News
Petra Solar CEO Participates in Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. Technology Conference
(South Plainfield, NJ – June 2, 2010) Petra Solar Inc., the pioneer and market leader in grid-tied, pole-mounted, distributed solar generation systems for utilities, announced that the company's Founder, CEO and President, Dr. Shihab Kuran, is participating today in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. Technology Conference in New York City. Dr. Kuran is a panelist in the Alternative Energy Forum's Solar Panel.
Petra Solar's leadership in technical innovation and economic development has attracted significant interest in the energy sector as well as with the investment community. In today's conference, Dr. Kuran speaks about how the company is turning innovation into job creation. A webcast of the discussion is available at:
https://www.veracast.com/webcasts/bas/tech2010/id48951700.cfm.
Through a $200 million contract with New Jersey's largest utility company, PSE&G, Petra Solar is providing its SunWave™ solar photovoltaic systems for installation on 200,000 street light and utility poles around the state. The project will contribute 40MW of power by the time it is completed in 2013. In fulfilling what is the largest solar PV project under construction in the nation, Petra is also committed to giving back to utility ratepayers and taxpayers.
"Not only does Petra Solar generate solar power and enhance Smart Grid and electric grid reliability through our SunWave solar PV systems, we are committed to supporting the local economy by hiring locally, which generates additional spin-off benefits in secondary spending," said Dr. Kuran. He noted that in the past year, Petra Solar's employee ranks have grown ten-fold, from about 15 last spring to more than 140 today. By year's end, the company expects to employ at least 165 people.
Founded in 2006, the company has earned the support of the investment community. This past February, the company announced it had raised $40 million to expand its operations, on top of an initial investment of $14 million that capitalized the company in 2007.
Dr. Kuran's participation today in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference follows a number of other presentations and appearances at recent conferences. In May he presented at Deutsche Bank's 2010 Alternative Energy, Utilities and Power Conference in Washington D.C. and at Barclay's Global Warming Solutions and Clean Technology Conference at Barclays Capital in New York City. Other conferences he has participated in recently include the EEI Transmission, Distribution and Metering Conference in Arlington, VA, in April and the DistribuTECH conference in Tampa in March. Other conferences Petra Solar participated in include the Solar Electric Power Association's Utility Conference in Denver in May, the National Association of Utility Commissioners Conference in Washington DC in February and the Verde Xchange in Los Angeles in January.
About Petra Solar:
Petra Solar, founded in 2006 by CEO and President, Dr. Kuran, is the pioneer of SunWave, a grid-tied, pole-mounted, distributed solar generation system. Petra Solar's success is the culmination of more than 16 years of research and development. For more information about Petra Solar visit www.petrasolar.com.
For more information:
Becky Taylor
Cell: 609.240.6886
Email: becky.taylor@petrasolar.com