SolarWorld’s Sun-Fueled Vehicle to Race in Tulsa-Chicago Run

HILLSBORO, Ore.--The SolarWorld No. 1 solar-powered racecar takes off Sunday along a course from Tulsa to Chicago in the 2010 American Solar Challenge, representing the largest U.S. solar manufacturer in the best-established event of its kind in North America.

“Our solar racer will model the clean power from the sun across an expanse of the U.S. landscape, where SolarWorld has pioneered solar technology since the mid-1970s”

Future engineers studying at Hochschule Bochum – the Bochum University of Applied Sciences in Germany – form the SolarWorld No. 1 team. Similar to a road rally, the event tests engineering know-how, teamwork and endurance.

In the 1,100-mile race, the Bochum team will compete in timed stages as it vies to complete the every-other-year contest with the lowest total elapsed time. Its vehicle will harness high-efficiency photovoltaic cells to demonstrate mobility without fossil fuels and carbon emissions.

“Our solar racer will model the clean power from the sun across an expanse of the U.S. landscape, where SolarWorld has pioneered solar technology since the mid-1970s,�?? said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld California, the company’s sales and marketing unit.

Also competing is a team from Oregon State University in Corvallis. Its racer is powered by solar cells made in Hillsboro, Ore., where SolarWorld operates its U.S. headquarters and the nation’s largest solar factory.

For more information, photos and race updates, go to www.solarworld-usa.com/index.php?id=4745

About SolarWorld AG

The SolarWorld AG Group (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a worldwide leader in offering brand-name, high-quality, crystalline solar-power technology. Its strength is its fully integrated solar production. From silicon as the raw material through wafers, cells and modules all the way to turn-key solar systems, including recycling, the group combines all stages of the solar value chain. The central business activity is selling quality modules into the wholesale trade and crystalline wafers to the international solar cell industry. Group headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany. Production sites are to be found in Germany, the United States and South Korea. The largest production facilities are operated by the group in Freiberg, Germany, and Hillsboro, Ore. Sustainability is the basis of the group strategy. Under the name Solar2World, the group supports care projects using off-grid solar power solutions in emerging economies and developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development. Worldwide, SolarWorld employs more than 2,700 people. Since 1999, SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange on the technology index TecDAX, ÖkoDAX, Dow Jones STOXX 600, the international MSCI Index as well as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.