Manz AG — Earnings Release 2012

Sep 6, 2012

News Details

Media | 6 September 2012 15:36

Manz AG: Solar Power Pays Off Even without Subsidies

(DGAP-Media / 06.09.2012 / 15:36)

• German high-tech engineering firm Manz achieves breakthrough in the
  thin-film solar sector with panel that sets the world record for efficiency
• Efficient production technology of CIGSfab cuts manufacturing costs
• Solar power now at similar cost level as electricity from fossil fuels
  and much cheaper than offshore wind

Reutlingen, Monday, September 6, 2012. The German high-tech engineering
firm Manz has achieved a technological breakthrough: its integrated
production line for CIGS thin-film solar panels, the Manz CIGSfab, can be
used to manufacture solar panels that in the future will supply power
costing between four euro cents (Spain) and eight euro cents (Germany) per
kilowatt hour, depending on the location. This means the cost of solar
power is now at a similar cost level as electricity from fossil power
plants and is significantly less expensive than electricity from offshore
wind parks. Factoring in taxes and duties as well as the rapidly increasing
costs of fossil fuels, the green electricity clearly trumps the
competition. According to Dieter Manz, founder and CEO of Manz AG, 'The new
technology has the potential to revolutionize the solar industry.' The CIGS
solar panel from Manz was manufactured on a mass production line and has a
total panel efficiency of 14.6%. That is a world record in thin-film
technology.

Manz not only cuts the cost of solar power through a significant increase
in panel efficiency, but also through advancements in the production
technology used to manufacture the panels, for example by integrating an
increasing number of process steps within the process chain. 'The thin-film
panels manufactured on our systems are competitive everywhere in the
world,' says Dieter Manz. 'And as a result, the solar market's growth will
no longer be dependent on national subsidy conditions.'

CIGS thin-film solar panels (technical term for 'copper indium gallium
selenium') can be manufactured for significantly less than crystalline
silicon panels. This is because the semiconductor layer, which absorbs the
sunlight, is comprised of one half affordable copper and is less than two
millimeters thick - one-hundredth of a crystalline cell. In addition, when
manufacturing thin-film solar panels based on glass, both the complex
silicon wafer production process and the need to connect the individual
cells together are eliminated. The entire panel can be manufactured on a
fully automated production line. In the past, however, thin-film panels
could not keep up with the efficiency rates of crystalline silicon panels -
a drawback that Manz systems like the fully automated CIGSfab now make up
for. The world record panel is the first time the efficiency of
polycrystalline silicon solar panels has been achieved with a thin-film
panel. CIGS is considered the solar technology with the greatest potential
to further cut costs and increase efficiency rates in the future.

Manz manufactured the world record CIGS panel on its own innovation line in
Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. Manz acquired this line from panel manufacturer
Würth Solar at the beginning of the year. As a result, the high-tech
engineering firm has the ability to test and optimize new materials and
production processes under mass-production conditions. Manz offers the only
turnkey production line for CIGS thin-film solar panels currently available
under the name CIGSfab. Manz has succeeded in cutting the investment costs
for the line by around 40 percent since it began working with the
technology back in 2010. In doing so, the company benefited from its
wide-ranging expertise in a variety of technological fields, including
automation, laser processes, vacuum coating, metrology, and wet-chemical
processes. In this process, the high-tech engineering firm uses synergies
that result from making advancements to these technologies in its three
strategic areas of business: Solar, Display, and Battery.

Video statement by Dieter Manz, founder and CEO of Manz AG
http://tinyurl.com/ckc6hmw

For print-quality photos, please contact Judith Schwarz, Storymaker
j.schwarz@storymaker.de, +49-7071-93872-215

Manz AG - Passion for Efficiency
Manz AG, headquartered in Reutlingen, Germany, is one of the world's
leading high-tech engineering firms. Founded in 1987, in recent years the
company has grown from an automation specialist into a supplier of
integrated production lines. Manz has expertise in six fields of
technology: automation, laser processes, vacuum coating, screen printing,
metrology, and wet-chemical processes. These technologies are used and
developed in three strategic business areas: Display, Solar, and Battery.

The company, led by founder Dieter Manz, has been listed on the stock
exchange in Germany since 2006, and currently develops and manufactures in
Germany, China, Taiwan, Israel, Slovakia, and Hungary. Manz also has sales
and service offices in the United States, South Korea, and India. At the
beginning of 2012, Manz AG had approximately 2,000 employees, 900 of whom
in Asia. With its slogan, 'Passion for Efficiency,' Manz's engineers are
making a promise to offer its customers - all companies active in important
future markets - increasingly efficient production equipment. As an
engineering firm, the company plays a significant role in reducing the cost
of manufacturing end products, making these products available to large
groups of buyers worldwide.

Public Relations Contact
Manz AG
Axel Bartmann
Phone: +49-7121-900-0395
Fax: +49-7121-900-099
E-mail: abartmann@manz.com

End of Media Release

---

Issuer: Manz AG
Key word(s): Enterprise

06.09.2012 Dissemination of a Press Release, transmitted by DGAP - a
company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de

---

Language: English
Company: Manz AG
Steigäckerstr. 5
72768 Reutlingen
Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 7121 9000-0
Fax: +49 (0) 7121 9000-99
E-mail: info@manz.com
Internet: http://www.manz.com
ISIN: DE000A0JQ5U3
WKN: A0JQ5U
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, München, Stuttgart

End of News DGAP-Media

184443 06.09.2012