RGS Energy Engages Supply Chain Manufacturing Partners for Launch of RGS POWERHOUSE™

DENVER, April 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RGS Energy (NASDAQ:RGSE), America’s Original Solar Company since 1978, has partnered with industry leaders Risen Energy Co., General Polymers Thermoplastic Materials and Creative Liquid Coatings to commercialize the RGS POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 Solar Shingle, an innovative and visually stunning solar shingle system using technology developed by The Dow Chemical Company.

Next Generation POWERHOUSE™ 3.0
By coupling roofing with an energy saving solar panel in a singular product, the POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle uniquely addresses the unmet needs of residential homeowners with asphalt rooftops, which represent about 85 percent of U.S. homes. Currently, more than 1,000 homeowners are enjoying benefits of earlier generations of POWERHOUSE™.

RGS Energy believes POWERHOUSE™ addresses a large, untapped market, appealing to both single-family homeowners and new home builders. The forthcoming POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 is designed to maintain or improve upon earlier generation product features, while substantially reducing manufacturing costs. POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 will offer a more competitive value proposition, even after the recently imposed tariff on imported solar cells.

RGS Energy estimates if POWERHOUSE™ achieves a 1% share of the re-roof and new home build markets, the product could be propelled to the billion-dollar revenue mark.

Risen Energy Co.

Risen Energy Co., Ltd (China - Shenzhen: 300118) is a Top 10 Tier 1 solar cell and module manufacturer located in China with a current annual manufacturing capacity of more than 4.5 gigawatts. Risen will supply all the solar components and wire harness connectors for POWERHOUSE™ 3.0.

“We’re excited to be a part of this new POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 program,” said Bypina Veerraju Chaudary, Risen’s Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. “Built-in Photovoltaics are the path to greater world-wide adoption of solar technologies, and further enhances the clean energy choices for discerning consumers.”

General Polymers Thermoplastic Materials

General Polymers Thermoplastic Materials is one of the fastest growing multi-national thermoplastic resin distributors serving custom injection molders in North America. The company will supply the polypropylene plastic resin for the base assembly of POWERHOUSE™ 3.0, which is expected to maintain the durability and toughness of the original resin while increasing manufacturing efficiency and reducing the overall cost of raw materials.

“Building-Integrated Photovoltaics is an untapped market in the U.S., and RGS Energy, America’s Original Solar Company, is an ideal partner for General Polymers for pursuing this opportunity,” said Michael Kirtley, President and COO of General Polymers. “We are looking forward to being a strong channel supplier to their POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 program.”

Creative Liquid Coatings

Headquartered in Northeast Indiana, Creative Liquid Coatings provides world-class capabilities in injection molding and paint finishing serving the consumer and industrial products markets. The company will supply all POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 molded polymer components fully assembled, with all solar components, wire harnesses and other parts required to deliver a finished product to RGS Energy customers. Creative Liquid Coatings was a supplier for earlier generations of the POWERHOUSE™ product.

“RGS is the perfect company to commercialize POWERHOUSE™ solar shingles, and we are excited to join them in introducing the product to a broader market,” said Stephen Geist, General Manager of Creative Liquid Coatings. “POWERHOUSE™ is an innovative technology that we expect will play a critical role in the evolution of the U.S. residential roofing marketplace.”

RGS POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 Manufacturing Supply Chain Overview

	POWERHOUSE™ 3.0	POWERHOUSE™ 2.0
An improved product:
Price point to customer	Lower	Higher
Energy Production	Higher	Lower
Achieved by:
Solar photovoltaic	Low cost and more efficient glass silicon cells	High cost and less efficient CIGS cells
Plastic resin	Equivalent durability, lower cost	Durable, higher cost

Supply chain partners:
Solar photovoltaic	Risen Energy Co., LTD
Horseshoe connector	Risen Energy Co., LTD
Built-in roof base plate:
Plastic resin	General Polymers Thermoplastic Materials, LLC
Injection Molding & Assembly	Creative Liquid Coatings, Inc.

Follow the company’s progress towards the planned launch this summer of POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 by  visiting the PowerLines news section at www.RGSPOWERHOUSE.com.

About RGS Energy 

RGS Energy (Nasdaq:RGSE) is America’s Original Solar Company providing solar, storage and energy services whose mission is clean energy savings. The company is the exclusive manufacturer of POWERHOUSE™, an innovative in-roof solar shingle using technology developed by The Dow Chemical Company. RGS Energy also sells, designs and installs solar systems for residential homeowners, commercial businesses, non-profit organizations and government entities. 

For more information, visit RGSEnergy.com and RGSPOWERHOUSE.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RGSEnergy and on Twitter at twitter.com/rgsenergy. Information on such websites and the websites referred to above in this press release is not incorporated by reference into this press release.

RGS Energy is the company’s registered trade name. RGS Energy files periodic and other reports with the SEC under its official name “Real Goods Solar, Inc.”

POWERHOUSE™ is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company, used under license.

Forward-Looking Statements and Cautionary Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding RGS Energy’s plans for the commercialization of the POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 Solar Shingle, and RGS Energy’s business and financial strategies.  Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance.  Instead, they provide our current beliefs, expectations, assumptions, forecasts, and hypothetical constructs about future events, and include statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business strategy, budgets, projected costs, plans and objectives of management for future operations.  The words “forecast,” “project,” “expect,” “plan,” “future,” “believe,” “may,” “hypothetical,” “will,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “goal,” and similar expressions as they relate to RGS Energy are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved, if at all.  Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements.  Therefore, RGS Energy cautions you against relying on any of these forward-looking statements.

Key risks and uncertainties that may cause a change in any forward-looking statement or that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include: RGS Energy’s ability to successfully and timely commercialize POWERHOUSE™ 3.0; the ability to obtain requisite UL certification of POWERHOUSE™ 3.0; the adequacy of, and access to, capital necessary to commercialize POWERHOUSE™ 3.0; RGS Energy’s ability to satisfy the conditions and our obligations under the POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 license agreement; RGS Energy’s ability to manage supply chain in order to have production levels and pricing of the POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 shingles to be competitive; cost and availability of raw materials; the ability of RGS Energy to successfully expand its operations and employees and realize profitable revenue growth from the sale and installation of POWERHOUSE™ 3.0, and to the extent, anticipated; the potential impact of the announcement of RGS Energy’s expansion into the POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 business with employees, suppliers, customers and competitors; RGS Energy’s ability to successfully and timely expand its POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 business outside of the United States; foreign exchange risks associated with the POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 business; intellectual property infringement claims and warranty claims related to the POWERHOUSE™ 3.0 business; competition in the built-in photovoltaic solar system business; rules, regulations and policies pertaining to electricity pricing and technical interconnection of customer-owned electricity generation such as net energy metering; the continuation and level of government subsidies and incentives for solar energy; the continuation and level of utility and state incentives for solar energy; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including tariffs on imported solar cells and changes in the financial markets;

You should read the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which identify certain of these and additional risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statements or forward-looking hypothetical examples made by us in this press release speaks only as of the date of this press release. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement or forward-looking hypothetical example, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Investor Relations Contact:
Ron Both
Managing Partner, CMA
Tel 1-949-432-7566
RGSE@cma.team

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/4bf0b31a-c1e3-44e2-bd49-8710c61b9bd1