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BERKELEY'S IMPORT TILE COMPANY GOES SOLAR WITH INSTALLATION BY SPG SOLAR, INC.

Berkeley, CA, USA (June 6, 2005) - Trying to become "the greenest business around", Berkeley's Import Tile Company is putting a 29.3 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on its roof. SPG Solar, Inc. (SPG) of San Rafael is the solar project developer, designer, and installer. Import Tile owner Bill de Carion is a long-standing advocate of sustainable energy practices. He is a pioneer of Sustainable Fueling, which has supplied Berkeley area residents with vegetable oil for cars for the last two years.

Import Tile serves a wide range of Bay Area homeowners, home builders, architects, and designers. "A lot of people come by this store every day," said de Carion. "We have about 25 employees and about 100 customers per day. If I can exert some influence over them, I want to show them it is possible to be prosperous and green." The system should get wide exposure: it is mounted to the roof and visible from the I-580 freeway in Berkeley. In addition to all the foot traffic into Import Tile Company, about 300,000 cars drive will drive by the solar array every day.

The solar system has a total cost of approximately $220,000. With approximately 40% of the original system cost paid for by a rebate from the California Energy Commission, plus additional tax credits from the state and federal governments, the actual investment for Import Tile will be under $100,000. With first year utility cost savings projected to be $10,000 per year, and rapidly rising PG&E rates, the system is expected to pay for itself in less than eight years.

The system will produce surplus energy on sunny summer days, which will spin its bidirectional electric meter backwards. Import Tile will sell this excess power to PG&E at retail rates, generating a credit on its monthly electric bills. The credits will be used by Import Tile when it draws power from the grid at night and on rainy days. The 29.3 kW solar electric system also will help California reach its Renewable Portfolio Standard goal of obtaining 20% of its power from renewable energy sources by the year 2017.

The solar PV system is comprised of 204 Sharp 175-watt solar panels, and six Fronius IG 5100 inverters. Fronius inverters provide owners with the added benefit of a sophisticated monitoring system to track solar panel performance, ensuring that solar systems are producing as expected. The panels carry a 25-year power output warranty.

About SPG Solar, Inc.

SPG is the industry's most experienced developer, designer, and installer of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for homes, businesses, and large-scale commercial and government facilities. SPG's commitment is to build the highest-performing solar PV systems with the highest return on investment. The result is clean, reliable electricity that reduces or eliminates customers' electric utility costs.

Further details about: SPG Solar, Inc and the Import Tile Company.