-efficiency, state-of-the-art solar PV modules ranging from 200 Watts to 400 Watts. ASP is the third largest producer of crystalline silicon PV panels in the United States and is one of the few producers in the US of Buy American Act compliant products suitable for government, military and municipal projects and meeting the requirements of Section 1605 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

About Neo Solar Power
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Neo Solar Power Corporation is a leading manufacturer in producing high performance and high quality PV cells. Endeavored to make solar energy a competitive energy source, NSP is continuously optimizing production processes and exercising strict quality control in semiconductor and solar products. With core competences in quality, technology, customer service, NSP aims to become a leader in the global photovoltaic industry. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.neosolarpower.com Source: BlueChip Energy, LLC

Sorrento Solar Farm (40 MW)

The Sorrento Solar Farm is a 40 MW solar photovoltaic project on a 160-acre plot in Lake County, Florida. The project will consist of approximately 174,000 230-Watt mono-crystalline solar PV panels. BCE estimates the project will require approximately one year to complete from the commitment of funds by its financing partner.