APECCHIO JOINS CREE LED CITY® PROGRAM

Back to Press Room

Apecchio becomes second Italian city to implement energy-efficient LED lighting

APECCHIO, ITALY, September 23, 2009 —Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE), a market leader in LED lighting, announces that Apecchio, is the second Italian city to join the LED City^® program, an international initiative aimed at promoting the deployment of energy-efficient LED (light-emitting diode). Following its switch to environmentally-friendly LED lighting, Apecchio is saving on energy and maintenance costs, as well as improving safety for citizens with better quality lighting.

Last May, Apecchio completed the first tests on LED-lit streetlights to assess energy efficiency and lighting quality, in order to comply with a regulation regarding lighting pollution. Replacing existing fluorescent lamps in parking indicator lights and streetlights with highly-efficient LITEK PROLED fixtures, featuring Cree XLamp^® LEDs lights, helped to reduce energy consumption by 65 percent, with an estimated 70 percent savings in energy costs.

“We are glad to be part of this project. We are committed to promoting the power of LED technology in streetlighting, as well as other functional indoor and outdoor applications,” said Fabio Facchini, general manager of LITEK. “Apecchio is a successful example both for the city itself and for other municipalities that are keen on saving energy and money.”

“We welcome Apecchio into the LED City program and applaud its efforts to make energy- efficiency a priority for its community,” said Deb Lovig, Cree LED programs manager. “We congratulate the city Council and the community for taking a bold step in achieving significant energy savings, especially given the growing global need to conserve energy.”

About LED City
The LED City is an expanding community of government and industry parties working to evaluate deploy and promote LED lighting technology across the full range of municipal infrastructure to:

• Save energy
• Protect the environment
• Reduce maintenance costs
• Provide better light quality for improved visibility and safety

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 22 percent of electricity used in the U.S. powers lighting. In a world with soaring energy prices based on the availability and control of fossil fuels, and with growing concern about sustainability of the environment, a revolution in lighting is long overdue. Participants include Torraca, Italy; Toronto and Welland, Ontario; Tianjian, China, Gwangju, South Korea; and the United States cities of Fairview, Texas; Raleigh and Chapel Hill, N.C.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Austin, Texas; Anchorage, Ala., and India Wells, Calif.

About Apecchio, Italy
The city of Apecchio lies in the central region of Italy and is under the jurisdiction of the Pesaro Province which is one of the oldest provinces in Continental Europe. It has the characteristics of an ancient village with medieval ruins, a fossil museum, an ancient bridge end the lovely residence of the Count of Ubaldini, now the Council headquarters. he city is surrounded by many mountain ranges and dense forests. The population of the city is approximately of 2100 inhabitants. For more information on Apecchio please visit: www.comune.apecchio.ps.it

About Cree
Cree is leading the LED lighting revolution and setting the stage to obsolete the incandescent light bulb through the use of energy-efficient, environmentally friendly LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor solutions for wireless and power applications.

Cree’s product families include LED fixtures and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and radio-frequency/wireless devices. Cree solutions are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, backlighting, electronic signs and signals, variable-speed motors, and wireless communications.

For additional product and company information, please refer to www.cree.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, such as the risk we may encounter delays or other difficulties in ramping up production of our new products; the risk we may be unable to manufacture these products with sufficiently low cost to offer them at competitive prices or with acceptable margins; the potential lack of customer acceptance of the products; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render Cree’s products obsolete; and other factors discussed in Cree’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 28, 2009, and subsequent filings.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Deb Lovig
LED City Program Manager
Cree, Inc.
Deb_Lovig@cree.com
(919) 287-7505

Laura Meroni, Barbara Papini
Fleishman-Hillard
Press Office Cree in Italy
laura.meroni@fleishmaneurope.com
barbara.papini@fleishmaneurope.com
+ 39 02 318041

Back to Press Room