Sopogy’s SopoNova 4.0™ wins Gold in the Plant Engineering Product of the Year for Power Generation

March 30, 2009

2008 Plant Engineering Product of the Year: Gold Award

SOPOGY PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: 03/30/09
Contact: Sopogy Corporate Communications
media@sopogy.com
808-237-2423

SUBJECT: SOPOGY’S SOPONOVA 4.0™ RECEIVES GOLD IN 21st ANNUAL PLANT ENGINEERING PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2008 AWARD

Charleston, SC— Sopogy, Inc. MicroCSP™ Solar Collector “SopoNova 4.0™” won Gold in the Plant Engineering Product of the Year 2008 in the category of Electrical Power. The Plant Engineering Product of the Year Awards honor the most innovative and useful products introduced to the industrial plant engineering market each year. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards in each category were presented at the Plant Engineering Manufacturing Summit Gala on Monday March 30, 2009 in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Product of the Year 2008 Gold Award marks continuing recognition for SopoNova 4.0™’s excellence in the industry. SopoNova 4.0™ combines the reliable performance of conventional concentrating parabolic trough technologies with several novel and revolutionary features that include the world’s first 270 degree MicroCSP tracker, integrated stands, automatic operation, and custom controls. The modular, versatile, and scalable solar collector uses mirrors and lenses to concentrate the sun’s rays and generate solar electricity, process heating, and solar cooling. The technology captures cost efficiencies by operating in lower temperatures which enable general contractor installation and low cost thermal energy storage.

“We are delighted and honored to receive Gold Award for Product of the Year 2008,” said Sopogy CEO and President, Darren Kimura. “This award not only encompasses prestige, but is a symbol of quality and innovation in the industry. We would like to thank the editors and staff at Plant Engineering, as well as all the readers who voted for SopoNova 4.0™.”

The Plant Engineering Product of the Year Awards are the premier honor for new products and among the most sought-after distinctions by manufacturers when establishing new products in the plant engineering industry. One hundred and fifty finalists in sixteen categories were selected by a panel of judges consisting of plant engineers for publication in Plant Engineering Magazine. Subscribers and readers then voted on their choices for the best products using an online ballot.

About Sopogy
Sopogy specializes in MicroCSP solar technologies that bring the economics of large solar energy systems to the industrial, commercial and utility sectors in a smaller, robust and more cost effective package. Sopogy’s goals include to create solar solutions that improve the quality of life for all human kind and to bring order and simplicity to the chaos which is the current solar power business. Please visit www.sopogy.com for more information.

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States March 27, 2009

Despite the unfavorable economy, Tim Wong is confident his Honolulu-based solar energy company can go public next year.

As CFO for Sopogy Inc. the past two years, Wong has been implementing financial reporting standards to help ready the company for an initial public offering.

Sopogy — the name combines the words solar, power and technology — was launched in 2007 after five years of research and development. It has a fall 2010 target date to go public.

“We’re a startup, but we’re implementing processes as if we’re a public company,” said Wong, 44. “We’re in a good position where we’ve grown the financial and monthly reporting to a point that we can take the next step.”

Wong has been a big contributor in securing financing for the company, which designs, engineers, and manufacturers a new kind of solar concentrator.

The technology, resembling large silver troughs, uses mirrors and lenses to concentrate the sun’s rays on fluids, creating steam that turns turbines to generate electricity.

“From day one, Tim was instrumental in the company’s capital formation, helping secure $15 million in company equity, $7 million in debt financing and $45 million in bond financing,” said Sopogy President and CEO Darren Kimura.

Sopogy has a couple thousand of its collectors—called the SopoNova 4.0—in use worldwide, including on the West Coast and in Asia and the Middle East. It has secured and is fulfilling more than $1.3 billion worth of sales.

“The financial market is challenging right now, but renewable energy is not being hit as hard as other sectors,” Wong said. “There’s a lot of cash that people are hanging onto and not investing, so if the timing is right and our company has solid financial statements and product, the investors will be there.”

Wong joined Sopogy after serving as a securities administrator for Hawaiian Electric Co. and assistant vice president at Central Pacific Bank, both public companies.

He double-majored in accounting and management information systems at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Company relies on finance chief to take it public

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

Tim Wong –CFO and Vice President of Finance, Sopogy Inc.

Despite the unfavorable economy, Tim Wong is confident his Honolulu-based solar energy company can go public next year.

As CFO for Sopogy Inc. the past two years, Wong has been implementing financial reporting standards to help ready the company for an initial public offering.

Sopogy — the name combines the words solar, power and technology — was launched in 2007 after five years of research and development. It has a fall 2010 target date to go public.

“We’re a startup, but we’re implementing processes as if we’re a public company,” said Wong, 44. “We’re in a good position where we’ve grown the financial and monthly reporting to a point that we can take the next step.”

Wong has been a big contributor in securing financing for the company, which designs, engineers, and manufacturers a new kind of solar concentrator.

The technology, resembling large silver troughs, uses mirrors and lenses to concentrate the sun’s rays on fluids, creating steam that turns turbines to generate electricity.

“From day one, Tim was instrumental in the company’s capital formation, helping secure $15 million in company equity, $7 million in debt financing and $45 million in bond financing,” said Sopogy President and CEO Darren Kimura.

Sopogy has a couple thousand of its collectors—called the SopoNova 4.0—in use worldwide, including on the West Coast and in Asia and the Middle East. It has secured and is fulfilling more than $1.3 billion worth of sales.

“The financial market is challenging right now, but renewable energy is not being hit as hard as other sectors,” Wong said. “There’s a lot of cash that people are hanging onto and not investing, so if the timing is right and our company has solid financial statements and product, the investors will be there.”

Wong joined Sopogy after serving as a securities administrator for Hawaiian Electric Co. and assistant vice president at Central Pacific Bank, both public companies.

He double-majored in accounting and management information systems at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

jrgeorge@bizjournals.com | 955-8033