Hits 100th New Member Mark

SAN DIEGO, May 16, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Through collaboration and leadership, the San Diego region has achieved significant milestones in the past three years while establishing itself as one of the world's leaders in the cleantech economy. This month CleanTECH San Diego celebrates its 100th new member company with the addition of General Electric (GE), whose addition broadly underscores the organization's ability to continue attracting a critical mass of both local and global industry stakeholders. Other major international brands that comprise CleanTECH San Diego membership include Iberdrola Renewables, Honeywell International, Soitec, Kyocera, Enel Green Power North America and Synthetic Genomics.

With nearly 800 cleantech companies in the region, including over 300 innovator companies and over 400 market enabler companies, San Diego is emerging as a global leader in clean technology. Over 121,000 San Diegans are employed in this burgeoning cleantech sector with job growth estimated at six percent by 2015. Other major accomplishments for the region include:

-- San Diego ranks as the Number 1 Solar City by Environment Today
-- New cleantech manufacturing facilities expand in the region, generating hundreds of new jobs
-- San Diego earns iHub Designation for Solar Storage and Biofuels by the state of California
-- Receipt of a $4million grant to create workforce training programs to support the growth of the region's biofuels sector
-- CleanTECH San Diego ranks as one of the Top 10 cluster organizations in the world
-- CleanTECH San Diego is a co-founding member and 2010 host of the U.S. launch of the Global Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA)
-- CleanTECH San Diego is a founding member of the Southern California Clean Tech Alliance and the California Clean Technology Leadership Council
-- Smart City San Diego Collaborative is announced to prepare the region for one of the largest deployments of electric vehicles in the nation

CleanTECH San Diego is working to maintain San Diego's leadership as the market with the most solar installations and capacity. With a robust private sector solar market comprised of more than 180 solar companies and the highest penetration of rooftop PV installations in the U.S., Environment Today ranks San Diego the Number 1 Solar City.

San Diego recently earned its iHub Designation from the state of California for its solar storage projects at UC San Diego and SDSU, as well as private sector storage and battery technologies and biofuels.

CleanTECH San Diego, in partnership with BIOCOM, the San Diego Regional EDC, the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, UC San Diego and the San Diego Workforce Partnership, is supporting the region's biofuels industry by creating training programs to ensure the industry is equipped with a skilled workforce to support its growth. The EDGE Initiative focuses on a career-directed approach to help workers gain both employment and unique skills and training necessary to advance up the career ladder in an industry that continues to flourish as governments and communities seek cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels.

San Diego continues to grow more competitive in the global solar market by attracting new international solar companies to the region.
CleanTECH San Diego members Kyocera, Soitec, AMSOLAR, Siliken Renewable, and Sullivan Solar are leading that charge in the region's solar market. For example Soitec, a world leading supplier of advanced solutions for the energy and electronics industries, is building a solar factory in San Diego that will stimulate local job creation and manufacturing growth at a time when both areas are impacted. Soitec's 150MW manufacturing plant will produce CPV modules for the U.S. market while creating 500 local direct jobs and 1,000 local indirect jobs.

Siliken and Kyocera are also contributing to the growth in manufacturing by expanding operations.

CleanTECH San Diego is leveraging the region's robust cleantech assets to nurture one of the strongest cleantech clusters worldwide. In 2010 the organization ranked globally, making the list of the Top 10 Cluster Organizations. This distinction, coupled with CleanTECH San Diego's growing number of international company expansions led CleanTECH San Diego to host the U.S. launch of the Global Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA), a new international effort to unite more than 30 of the world's leading cleantech clusters with over 30,000 companies and 500 research institutes.

CleanTECH San Diego also plays a strong leadership role at the state level. The organization's advocacy programs provide support to member organizations facing regulatory issues by participating in the California Clean Technology Leadership Council. This visibility ensures that San Diego's cluster is represented and well positioned to inform and preserve major regulatory schemes, including AB32 and SB 375. The organization also ensures its cluster is at the forefront of the cleantech revolution through the Southern California Clean Tech Alliance. A collaborative effort between the three leading cleantech organizations in Southern California includes CleanTECH San Diego, Clean Tech Los Angeles, and CleanTech OC. This alliance focuses on working strategically and when appropriate joining forces on grant opportunities and advocacy campaigns.

CleanTECH San Diego is also part of a bold, ground breaking, multi-year collaboration with the General Electric, SDG&E, UCSD and City of San Diego,. Launched in January 2011, the Smart City San Diego collaboration brings together five core partners to maximize project synergies and shared initiatives to move San Diego beyond today's boundaries of sustainability.

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Contact: Karen Hutchens619.985.7800Karen@HutchensPR.com

About CleanTECH San DiegoCleanTECH San Diego is a non-profit membership organization formed to accelerate San Diego as a world leader in the clean technology economy. It is a catalyst that serves as the hub for a diverse group of stakeholders to advance a common agenda. CleanTECH San Diego advocates for new sources of investment capital, workforce development, international trade, federal and state research funding, targeted regulation, and sustainable land-use planning and development.