January 12, 2021, TORONTO, ON — Clear Blue Technologies International Inc. (“Clear Blue”) (TSXV: CBLU) (FRANKFURT: OYA), the Smart Off-Grid™ company, today provides an update for its investors on key global corporate initiatives, including the opening of a new office in Nairobi, Kenya, the issuance of a new technology patent and important product and software updates.
Governments in Africa are pushing for rural connectivity to support digital services, and telecommunications operators are rolling out large-scale infrastructure projects. Clear Blue is a partner to these telecommunications operators by providing low-cost, reliable Smart Off-Grid power.
Most recently, the Company announced on October 29, 2020 that it is providing rural telecommunications Smart Off-Grid power systems and ongoing operational services in partnership with NuRAN to Orange S.A. (NYSE: ORAN), one of the world’s largest mobile network operators. Clear Blue is also rolling out power for 400 telecommunications sites for a major infrastructure operator in Africa, announced on November 17, 2020. This project is forecast to generate sales of $5 million CAD, for Clear Blue with 30% delivered in Q4 2020 and the remainder in Q1 2021, with gross margins in line with what the Company has historically reported.
“We believe that telecoms will be a growth sector coming out of Covid-19 and have already seen evidence of this with initial contracts and contract expansions happening with telco partners in Cameroon, Nigeria and other parts of Africa,” says Miriam Tuerk, CEO and Co-Founder of Clear Blue. “We are pleased to announce these corporate initiatives that will help to support our global growth.”
Expansion to Kenya
Recognizing the growing opportunity in Africa driven by the myriad of large-scale Smart Off-Grid power contracts that rolled out in 2020 and those in coming years, Clear Blue has established a subsidiary, Clear Blue Kenya. This comes with the opening of a new satellite office in Nairobi, Kenya, with two full-time employees and plans for additional hires in 2021. The office will provide field Research & Development (R&D) and a second operations service team to support Clear Blue’s recurring Illumience management service for full customer support, troubleshooting and technical support for systems across EMEA, in their local time zones.
New EU Patent
On September 10, 2020, the European Patent Office in Munich, Germany, granted EU patent No. 3314750 (“System and Method for Charging Autonomously Powered Devices Using Variable Power Source”). This European patent has been validated in Germany, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands, expanding Clear Blue’s patent portfolio to include 9 patents in 5 countries with 2 additional pending patent applications for Canada.
Significant Product Enhancements
Clear Blue made significant improvements and advancements to its existing power products and management software for enhanced analytics, an improved user interface and increased energy and efficiency capabilities. Both new and existing customers benefit through Clear Blue’s remote software update capabilities, which is part of its ongoing Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) and Illumience services, making Clear Blue’s recurring services even more critical to implementing cost-efficient and effective Smart Off-Grid power.
Smart Off-Grid Controller
- New high-reliability feature with internal bypass eliminating significant external bypass circuitry and delivering unparalleled high reliability;
- Clear Blue’s modular, scalable solution with Smart Batteries including Lithium-Ion, which delivers the lowest upfront CAPEX investment for telecom and supports higher power applications, redundancy for mission-critical sites, and advanced battery diagnostics;
- Advancements in battery charging performance utilizing the patented dynamic charging algorithm;
- New easier-to-install cabling connectors for easy, fool-proof field installation.
Smart DC/DC Converter
- The Smart DC/DC is a foundational building block for Clear Blue’s new planned product line of Smart Off-Grid power regulation and control systems to address the exploding IoT and Satellite/WiFi market. Key attributes are:
- Smart Load control,
- High efficiency and expanded temperature range performance,
- In-field adjustments to voltage settings from 24-52V mode through the WiFi configuration interface for easier installation/commissioning or remote modifications.
Illumience
- System potential energy capacity for forward-looking predictive energy management;
- New real-time status presentation for easier management of large volume installations, including a site map, battery state, online and fault statuses, and an easy report viewing option;
- Expanded search and grouping features for easier multi-site analytics and management grouping by site, network, location or device address;
- Daily, data-rich reports on detailed system monitoring data for advanced analytics;
- Solar and battery amp-hours reporting in preparation for system life predictive analytics;
- Comparative analytics on multi-phase charge and discharge cycles for improved battery life.
Tuerk added: “We recognized the need to increase our time-zone service coverage for the global markets that we are supporting. It is also critical for Clear Blue to continue innovating and improving its solutions, and understanding R&D in Africa is key to building better products and services for emerging markets. The patent and product improvements show that Clear Blue is committed to continuous improvements and designing better Smart Off-Grid solutions. It’s all about improving the value of Smart Off-Grid for our customers. Making a more powerful, easy-to-manage, cost-effective system helps our customers implement Smart Off-Grid around the world and connect the unconnected.”
About Clear Blue Technologies International
Clear Blue Technologies International, the Smart Off-Grid™ company, was founded on a vision of delivering clean, managed, “wireless power” to meet the global need for reliable, low-cost, solar and hybrid power for lighting, telecom, security, Internet of Things devices, and other mission-critical systems. Today, Clear Blue has thousands of systems under management across 37 countries, including the U.S. and Canada. (TSXV: CBLU) (FRANKFURT: OYA)
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Investor Relations:
investors@clearbluetechnologies.com
http://www.clearbluetechnologies.com/en/investors
Miriam Tuerk
CoFounder & CEO
Miriam@clearbluetechnologies.com
+1-416-433-3952
Press Contact:
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bnye@montiethco.com