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12.10.2007
SolarWorld AG supports Aids orphanage in Malawi with solar power Development aid project under “Solar2World” umbrella
SolarWorld AG is well known for its ability to consistently put visions into practice. In the middle of this year the company’s CEO Frank Asbeck established the “Ethics Council“ whose task it is to support not only the economic growth of the company but also the ecological and social dimensions of solar energy for a fair and sustainable worldwide development. The concept of sustainability is to be embedded within SolarWorld AG over the long term in the form of a group-wide strategy on economic, ecological and social responsibility.
It is especially in the poorer regions of this earth where electrification is an essential factor for fair and equitable development. Under the umbrella of “Solar2World“ the SolarWorld AG will in the future bundle selected projects with the emphasis on Africa by which solar power modules are to be made available to these regions.
The Chief Executive Officer of SolarWorld who is at the same time the Chairman of the ”Ethics Council“ – Frank Asbeck – offers the following rationale for his commitment: “Two billion people worldwide have no access to the national power grid and therefore to ensure their power supply use up billions of tons of kerosene which is damaging to the environment and human health. For these people solar energy is often the only possibility of having lighting, of refrigerating medical supplies, of operating water pumps, of recharging mobile phones or laptops. With its solar power products SolarWorld AG wants to make a contribution to giving these people the right to a fair development. With our “Solar2World” projects we are laying the foundation for the construction of a worldwide solar infrastructure.“
A new “Solar2World” project has just been started. In the community of Gablenz in Saxony a solar power system for an Aids orphanage in the African Republic of Malawi was assembled for demonstration purposes at the „VWL Umweltcentrum für Haustechnik“ operated by the SolarWorld partner Harald Leitl. This system will be packed, shipped and will start to generate electricity at its final destination in a few months’ time. The plant is destined for a remote village in Malawi in which more than 500 Aids orphans live whose parents died of Aids and who have in many cases themselves been infected with the immune deficiency virus.
SolarWorld AG’s project partner is the Liebenzeller Mission, a non-profit organization located in Bad Liebenzell in the Black Forest. With its help a program for villages was created that promotes the supply of energy and water, medical services and the education and training of young people. Solar power is required for lighting purposes, for the operation of deep well pumps for water supply and for refrigerators in which to keep medical supplies at the right temperature. If auxiliary power units (APUs) had been used to secure energy supply the necessary fuel would have had to be transported over a distance of several hundred kilometers.
Weather data provided by the US space authority NASA have been injected into this current Solar2World project according to which the attainable power output per module at the location of the project was calculated. The rainy season is not a problem – daylight and battery power are sufficient for continuous operation.
Information on Malawi: The Republic of Malawi is located in Southeast Africa and is one of the poorest countries in the world. Of the roughly 9 million inhabitants more than 50 per cent are younger than 15 years. One in four inhabitants have contracted Aids. Nationally some 140 people die of this immune deficiency every day. It is responsible for almost three quarters of all fatalities. In addition there is a high level of infant and child mortality. In the last few years average life expectancy has declined to 32.5 years. Politically Malawi has been independent since 1964. Before then it was a British crown colony.
About SolarWorld AG: The SolarWorld Group (ISIN: DE0005108401) is among the top trio of the solar power industry worldwide. The group is dedicated exclusively to the core business of solar energy, combining all stages of the solar value chain, from the raw material silicon to turn-key solar power plants. The company operates production facilities in Germany, Sweden and the USA. In California the largest production site in the USA for solar modules and in Oregon the largest production site in the USA for solar wafers and cells are being created. In Freiberg in Saxony the group operates one of the world’s most advanced integrated solar production facilities. Among the currently most important sales markets are Germany, the USA and in the rest of Europe especially Spain. Sales offices in Germany, Spain, California, South Africa and Singapore service the international solar markets. In addition to on-grid solar power products the group increasingly distributes rural solar power solutions internationally that can make an important contribution to the sustainable economic development of rural regions.
After the IPO at the end of 1999, the company developed within a few years into one of the largest fully integrated solar technology groups. At the end of the second quarter of 2007 some 1,800 people were working for the group. At the stock exchange SolarWorld AG is listed among others in the technology index TecDAX, in the Öko-DAX, in the Dow Jones STOXX 600, in the international MSCI Index as well as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.
Moreover, SolarWorld is involved at the sociopolitical level in order to further the sustainability notion and raise awareness for climate and resources protection.
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