DAY4 ENERGY SAYS THINGS ARE SUNNY

Storytime: How a solar energy industry phenomenon is made.

Take a retired chairman/CEO of a satellite imaging/surveillance company (John MacDonald of MacDonald Dettwiler) who has been awarded the Officer of the Order of Canada and dabbles as a physicist, engineer, educator and entrepreneur. Add a Russian physicist (Leonid Rubin).

John MacDonald, co-founder/chairman, Day4 Energy: "We were sitting in a coffee shop behind the Bolshoi Theatre…Leonid said to me, 'Of all the things you've seen, which one could we build a business around in Canada?' …I said, 'It's obvious. Your solar energy project. If you do what you say you can do, and I see absolutely no technical reason why you can't, there's a market.' …A month later he was in Vancouver. We incorporated the company. This was in May of 2001…This industry has been around for 30-40 years and while they have made huge improvements in the cells themselves, the method of interconnection has not changed in those 30 years…What Leonid did, is figure out a better way to do it."

Day4's proprietary electrode technology – the wire grid that attaches to the solar panel and carries the current created by the panel – harvests electricity ~20% more efficiently than conventional solar panel technology.

The Dream was born in Moscow but it was nurtured in Vancouver.

MacDonald: "The technical guys were over in Russia and of course the costs were much less than what you could do it for in Canada. When that was done we brought the whole bunch of them over here…They are all here now. Leonid is a landed immigrant along with his wife, and these guys are now the core of the R&D group."

George Rubin, Leonid’s son, a physicist with a business degree, runs Day4 Energy.

MacDonald: "George and I did the planning and raising the money."

The first year’s manufacturing capacity was 12 megawatts. Present capacity is 47 megawatts. By the end of this year, it will be 97 megawatts.

Despite a slowing of the world economy, all Day4 Energy’s manufacturing capacity through the end of 2009 is already sold.

How about some money numbers?

First quarter 2008: 2% gross profit ($300,000) on $13.5 million revenue. Second quarter 2008: 2.5% gross profit ($400,000) on $15 million revenue. (Fiscal 2007: -21% on $20.9 million revenue)

The company hopes to be in the black by the end of this year.

MacDonald: "This is a very scalable process and we can keep expanding it to meet the market…Of course these days with all that's going on in the financial world you have to take a deep breath, but the company is in good shape. I'm not worrying about it."

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Solar-powered Day4 Energy sees bright future, in the black
Scott Simpson, October 22, 2008 (Vancouver Sun)

WHO
Day4 Energy (John MacDonald, co-founder/chairman); Leonid Rubin, Russian physicist & developer of Day4 Energy’s proprietary solar panel electrode technology; George Rubin, physicist/co-founder, Day4 Energy

WHAT
Solar panel manufacturing company Day4 Energy is so far riding successfully over the financial crisis with new manufacturing capacity for its proprietary solar panel electrode technology.

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WHEN
- 2002: Groundwork for the company began.
- 2006: Day4 Energy began manufacturing.
- 2009: All Day4 Energy production for next year is sold.

WHERE
- Day4 Energy is based in British Columbia, Canada.
- The new Day4 Energy manufacturing plant is in south Burnaby, a city in suburban Vancouver.
- Day4 Energy patents are recognized in the United States, the European Union, China, India and Mexico.

WHY
- Day4's proprietary electrode technology – the wire grid that attaches to the a solar panel and carries the current created by the panel – harvests electricity ~20% more efficiently than conventional solar panel technology.
- The electrode technology was developed by Leonid Rubin.
- Day4 Energy’s manufacturing capacity is 4 times what it was in its first year and is expected to double within a few months.
- Day4 Energy is one of the Top 50 fastest-growing companies in B.C.
- The first year’s manufacturing capacity was 12 megawatts. Present capacity is 47 megawatts. By the end of this year, it will be 97 megawatts.
- Successful trials have proven the next generation of the electrode to be ~25% more efficient than the current model.

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QUOTES
John MacDonald, co-founder/chairman, Day4 Energy: "It's been apparent to me for quite a long time that the world has to evolve to where renewable energy becomes a significant source of our electrical energy and solar, as I like to say, is the king of renewables. It's energy directly from the sun…"