Description of Orion Energy Systems, Inc. Capital Stock

Exhibit 10.12

ORION ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC.

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

Our authorized capital stock consists of 230,000,000 shares, consisting of 200,000,000 shares of common stock, no par value per share, and 30,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share.

The description below summarizes the material terms of our common stock, preferred stock and provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws. This description is only a summary. For more detailed information, you should refer to our amended and restated articles of incorporation and bylaws filed as exhibits to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Common Stock

Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters submitted to a vote of shareholders and do not have cumulative voting rights. Holders of common stock are entitled to receive proportionately any dividends as may be declared by our board of directors, subject to any preferential dividend rights of outstanding preferred stock. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of common stock are entitled to receive proportionately our net assets available after the payment of all debts and other liabilities and subject to the prior rights of any outstanding preferred stock. Holders of common stock have no preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights. Our outstanding shares of common stock are fully paid and nonassessable. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.

Preferred Stock

Our board of directors is authorized to issue from time to time up to 30 million shares of preferred stock in one or more series without shareholder approval. Our board of directors has the discretion to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences, of each series of preferred stock. It is not possible to state the actual effect of the issuance of any shares of preferred stock on the rights of holders of common stock until our board of directors determines the specific rights associated with that preferred stock. The effects of issuing preferred stock could include one or more of the following:

Wisconsin Anti-Takeover Law and Certain Articles of Incorporation and Bylaw Provisions

Wisconsin law and our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that will be effective upon closing of this offering contain provisions that could delay or prevent a change of control of our company or changes in our board of directors that our shareholders might consider favorable. The following is a summary of these provisions.

Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws

Classified board of directors; removal of directors for cause. Our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that our board of directors is divided into three classes, with the term of office of each class expiring at successive annual meetings of shareholders. At each annual meeting of shareholders, each director is elected for a term ending on the date of the third annual shareholders’ meeting

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following the annual shareholders’ meeting at which such director was elected and until his or her successor shall be elected and shall qualify, subject to prior death, resignation or removal from office.

Our amended and restated articles of incorporation also provide that the affirmative vote of shareholders possessing at least 75% of the voting power of the then outstanding shares of our capital stock is required to amend, alter, change or repeal, or to adopt any provision inconsistent with, the relevant sections of the bylaws establishing the classified board. The board of directors (or its remaining members, even if less than a quorum) is also empowered to fill vacancies on the board of directors occurring for any reason for the remainder of the term of the class of directors in which the vacancy occurred, unless the vacancy was caused by the action of shareholders (in which event such vacancy will be filled by the shareholders and may not be filled by the directors).

Members of the board of directors may be removed only for cause at a meeting of the shareholders called for the purpose of removing the director, and the meeting notice must state that the purpose, or one of the purposes, of the meeting is removal of the director and must state the alleged cause upon which the director’s removal would be based.

These provisions are likely to increase the time required for shareholders to change the composition of our board of directors. For example, in general, at least two annual meetings will be necessary for shareholders to effect a change in a majority of the members of our board of directors.

Advance notice provisions for shareholder proposals and shareholder nominations of directors. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, for nominations to the board of directors or for other business to be properly brought by a shareholder before a meeting of shareholders, the shareholder must first have given timely notice of the proposal in writing to our secretary. For an annual meeting, a shareholder’s notice generally must be delivered on or before December 31 of the year immediately preceding the annual meeting, unless the date of the annual meeting is on or after May 1 in any year, in which case notice must be received not later than the close of business on the day which is determined by adding to December 31 of the year immediately preceding such annual meeting the number of days starting with May 1 and ending on the date of the annual meeting in such year. Detailed requirements as to the form of the notice and information required in the notice are specified in the amended and restated bylaws. If it is determined that business was not properly brought before a meeting in accordance with our amended and restated bylaws, such business will not be conducted at the meeting.

Wisconsin Business Corporation Law

Sections 180.1140 to 180.1144 of the Wisconsin Business Corporation Law, or the WBCL, restrict a broad range of business combinations between a Wisconsin corporation and an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years unless specified conditions are met. The WBCL defines a “business combination” as including certain mergers or share exchanges, sales of assets, issuances of stock or rights to purchase stock and other related party transactions. An “interested stockholder” is a person who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 10% of the outstanding voting stock of a corporation or who is an affiliate or associate of the corporation and beneficially owned 10% of the voting stock within the last three years. During the initial three-year period after a person becomes an interested stockholder in a Wisconsin corporation, with some exceptions, the WBCL prohibits a business combination with the interested stockholder unless the corporation’s board of directors approved the business combination or the acquisition of the stock by the interested stockholder prior to the acquisition date. Following this three-year period, the WBCL also prohibits a business combination with an interested stockholder unless:

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Sections 180.1130 to 180.1133 of the WBCL govern certain mergers or share exchanges between public Wisconsin corporations and significant shareholders, and sales of all or substantially all of the assets of public Wisconsin corporations to significant shareholders. These transactions must be approved by 80% of all shareholders and two-thirds of shareholders other than the significant shareholder, unless the shareholders receive a statutory “fair price.” Section 180.1130 of the WBCL generally defines a “significant shareholder” as the beneficial owner of 10% or more of the voting power of the outstanding voting shares, or an affiliate of the corporation who beneficially owned 10% or more of the voting power of the then outstanding shares within the last two years.

Section 180.1150 of the WBCL provides that in particular circumstances the voting power of shares of a public Wisconsin corporation held by any person in excess of 20% of the voting power is limited to 10% of the voting power these excess shares would otherwise have. Full voting power may be restored if a majority of the voting power of shares represented at a meeting, including those held by the party seeking restoration, are voted in favor of the restoration. This voting restriction does not apply to shares acquired directly from the corporation.

Section 180.1134 of the WBCL requires shareholder approval for some transactions in the context of a tender offer or similar action for more than 5% of any class of a Wisconsin corporation’s stock. Shareholder approval is required for the acquisition of more than 5% of the corporation’s stock at a price above market value from any person who holds more than 3% of the voting shares and has held the shares for less than two years, unless the corporation makes an equal offer to acquire all shares. Shareholder approval is also required for the sale or option of assets that amount to at least 10% of the market value of the corporation, but this requirement does not apply if the corporation has at least three independent directors and a majority of the independent directors vote not to have this provision apply to the corporation.

Limitations of Directors’ Liability and Indemnification

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, to the fullest extent permitted or required by Wisconsin law, we will indemnify all of our directors and officers, any trustee of any of our employee benefit plans, and person who is serving at our request as a director, officer, employee or agent of another entity, against certain liabilities and losses incurred in connection with these positions or services. We will indemnify these parties to the extent the parties are successful in the defense of a proceeding and in proceedings in which the party is not successful in defense of the proceeding unless, in the latter case only, it is determined that the party breached or failed to perform his or her duties to us and this breach or failure constituted:

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that we are required to indemnify our directors and executive officers and may indemnify our employees and other agents to the fullest extent required or permitted by Wisconsin law. Additionally, our amended and restated bylaws require us under certain circumstances to advance reasonable expenses incurred by a director or officer who is a party to a proceeding for which indemnification may be available.

Wisconsin law further provides that it is the public policy of the State of Wisconsin to require or permit indemnification, allowance of expenses and insurance to the extent required or permitted under Wisconsin law for any liability incurred in connection with a proceeding involving a federal or state statute, rule or regulation regulating the offer, sale or purchase of securities.

Under Wisconsin law, a director is not personally liable for breach of any duty resulting solely from his or her status as a director, unless it is proved that the director’s conduct constituted conduct described in the bullet points

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above. In addition, we maintain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that will insure against certain liabilities, subject to applicable restrictions.

NASDAQ Capital Market Listing

Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “OESX.”

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is EQ Shareowner Services.

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