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.

The SolarWorld group of companies (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a world leader in high-quality solar power technology. The company is involved at all levels of the solar value chain and combines all activities of the solar industry, from silicon raw material to turn-key solar systems. SolarWorld is represented in all of the world’s solar growth markets. The group is exclusively dedicated to its core business of photovoltaic power generation, operating production facilities in Germany and the USA (California, Oregon, Washington). They, in turn, supply the SolarWorld sales offices in Germany, Spain, USA, South Africa and Singapore. In South Korea, SolarWorld is establishing a solar module production facility to serve the growing demand in Asia.

The central element of the business, in addition to the sale of turn-key solar systems and solar modules, 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 that make an important contribution to the sustainable economic development of threshold and developing countries. Under the name Solar2World, the group has applied its ethical commitment to solar power in developing countries.

The SolarWorld group employs about 2,500 people worldwide. At the stock market the company is listed among others in the technology index TecDAX, in the ÖkoDAX, in the Dow Jones STOXX 600, in the international MSCI index as well as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.

Media Contact:

Ben Santarris
SolarWorld group
Public Relations
25300 N.W. Evergreen Road
Hillsboro, OR 97124

Mobile: +1 503 927 9858
Office: +1 503 693 5189

ben.santarris@solarworld-usa.com