SolarWorld got off to a good start into the year 2010.

Our cumulative shipments in the first three months went up by 22 per cent to 139 (first quarter 2009: 114) MW. In this process the trend towards a shift to the trading business with modules and solar kits continued. In our core market of Germany the EEG debate in the first quarter triggered an additional strong demand that SolarWorld benefited from substantially. From the month of March onwards our business developed strongly after the hard winter in January and February had still slowed down sales somewhat. In the other markets our sales also developed positively in the first three months of the year 2010: In Italy our business was very strong; in France we continue to be successful mainly with the EnergyRoof^® product. And also our business in the USA picked up noticeably in the first few months since the beginning of the year.

Our group-wide production capacities were fully utilized in the first quarter. The massive expansion to meet the needs of the growing retail market is proceeding according to plan. As a fully integrated group of companies we have secured our raw material supplies with a view to the near future: In cooperation with the Qatar Foundation SolarWorld AG signed a contract for the foundation of the joint venture Qatar Solar Technologies (QST) located in the Emirate of Qatar in order to build up a new silicon production facility.   Notes/Material events subsequent to the end of the interim period Probably by the end of 2012 we will therefore have available to us a supplementary raw material source for the future stages of our expansion.

Our sales success in the first quarter was not least also the success of a strong brand with a clear quality promise. This was again at the focus of our sales and marketing activities including appearances at international exhibitions. In February a SolarWorld product once again became the test winner in the module yield test of the trade magazine Photon. In addition, SolarWorld was the first company in the industry to give all its modules a 25-year linear performance warranty starting on 1 January. Our quality promise is further supported by the proof of ammonia resistance provided by the Swiss SGS test institute, which is a selling point that will convince customers in agriculture. We were also able to substantiate our position under the aspect of sustainability. In March SolarWorld received the highest score among manufacturers of crystalline solar technology in an international sustainability comparison in the USA. The environmental organization Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC), which is independent of the government and of industry, evaluated not only the transparency and social responsibility of the companies in this comparison but also the sustainability of production and delivery relationships, as well as the refusal to use environmentally damaging materials in their production.

At the same time we have been working at full speed in 2010 to reduce our costs. Contributions to this are the further expansion of our capacities (economies of scale) and the highly advanced and ever more efficient manufacturing processes at all the production sites. A role model for this is our new wafer production at the Freiberg Industrial Estate East, whose first stage of construction of 250 MW has by now started to run at full capacity. The entire process chain of wafering is housed on one level here leading to a significantly higher productivity. Further cost cutting potentials are inherent in our Research and Development. In March the Technology Center in Freiberg was commissioned so that we can transfer innovations directly into production even more efficiently than before.  Annual Group Report 2009 / Innovation report