XML 23 R9.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.19.1
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Cash Equivalents: The Company classifies all short-term investments in interest bearing bank accounts and highly liquid debt securities purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. The Company maintains cash balances which may exceed federally insured limits. The Company does not believe this results in significant credit risk.

Foreign Currencies: Bank account balances held in foreign currencies are translated to U.S. dollars utilizing the period end exchange rate. Gains or losses incurred in connection with the Company’s accounts held in foreign currency were not material for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 and were recorded in “Other Income/(Expense)” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Receivables and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts: Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount as the result of transactions with customers. The Company maintains allowances for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of its customers to make required payments. The Company estimates the collectability of accounts receivable using analysis of historical bad debts, customer credit-worthiness and current economic trends. Reserves are established on an account-by-account basis. Account balances are written off against the allowance in the period in which the Company determines that is it probable that the receivable will not be recovered. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had an allowance for doubtful accounts of $45,664 and $48,201, respectively.

Inventories: All inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with cost determined using the weighted average method. Inventory balances are frequently evaluated to ensure they do not exceed net realizable value. The computation for net realizable value takes into account many factors, including expected demand, product life cycle and development plans, module efficiency, quality issues, obsolescence and others. Management's judgment is required to determine reserves for obsolete or excess inventory. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had inventory reserve balances of $745,927 and $562,140, respectively. In response to management's estimate of current market conditions, the Company has reserved all of its work-in-process and finished goods inventory as of December 31, 2018. If actual demand and market conditions are less favorable than those estimated by management, additional inventory write downs may be required.

Due to the sale of the EnerPlex brand and the re-purposing of our work-in-process inventory, we are unable to estimate the recoverability of all of our work-in process inventory values, resulting in a lower-cost-to-market analysis and reserve for impairment. An expense of $363,377 was recorded to inventory impairment costs for the year ended December 31, 2017. There were no lower of cost or market adjustments during the year ended December 31, 2018.

Property, Plant and Equipment: Property, plant and equipment are recorded at the original cost to the Company. Assets are being depreciated over estimated useful lives of three to forty years using the straight-line method, as presented in the table below, commencing when the asset is placed in service. Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the shorter of the remainder of the lease term or the life of the improvements. Upon retirement or disposal, the cost of the asset disposed of and the related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any gain or loss is reflected in income. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are expensed as incurred.

 
  
Useful Lives
in Years
Buildings
  
40
Manufacturing machinery and equipment
  
5 - 10
Furniture, fixtures, computer hardware/software
  
3 - 7
Leasehold improvements
  
life of lease


Patents: At such time as the Company is awarded patents, patent costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over the legal life on the patents, or over their estimated useful lives, whichever is shorter. During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company wrote down the remaining international EnerPlex IP, which was not part of the 2017 sale of the EnerPlex IP. This write down consisted of $692,032 in capitalized patent costs, reduced by $225,027 in accumulated amortization, resulting in an expense of $467,005. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had $862,429 and $1,470,796 of net patent costs, respectively. Of these amounts $207,308 and $640,167 represents costs net of amortization incurred for awarded patents, and the remaining $655,121 and $830,629 represents costs incurred for patent applications to be filed as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company capitalized $16,447 and $62,652 in patent costs, respectively, as it worked to secure design rights and trademarks for newly developed products. Amortization expense was $158,488 and $150,928 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
As of December 31, 2018, future amortization of patents is expected as follows:

2019
$
57,649

2020
$
45,920

2021
$
37,429

2022
$
33,924

2023
$
25,154

Thereafter
$
7,232

 
$
207,308



Impairment of Long-lived Assets: The Company analyzes its long-lived assets (property, plant and equipment) and definitive-lived intangible assets (patents) for impairment, both individually and as a group, whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable. Events that might cause impairment would include significant current period operating or cash flow losses associated with the use of a long-lived asset or group of assets combined with a history of such losses, significant changes in the manner of use of assets and significant negative industry or economic trends. An undiscounted cash flow analysis is calculated to determine if impairment exists. If impairment is determined to exist, any related loss is calculated using the difference between the fair value and the carrying value of the assets. During the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company did not incur impairments of its manufacturing facilities and equipment.

Interest Capitalization: Historically the Company has capitalized interest cost as part of the cost of acquiring or constructing certain assets during the period of time required to get the asset ready for its intended use. The Company capitalized interest to the extent that expenditures to acquire or construct an asset have occurred and interest cost has been incurred.

Convertible Notes: The Company issues, from time to time, convertible notes. Refer to Notes 10 and 12 for further information.

Convertible Preferred Stock: The Company evaluates its preferred stock instruments under FASB ASC 480, "Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity" to determine the classification, and thereby the accounting treatment, of the instruments. Refer to Notes 13 and 14 for further discussion on the classification of each instrument.

Derivatives: The Company evaluates its financial instruments under FASB ASC 815, "Derivatives and Hedging" to determine whether the instruments contain an embedded derivative. When an embedded derivative is present, the instrument is evaluated for a fair value adjustment upon issuance and at the end of every reporting period. Any adjustments to fair value are treated as gains and losses in fair values of derivatives and are recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The following table is a summary of the derivative liability activity for the years ended December 31, 2018:
Derivative Liability Balance as of December 31, 2017
$
6,406,833

Additional derivative liability on new notes
3,873,697

Derivative liability extinguished
(27,686
)
Change in fair value of derivative liability
(138,392
)
Derivative Liability Balance as of December 31, 2018
$
10,114,452



Refer to Notes 10 and 12 for further discussion on the embedded derivatives of each instrument.

Product Warranties: The Company provides a limited warranty to the original purchaser of products against defective materials and workmanship. The Company also guarantees that standalone modules and PV integrated consumer electronics will achieve and maintain the stated conversion efficiency rating for certain products. Warranty accruals are recorded at the time of sale and are estimated based upon product warranty terms, historical experience and analysis of peer company product returns. The Company assesses the adequacy of its liabilities and makes adjustments as necessary based on known or anticipated warranty claims, or as new information becomes available.



Warrant Liability:  Warrants to purchase the Company's common stock with nonstandard anti-dilution provisions, regardless of the probability or likelihood that may conditionally obligate the issuer to ultimately transfer assets, are classified as liabilities and are recorded at their estimated fair value at each reporting period. Any change in fair value of these warrants is recorded at each reporting period in Other income/(expense) on the Company's statement of operations.

Revenue Recognition:

Product revenue. We recognize revenue for module and other equipment sales at a point in time following the transfer of control of such products to the customer, which typically occurs upon shipment or delivery depending on the terms of the underlying contracts. For module and other equipment sales contracts that contain multiple performance obligations, we allocate the transaction price to each performance obligation identified in the contract based on relative standalone selling prices, or estimates of such prices, and recognize the related revenue as control of each individual product is transferred to the customer, in satisfaction of the corresponding performance obligations.

During the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, the company recognized product revenue of $813,512 and $642,179, respectively.

Government contracts revenue. Revenue from government research and development contracts is generated under terms that are cost plus fee or firm fixed price. We generally recognize this revenue over time using cost based input methods, which recognize revenue and gross profit as work is performed based on the relationship between actual costs incurred compared to the total estimated costs of the contract. In applying cost based input methods of revenue recognition, we use the actual costs incurred relative to the total estimated costs to determine our progress towards contract completion and to calculate the corresponding amount of revenue to recognize.

Cost based input methods of revenue recognition are considered a faithful depiction of our efforts to satisfy long-term government research and development contracts and therefore reflect the performance obligations under such contracts. Costs incurred that do not contribute to satisfying our performance obligations are excluded from our input methods of revenue recognition as the amounts are not reflective of our transferring control under the contract. Costs incurred towards contract completion may include direct costs plus allowable indirect costs and an allocable portion of the fixed fee. If actual and estimated costs to complete a contract indicate a loss, provision is made currently for the loss anticipated on the contract.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, the company recognized government contract revenue of $48,900. No government contract revenue was recognized for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Shipping and Handling Costs: The Company classifies shipping and handling costs for products shipped to customers as a component of “Cost of revenues” on the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations. Customer payments of shipping and handling costs are recorded as a component of Revenues.

Research, Development and Manufacturing Operations Costs: Research, development and manufacturing operations expenses were $2,794,641 and $4,820,536 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  Research, development and manufacturing operations expenses include: 1) technology development costs, which include expenses incurred in researching new technology, improving existing technology and performing federal government research and development contracts, 2) product development costs, which include expenses incurred in developing new products and lowering product design costs, and 3) pre-production and production costs, which include engineering efforts to improve production processes, material yields and equipment utilization, and manufacturing efforts to produce saleable product. Research, development and manufacturing operations costs are expensed as incurred, with the exception of costs related to inventoried raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods, which are expensed as Cost of revenue as products are sold. 

Marketing and Advertising Costs: The Company advertises in print, television, online and through social media.  The Company will also authorize customers to run advertising campaigns on its behalf through various media outlets. Marketing and advertising costs are expensed as incurred. Marketing and advertising expenses were $23,560 and $189,382 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.






Share-Based Compensation: The Company measures and recognizes compensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to employees, officers, directors, and consultants based on estimated fair values. The value of the portion of the award that is ultimately expected to vest is recognized as expense over the requisite service period in the Company’s Statements of Operations. Share-based compensation is based on awards ultimately expected to vest and is reduced for estimated forfeitures. Forfeitures are estimated at the time of grant and revised, as necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates. For purposes of determining estimated fair value of share-based payment awards on the date of grant the Company uses the Black-Scholes option-pricing model (“Black-Scholes Model”) for option awards. The Black-Scholes Model requires the input of highly subjective assumptions. Because the Company’s employee stock options may have characteristics significantly different from those of traded options, and because changes in the subjective input assumptions can materially affect the fair value estimate, in management’s opinion, the existing models may not provide a reliable single measure of the fair value of the Company’s employee stock options. Management will continue to assess the assumptions and methodologies used to calculate estimated fair value of share-based compensation. Circumstances may change and additional data may become available over time, which result in changes to these assumptions and methodologies, which could materially impact the Company’s fair value determination. The Company estimates the fair value of its restricted stock awards as its stock price on the grant date.

The accounting guidance for share-based compensation may be subject to further interpretation and refinement over time. There are significant differences among option valuation models, and this may result in a lack of comparability with other companies that use different models, methods and assumptions. If factors change and the Company employs different assumptions in the accounting for share-based compensation in future periods, or if the Company decides to use a different valuation model, the compensation expense the Company records in the future may differ significantly from the amount recorded in the current period and could materially affect its loss from operations, net loss and net loss per share.

Income Taxes: Deferred income taxes are provided using the liability method whereby deferred tax assets are recognized for deductible temporary differences and operating loss and tax credit carry forwards and deferred tax liabilities are recognized for taxable temporary differences. Temporary differences are the differences between the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and their tax bases. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted for the effects of the changes in tax laws and rates as of the date of enactment. Interest and penalties, if applicable, would be recorded in operations.

The Company has analyzed filing positions in all of the federal and state jurisdictions where it is required to file income tax returns, as well as all open tax years (2014-2017) in these jurisdictions. The Company believes its income tax filing positions and deductions will be sustained on audit and does not anticipate any adjustments that will result in a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Therefore, no reserves for uncertain income tax positions have been recorded.

Net Loss per Common Share: Basic loss per share does not include dilution and is computed by dividing income available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per share reflect the potential securities that could share in the earnings of the Company, similar to fully diluted earnings per share. Common stock equivalents outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 of approximately 834 million and 3 million shares, respectively, have been omitted from loss per share because they are anti-dilutive. Common stock equivalents consist of stock options, preferred stock, preferred stock make-whole dividend liability amounts (assuming the make-whole dividend liability is paid in common stock in lieu of cash), and convertible notes (assuming the amortization payments are paid in common stock in lieu of cash). Net loss per common share was the same for both basic and diluted methods for the periods ended December 31, 2018 and 2017.

Fair Value Estimates: Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. The Company uses fair value hierarchy based on three levels of inputs, of which, the first two are considered observable and the last unobservable, to measure fair value:

Level 1 - Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2 - Inputs other than Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.
Level 3 - Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

Certain long-lived assets and current liabilities have been measured at fair value on a recurring and non-recurring basis. See Note 6. Property, Plant and Equipment, Note 10. Secured Promissory Notes and Note 12. Convertible Notes. The carrying amount of our long term debt outstanding approximates fair value because our current borrowing rate does not materially differ from market rates for similar bank borrowings. The carrying value for cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued expenses and other assets and liabilities approximate their fair values due to their short maturities.

Related Party Transactions: One of the Company's named shareholders is Tertius Financial Group Pte Ltd, of which Mr. Victor Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, is Managing Director and 50% shareholder. Accounting for transactions under these agreements is consistent with those defined in our Significant Accounting Policies. See Note 19 for further information.

Use of Estimates: The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), and has issued a number of clarifying ASUs subsequently, all of which outline a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most current revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The core principle of the revenue model is that “an entity recognizes revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.” The standard provides enhancements to the quality and consistency of how revenue is reported by companies, while also improving comparability in the financial statements of companies reporting using International Financial Reporting Standards or U.S. GAAP. The new standard also will require enhanced revenue disclosures, provide guidance for transactions that were not previously addressed comprehensively, and improve guidance for multiple-element arrangements. This accounting standard becomes effective for the Company for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim reporting periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted for annual reporting periods (including interim periods) beginning after December 15, 2016. This new standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method. The implementation of ASU 2014-09 did not have a material effect on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
    
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). ASU 2016-02 requires lessees to recognize all leases, including operating leases, on the balance sheet as a lease asset or lease liability, unless the lease is a short-term lease. ASU 2016-02 also requires additional disclosures regarding leasing arrangements. ASU 2016-02 is effective for interim periods and fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and early application is permitted. The Company has evaluated the adoption of this guidance and has determined there will not be a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
    
In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718). ASU 2017-09 provides guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting in Topic 718. ASU 2017-09 is effective for interim periods and fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and early application is permitted. The implementation of ASU 2017-09 did not have a material effect on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

In July 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-11 Part I, Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (Topic 480), Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815). ASU 2017-11 Part I changes the classification analysis of certain equity linked financial instruments with down round features. ASU 2017-11 Part I is effective, for public business entities, for interim periods and fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and early application is permitted. The Company has evaluated the adoption of this guidance and has determined there will not be a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-07, Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Non-employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which simplifies the accounting for share-based payments to non-employees by aligning it with the accounting for share-based payments to employees, with specified exceptions. This standard is effective for the Company in the first quarter of 2020, and early adoption is permitted. The Company expects the adoption of this standard will not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.



In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework-Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, which modifies the disclosure requirements of fair value measurements. This standard is effective for the Company in the first quarter of 2020, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the effect adoption of this standard will have on its consolidated financial statements.

Other new pronouncements issued but not effective as of December 31, 2018 are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.