Cree, Inc. : Cree LEDs Light Up the Largest Municipal Street Lighting Project in China

Cree XLamp^® LEDs Upgrade Street Lighting in Beibei District Delivering Significant Energy and Maintenance Savings

Officials in the Beibei district of Chongqing, China recently completed the installation of more than 20,000 street lights featuring 1.9 million Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) XLamp^® XP-E and XP-G LEDs. The country's largest municipal intelligent lighting control project began in July 2011 and includes nearly 16 miles of highway, with Cree LED-based luminaires installed along 119 streets and one tunnel. Officials estimate the installation will result in annual maintenance and electricity savings of more than RMB 19.5 million (approximately USD 3 million) and 17.6 million kWh.

The Municipal Bureau of the Beibei District initiated the project to improve the living environment for local citizens and to meet China's stringent roadway lighting requirements for light efficacy, brightness, luminance, heat dissipation and service lifespan. Featuring Cree^® XLamp LEDs, street lights engineered by Chongqing Silian Optoelectronics Science and Technology Corporation (Silian), a leading LED lighting company in China, the new lighting replaced antiquated sodium-vapor street lighting along the Yuwu Highway, extending from Chongqing to Wusheng.

Silian developed and manufactured the intelligent lighting control system, which features an advanced wireless network management system that detects lighting issues with sensors and can adjust the brightness of the LED street lights in accordance with vehicle and pedestrian traffic flow. In conjunction with LED street lighting, this control system enables optimal lighting and energy efficiency for the Beibei District.

"We are very pleased with the performance of Cree's XLamp LEDs in our luminaire systems," said David Reid, chief operating officer, Silian. "Cree LEDs emit high-quality light with low heat dissipation that meets China's lighting standards while saving the municipality millions of Renmenbi."

"Cree LEDs are perfect for large-scale lighting projects such as the Beibei District installation," said Tang Guoqing, senior advisor, Cree Hong Kong Limited. "Designed to last more than 50,000 hours, Cree XLamp LEDs offer the high efficiency and easy integration with intelligent lighting systems needed to reduce overall costs while providing beautiful light."

About Cree

Cree is leading the LED lighting revolution and making energy-wasting traditional lighting technologies obsolete through the use of energy-efficient, mercury-free LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor products for power and radio-frequency (RF) 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 RF devices. Cree products are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, electronic signs and signals, power supplies and solar inverters.

For additional product and company information, please refer to www.cree.com. To learn more about the LED Lighting Revolution, please visit www.creeledrevolution.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, including the risk that actual savings will vary from expectations, customer acceptance of LED 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 26, 2011, and subsequent filings.

Cree^® is a registered trademark of Cree, Inc.

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