PV Gets a Push in the Right Direction

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Solar Competitiveness Getting Closer

SolarWorld AG will be celebrating the topping-out ceremony of its new production facility for solar silicon wafers in Freiberg’s Industrial Estate East with the Prime Minister of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich, and many guests from the region and from local industry on Monday. At this site a production facility will be created for photovoltaic wafers according to the most modern standards with a final capacity of half a Gigawatt per year. Wafers are extremely thin silicon discs that form the core of solar power generation. Once processed into solar modules this annual production volume of wafers would be sufficient to supply half a million people with solar electricity. With an investment volume of some 350 million EUR this is one of the largest investment projects of the solar power group. ‘Thanks to our development work and the latest technological processes we will be able to produce wafers in a particularly resource-friendly and cost-effective way’, says Dipl.-Ing. Frank H. Asbeck, Chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG. Thus, the group is consistently following the path of continuous improvement of efficiency which will also be reflected in further cost reductions in the course of the year. ‘The day when solar power from the roof will be cheaper for the consumer than electricity from the wall socket is getting closer’. At the same time the solar technology provider relies on top quality. ‘High quality makes for high yields, also financially. High quality solar technology turns roofs into solid roof savings banks.’

Freiberg wafer capacities to rise to 1 Gigawatt in 2010 The poly-crystalline silicon wafers are further processed into solar cells both by solar cell manufacturers worldwide and in our own solar cell production. With the new factory the SolarWorld Group will have a wafer production capacity of one Gigawatt by the end of the year 2010 at the Freiberg location alone. By today’s world market standards one in five solar cells will then be made using wafers from Freiberg. At the same time the company will be creating 450 new jobs and in doing so strengthen its position as the largest industrial employer in the region of Central Saxony. At the moment the group employs more than 1,500 people in Freiberg. ‘This investment is a commitment to the location of Freiberg with its highly qualified and dedicated employees, the good infrastructure and the networking in research clusters’, says Prof. Dr. Peter Woditsch for SolarWorld AG. ‘The decision by SolarWorld AG to expand its Freiberg site by the addition of the highly modern production hall is a great day for Saxony, especially for Freiberg and the employees of the company.

Silicon wafers and solar modules made in Saxony are a quality product and it is especially in the Freiberg region that the heart beats for this high technology. Innovative companies, highly qualified skilled workers as well as universities and research establishments have in the last few years made significant contributions to the growing sales and employment figures in the photovoltaic industry in Saxony. I take it for granted that this growth will continue by a multiple in the medium term’, says Stanislaw Tillich, Prime Minister of the State of Saxony.

Resource-friendly and cost-effective production An additional example of the resource-friendly and cost-effective mode of production of the new facility is the complete recovery of the waste heat from production for the heating of the building. On the roof of the 300 meter long complex a photovoltaic system with an output of one Megawatt is being installed that can cover the power requirements of 1,000 inhabitants.

About SolarWorld AG: The SolarWorld AG group of companies is a world leader in providing high quality solar power technology. The company which is exclusively dedicated to its core business of photovoltaic technology is represented at all the stages of the solar value chain combining industrial activities ranging from the raw material of silicon to turn-key solar power plants and recycling. SolarWorld AG is represented in all solar growth markets of the world with production facilities mainly in Germany and the USA – with the major sites located in Freiberg/Saxony and in Hillsboro/USA. The company headquarters are located in Bonn/Germany. Worldwide sales of the solar modules are secured by our five sales offices in Germany, Spain, USA, South Africa and Singapore. The central element of the business in addition to the sale of turn-key solar plants and solar modules to the specialist trade is the distribution of solar silicon wafers to the international solar cell industry. In addition to grid-coupled (on-grid) products the SolarWorld Group also distributes grid-independent (off-grid) solar power solutions. Under the name Solar2World the group lives up to its ethical commitment to a fair development also in threshold and developing countries. In this context mainly off-grid solar power solutions are funded that are perfect examples for sustainable economic development. Sustainability is an integral part of the SolarWorld AG corporate strategy. Corporate management feels committed to sustainable ecologically, economically and socially acceptable growth. SolarWorld AG employs some 2,500 people worldwide. The company is quoted at the stock market including listings in the technology index TecDAX, the ÖkoDAX, the Dow Jones STOXX 600, the international MSCI Index as well as the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.

SolarWorld AG

Contact Investor Relations: Tel.-No.: 0228/55920-470 Contact Press: Tel.-No. 0228/55920-459

Fax No.: 0228/55920-9470 E-mail: placement@solarworld.de; Internet: www.solarworld.de