Tuesday, May 6, 2008

GT Solar to supply $8.8M worth of solar power supplies to Nexolon

By Mass High Tech

Photovoltaic manufacturing equipment maker GT Solar Inc. has agreed to supply South Korea-based Nexolon Co., Ltd. with about $8.8 million worth of solar cell-making furnaces and accessories in the next five months.

The Directional Solidifiction System furnace produces multi-crystalline silicon ingots, which can then be turned into wafers that are made into solar cells. With the DSS450 furnace, solar panel producers can increase silicon ingot development by 30 percent, GT Solar reports.

Merrimack, N.H.-based GT Solar has landed a number of multi-million dollar orders in the last year, including a $200 million contract in March to supply polysilicon reactors to South Korean-based DC Chemical Co. Ltd. and a $171 million order last August to supply China-based Silicon Energy Co. Ltd. with products, including the DSS450 furnace.

Founded in 1994, GT Solar in April 2007 filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcing its intention to take the company public in an offering valued at $200 million. No date for the IPO has been announced.