Q-CELLS A : Several category wins at the Plus X Awards: Q-Cells is the most innovative brand with 2011’s best product

Bitterfeld-Wolfen, 21 September 2011. Q-Cells SE, one of the world’s leading photovoltaics companies with its HQ in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, has won several prizes at this year’s internationally famous Plus X Award, the most important competition anywhere on the globe for innovative products from the fields of technology, sport and lifestyle. Selected by a neutral, cross-industry jury of 134 international judges, the company’s new high-performance Q.PEAK module was named the winning product in four out of seven categories: Innovation, High Quality, Design and Ecology. In addition, the judges of the Plus X Award chose Q.PEAK as the best solar module and awarded it the seal of “Best Product of the year 2011”. As the manufacturer with the most Plus X Award seals in the Energy category, Q-Cells also took first prize as 2011’s most innovative brand in the new category of “Home living and building technology”.

The monocrystalline solar module Q.PEAK combines excellent design and the very latest technology for increased output from photovoltaic systems. It is among the new generation of Q-Cells solar modules that use enhanced crystalline solar cells and improved surface metalisation to achieve unparalleled levels of both efficiency and power generation. As part of its Q-Cells Yield Security quality programme, the company has also set new standard by delivering solar units with unmatched safety levels and reliability.

“We are delighted that the important people on the Plus X Award jury have so resoundingly confirmed the leading position occupied by the latest Q-Cells solar modules in the Technology and Design categories,” said Thomas Raadts, Head of Marketing and Product Management at Q-Cells SE. Raadts continued: “The Most Innovative Brand Award proves that our investments in brand management have been worthwhile and that Q-Cells is the most innovative brand in home technology.”

Christopher Strobel, head of the Plus X Award’s panel and Managing Director of the publishing house Strobelverlag, congratulated the prize winners on the outstanding quality of the products they submitted: “All of the products which won awards have proven that our business sectors have selected ground-breaking innovation as their standard and that they place great value on design and quality.” The Plus X Award was established eight years ago to ensure that new, innovative technological products get the recognition they deserve.

NOTE TO EDITORS

Click the following link to obtain visual material about the company, the Q.PEAK solar module, the Plus X Award seal and other information about Q-Cells: http://www.q-cells.com/presse/q_cells_media_center.html

Q-Cells SE

The Q-Cells Group is one of the world’s leading photovoltaics companies and offers a wide range of photovoltaic solutions, from solar cells and modules to solar power plants. Q-Cells’s products are developed and manufactured at its headquarters in Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Germany) and marketed via ist global sales network. It also has a second production plant in Malaysia. More than 200 scientists and engineers at Q-Cells are working to swiftly advance solar technology and achieve Q-Cells’ twin aims: driving down the costs of photovoltaics quickly and permanently, and making solar power competitive. The close links between R&D and production enable Q-Cells to rapidly translate cutting-edge innovation into mass production - and underpin its ambition to be at the forefront of photovoltaic technology. Q-Cells is quoted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (QCE; ISIN DE0005558662) and also listed on the TecDAX, the German technology index.

Executive Board: Dr Nedim Cen (CEO), Dr Marion Helmes (CFO), Dr Andreas von Zitzewitz (COO)