SolarWorld: U.S. Customers and Market Support Company During Investigations of Harmful Chinese Trade Practices

SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer, has been supported by a wide spectrum of installers, distributors and project developers during a turbulent year that led to antidumping and anti-subsidy trade cases that SolarWorld filed against China.

SolarWorld filed the trade petitions with the U.S. government on Oct. 19 in hopes of restoring robust and fair international competition; in response, the U.S. government issued a unanimous preliminary determination agreeing that Chinese practices are harming the U.S. industry.

Since the cases were filed, many customers have begun or expanded their business relationships with SolarWorld. Both new and existing customers have stated their confidence in the company and its commitment to U.S. manufacturing and environmental practices:

• Glenn Maltais, vice president of business development and sustainability for Munro Distributing Inc., Fall River, Mass.: "With the realities of globalization impacting economies here and abroad, there comes an indisputable need for U.S. job growth and balance with respect to trade. In the solar industry, that means growing domestic manufacturing jobs and ensuring fair competition in the PV sector. At Munro Distributing, we believe in supporting U.S. job growth, competitive pricing and quality domestic production. It is for these reasons that Munro began carrying SolarWorld's product line. We are proud to be aligned with SolarWorld and the value it enables us to provide to our customers.”
• Josh Aldrich, manager of the solar division of Rodda Electric, Brentwood, Calif.: "We recently became a SolarWorld authorized installer to help us meet demand for sustainably produced solar technology made in the USA. In early 2012, we plan to order more than 2.5 megawatts of SolarWorld panels to supply two new projects. We prefer that our customers do not to have to wonder whether they’re getting what they paid for: solar panels made to the high environmental and trade standards that they expect.”
• Mike McKechnie, president of Mountain View Solar, Berkeley Springs, W.Va.: "We’ve seen new business since SolarWorld filed its trade case from people who want clean energy products that live up to their billing in terms of manufacturing and trade. Some also mention wanting to support U.S. manufacturing and jobs. As SolarWorld authorized installers, we feel the same way. This fall, we boosted our partnership with the company to include selling Sunkits, SolarWorld’s custom systems.”

A recent report from Switzerland’s Bank Sarasin titled "Solar Industry: Survival of the Fittest in a Fiercely Competitive Marketplace” highlighted SolarWorld as one of the "fittest” photovoltaic companies to navigate an industry shakeout, partly in light of its coveted sustainability record. SolarWorld also is rated the world’s most sustainable producer on the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition’s annual Solar Scorecard.

"We would like to thank our strong and growing customer base for their loyalty and commitment during an extremely difficult year for the U.S. solar manufacturing industry,” said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld Americas, the company’s commercial arm in the Americas. "With the support of our customer partners, we look forward to better years ahead once China’s unfair trade practices are addressed.”

SolarWorld also reported that it would close out 2011 with increased sales in the U.S. market, compared with 2010. The gain in unit volume came despite abruptly lower industry pricing, according to SolarWorld, as a result of China’s use of illegal subsidies and artificially and temporarily low prices to destroy U.S. manufacturers. Leading the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) (www.americansolarmanufacturing.org), a coalition of more than 150 industry companies employing more than 11,000 U.S. workers, SolarWorld contends that China’s anti-competitive trade is neither commercially nor environmentally sustainable.

China’s campaign has caused at least a dozen U.S. domestic manufacturers to lay off workers in the last two years. Unfortunately, Chinese manufacturers are continuing to expand their subsidized manufacturing capacity and to sell at dumped prices, according to CASM, in a sustained effort to take control of the U.S. market.

About SolarWorld (www.solarworld-usa.com)

SolarWorld is a worldwide leader in offering brand-name, high quality, crystalline silicon 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 of all sizes, the group combines all stages of the solar value chain. The central business activity is selling quality modules into the installation and distribution trades. Group headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany. 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 developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development. Worldwide, SolarWorld employs about 3,300 people. SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among others, the TecDAX and ÖkoDAX as well as in the sustainability index NAI.

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