Soitec S.A. signed a cooperative agreement with Medina College of Technology. This three-year agreement will foster applied research in the area of concentrating photovoltaic technology in Saudi Arabia while allowing implementation of a joint training programme on CPV within the TVTC and MCT curricula. Under the terms of this agreement, Soitec has installed a CPV demonstration system on the MCT campus in Medina, Saudi Arabia. It will serve as a platform for applied research projects concerning solar energy in the Middle East and CPV performance in sunny, hot and arid conditions. The agreement focuses on knowledge transfer and will enhance the capabilities of Saudi trainers and trainees from MCT. Soitec will provide opportunities for MCT students to acquire skills on installing, operating, monitoring and maintaining CPV systems. To initiate this partnership, 10 professors and students from Saudi Arabia will participate in a dedicated training programme organized by Soitec at its facility in Freiburg, Germany. Soitec also will aid in co-designing TVTC's solar industry curriculum, which will better prepare MCT students and Saudi nationals to service the burgeoning Saudi solar utility market.

Soitec and Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. have signed a licensing and technology-transfer agreement under which Sumitomo Electric will use Soitec's proprietary Smart Cut(TM) technology to manufacture engineered gallium nitride (GaN) substrates. This announcement is a key step in the ongoing strategic alliance, launched in December 2010 to leverage Sumitomo Electric's expertise in materials technology and Soitec's unique Smart Cut layer-transfer technology to develop the global market for GaN substrates used in high-performance light-emitting diode (LED) lighting applications.

Soitec S.A. announced the opening of its North American solar manufacturing facility in San Diego. The concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules produced in San Diego will support hundreds of MWp of contracts for utility-scale projects in California. In 2011, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved 300 MWp of PPAs which are expected to use Soitec's Concentrix technology. Soitec acquired the 176,000-square-foot manufacturing center on 14.8 acres of land in December 2011. The company has completed on schedule an extensive upgrade of the facilities to install fully-automated manufacturing equipment and processes. The first module was produced in October, and the first phase (140 MWp) of the production line is now operational, as initially planned. The factory has been designed to reach 280 MWp in capacity at full production.