WACKER and SCHOTT set up joint venture to produce solar wafers

Joint Press Release by WACKER and SCHOTT - SCHOTT WACKER Solar to
produce multicrystalline silicon wafers for solar cells - €370
million investment to create at least 700 new jobs - Production
start-up in 2007 - Capacity expansion phased to reach 1 gigawatt per
year by 2012

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Munich / Mainz (euro adhoc) - August 2nd, 2007 - Wacker Chemie AG and
SCHOTT Solar, a 100 percent subsidiary of the worldwide SCHOTT group,
plan to set up two joint ventures to produce and market silicon
wafers for solar applications. WACKER and SCHOTT signed a related
agreement today. Over the next years, the two partners plan to invest
a total of EUR370 million in facilities in Jena (Thuringia) and
Alzenau (Bavaria), creating at least 700 new jobs at these German
sites. The project is subject to approval by the German and European
authorities. The joint venture - SCHOTT WACKER Solar GmbH - is
scheduled to start operations this year. It will produce
multicrystalline silicon ingots and wafers, the starting material for
solar cells. Solar-wafer production capacity is set to expand in
stages, reaching about one gigawatt/year by 2012. This will make the
joint venture one of the world´s five largest solar-wafer
manufacturers.

Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker, Wacker Chemie AG´s president & CEO,
emphasized the joint venture´s importance for his company. "WACKER is
the world's second-largest supplier of hyperpure polycrystalline
silicon and a pioneer in the manufacture of solar-grade polysilicon.
Our forward integration - with a strong partner - into solar-wafer
production is vital to our strategy of creating corporate value in
this growth sector. The recently announced expansions of our
polysilicon production capacity to more than 22,000 metric tons per
year ensure the joint venture´s starting material supply."

Prof. Udo Ungeheuer, president & CEO of SCHOTT, stated that he was
extremely pleased about the new joint venture. "Given polysilicon´s
actual global scarcity, a reliable supply of this raw material is
essential to SCHOTT Solar´s ambitious growth targets in the
photovoltaic sector," he explained. "Combined with our current
capacity expansions for solar cells and modules in Alzenau and
Valasské Mezirící in the Czech Republic, the joint venture will play
a decisive role in strengthening SCHOTT Solar´s position as one of
the world´s leading manufacturers of solar-energy components."

WACKER will supply SCHOTT WACKER Solar GmbH with the hyperpure
polycrystalline silicon it needs to produce wafers. The major part of
the joint venture´s wafers will be used by SCHOTT Solar to make solar
cells. Solar wafers, however, will also be sold to other solar-cell
producers in order to capitalize on growth opportunities and related
scale effects. To this end, WACKER and SCHOTT plan to establish a
separate joint venture, WACKER SCHOTT Solar GmbH.

WACKER and SCHOTT each will hold a 50 percent equity stake in the
production joint venture SCHOTT WACKER Solar GmbH, while in the sales
joint venture WACKER will hold 51 percent and SCHOTT 49 percent. The
production joint venture includes SCHOTT's existing facilities in
Alzenau for producing solar wafers and those in Jena for producing
multicrystalline silicon ingots. SCHOTT WACKER Solar plans to expand
the existing production and to set up new facilities for blocking and
wafering.

At its SmartSolarFab® in Alzenau, SCHOTT manufactures wafers using
its advanced EFG process (Edge defined Film-fed Growth). This method
differs from the conventional approach where silicon wafers are sawn
from an ingot. Instead, a silicon film in the form of an octagonal
hollow tube is pulled directly from the silicon melt. A laser then
cuts out the wafers. The EFG process delivers several advantages. It
greatly reduces material loss, for example, and features a highly
efficient use of silicon.

SCHOTT in Brief SCHOTT (www.schott.com) is an international
technology group that sees its core purpose as the lasting
improvement of living and working conditions. For this purpose
special materials, components and systems are developed. The main
areas of focus are the household appliances industry, optics and
opto-electronics, pharmaceuticals and solar energy. SCHOTT is one of
the world´s leading manufacturers of photovoltaic components. The
SCHOTT Group has a presence in proximity to its customers through its
production and sales companies in all its major markets. It has
approximately 16,800 employees producing worldwide sales of
approximately 2.2 billion euros. The company´s technological and
economic expertise is closely linked with its social and ecological
responsibility.

WACKER in Brief WACKER (www.wacker.com) is a globally active chemical
company headquartered in Munich. With a wide range of
state-of-the-art specialty products, WACKER is a leader in numerous
industrial sectors. Its products are required in many high-growth
end-user sectors such as photovoltaics, electronics, pharmaceuticals
and household/personal care products. The Group´s WACKER POLYSILICON
business division is the world's second-largest producer of hyperpure
polycrystalline silicon for the semiconductor and photovoltaic
industries. In 2006, WACKER Group posted sales of some EUR3.34
billion, with approx. 80 percent being earned outside Germany. WACKER
has about 14,700 employees at (currently) 22 production sites in
Europe, the Americas and Asia and at some 100 sales offices
worldwide. Wacker Chemie AG´s shares (ISIN: DE000WCH8881) are listed
on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on
assumptions and estimates made by the executive boards of WACKER and
SCHOTT. Although we assume the expectations in these forward-looking
statements are realistic, we cannot guarantee they will prove to be
correct. The assumptions may harbor risks and uncertainties that may
cause the actual figures to differ considerably from the
forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such discrepancies
include, among other things, changes in the economic and business
environment, variations in exchange and interest rates, the
introduction of competing products, lack of acceptance for new
products or services, and changes in corporate strategy. Neither
WACKER nor SCHOTT plans to update the forward-looking statements, nor
assumes the obligation to do so.

end of announcement euro adhoc 02.08.2007 12:30:18
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ots Originaltext: Wacker Chemie AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:
Wacker Chemie AG
Christof Bachmair
Media Relations and Information
Tel.: +49 (0)89 6279 1830
E-Mail: christof.bachmair@wacker.com

SCHOTT AG
Klaus Hofmann
Corporate Public Relations
Tel.: +49 (0) 6131 66-3662
klaus-bernhard.hofmann@schott.com

Branche: Chemicals
ISIN: DE000WCH8881
WKN: WCH888
Index: CDAX, Classic All Share, HDAX, MDAX, Midcap Market Index,
Prime All Share
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / official dealing/prime standard