Edward D. Gagnon, General Manager of Spire Semiconductor, stated, "We are pleased that NREL selected Spire to participate in this highly competitive Photovoltaic (PV) Technology Incubator program, whose goal is to shorten the timeline for companies to transition prototype and pre-commercial PV technologies into pilot and full-scale manufacture. Our new growth technique has the potential for producing concentrator cells with record-level efficiencies with lower manufacturing costs and higher reliability."

Roger G. Little, Chairman and CEO of Spire Corporation, added, "Spire has been involved in the solar energy market for over 25 years. Development of this cell will put us in an excellent position to capitalize on the growing market opportunity for custom gallium arsenide (GaAs) based solar cells for Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) systems. Our Spire Semiconductor facility has state-of-the-art capabilities for producing these devices. We plan to offer our new series of triple junction "Triathlon" concentrator solar cells to system integrators around the world."

About Spire Corporation
Spire Corporation is a global solar company providing turnkey production lines and capital equipment to manufacture PV modules and cells worldwide. Spire Semiconductor is a compound semiconductor foundry specializing in wafer epitaxy and device fabrication, including custom GaAs cells for solar concentrator systems. Spire Semiconductor also provides processing technology for Spire's silicon solar cell manufacturing lines. For corporate or product information, contact Spire Corporation, "The Turnkey Solar Factory Company," at 781 275 6000, or visit www.spirecorp.com or visit Spire Semiconductor, LLC at www.spiresemi.com.

Contact:
Spire Semiconductor, LLC
Brad Siskavich
Solar Business Development Manager
603-595-8900

Certain matters described in this news release may be forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk of dependence on market growth, competition and dependence on government agencies and other third parties for funding contract research and services, as well as other factors described in the Company's Form 10 K and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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