SolarWorld, Germany's third-biggest solar company by revenue, is planning to take a stake in an polysilicon plant in the UAE, its chief executive said.

"Depending on the size of the stake, the investment could be up to $500 million," Frank Asbeck said, adding that this could be financed through equity capital and external funding.

Asbeck -- who is in the UAE as part of a German delegation around Juergen Ruettgers, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia -- said by telephone that the decision on the plant's location and the size of the stake would be decided by the end of the year.

Falling margins and overcapacities have forced German solar companies -- such as SolarWorld and Q-Cells -- to expand into new markets, most notably China and the United States, where large subsidy programmes are being implemented. - Reuters