Cypress's CEO Issues Declaration of Energy Independence, Planning 100 Percent Self-Generation by 2015

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: CY) CEO T.J. Rodgers today declared that Cypress's headquarters campus in San Jose, Calif., will be independent from the public utility grid by the year 2015. The announcement was made as the company dedicated three new Bloom Energy fuel cell systems at the site. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) July 23, 2010 - The Bloom Energy Servers, combined with existing rooftop solar panel installations, now supply approximately 75 percent of Cypress's electric needs.

"In the course of doing business, it sometimes becomes necessary for a company to rethink the bonds that have connected it to other organizations," said Cypress's founder, president and CEO T.J. Rodgers, paraphrasing the opening passage of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. "Until now, the monthly electric bill was seen by California businesses as one of life's certainties. That is no longer the case, thanks to more affordable renewable energy options.

"Using both solar and renewable-fuel-powered Bloom Energy Servers-and possibly other technologies still in their infancy-we envision a fully functional campus with 100 percent clean, self-sustaining electrical power," Rodgers said. "We are three-fourths of the way toward achieving our goal using technology created right here in our own backyard, by the type of visionary minds that made Silicon Valley the center of innovation."

The three 100-kilowatt Bloom Energy Servers installed at Cypress are expected to pay for themselves in five years, at which point they will be generating nearly "free" electricity for Cypress. The servers, about the size of an average parking space, convert air and renewable biogas into electricity via a clean electrochemical process. Each server contains thousands of Bloom's fuel cells - flat, solid ceramic squares made from a sand-like powder-and generates enough power to meet the needs of approximately 100 average U.S. homes, or one small office building.

"I want to thank Cypress for helping San Jose become the world's center of clean tech innovation," said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. "Cypress's declaration reflects the Silicon Valley's tradition of creativity. Silicon Valley companies are transforming the way we use energy through green technologies like Bloom Energy fuel cells and SunPower solar cells. San Jose's Green Vision sets ambitious goals for halving our per capita energy use and getting 100 percent of the city's energy from clean, renewable sources. Efforts like Cypress's are showing us that it's possible to do just that."

"We are excited to provide Cypress with a renewable energy solution that can contribute to their self-generation goal 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," said KR Sridhar, Bloom Energy co-founder and CEO. "With Bloom's Energy Servers, our customers are able to ensure their energy security while also dramatically reducing their costs and their carbon footprint."

Cypress celebrated its independence declaration today with an event at its campus, featuring comments from T.J. Rodgers, K.R. Sridhar, SunPower founder and CTO Dick Swanson, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, and Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese. The event also showcased renewable energy exhibits from Bloom Energy, SunPower, and Cypress Envirosystems, a Cypress subsidiary that provides solutions to retrofit existing buildings and industrial plants for energy efficiency. There also were green energy exhibits from local high school students displayed at the event. These included a SmartBike by David Zarrin of Saratoga High School, a next-generation hydrogen fuel cell project designed by Aakriti Jain and Emily Cheng of Lynbrook High, and a solar-operated room cooling system by William Thornbury of De La Salle.

SunPower designs, manufactures and delivers the planet's most powerful solar technology broadly available today. Cypress spun out SunPower in 2008 in a tax-free stock distribution worth $2.6 billion.

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