PRODUCT

The Vanguard cell is suitable for large-scale applications for building and utility grid applications as well as many other uses not adequately addressed by current photovoltaic products. New markets include consumer electronics and appliances, automobiles, aviation and many other uses.

The efficiency of Vanguard's 1st-generation product will be comparable to monocrystalline silicon, but with 90% lower module and installation costs. It is also a very stable efficiency, unlike some other thin-film products, maintaining performance levels over the anticipated 25+ year lifespan of the material. Our 2nd-generation product, currently in development and funded in part by a US Air Force Phase II SBIR award, will significantly enhance this performance.

Our product—only ~one-micron thick—will be lightweight and highly flexible. Yet it will be very durable - 'reinforced' by the structural strength of carbon nanotubes. Installation costs for this material for building and utility arrays will be considerably less than current technologies because of reduced transportation, labor and support system requirements. And the ability to cut`n shape and conform the Vanguard cell material to any size and configuration will support vast new PV markets.

TECHNOLOGY

The Company's key proprietary Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) technology is a very low-investment, low-cost process for coating carbon nanotubes (CNT's) with high-quality conformal semiconductor crystalline film.

The Vanguard CBD process is room temperature and requires no significant thermal inputs or special environmental conditions—unlike silicon and vapor deposition processes. It needs only simple 'bath' emersion production equipment and is very scaleable. These attributes yield a low-cost, high-quality crystalline film production system unachievable by all other production methodologies.

PATENTS & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

On August 7, 2007, Vanguard Solar was issued a patent supporting the Company's novel Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) process. The patent applies to a broad classification of semiconductor materials and on 'Fullerenes' which is an equally broad designation of nanoparticles and structures.

Two additional Patent Applications are pending which address CBD applications beyond semiconductor materials.

These patents/applications were co-invented by two of the company's Founders, Dr. Andrew Barron on the faculty of Rice University and Dr. Dennis Flood, retired NASA PV Program Branch Chief, and filed by Rice University. Vanguard Solar has exclusively licensed all of these patents/applications, worldwide, all fields.

The Company also filed its own Provisional Application for the specific cell designs incorporated in our products. The company will have full rights to the intellectual property granted through this application.

MANUFACTURING

Vanguard Solar will manufacture and sell thin-film PV cell materials to the global marketplace.

However, unlike the usual two-year/~$100 million investment required for a 100MW silicon PV plant (and more for a traditional thin-film plant), the company will contract with contract manufacturers of large-scale films and film coating products to produce our materials in their plants. The low temperature and ambient atmosphere profile of our CBD process enables us to co-exist in these film/coating facilities … something no other PV technology can do.

Thus, the CBD process and the cell design will enable complete and large-scale roll-to-roll continuous-line production. With this manufacturing capability, Vanguard Solar eliminates 'module' fabrication and moves product directly from cell material to array production before ever reaching an installation site or end-use product.

And using continuous production control technologies standard in these other industries, we can custom produce cell materials and complete arrays specifically to individual customer needs … a significant project management and customer service advantage over standard 'PV module' systems.