SolarWorld AG / Miscellaneous 18.12.2007 Release of a Corporate-announcement, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Solar2World' projects reveal worldwide benefits of solar power In the poorer regions of the globe, electrification is an essential basis for fair development. 'Solar2World' is a cluster of activities by SolarWorld AG, providing solar power modules for specific Solar2World ventures which contribute to a positive regional development. These projects focus mainly on Africa and demonstrate how help can be given locally by simple means. Many aim to achieve decisive improvements in local opportunities for education, human health and environmental quality. They are a powerful illustration of beneficial applications for solar power. SolarWorld CEO Frank H. Asbeck explains his commitment as follows: 'Two billion people in the world have no access to the electricity grid, so to obtain energy they consume billions of tonnes of kerosene, which is bad for the environment and for health. Solar energy is often the only way these people can have lighting, keep medicines cool, operate water pumps or power a computer respectively a mobile phone. We at SolarWorld want our solar power products to help these people assert their right to fair development. Our Solar2World projects are a foundation stone in a worldwide solar infrastructure.' Here is a selection of Solar2World projects: Malawi Solar power for an Aids orphanage: SolarWorld AG is supporting an Aids orphanage in the African republic of Malawi with eight Solar2World modules, each with an output of 160 watts (total: 1.3 kWp). They are being installed in a remote village near Lake Malawi. The village is home to more than 500 Aids orphans, children whose parents have died of Aids, many of whom are themselves infected with the immune deficiency. The project partner here is the Liebenzeller Mission, a charitable organisation based in Bad Liebenzell in the German Black Forest. It has been instrumental in setting up a programme for the village to promote the supply of electricity and water, medical assistance and youth training. The solar power is used for lighting, for pumping water from deep wells, as a basis for the water supply and to run fridges so that drugs can be properly stored. Without it, fuel for the emergency generators would have had to be fetched from hundreds of miles away. This Solar2World project has drawn on weather data from the US space agency NASA, which was used to calculate the target capacity for each module in the project location. The rainy season is no problem daylight and battery power combined are enough to ensure permanent operation. Kenya Water treatment: In Kenya SolarWorld AG is assisting two secondary schools with their plans for drinking water. The schools are near Kisumu, a town about 250 miles (400 km) north of Nairobi, and together they have over 2,000 pupils. Thanks to solar operated water pumps, these school students will soon have clean, healthy drinking water. The water they currently use from the surrounding hills has been contaminated. The solar power unit has an output of 1.5 kWp. Rwanda Solar power for a vocational training centre: Our partners in Ntarama (Bugesera District), the aid organisation Grünhelme set up by Cap Anamurs founder Rupert Neudeck, are using Solar2World modules for a vocational training centre. Youngsters and adults can train here as solarteurs, which opens up new career prospects for them. Rwanda has adopted an ambitious solar programme, and solar energy training for adults and young people plays a big part in it. The solar installation has a capacity of 150 kWp and is designed to provide the centre with all its power needs. Mali Solar power for rural development and education: Mali-Folkecenter Nyetaa is our partner for Solar2World projects in 14 villages in the south of Mali (Sikasso Region). Solar energy is bringing light to these villages and powering radios, televisions, computers, printers and telephones. In the past, electricity was provided by polluting diesel generators. Meanwhile, in the west of Mali (Kayes Region), a solar water pump project is being implemented in the village of Magadougou. One of the plans for this sun-propelled water is a large vegetable garden providing women in the community with new sources of income. The solar power modules for these two Solar2World projects have a combined output of 14 kWp. Congo Hospital project: In Goma in the Eastern Congo (DRC) SolarWorld AG is assisting the local hospital with a solar power supply. Our partner in the field is the Baptist community, or 'Communauté Baptiste au Centre de lAfrique', while project backing in Germany is provided by the United Protestant Mission (VEM) in Wuppertal and 'Aktion Kleiner Prinz' in Warendorf. The region around Goma suffered severely during the civil war in neighbouring Rwanda and the Eastern Congo, and in addition to that was devastated in parts by an eruption of the volcano Nyragongo. At present there is no secure energy supply on the hospital grounds. The solar power is also needed for such things as running refrigerators to keep medication cool and for lighting the operating and delivery theatres. The solar power modules we provided here have a total output of 2.8 kWp. Uganda Computer training centre: We are working with the German Development Service (DED) on solar backing for a computer training centre at Lira in Northern Uganda. The teachers and students here can acquire IT skills and use the Internet as a knowledge and training medium. The north of Uganda has suffered from belligerent conflicts in recent decades. This makes training centres especially important, because they offer young people new prospects in life and vocational opportunities. As the energy supplied by Ugandas national grid is unreliable, solar power enables training centres to function independently, without fear of local brown-outs that disrupt the running of the computers. Moreover, the teachers and students are learning how solar power works and how to use it. The capacity of the solar power modules we provided here amounts to 3 kWp. South Africa Jonathan Brauner National Park: In Komsberg Wilderness National Park in South Africa (Karoo Region of the Northern Cape) we have been helping a South African environment organisation, the Wildlife For All Trust, in a project for solar water pumps. Komsberg Wilderness National Park provides a habitat, among other things, for some extremely rare plants and five different populations of eagles. The solar water pumps are to help re-establish various varieties of grass in the National Park that are particularly important to the survival of its flora and fauna. The project has a solar output of 1 kWp. About SolarWorld AG: The SolarWorld Group (ISIN: DE0005108401) 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 California the largest production site in the USA for solar modules and in Oregon the largest production site in the USA for solar wafers and cells are being created. In Freiberg in Saxony the group operates one of the worlds most advanced integrated solar production facilities. Among the currently most important sales markets are Germany, the USA and in the rest of Europe especially Spain. Sales offices in Germany, Spain, California, South Africa and Singapore service the international solar markets. In addition to on-grid solar power products the group increasingly distributes rural solar power solutions internationally that can make an important contribution to the sustainable economic development of rural regions. After the IPO at the end of 1999, the company developed within a few years into one of the largest fully integrated solar technology groups. At the end of the third quarter of 2007 some 1,969 people were working for the group. At the stock exchange SolarWorld AG is listed among others in the technology index TecDAX, in the Öko-DAX, in the Dow Jones STOXX 600, in the international MSCI Index as well as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI. Over and above this SolarWorld AG is getting involved at the social policy level in order to push ahead the principle of sustainability and to sharpen public awareness of resource and climate protection. Moreover, SolarWorld is involved at the sociopolitical level in order to further the sustainability notion and raise awareness for climate and resources protection. Contact: SolarWorld AG Investor Relations / Marketing Communications, Tel.-No.: +49 228 55920 -470; Fax-No.: +49 228 55920-9470, E-mail: placement@solarworld.de Internet: www.solarworld.de DGAP 18.12.2007 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Issuer: SolarWorld AG Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 12-14 53113 Bonn Deutschland Phone: +49 (0)228 - 559 20 470 Fax: +49 (0)228 - 559 20 99 E-mail: placement@solarworld.de Internet: www.solarworld.de ISIN: DE0005108401 WKN: 510840 Indices: TecDAX Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Düsseldorf; Freiverkehr in Berlin, München, Hamburg, Stuttgart; Terminbörse EUREX End of News DGAP News-Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DGAP-News: SolarWorld AG: Sun for the South
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