SolarWorld Group expands silicon business and technology development/Sunicon AG and SolarWorld Innovations founded

Bonn. In parallel to the expansion of its solar wafer capacities the SolarWorld Group will also consistently enhance the areas of silicon supply and technology development. Both these business activities will in future be managed by wholly owned subsidiaries located in Freiberg/Saxony. Sunicon AG will be responsible for securing raw material supplies to the Group and will manage and further develop the silicon projects of SolarWorld AG. These include Joint Solar Silicon GmbH & Co. KG (JSSI) which will start the industrial-scale generation of solar silicon in the year 2008. The Board of Management of Sunicon AG will consist of Prof. Dr. Peter Woditsch, CEO of the worldwide leader in solar wafer production and SolarWorld AG subsidiary Deutsche Solar AG, and Dr. Armin Müller, so far responsible for Group research at SolarWorld AG. Armin Müller who holds a PhD in Chemistry has been in charge of Deutsche Solar AG since 1996, has headed the Research & Development Division of SolarWorld AG since 2001 and assumed the management of JSSI in 2002. In addition, Dr. Müller is a part-time lecturer at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg since 2004.

SolarWorld Innovations bundles competences

The international Research & Development of the Group will in future be centrally bundled in SolarWorld Innovations GmbH (science2technology). The company will look after the technology development along the entire value chain of the solar industry from crystallization via wafer, cell and module production all the way to complete solar systems. "The focus of our work will be on the further development of all processes and procedures in production with the objective of sustainable efficiency improvements," says Dr. Ralf Lüdemann, Managing Director of SolarWorld Innovations. "Our strength lies in the production technology experience and the creativity of our employees in all stages of the value chain of our fully integrated solar power group. In future we will bundle these even more effectively and make maximum use of the synergies involved." Dr. Lüdemann who holds a PhD in Physics and did research work at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg has been working for the SolarWorld Group since 2002. Since 2004 he has been Managing Director of our solar cell subsidiary Deutsche Cell GmbH and since 2005 he has also been a part-time lecturer at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg.

About SolarWorld (www.solarworld-usa.com)

SolarWorld (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 of all sizes, 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. 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 developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development. Worldwide, SolarWorld employs more than 3,300 people. SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among others, the TecDAX and ÖkoDAX as well as in the sustainability index NAI.

Media Contact:

Devon Cichoski
Media relations manager
SolarWorld Americas
4650 Adohr Lane
Camarillo, CA 93012
Mobile: 805-388-6388
Office: 805-377-2905
devon.cichoski(at)solarworld-usa.com