Wacker Chemie AG and SCHOTT AG have laid the cornerstone for a new
silicon solar wafer manufacturing facility of their joint venture
WACKER SCHOTT Solar GmbH in Jena, Germany. Stage one will cost €50
million with capacity expected to be ramped to 100MW by the end of
2008. Manufacturing equipment will be installed in a two-storey
building with a floorspace of over 7,500m2.
“Our partnership with WACKER is of great importance to us. Given the
current global scarcity of solar silicon, securing a reliable supply of
this raw material is essential to SCHOTT Solar in order to achieve its
ambitious growth targets in the photovoltaic sector,” said Prof. Udo
Ungeheuer, President and CEO of SCHOTT. “Together with our current and
planned capacity expansions for solar cells and modules in Alzenau, as
well as in the Czech Republic and in the United States, this joint
venture will play a decisive role in strengthening the position of
SCHOTT Solar as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of
photovoltaic solar energy components. Furthermore, the establishment of
the WACKER SCHOTT Solar joint venture in Jena significantly strengthens
this site.”
The major part of the joint venture’s wafers will be
used by SCHOTT Solar to make solar cells. Over the next few years,
WACKER and SCHOTT plan to invest a combined total of approx. €370
million at the sites in Jena (Thuringia) and Alzenau (Bavaria). Solar
wafer production is set to expand in stages, reaching about one
gigawatt per year by 2012.