Dow Corning fits solar panels to power Wiesbaden

20 August 2007 14:39  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Dow Corning has installed over 1,000 square metres of solar panels on the roofs and facades of its Wiesbaden, western Germany, production site, the silicon technology company said in Monday.

 

The sustainable electricity generated by the project, which is enough to power 35 households, would be fed into the local electricity grid, the company said.

 

The solar panel modules were supplied by Photowatt International and contain Dow Corning’s photovoltaic cell technology.

 

Energy generated by the Dow Corning solar panels would be fed back into the local electricity grid. In return, the company would benefit from subsidies to buy electricity for its own energy needs.

 

“Dow Corning Wiesbaden commits to re-invest 30% of these subsidies every year in sustainable energy projects aiming at reducing the site's total energy consumption,” the company said in a statement.

 

Dow Corning announced earlier this year it would invest up to $1bn (€740m) during the next four years to expand operations, mainly to meet demand for materials used to collect solar power.

 

The expansion, which is expected to come online in 2010, will increase the company’s total output of polycrystalline silicon by 90% to 36,000 tonnes/year.

 

Dow Corning is a 50-50 joint venture between US companies Dow Chemical and Corning.

 

($1 = €0.74)

By: Mark Watts
+44 20 8652 3214

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