News

Solarworld and Degussa Form Joint Venture

June 02, 2002 by Jeff Shepard

Solar power firm Solarworld AG (Frankfurt, Germany) announced that it has formed a joint venture with Degussa AG (Germany) to produce silicon for use in solar power cells, which is the basic material for the photovoltaics industry. Degussa will take 51 percent in the new firm, while Solarworld will hold 49 percent.

"The supervisory boards of Degussa and Solarworld made the decision to form the joint venture for the production of solar-grade silicon," stated Peter Woditsch, CEO of Solarworld unit Deutsche Solar.

Degussa's unit in Antwerp, Belgium, will produce 800 tons of silicon per year by mid-2005, 85 percent of which Solarworld will use for its own production of solar wafers. The remainder will be sold to the solar industry worldwide.