WACKER SCHOTT Solar plans site expansion in Jena, Germany

06-10-2008: After commissioning a new wafer production facility at the so-called "Jena Site 2" in mid-April, WACKER SCHOTT Solar GmbH is continuing its production-site expansion. The company announced this during a visit by Jena mayor Albrecht Schröter. The expansion measures focus on construction of a new crystal-growing facility. The extension is a key component of a EUR370 million investment program aimed at ensuring the announced production-capacity expansion to one gigawatt by 2012. The measure will create 150 new jobs at the site.

Construction work on the new crystal-growing facility is expected to commence in August. In the future, the facility will produce multicrystalline silicon ingots for the manufacture of solar wafers. Silicon wafers sliced from these ingots are the starting material for the production of high-quality solar cells.

As part of the expansion measures, existing so-called "Jena Site 1" production facilities will be renovated. Plans have been under development since 2005 to convert former calcium-fluoride facilities, which have been producing calcium-fluoride crystals for the semiconductor sector for years. Conversion is expected to be completed by the end of the year.