Major Investments Drive Growth of German Solar Industry

Berlin (ots) - The rapid growth of the photovoltaic industry (PV)
in Germany continues. Several solar companies, namely industry giants
First Solar, Avancis, SolarWorld and Juwi, have announced new
investments in Germany. First Solar is even doubling its production
capacity in the country. These developments underscore the industry's
strength and add a vote of confidence for future market growth. First
Solar's announcement marks the largest foreign investment in
Germany's renewable energies industry this year.

US-based First Solar, the world's largest manufacturer of thin
film solar modules, announced yesterday an investment of over USD 200
million in its facility in Frankfurt (Oder) in Eastern Germany. The
investment will make it the largest thin-film plant in Europe and
boost annual production capacity to 446 MW. Creating several hundred
jobs, the new investment serves to meet ongoing demand increases in
Germany and across Europe. For its contribution to economic
development the investment has drawn incentives from the federal and
regional governments amounting to approximately EUR 30 million.
Germany Trade & Invest supported First Solar with its initial
investment in Germany.

First Solar CEO Robert Gillette confirms Germany's attractiveness
as a production location: "Our plant in Frankfurt is already one of
the most efficient worldwide, and there are numerous well trained
workers in the region."

This week France-based Saint-Gobain subsidiary Avancis announced
its investment in a new plant in the Eastern German city of Torgau.
The new facility will be Avancis' second German plant manufacturing
thin-film CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenide) photovoltaic panels.
It will be built close to the first Avancis industrial site. The new
plant will have an annual production output of 100 MW. With a surface
area of 25,000 m2, the site should come on stream by the first
quarter of 2012.

German Solar Companies Investing As Well

German-based solar companies SolarWorld and Juwi have also
announced new investments in Germany recently. SolarWorld, one of the
largest fully integrated producers in the solar industry reported
this week a EUR 350 million investment in a new production plant in
the eastern German city of Freiberg. This facility will increase
SolarWorld's solar wafer production capacity to 750 MW by the end of
the year and is a testament to Eastern Germany's photovoltaic
cluster, the largest in the world.

At the same time, Juwi is investing in a new facility in Brandis,
a German town near Leipzig, which will employ up to 80 new workers.
The company is one of the world's largest in planning, constructing
and operating renewable energy projects in the solar, wind and
bioenergy segments.

Installations in Germany amounted to 3.8 GWp in 2009, accounted
for more than half of all new installations worldwide. Germany is
again the world's largest PV market and continues to be an attractive
investment location for PV companies. Manufacturers in Germany not
only have access to a large and growing market, they also benefit
from a significant competitive advantage through a local brand
presence and reputation for high quality products. Germany's solar
industry also benefits from the highest density of R&D institutes in
the industry. At the same time, the country boasts a well established
industrial infrastructure, large equipment supplier base, and
qualified and experienced workforce.

Germany Trade & Invest is the foreign trade and inward investment
promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization
advises foreign companies looking to expand their business activities
in the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to
German companies that seek to enter foreign markets.

Originaltext: Germany Trade and Invest
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Press Contact:
Germany Trade & Invest
Eva Henkel
Email: eva.henkel@gtai.com
T: +49(0)30 200099-173
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