Jan 10 2011
GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), a global provider of polysilicon production technology, and sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets, today announced that it has received the first order for its new DSS650™ multicrystalline ingot growth system from Korea-based PV manufacturer Nexolon Company, Ltd.
The value of the contract totals $37.5 million and will be included in GT Solar’s backlog for its current Q4 FY11, which ends on April 2, 2011.
“Nexolon is a valued GT Solar business partner and customer who is recognized for producing high quality wafers,” said Tom Gutierrez, GT Solar’s president and CEO. “They were our beta partner for the DSS650 program and provided valuable production validation for the new product. We are pleased that they have selected our new multicrystalline ingot growth systems to meet their capacity expansion plans.”
“Nexolon is expanding its manufacturing capacity to increase the availability of our high quality wafers to cell and module manufacturers throughout the industry,” said Gene Kim, Nexolon’s chief financial officer. “As we ramp up our volume production, we need proven, low-risk technology that produces high quality wafers and a high return on investment. GT Solar’s DSS650 multicrystalline growth systems allow us to achieve both of these goals.”
The DSS650 is GT Solar’s newest addition to its industry-leading family of DSS multicrystalline ingot growth systems. The advanced DSS650 produces ingots greater than 600 kilograms in the same size chamber as the DSS450 and DSS450HP systems and delivers the same high quality material customers have come to expect from GT Solar’s multicrystalline growth furnaces. The new systems continue GT Solar’s proven track record of helping its customers achieve greater value from their equipment. Customers can upgrade their current furnaces to take advantage of the higher throughput of the new DSS650.
The DSS650 achieves higher yield and throughput over previous models while reducing consumable costs. The larger ingot produced by the DSS650 also improves downstream wafer slicing operations by allowing customers to produce taller bricks that optimize silicon loads in their wafer slicing saws.
Full product specifications of the DSS650 will be available at the time of the official launch later this month.
Source: http://www.gtsolar.com/