MEMC and Flextronics to Produce Solar Panels for SunEdison in Ontario

TORONTO and SINGAPORE, Dec. 6, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- SunEdison, a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR), announced today that its affiliate, MEMC Singapore, is partnering with Flextronics (Nasdaq: FLEX), a multi-billion dollar electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, to produce solar photovoltaic (PV) panels at Flextronics' facility in Newmarket, Ontario. Located in York Region, production of the solar panels is expected to result in more than 100 new jobs for the province.  

Scheduled to begin production during the second quarter of 2011, Flextronics will produce MEMC branded solar panels that will be used by SunEdison for its solar PV projects.  This will enable SunEdison and its project partners to exceed the 60 percent domestic content requirement of Ontario's Feed-in Tariff Program (FIT) while supporting SunEdison's anticipated growth in the region.

"This initiative not only satisfies the domestic content requirement for SunEdison, but also signals a significant long-term investment in the Ontario solar market," said Carlos Domenech, President of SunEdison. "We see tremendous opportunity in supplying high-quality panels to accommodate the large volume of projects in the area."

"Flextronics has some of the most advanced clean tech manufacturing capabilities in the industry, enabling the competitiveness of our customers both globally and also in local markets such as Ontario," said E.C. Sykes, president of Flextronics Industrial. "We are pleased to strengthen our relationship with MEMC. They are a trusted partner and together we look forward to bringing new jobs to the community."

"Growing Newmarket's economy with clean and green technologies is a priority of the Town Council and a focus of our economic development strategy," said Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen. "The establishment of a green industry leader such as SunEdison in Newmarket aligns perfectly with the town's commitment to the environment, our focus on advanced manufacturing and creating more homegrown jobs."

"We are partnering with Flextronics, the Town of Newmarket and the Region of York because of their clear dedication to sustainability," said Jason Gray, Vice President and Country Manager, SunEdison. "We are committed to creating green jobs and building a green economy for Ontario. This initiative will provide an initial 50 megawatts of annual panel capacity that will have the potential to scale to 200 megawatts over time, and therefore, the potential to add even more green jobs for the province."

This announcement follows SunEdison's previously announced plans to produce solar racking equipment with Samco Solar, a division of Samco Machinery Ltd. based in Scarborough, Ontario.

More details about the SunEdison partnership program can be found online at www.sunedison.ca/partners.

About SunEdison

SunEdison is a global provider of solar-energy services. The company develops, finances, installs and operates distributed power plants using proven photovoltaic technologies, delivering fully managed, predictably priced solar energy services for its commercial, government and utility customers. In 2009, SunEdison delivered more kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy than any other solar services provider in North America. For more information about SunEdison, please visit www.sunedison.ca.

About MEMC

MEMC is a global leader in the manufacture and sale of wafers and related intermediate products to the semiconductor and solar industries. MEMC has been a pioneer in the design and development of wafer technologies over the past 50 years. With R&D and manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Europe and Asia, MEMC enables the next generation of high performance semiconductor devices and solar cells. With the acquisition of SunEdison, MEMC is now a developer of solar power projects and North America's largest solar energy services provider. MEMC's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "WFR" and is included in the S&P 500 Index. For more information about MEMC, please visit www.memc.com.

About Flextronics

Headquartered in Singapore (Singapore Reg. No. 199002645H), Flextronics is a leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider focused on delivering complete design, engineering and manufacturing services to automotive, computing,  consumer, industrial, infrastructure, medical and mobile OEMs.  Flextronics helps customers design, build, ship, and service electronics products through a network of facilities in 30 countries on four continents. This global presence provides design and engineering solutions that are combined with core electronics manufacturing and logistics services, and vertically integrated with components technologies, to optimize customer operations by lowering costs and reducing time to market. For more information, please visit www.flextronics.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements, including that production of the solar panels is expected to result in more than 100 new jobs for the province; and that the plant is scheduled to begin production during the second quarter of 2011. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include the ability of the parties to scale the project from 50 megawatts to 200 megawatts; delays or interruptions in production of the solar panels or in bringing the plant online; the timely availability of required permits and authorizations from governmental entities and third parties; changes in applicable regulatory requirements and incentives for production of solar power, including any changes in Ontario's Feed-in Tariff Program; and other risks described in MEMC's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K for the 2009 fiscal year and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the first, second and third quarters of 2010. These forward-looking statements represent MEMC's and SunEdison's judgment as of the date of this release. MEMC and SunEdison disclaim, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE SunEdison