SolarWorld Campus in Oregon Showcases Nissan LEAF, the Nation's First Mass-Produced 100% Electric Vehicle - VIDEO ENHANCED

HILLSBORO, OR - November 2, 2010: SolarWorld's manufacturing campus in Hillsboro – the largest crystalline silicon solar production facility in the Americas – will serve as the sole Oregon host site of the "drive electric tour" sponsored by Nissan LEAF on Nov. 5, 6 and 7, giving the region's many electric-vehicle enthusiasts a long-awaited chance to get behind the wheel of a zero-emission Nissan LEAF family sedan.

The unusual tour stop on SolarWorld's busy campus points to the advances of two industry pioneers in promoting technologies that affordably curb the need for fossil-based fuels and emissions of carbon and other environmentally noxious gases. Nissan is presenting its LEAF sedan as the first mass-produced, affordable 100%-electric-with-zero-emissions vehicle. SolarWorld, the largest and most experienced U.S. manufacturer of its kind, has spearheaded solar technology development since the mid-1970s.

Click play to watch the Nissan Lean on the road video

The SolarWorld stop on Nissan's "drive electric tour" is the sixth in a 22-city route that began in October and ends in March. The tour features several display areas, each highlighting a specific attribute or benefit of the car, but the best part of the "drive electric tour" is that you can drive the car for yourself! You will be able to drive the Nissan LEAF with a "co-pilot" to answer your questions and show you of all the interior features of the car.

The Portland metropolitan-area market has proven to be an enthusiastic adopter of both the Nissan LEAF and SolarWorld's solar panels, according to officials of both companies. Consumers have reserved the Nissan LEAF and selected SolarWorld panels at vigorous rates. Orders of the Nissan LEAF are expected to arrive in Oregon this winter. This month, SolarWorld marked its second anniversary of vertically integrated production in Hillsboro, located west of Portland, where it is nearing 1,000 workers.

"Nissan deliberately chose the SolarWorld campus as an ideal place to showcase our exciting driving solution to the twin pressing needs for high affordability and no emissions," said Jay Schaffer, Promotions and Lifestyle Marketing Manager, Nissan North America. "Both companies' visions are lighting the way to a bright future for key products and technologies that do their jobs superlatively well, put consumers on a sounder environmental footing and work for their pocketbooks."

"The day of the all-electric Nissan LEAF, as well as SolarWorld's high-performance solar panels, has come," said Gordon Brinser, President of SolarWorld Industries America Inc. "We are only too delighted that in Oregon the two are arriving in exactly the same place."
For reservations, times and other details relating to all stops along the "drive electric tour," go to www.driveNissanLEAF.com
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About the SolarWorld group
The SolarWorld group 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 installation and distribution trades 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 group's largest production facilities operate in Freiberg, Germany and Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. 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 3,300 people. SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among others, the TecDAX, ÖkoDAX, Dow Jones STOXX 600 as well as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.