SolarWorld AG is significantly expanding its production in Germany
The production capacity for solar power modules in Freiberg in Saxony will be tripled to 450 Megawatt until the end of 2010. This was announced by the company on the sidelines of the European Photovoltaic Conference in Hamburg. SolarWorld AG, which already employs more than 1,500 people in Germany, has thus again come out strongly in favor of Germany as a production location. Together with the already initiated expansion of the wafer production in Freiberg to 1,000 Megawatt the company will thus be creating more than 500 new jobs in the region. In view of the strong demand for German quality products the company is working at the limits of its capacity. Short-time working is unknown at the SolarWorld sites. Frank H. Asbeck, CEO and Chairman of SolarWorld AG: “We are producing at the highest quality level in Germany. The basis for this is provided by our highly motivated employees, our successful research and development work and our Freiberg site with its decades of tradition in solar power technology. Even in a more hotly contested solar market quality Made in Germany is a trump card”. Solar power modules from the SolarWorld production line in Freiberg have been the test winner in the long-term test of the independent Photon trade magazine. In recognition of its production that meets the highest ecological and entrepreneurial ethical standards SolarWorld received the German Sustainability Award in 2008 for the most sustainable production in Germany. SolarWorld stands for the definition of quality, environmental and social standards for the entire solar industry. Thus, the company demands the binding determination of environmental certifications for all major stages of the solar value chain all the way to the finished solar power module.
About SolarWorld AG
The SolarWorld AG group of companies (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a world leader in high-quality solar power technology. The company is exclusively dedicated to its core business of photovoltaic power generation and combines all activities of the solar industry from silicon as the raw material to turn-key solar power systems including recycling. SolarWorld is represented in all the world’s solar growth markets and predominantly produces in Germany and the USA. Its largest sites are located in Freiberg, Saxony, and Hillsboro, USA. The central group office is in Bonn. Worldwide sales of solar modules are secured by 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 systems and solar modules to the trade is the distribution of solar silicon wafers to the international solar cell industry. Apart from grid-coupled (on-grid) products, the SolarWorld Group sells off-grid solar power solutions. Under the name Solar2World the Group takes its ethical commitment to fair development also to emerging economies and developing countries, promoting in particular off-grid solar power solutions exemplary of sustainable economic development.
Sustainability is an integral element of SolarWorld’s corporate strategy. The corporate management is committed to sustainable, economically, ecologically and socially compatible growth. SolarWorld AG employs more than 2,500 people worldwide. The company is listed at the stock market, among others in the technology index TecDAX, in the ÖkoDAX, in the Dow Jones STOXX 600, in the international MSCI-Index and in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.
Contact SolarWorld AG
Contact Investor Relations: Phone: +49 228/55920-470, E-Mail: placement(at)solarworld.de
Fax: 0228/55920-9470
Contact Press: Phone: +49 228/55920-400, E-Mail: press(at)solarworld.de
Internet: www.solarworld.de