Public projects, including system for U.S. Air Force base in Colorado, help power SolarWorld growth in the rising U.S. market
Hillsboro, Ore., Aug. 24, 2009 – The SolarWorld group has been expanding its business with new military, school and other public projects in the United States, the important market of the future.
SolarWorld is working with project manager AMEC and partner SolSource Inc. on a new contract to supply Sunmodules to the U.S. Department of Defense for construction of a 1.2 MW solar power plant at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo. AMEC is an international engineering and project management company; SolSource is a Denver-based solar engineering, procurement and installation firm. More than 5,000 of SolarWorld's new 220/230-watt modules are to be installed in the Buckley project.
As the modules represent a higher performance class, a larger power yield can be obtained from a smaller area. Like all SolarWorld modules, the new products meet the most stringent quality requirements. The modules are manufactured at SolarWorld’s site in Camarillo, Calif., from photovoltaic cells made at its site in Hillsboro, Ore. Virtually all raw materials and components are produced in the United States, where SolarWorld is the largest manufacturer of solar power technology, with more than 30 years of production and market experience.
Working with Chevron Energy Solutions, SolarWorld supplied Sunmodules that were installed in civic projects in California with total output capacity of more than 15 MW. An example of a project recently implemented by Chevron Energy Solutions is a solar power system using Sunmodules at Butte Community College in Oroville, California. Another project was the largest U.S. K-12 solar and energy efficiency project, installed at the San Jose Unified School District in San Jose, Calif.
In the first half of 2009, SolarWorld supplied Sunmodules to projects such as a 1 MW roof-mounted solar plant on the Orange County Convention Center in Florida and a 1.2 MW solar power system for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Los Angeles. The two projects are among the biggest not only among U.S. civic facilities of their kind but also within the regions where they were installed.
The U.S. market is the world's third largest sales region for solar power technology. "As of the fourth quarter of 2009, the public funding of solar power is expected to come to the fore," Chairman and CEO Frank H. Asbeck said. "With our sites in the USA, we are excellently prepared for the expected positive development in the US market." Until the end of 2010, the U.S. sites will undergo further expansion. "We will then have production capacity of 500 MW each in wafer and cell production," Asbeck said.
About the SolarWorld group
The SolarWorld group (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a worldwide leader in offering brand-name, high-quality, crystalline solar-power technology. Its strength is its fully integrated solar production. From silicon as the raw material through wafers, cells and modules all the way to turn-key solar systems, including recycling, the group combines all stages of the solar value chain. The central business activity is selling quality modules into the installation and distribution trades and crystalline wafers to the international solar cell industry. Group headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany. Production sites are to be found in Germany, the United States and South Korea. The group’s largest production facilities operate in Freiberg, Germany and Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Sustainability is the basis of the group strategy. Under the name Solar2World, the group supports care projects using off-grid solar-power solutions in emerging economies and developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development. Worldwide, SolarWorld employs more than 2,700 people. SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among others, the TecDAX, ÖkoDAX, Dow Jones STOXX 600 as well as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.
www.solarworld-usa.com
Media Contact:
Ben Santarris
Public affairs manager
SolarWorld
25300 N.W. Evergreen Road
Hillsboro, OR 97124
Mobile: 503 927 9858
Office: 503 693 5189
ben.santarris(at)solarworld-usa.com