GT Solar receives first orders for sapphire crystallization furnaces

MERRIMACK, USA: GT Solar International Inc., a global provider of polysilicon production technology, and sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets, has received its first two orders totaling more than $84 million for sapphire crystallization systems.

The orders come from Jiangsu Jixing New Material Co. Ltd and Jiujiang Sapphire Tech Co. Ltd. Total annual production capacity of the two orders is approximately eight million two-inch equivalents (TIE) of sapphire substrates.

“GT Solar is pleased that both Jiangsu Jixing New Material Co. Ltd and Jiujiang Sapphire Tech Co. Ltd, affiliates of two highly valued long term PV customers, have selected our sapphire crystallization equipment for their new production facilities,” said Tom Gutierrez, president and CEO of GT Solar.

“The response to our sapphire equipment strategy from customers has been very positive and we are pleased to be able to announce our first orders. We continue to talk with other potential customers in the Asia region for our sapphire crystallization systems and believe we are on track to meet our projected $100 million in revenue in our FY12 from sapphire crystallization equipment sales.”

The two orders represent GT Solar’s entry into the LED equipment market, which GT Solar stated it would pursue when it announced its acquisition of Crystal Systems in July of 2010.

Jiangsu Jixing New Material Co. Ltd and Jiujiang Sapphire Tech Co. Ltd are positioning themselves to capitalize on the expected growth of the LED market over the coming years by building the capacity to produce high quality, large area sapphire substrates. These initial customers will be targeting the high brightness LED market segment.

“Our advanced sapphire crystallization systems are built on a highly scalable and reliable architecture that lets customers quickly ramp to volume production with a lower capital investment compared with other competing crystallization technologies,” continued Gutierrez. “The combination of our technology and the depth of our regional service and installation expertise deliver compelling value to our customers by reducing the risks of equipping and commissioning a new manufacturing facility.”

The two orders in combination with other DSS and polysilicon orders bring GT Solar’s Q3 quarter-to-date bookings to more than $245 million and strengthen the company’s view for a strong FY 2012 based on the pipeline of orders still under discussion with customers.