New Product Line Blends High Performance And Unique Design

SAN JOSE, Calif., October 19, 2004 - SunPower Corp., a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY), today announced the North American launch of its high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) module line at the Solar Power 2004 conference in San Francisco. Previously, SunPower's breakthrough products had been available only in Europe.

"We are very excited to be launching these new products here in our home market", said SunPower CEO Tom Werner. "Our modules offer the customer a powerful combination of industry - leading performance and superior product appearance. We believe that these products are particularly well-suited to the rapidly growing residential market where aesthetics are very important and where homeowners want to maximize installed power on their limited roof area," Werner said.

According to the industry research group Stragetgies Unlimited, the residential solar module market has grown at a compound annual rate of 45 percent over the past five years, and is the largest worldwide segment of the $2.7 billion PV module market. "Failures in the North American power grid, the electricity crisis in California, natural gas shortages in the Northeast, depleting oil reserves in recent years, and concerns about global warming have all contributed to a renewed interest in alternative energy sources," said Werner. "The time is right for solar because of technology advances that have significantly improved power conversion efficiency".

SunPower's new product line comprises three module types, all utilizing SunPower's unique A-300 all-back-contact solar cells to generate up to 50 percent more power than traditional PV modules.

The SPR-210 is SunPower's flagship product with total module area conversion efficiency approaching 17 percent and a power rating of 210 watts. Designed specifically for use in grid-connected applications such as residential rooftop systems, the SPR-210's high-conversion efficiency allows customers to install more kilowatts of solar power within a limited roof area, while significantly reducing per-kilowatt installation costs.

The SPR-200 is an all-black version of the SPR-210, incorporating a unique module package that makes the individual solar cells virtually disappear. The SPR-200 represents the ultimate combination of high efficiency and superior aesthetics to meet the needs of the most discriminating customers.

The SPR-90 is a 90-watt-rated module designed to charge 12-volt batteries in remote power applications. This module delivers higher battery charging current than conventional PV modules over a wide range of weather conditions from a significantly smaller footprint. The high power density of SPR-90 modules can reduce the costs typically associated with remote power systems, including transportation, the array support structure, and installation labor.

A high-resolution image of the SPR-210 can be downloaded at: http://www.sunpowercorp.com/pub/spr-210.jpg.

Availability

SunPower's new SPR modules will be available in the North American market beginning in January 2005.

About the A-300 Solar Cell

SunPower's A-300 solar cell features a unique, all-back-contact design that maximizes working cell area, hides unsightly wires and simplifies automated production. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently measured the A-300 solar cell's power efficiency at an industry-best 21.5 percent; where competing production cells typically measure in the 12- to 15-percent range. The solar cell's low voltage-temperature coefficient, exceptional low-light performance and high sensitivity to light across the entire solar spectrum enable the A-300 to convert virtually every accessible photon into useable electricity, maximizing annual energy production.

About SunPower

SunPower—a majority-owned subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY)—designs and manufactures high-performance silicon solar cells based on an interdigitated all-back-contact design. The company's initial products were put to use in a variety of high-performance applications, including the NASA-sponsored AeroVironment airplane, "Helios," that flew to a record altitude of 96,863 feet on August 13, 2001. SunPower manufactures its high -performance A-300 solar cells in a new facility outside of Manila, the Philippines. The company currently operates a 25 MW production line there, and is planning to ramp production to more than 100 MW. For more information on SunPower or solar technology, please visit the SunPower website at http://www.sunpowercorp.com.

About Cypress
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: CY) is Connecting From Last Mile to First Mile' with high-performance solutions for personal, network access, enterprise, metro switch and core communications-system applications. Cypress Connects' using wireless, wireline, digital and optical transmission standards, including USB, Fibre Channel, SONET/SDH, Gigabit Ethernet and DWDM. Leveraging its process and system-level expertise, Cypress makes industry-leading physical layer devices, framers and network search engines, along with a broad portfolio of high-bandwidth memories, timing technology solutions and reconfigurable mixed-signal arrays. More information about Cypress is accessible online at www.cypress.com.