Solar Industry Leader to Bring Technical Training, Marketing Solutions and Hands-on Product Workshops to Select Cities

ROCKLIN, Calif. and TORONTO, Aug. 17, 2011—SMA's Sunny PRO Club, a membership-based professional partnership program for solar installers, is launching a series of Regional Forums. Scheduled for select cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, these free events are available to both members and non-members, who can participate in technical training and hands-on product workshops, as well as learn more about the exclusive marketing solutions offered by the Sunny PRO Club. The Regional Forums will kick off in Sacramento, Calif. on Wednesday, Aug. 31.

"These Regional Forums are just one example of SMA's dedication to supporting and guiding the growth of the solar industry," said Ciara Jones, Sunny PRO Club manager for SMA America and SMA Canada. "The events are designed to keep installers up-to-date on product information, new technologies and installation best practices so that they can be most effective in the field."

Each Regional Forum will include exclusive technical training sessions and a workshop by the SMA Solar Academy. The Boost Your Profits: Best Practices for Residential Design training session provides an overview of tools—such as SMA's Sunny Portal monitoring system, as well as Sunny Design and Solarchecker software—that help installers optimize their PV systems. Another training session, Grow Your Business: Commercial Systems Made Easy, explains how installers can apply their existing experience and knowledge in the residential market to expand into small commercial applications through decentralized PV system concepts. Finally, A New Standard in Residential Inverters: Sunny Boy HF is a hands-on Solar Academy workshop about these new high-frequency devices, which are ideal for 2-3kW solar arrays.

Rounding out the Regional Forum schedule is a Sunny PRO Club presentation—in which attendees can learn how their sales and market effectiveness can improve through custom marketing strategies and support materials—as well as an open-forum Q&A session.

All meals will be provided at the day-long Regional Forums, which will conclude with a networking event each evening.

For more information about the Regional Forums and to register, please visit www.SMARegionalForums.com, email RegionalForums@SMA-America.com or call 877 506 1747. Space is limited and Sunny PRO Club members have first priority.

REGIONAL FORUM SCHEDULE

8/31/11, SACRAMENTO: Sheraton Grand Sacramento, 1230 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, www.sheraton.com/GrandSacramento

9/12/11, DENVER: Renaissance Denver Hotel, 3801 Quebec Street, Denver, CO 80207, www.renaissancedenver.com
*This Regional Forum also includes a tour of SMA America's manufacturing facility in Denver.

9/16/11, PHOENIX: Marriott Phoenix Airport, 1101 North 44th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85008, www.marriott.com/Phoenix

10/6/11, SAN JOSE: San Jose Marriott, 301 South Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113, www.marriott.com/SanJose

11/9/11, SAN DIEGO: Location TBD

11/11/11, LONG BEACH: Marriott Long Beach, 4700 Airport Plaza Drive, Long Beach, CA 90815, www.marriott.com/LongBeach

12/2/11, PHILADELPHIA: Location TBD

12/7/11, TORONTO: Location TBD

About SMA
The SMA Group, with sales of 1.9 billion euros in 2010, is the world market leader for solar inverters, a component that lies at the heart of every solar power system. Its headquarters is situated in Niestetal near Kassel and it also has 17 foreign subsidiaries situated on four continents. In 2010, the Corporate Group employed over 5,000 persons (including temporary staff). SMA produces a wide spectrum of inverter types, the optimal inverter for each type of solar module used and offers all the power classes required for solar power systems. The product portfolio includes both inverters for grid-connected solar power systems and stand-alone systems. Since 2008, the parent company SMA Solar Technology AG has been listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (S92) and in the TecDAX. Over the past few years, SMA has received several awards for its outstanding performance as an employer and lately reached first place in the federal "Great Place to Work" competition. www.SMA-America.com/www.SMA-Canada.ca