Winners will be selected from a list of those who sign up to be a "friend" of Blue Planet by December 20 at , and winners announced December 22. The solar giveaway is one of a series of programs

Blue Planet Foundation will be rolling out over the next year to decrease household energy use in Hawaii. Blue Planet Foundation approached us to discuss the best way to help ten families go solar as a holiday gift, and we knew a good idea when we heard it," said Mark Duda, Suntech Hawaii's Vice President of Finance. "By not only doing the system design and installation, but also making a contribution ourselves, Suntech Hawaii is able to drive the system cost down to zero for those ten families."

The ten solar water heaters—to be installed in the first months of 2009—will save approximately 500 barrels of oil over the life of the system. At today's electricity prices, they will also save the homeowners about $150,000 collectively over the next 15 years.

"A solar water heater is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to reduce the use of fossil fuels and start saving money," said Julie Rogers, Director of Community Relations for the Blue Planet Foundation. "We want to provide an opportunity for people to get involved in Hawaii's clean energy movement and to win an energy-saving solar water heater."

Interested residents can sign up at  by December 20. Friends of Blue Planet will receive periodic email updates on Hawaii's clean energy future and learn how they can help accelerate clean energy solutions for Hawaii. People can also sign up at the Blue Planet booth at the Night Market at Aloha Tower on December 17.

Blue Planet and Suntech Hawaii are able to deliver solar hot water systems system at no out-of-pocket cost to the homeowners because of the state and federal tax incentives supporting adoption of solar energy. The two organizations have agreed to jointly cover the full after-tax/after-rebate cost of the systems. See the Blue Planet website for the giveaway contest rules.

"We are excited to work with Suntech Hawaii to make the holidays brighter for ten Hawaii families," said Julie Rogers. "We look forward to providing more programs like this in the future for Hawaii residents."

About Blue Planet Foundation

The Blue Planet Foundation is a non-profit organization created to change our world's energy culture, to raise global awareness in order to develop and adopt practical programs to implement clean, efficient, and renewable energy and to create a global response to our increasingly urgent climate crisis.

About Suntech Hawaii

Suntech Hawaii is a renewable energy company specializing in solar photovoltaic and hot water systems. Founded in 2004, the company is now the largest Hawaii-owned and -operated solar integrator, and is an authorized SunPower dealer. Suntech Hawaii is active across the Hawaiian Islands and works with local and national alternative energy finance partners to make solar energy an accessible, affordable option for Hawaii businesses, government and non-profit entities.

For more information visit www.suntechhawaii.com. Suntech Hawaii is not a subsidiary or affiliate of the solar module manufacturer Suntech (NYSE: STP).