New Test Centre in India: TUV Rheinland Continues Worldwide Investment Programme for Solar Industry

Investments of EUR2 Million / Largest Solar Test Centre in India / TUV Rheinland with More than 180 Experts in Seven Laboratories on Three Continents

COLOGNE, Germany and BANGALORE, India, August 4, 2010 - TUV Rheinland has opened its seventh laboratory worldwide in Electronics
City in the Indian city of Bangalore for testing solar modules and systems.
The world leader in independent safety and quality testing for solar modules
has invested EUR2 million in the new solar test centre, which in particular
will offer services to India's growing solar industry. In this way, TUV
Rheinland is filling a significant gap for Indian industry, which previously
did not have access to large test facilities on such a scale. The test centre
has 2,000 square metres of space, including an outside test field of 500
square metres, with equipment such as five climate chambers and two sun
simulators. This makes it the most up to date and largest laboratory in the
entire South Asian economic area.

"Our investment programme for the solar industry aims to place our
services within easy reach of companies in and for all booming markets and to
offer them large test capacities. India cannot be neglected here. In
addition, all our customers can call upon the decades of expertise gained by
our now 180 experts around the world to test and certify systems, modules and
components", declared Friedrich Hecker, CEO of TUV Rheinland AG. This is made
possible by the extremely close interlinking of all seven of TUV Rheinland's
test laboratories. This goes for both photovoltaics and solar thermal
technology.

The new test centre is located in Electronics City - which, with around
160,000 employees in over 120 companies, is the hub of India's high-tech
industry, from IT to electronics right through to energy. The Indian
government has recently launched wide-ranging programmes, for example with
the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, to expand the solar industry and
utilise solar energy throughout the country. India is already planning to
install 20,000 megawatt of photovoltaic power by 2020, with 100,000 megawatt
by 2030. TUV Rheinland will therefore strengthen its service offering in
India for solar power stations, encompassing planning, consulting, operation
and maintenance. In addition, services will be provided for ensuring the
quality and safety of modules and components, as well as monitoring
production quality. When testing and certifying according to IEC and other
international standards, the experts in the laboratory can make use of the
latest test facilities.

TUV Rheinland first started laboratory-scale technical testing of solar
components back in 1995. Today, around 80% of all manufacturers of solar
modules worldwide have their products tested in TUV Rheinland laboratories in
order to obtain international market licences. The specialists are involved
in testing modules and components, developing new test methods, collaborating
on R&D projects for the use of solar energy, and assisting customers
worldwide with the construction of solar power plants. Aside from Bangalore,
TUV Rheinland has test centres in Germany (Cologne), Shanghai, the Taiwanese
city of Taichun and two in Yokohama. TUV Rheinland PTL also has a laboratory
in Tempe, Arizona. All laboratories comply with the latest technical
standards, as they have been launched or modernised in the last 24 months.

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Your contact person for editorial requests: Hartmut Müller-Gerbes, Head of Communication, Tel.: +49-2-21-8-06-26-57. Up-to-date press releases can also be obtained by e-mail via presse at de.tuv.com