AstroPower Announces Agreement With The Home Depot

World's Largest Home Improvement Retailer to Offer AstroPower Solar Electric Home Power
Systems

Tuesday September 4

SOURCE: AstroPower, Inc.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010904/phtu022.html

NEWARK, Del., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- AstroPower, Inc. (Nasdaq: APWR - news) today announced an agreement with The
Home Depot® (NYSE: HD - news) to sell residential solar electric power systems, beginning in the greater San Diego area. The
Home Depot agreement is a key element of a broad AstroPower initiative aimed at moving solar electric power technology into
the mainstream market.

AstroPower's SunUPS® and SunLine(TM) solar electric home power systems are currently featured at The Home Depot's
Escondido, Carmel Mountain, and Sports Arena stores. Customers visiting these stores can learn about AstroPower systems
through interactive displays that show how easy it is to generate their own electricity with clean home solar electric power systems.

The systems are being sold and installed under The Home Depot's ``Installed Products'' initiative, a full service program which
provides product sales, financing, installation, and service. The Home Depot offers consumers two convenient financing options --
The Home Depot Consumer Credit Card and The Home Depot Home Improvement Loan. Both programs provide customers an
easy application process, same day purchase power and competitive interest rates.

``We are excited to be working with The Home Depot to bring solar electric power to the mainstream consumer market,'' said
Howard Wenger, AstroPower's Vice President, Premium Power Business. ``Our pilot program with The Home Depot makes
getting solar power easy in an area that has been hit hard by electricity rate increases. Now, San Diego residents can take direct
control of their energy future.''

Added Wenger: ``The Home Depot is committed to providing viable energy solutions to its customers. We are thrilled that this
forward-thinking, environmentally responsible retailer is marketing our complete solar electric home power systems in its stores.''

AstroPower's SunUPS and SunLine solar electric home power systems are complete packaged systems that enable homeowners
to produce their own clean electricity. Installed by AstroPower's fully trained and licensed installer network, these systems
produce electricity without any fuel, moving parts, noise, or emissions.

Both the SunUPS and SunLine systems operate in conjunction with the utility grid, feeding power to appliances in the home and
back into the utility grid when the system produces more electricity than the home requires. Homeowners can watch their utility
meter spin backward as they drive their utility bill toward zero. In addition, AstroPower's SunUPS systems include batteries to
provide uninterrupted power 24 hours a day even during utility outages.

Bill Patterson, Divisional Install Merchant at The Home Depot, said: ``The Home Depot is very pleased to be partnering with AstroPower in this exciting new
product category. The Home Depot is committed to bringing energy solutions to our customers, and we believe that solar electric home power is the ultimate energy
technology.''

Continued Patterson: ``AstroPower's SunUPS and SunLine systems fit well into The Home Depot's Installed Products initiative, and we look forward to being able
to offer these systems through a larger number of our stores. Following a successful pilot program in San Diego, we expect the program to expand to as many as 70
Home Depot stores in California during the next year.''

Dr. Allen Barnett, President and CEO of AstroPower, remarked: ``The residential solar electric power business has always needed two critical elements to enable it
to take off in the US: A large brand name retailer and easily accessible consumer financing. Our partnership with The Home Depot delivers both of these elements
for the first time in our industry's history, and with the best possible partner. Coupled with the rapidly growing adoption of solar power as a standard feature by
major home builders, this entry by The Home Depot can revolutionize the speed of adoption of solar electric power in the United States.''

About AstroPower

Headquartered in Newark, Delaware, AstroPower is the world's largest independent manufacturer of solar electric power products, and one of the world's fastest
growing solar electric power companies. AstroPower develops, manufactures, markets and sells PV solar cells, modules, panels and systems for generating solar
electric power. Solar electric power systems provide a clean, renewable source of electricity in both off-grid and on-grid applications. In December 2000
AstroPower was added to the S&P SmallCap 600. In February 2001, AstroPower was ranked 39th on Business Week's Top 50 S&P Small Cap Company list for
one- and three-year performance. For more information, please visit www.astropower.com.

About The Home Depot

Founded in 1978, The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer, operating 1,255 stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico,
Chile and Argentina. In February 2001, Fortune magazine named Home Depot the sixth Most Admired Company in America. The company's stock is publicly
traded (NYSE: HD - news) and is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as described in the Company's registration statements and periodic reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. As a result, there can be no assurance that the Company's future results will not be materially different from those projected. The projections
contained herein speak only of the Company's expectations as of the date of this press release. The Company hereby expressly disclaims any obligation or
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in events,
conditions or circumstances on which such statement is based.

SOURCE: AstroPower, Inc.