National Homebuilder Introduces Solar Power as Standard Feature in Select Communities

LAKE MARY, FL., January 30, 2012, BlueChip Energy, LLC (BCE), a fully-integrated solar energy provider for residential, commercial and utility applications today announced it has completed the first residential solar power system for KB Home's newest community of Built to Order™ homes in Central Florida.

BlueChip Energy will be providing its SunHouse™ solar energy systems for KB Home's Fisher Plantation 52 home community in Apopka. It will be the first community in the area to include solar power as a standard feature to help KB homeowners reduce their monthly energy bills by as much as 50%. Buyers will have the option to upgrade the standard size of their solar energy system to further reduce or even eliminate their monthly electric bills. Systems sizes will range from the standard 1.44 kW to 5.28 kW.

The initial solar installation on the model home features 22 high efficiency solar panels in a PV system approved by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC). Visitors to Fisher Plantation will be able to see solar energy production in the model home via an online monitoring unit displaying real time system output.

The SunHouse solar system is the company's complete pre-packaged turnkey system for residential solar installations. The system includes high efficiency crystalline PV modules, mounting systems, and components manufactured locally in Lake Mary, Florida. To date, BCE has completed more than 150 residential and commercial systems in Florida totaling 2 MW.

BlueChip Energy, LLC (BCE) is a fully-integrated solar PV power generator, occupying all segments of the solar power value chain, from manufacturing of solar panels and balance of systems components, to the sale of turnkey solar power plants – and electricity – to utility, commercial and residential customers. BCE develops finances, constructs, operates, and monitors solar plants for companies and individuals, as well as for its own portfolio.

BlueChip Energy's two flagship utility scale solar projects, the Rinehart Solar Farm (10 MW) and the Sorrento Solar Farm (40 MW), are approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as self-certified small power production facilities, or Qualified Facilities (QFs) in 2011, requiring the local utility to provide interconnection to them and purchase the electricity they produce. Additionally, these two solar farms are approved to operate as Exempt Wholesale Generators (EWGs), providing the facilities with undisputed access to the power distribution network. FERC has also granted the company Market-Based Rate Authorization, allowing BCE to purchase and sell wholesale electricity and offer renewable energy products to customers. www.bluechipenergy.net