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June 25, 2008

SVTC Solar Partners With Roth & Rau to Provide Complete Solar Cell Manufacturing Line

World-recognized solar cell manufacturing equipment to be installed in SVTC Solar’s new Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Development Center

SAN JOSE, Calif. (June 25, 2008) —SVTC Technologies, a leading independent semiconductor process-development foundry, announced that it has signed a collaboration agreement with world-recognized solar equipment manufacturer Roth & Rau AG of Germany. Under the agreement, Roth & Rau will collaborate with SVTC's Solar business unit and provide a complete silicon wafer solar cell development and manufacturing line for SVTC Solar's new Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Development Center (see related press release on the launch of the new center).

In addition to establishing a complete turnkey solar manufacturing line in San Jose, the agreement calls for ongoing collaboration between SVTC Solar and Roth & Rau for product and equipment development and marketing. Existing solar cell manufacturers and solar start-ups will be able to access the Roth & Rau equipment for their product development efforts, and Roth & Rau will benefit from having these potential customers working on their tools. Additionally, Roth & Rau will use the Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Development Center as its North American demonstration showroom.

"The Roth & Rau equipment line will allow SVTC Solar to provide much-needed development and pilot production services to the growing solar industry," said Kurt Laetz, SVTC Solar program manager. "Roth & Rau is a world leader in solar cell manufacturing equipment, and this complete solar cell manufacturing line will establish our new Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Development Center as the premier location in the U.S. for solar companies to conduct their development programs."

SVTC Technologies has leased an 87,000 sq. ft. facility in South San Jose as the location for the Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Development Center. The purpose of this center is to provide the fast-growing solar industry with the infrastructure - including development equipment, support and engineering services - required to create and commercialize innovative solar energy products. Roth & Rau's 5 megawatt (MW) capacity solar cell manufacturing line is ideally sized for pilot production.

The Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Development Center will serve multiple photovoltaic (PV) technologies, including traditional silicon wafers and thin films. By partnering with major service providers, SVTC Solar is positioning the Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Development Center to support a sustainable solar industry in Silicon Valley.

"This is a natural extension into photovoltaics of our core business in the semiconductor industry," said Dave Bergeron, CEO of SVTC Technologies. "We provide exceptional development services that allow our customers to bring their products to market in shorter times with less development spending. Partnering with high-quality equipment providers such as Roth & Rau is how we maintain our edge."

Roth & Rau AG, based in Hohenstein-Ernstthal (ISIN DE000A0JCZ51), Germany, is a supplier of plasma process systems for the photovoltaics industry. The company is a leading supplier in terms of market share in this industry. Furthermore, Roth & Rau supplies components and process systems based on plasma and ion beam technology for other sectors. Developed by Roth & Rau, these products are manufactured and distributed worldwide through the company's photovoltaic and plasma and ion beam technology divisions.

In fiscal year 2007 Roth & Rau achieved an EBIT of Euro 14 million on sales of Euro 146 million, employing an average of 190 people. Roth & Rau's photovoltaic division focuses on providing antireflective coating facilities as well as fully automated manufacturing lines (turnkey production lines) for the production of crystalline silicon solar cells. Another focus is on the production of equipment for the coating of thin film solar modules. The plasma and ion beam technology division, which accounted for around 6 percent of total sales in the financial year 2007, produces plasma sources and ion beam sources as well as process systems for thin film and surface technology. Customers served by this division include, in particular, companies in the semiconductor and automotive industries, R&D departments in various industries including photovoltaics, as well as research institutes and universities. For more information, see www.roth-rau.de.

SVTC Solar is the newest business unit of SVTC Technologies, a leading independent semiconductor development foundry that enables the development and commercialization of innovative semiconductor-based technologies and products in an accelerated, cost-effective and IP-secure way. SVTC Solar was founded to focus the advantages of SVTC Technologies' business model on the fast-growing solar energy industry. SVTC Solar is dedicated to improving solar power by providing photovoltaic manufacturers with comprehensive, cost-effective development and commercialization support, enabling them to develop novel silicon-based and thin-film technologies and accelerate their products' time to market. More information on SVTC Technologies can be found at www.svtc.com. Information on the Silicon Valley Photovoltaic Development Center can be found at www.siliconvalleypv.com.

SVTC and the SVTC logo are trademarks of SVTC Technologies, LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.