Dow Corning Opens Solar Solutions Application & Business Center in Newark, California

Dow Corning Opens Solar Solutions Application & Business Center in Newark,
California

MIDLAND, Mich., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dow Corning Corp. today
opened a Solar Solutions Application & Business Center in Newark, California
that will serve as its West Coast hub for customer sales, product evaluation
and the development of commercialization strategy.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081030/CLTH022LOGO )

The center, located within Dow Corning's 32,130-square-foot manufacturing
facility, features state-of-the-art laboratories and testing facilities.

"Dow Corning is excited to establish a presence on the West Coast, home to
many of our solar customers and some of the largest solar energy providers in
North America," said Gaetan Borgers, global industry director, Dow Corning
Solar Business.  "We see the North American market as poised for growth in the
very near future and we want to provide local support to our customers in this
market."

The Newark center is equipped with materials development and characterization
laboratories, which will allow customers to evaluate environmental aging and
performance capabilities on-site. In addition to serving West Coast customers,
the center will also serve customers around the world by supplementing the
capabilities of Dow Corning's Solar Solutions Application Center in Freeland,
Michigan, and the center in JinCheon, Korea, which is scheduled to open early
next year.

"Dow Corning is committed to promoting global solar innovation and helping
develop solar power as a viable and sustainable energy option," said Borgers.
"Silicone technology has tremendous potential to address key challenges
preventing the widespread use of solar power such as the high cost of solar
modules."

The Solar Solutions Application & Business Center in California is the latest
in a series of recent solar-related announcements made by Dow Corning.

    --  In September, Dow Corning announced the commercialization of a
        breakthrough manufacturing process featuring new developmental
silicone
        materials -
    --  Dow Corning(®) PV-6100 Encapsulant Series - that significantly
        increases the production rate of solar panels, effectively lowering
the
        cost per watt of solar power.
    --  Also in September, Dow Corning announced the addition of a new sealant
        and adhesive to its solar solutions portfolio: Dow Corning® PV-8303
        Ultra Fast Cure Sealant and Dow Corning® PV-8030 Adhesive for bonding
        and sealing photovoltaic module components.
    --  In June, Dow Corning announced that more than 50 percent of its
        innovation portfolio will be on projects related to sustainability.


One of the only companies in the world able to provide silicon-based solutions
throughout the entire photovoltaic value chain, Dow Corning is investing to
expand its portfolio of total solution packages for solar cell manufacturing,
module assembly and installation. Solution packages are built on
high-performance silicone  products such as encapsulants, adhesives, coatings,
potting agents and sealants, as well as next-generation solar grade silicon.

Over the past five years, Dow Corning and its joint ventures at the Hemlock
Semiconductor Group have announced investments of more than $5 billion to
research, develop and expand production of materials critical to the solar
industry.

About Dow Corning
Dow Corning (www.dowcorning.com) provides performance-enhancing solutions to
serve the diverse needs of more than 25,000 customers worldwide. A global
leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, Dow Corning
offers more than 7,000 products and services via the company's Dow Corning®
and XIAMETER® brands. Dow Corning is equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company
(NYSE: DOW) and Corning, Incorporated (NYSE: GLW). More than half of Dow
Corning's annual sales are outside the United States.