SANTA BARBARA, Calif., April 6, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Superconductor Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:SCON) ("STI"), a world leader in the development and production of high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials and associated technologies, announced that Southwire Company ("Southwire") has completed testing of STI's second generation (2G) HTS wire samples. Southwire, a major wire and cable provider in North America, is a world leader in HTS cable technology utilizing advanced designs with multiple successful HTS cable projects. Southwire tested the wire samples and confirmed that it met the company's initial requirements for HTS AC power cable applications. Independently, Los Alamos National Lab performed the same measurements on the same wire samples and obtained matching results.
Jeff Quiram, STI's president and chief executive officer, said, "STI's pioneering work using RCE-CDR to make HTS wire is promising an effective low-cost alternative to current manufacturing processes for HTS wire. Southwire's validation demonstrates that our world-class 2G HTS wire technology is on track to enable innovative AC power applications. We are eager to continue our work with Southwire in these exciting programs and we look forward to developing a business relationship for that purpose."
Axel Schlumberger, senior vice president, Energy Division, Southwire Co., stated: "Southwire draws on over a decade of superconducting cable experience and has already successfully installed multiple HTS cable projects for the Department of Energy and electric utilities. Southwire has identified several key applications where HTS technology can provide a significant benefit in the power delivery system. The availability of low-cost, high-performance HTS wire for integration into power cables and other power devices will greatly benefit commercial markets."
Superconducting power cables can transmit five to twenty times the electrical power of traditional copper or aluminum cables with much improved efficiency. The benefits of applications utilizing HTS cable technology include reduction in substation footprint, achievement of higher power throughput in congested rights of way, ability for cable replacement in existing duct banks to increase capacity, and high load connections between distribution substations or to high capacity users.
About Superconductor Technologies Inc. (STI)
Superconductor Technologies Inc., headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, has been a world leader in HTS materials since 1987, developing more than 100 patents as well as proprietary trade secrets and manufacturing expertise. For more than a decade, STI has been providing innovative interference elimination and network enhancement solutions to the commercial wireless industry. The company is currently leveraging its key enabling technologies, including RF filtering, HTS materials and cryogenics to develop energy efficient, cost-effective and high performance second generation (2G) HTS wire for existing and emerging power applications, to develop applications for advanced RF wireless solutions and innovative adaptive filtering, and for government R&D. Superconductor Technologies Inc.'s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol "SCON." For more information about STI, please visit http://www.suptech.com.
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About Southwire Company
A leader in technology and innovation, Southwire Company is one of North America's largest wire and cable producers. Southwire manufactures building wire and cable, metal-clad (MC) cable, FlatWire Ready® products, cord products, utility wire & cable products for overhead and underground transmission and distribution, industrial power cable, OEM wire products, copper and aluminum rod and continuous casting technology. To learn more about its products, its community involvement and its vision for a sustainable Southwire, please visit .
Safe Harbor
Statements in this press release regarding our business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are inherently subject to uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. These factors and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: our limited cash and a history of losses; the limited number of potential customers; the limited number of suppliers for some of our components; there being no significant backlog from quarter to quarter; our market being characterized by rapidly advancing technology; overcoming technical challenges in attaining milestones to develop and manufacture commercial lengths of our HTS wire; customer acceptance of our HTS wire; fluctuations in product demand from quarter to quarter; the impact of competitive filter products, technologies and pricing; manufacturing capacity constraints and difficulties; and local, regional, and national and international economic conditions and events and the impact they may have on us and our customers, such as the current worldwide recession.
Forward-looking statements can be affected by many other factors, including, those described in the "Business" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of STI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and in STI's other public filings. These documents are available online at STI's website, www.suptech.com, or through the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements are based on information presently available to senior management, and STI has not assumed any duty to update any forward-looking statements.
Contact
For further information please contact Investor Relations, invest@suptech.com, Cathy Mattison or Mary Magnani of Lippert / Heilshorn & Associates, +1-415-433-3777, for Superconductor Technologies Inc.
