Capstone Unveils a New Product and Technology Development Roadmap - Including a C65 Signature Series Product, New Microgrid Products and Expanded Fuel Flexibility

VAN NUYS, Calif., Oct. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq: CPST), the world’s leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, unveiled an updated product development roadmap including a new C65 Signature Series similar to the successful C200 and C1000 family Signature Series product line and new products to better serve the growing microgrid market. Additionally, the company outlined a number of new technology development efforts including projects for expanded fuel flexibility, and continuing technology integration partnerships with national laboratories and universities.

Leveraging off the success of the C200S/C600S/C800S/C1000S Signature Series launch and subsequent retrofit of improvements to the fleet, Capstone will now focus attention to integrating similar improvements, features and benefits into the workhorse C65 product line. Historically, Capstone has shipped over 4,500 of the C60/C65 product with the majority still in operation today. In fact, one award-winning installation at Masonic Village in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania recently exceeded 700,000 total operating hours, with one of the C65 microturbines surpassing over 135,000 hours alone. 

The Signature Series improvements include improved filtration, better accessibility for maintenance, enclosure sealing, engine upgrades, and the PowerSync Controller family.  These proven upgrades will fold neatly around the ongoing electronics modernization effort, started in 2017, which will be ready for the C1000S series systems during the same timeframe.

Darren Jamison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstone Turbine, said, “Over the last three years, we have placed significant resources on the flagship C1000 Signature Series product line roll out.  Our customers and distributors have reacted very positively to these improvements including improved performance, reliability, maintainability and quality. Now the time has come for the C65 product line to benefit from these proven Signature Series upgrades.” 

The combined heat and power (CHP) customer-centric focus of the Signature Series, with the inclusion of the electronics modernization, will underscore Capstone’s capabilities in the emerging microgrid market.  Within a fragmented microgrid market, Capstone’s proprietary inverter-based technology, combined with onboard or external battery storage capabilities, uniquely positions Capstone to make microgrid installations simple and more straightforward. 

“We have already demonstrated our microgrid capability as evidenced by our installations at Sierra Nevada Brewery, Open Access Technology International, Stone Edge Farms, Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve, Goldwind in China and several other CHP applications throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean. These first applications are early adopters of the microturbine-based microgrid concept. These experiences, as well as the feedback of our customers, will become the foundation for our future product development efforts, ensuring that our systems are even more plug-and-play and easy to install with other complementary technologies,” added Mr. Jamison.

New technology developments include further integration of technological advances from the successful C250/C370 Department of Energy (DOE) programs, continuing characterization and integration on next-generation fuels, such as hydrogen, adaptation of alternate technologies for improved performance, and investigation of a wide range of materials for cost reduction, adding performance margin, and manufacturability.

“We continue to pursue opportunities with outside agencies and universities for expansion of our technological envelope,” said Don Ayers, Product Engineering Director at Capstone.  “We have some new and exciting projects with thermal energy storage system integration, microturbine hybridization and, of course, our continued partnerships with Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories on advanced fuels, materials and additive manufacturing,” concluded Mr. Ayers.

About Capstone Turbine Corporation

Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq: CPST) is the world’s leading producer of low-emission microturbine systems and was the first to market commercially viable microturbine energy products. Capstone has shipped over 9,000 Capstone Microturbine systems to customers worldwide. These award-winning systems have logged millions of documented runtime operating hours. Capstone is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Combined Heat and Power Partnership, which is committed to improving the efficiency of the nation's energy infrastructure and reducing emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. A DQS-Certified ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified company, Capstone is headquartered in the Los Angeles area with sales and/or service centers in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

For more information about the company, please visit www.capstoneturbine.com. Follow Capstone Turbine on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” as that term is used in the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “believes,” “expects,” “objective,” “intend,” “targeted,” “plan” and similar phrases. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties described in Capstone’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that may cause Capstone’s actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied in such statements. Capstone cautions readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Capstone undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

“Capstone” and “Capstone Microturbine” are registered trademarks of Capstone Turbine Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Released October 4, 2018