MANITOWOC, Wis., Aug. 29, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orion Energy Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:OESX) (Orion Lighting), a leading designer and U.S. manufacturer of high-performance, energy-efficient LED lighting products, announced today that it has received award notifications that the company expects to receive firm commitments for LED lighting systems and services from two long-standing automotive customers which it expects will total at least $10 million in revenue during its fiscal year ending March 31, 2018 (FY’18).

The projects encompass multiple automotive plants which are upgrading legacy fluorescent lighting systems, several of which had been provided by Orion, to energy-efficient LED lighting platforms and controls in support of these customers’ environmental and energy efficiency goals.

One automotive customer selected Orion to provide engineering studies for the lighting needs of all of its North American plants and has specified Orion as its sole lighting provider for these facilities. Orion expects to complete LED lighting retrofit projects for five of this customer’s U.S. plants in FY’18 and has already begun to receive initial product purchase orders for the first four plants.

Orion is providing a range of LED lighting products and control systems to this customer with a principal focus on its ISON™ Class High Bay (HBIF3) LED lighting fixtures which deliver over 214 lumens per watt, making them the lighting industry’s highest performing LED high bay fixtures. Revenues from the five plants will be primarily from product sales but will also include installation services for some of the plants as well as engineering and other professional services.

The second major automotive customer has provided initial awards and notices to proceed with product deliveries for LED lighting installations at two manufacturing plants. Revenues are also anticipated over the balance of fiscal 2018.

Orion CEO Mike Altschaefl, commented, “We are proud that two large and long-standing automotive customers have extended their commitment to Orion lighting solutions, confirming the strength of our innovative LED lighting product lines and our talented engineering, design and customer service teams. We have already completed $3.3 million in orders from these customers and expect the balance of the work to be spread through the rest of our fiscal year. Importantly, these projects are supported by energy-efficiency, enhanced controls including IoT solutions, performance advantages and environmental benefits that provide our customers with a compelling return on investment. We anticipate further significant projects from these customers in fiscal 2019.”

Mr. Altschaefl added, “We are also seeing steady progress in our agent driven distribution model, including solid engagement with national accounts, and our recent new product introductions are resonating well with customers and agents. We expect these new offerings to contribute to our business in the coming quarters.”

About Orion Energy Systems
Orion is a leading designer and producer of energy efficient lighting and retrofit lighting solutions for commercial and industrial buildings. Orion manufactures and markets connected lighting systems encompassing LED solid-state lighting and intelligent controls. Orion systems incorporate patented design elements that deliver significant energy, efficiency, optical and thermal performance that drive financial, environmental, and work-space benefits for a wide variety of customers, including nearly 40% of the Fortune 500.

Safe Harbor Statement 
Certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may generally be identified as such because the context of such statements will include words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "may," "potential," "should," "will," "would" or words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals are also forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those expected, including, but not limited to, the following: (i) our ability to develop and participate in new product and technology offerings or applications in a cost effective and timely manner; (ii) our ability to manage the ongoing decreases in the average selling prices of our products as a result of competitive pressures in the evolving LED market; (iii) the potential consequences of the loss of one or more key customers or suppliers, including key contacts at such customers; (iv) the deterioration of market conditions, including our dependence on customers' capital budgets for sales of products and services; (v) the market acceptance of our products and services; (vi) our ability to recruit, hire and retain talented individuals in all disciplines of our company; (vii) price fluctuations, shortages or interruptions of component supplies and raw materials used to manufacture our products; and (viii) the other risks described in our filings with the SEC. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov or at http://investor.oriones.com/ in the Investor Relations section of the Company's Web site.

Twitter: @OrionLighting and @OrionLightingIR
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Investor Relations Contacts:
Bill Hull, CFO
Orion Energy Systems, Inc.
(312) 660-3575 or ir@oesx.comWilliam Jones; Tanya Kamatu
Catalyst IR
(212) 924-9800 or oesx@catalyst-ir.com