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Camarillo, March 1, 2007. In Hillsboro, Oregon, SolarWorld AG will establish an integrated solar silicon wafer and solar cell production which will reach a capacity of 500 MW by the year 2009 which would become the largest solar factory on the American continent. At a price of only $40 million, the solar technology group succeeded in taking over the silicon wafer production of the Japanese Komatsu Group which had invested some $500 million (in these days 600 million EUR) at the Hillsboro location – in the immediate vicinity of the world’s largest factory of the chip manufacturer Intel – but had never gone into production with the new facility due to a weak demand situation in the chip industry. The SolarWorld Group will further develop the new site with an investment of about $400 million. Oregon will support these investments with property and business energy tax credits. “This is a major step forward – not only for our environment, but also Oregon’s economy,” said Governor Kulongoski. “SolarWorld AG will become a major partner in our state’s move towards energy independence. I appreciate their commitment and dedication to achieving a clean energy future.”
Following this acquisition the SolarWorld Group will shift its solar crystallization activities from Vancouver, WA, to Hillsboro and already start up production in the summer of 2007. In the first stage of the expansion capacities will be enhanced to 100 MW. At the same time the group will double the capacities of its specialized solar module factory at the Camarillo, CA production site to 100 MW.
SolarWorld production to exceed Gigawatt mark globally by 2010
“The new investment in Oregon constitutes an exceptional opportunity,“ explains Dipl.-Ing. Frank H. Asbeck, Chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG. “The take-over of such a high-tech production facility at a price of only $40 million is an excellent deal.” With the new US production capacities the SolarWorld Group is substantially expanding its position as the leading provider and producer of solar power technology in the strongly growing US solar market. Together with the expansion of the silicon wafer production at Freiberg/Saxony to also 500 MW, the group will have a total global production in excess of one Gigawatt (1,000 Megawatt). “Now that we will soon have exceeded the threshold of 1,000 staff in Freiberg the group will also create a large number of new jobs at Hillsboro,” announces Frank H. Asbeck.
Claim of technology leadership
In the new wafer and cell factory, the group will produce highly efficient, mono-crystalline solar silicon products thus expanding its technological spectrum. The products from the integrated production in Freiberg are primarily based on high efficiency multi-crystalline silicon. “The new US production will be designed in line with the latest results of our ongoing inter-group research work,” explains Dipl.-Ing. Boris Klebensberger who is responsible for the US activities of the group as Board Member in charge of operations (COO) of SolarWorld AG. “In this process the technological know-how from the mono-crystalline technology taken over from the former Shell companies will be employed for the first time. With our new US production we are thus consistently living up to our claim of being the technology leader in this market.”
Note to editors: Photos of the largest US solar factory can be downloaded from the Internet: www.solarworld.de/oregon
About SolarWorld AG: The SolarWorld Group is among the top trio of the solar power industry worldwide. The group is dedicated exclusively to the core business of solar energy, combining all stages of the solar value chain, from the raw material silicon to turn-key solar power plants. The company operates production facilities in Germany, Sweden and the USA. In the United States, SolarWorld AG is also the leading producer and provider of solar power technology. In addition, sales offices operate in South Africa and Singapore, completing the international alignment of the group. The responsibilities of these offices include the sale of rural solar power solutions that can make an important contribution to the sustainable economic development of the southern hemisphere.
In Freiberg, Saxony, the group operates one of the world's most advanced integrated solar production facilities where the SolarWorld Group turns solar grade silicon into high quality solar wafers, solar cells and solar modules. SolarWorld AG offers a broad and diverse range of products from modules for grid-coupled and grid-independent power generation all the way to a whole class of complete solar power systems for decentralized and centralized electricity generation. After the IPO at the end of 1999, the company developed within a few years to a fully integrated solar technology group, increasing its workforce to more than 1,350 employees by the beginning of 2007. SolarWorld AG is listed at the stock exchange in the technology index TecDAX, in the Dow Jones STOXX 600 as well as the international MSCI index and the sustainability index NAI.
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Contact:
SolarWorld Industries America
Anne Schneider
4650 Adohr Lane, Camarillo, CA 93012 Phone:
Cell:
E-Mail: | 805 388 6285
805 444 7425
a.schneider(at)solarworld-usa.com |
SolarWorld AG
Investor Relations / Marketing Communications
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Fax:
E-Mail:
Internet: | +49 228 55920 470
+49 228 55920 9470
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