Friday, September 26, 2008

GT Solar doubles size of N.H. manufacturing site

By Mass High Tech Staff

GT Solar International Inc. (Nasdaq:SOLR) today opens a 50,000 square foot expansion at its 14-acre manufacturing site and head office in Merrimack N.H., doubling its size to 106,000 square feet.

The company said the expansion will enable it to increase hiring and ramp up production. The plant has 225 employees, and is expected to hire 50 more assemblers, engineers, technical and service workers this year.

Several New Hampshire notables will be there for the opening this afternoon, including former N.H. Gov. and White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, EPA Regional Administrator Robert Varney, U.S. Chamber of Commerce board member Ray Pinard, and Department of Resources and Economic Development Commissioner George Bald.  

In June, GT Solar completed preliminary designs and began material procurement for a next generation silicon furnace and 400-ton polysilicon reactor, more efficient products designed to further reduce the costs for its clients to manufacture photovoltaic cells. In July, GT Solar conducted an initial public offering, pricing its stock at $16.50 per share and lookingn to raise close to $500 million.

Kedar Gupta and John Talbot founded GT Solar in 1994 to make turnkey manufacturing equipment to enable production of photovoltaic cells for the consumer market. GT Solar enabled the startup of 15 to 20 photovoltaic manufacturers, and now has offices in Montana, Beijing and Shanghai.

Earlier this month, its subsidiary, GT Solar Inc., announced a $173 million contract with Korean chemical company DC Chemical Co. Ltd. Under terms of the contract, GT Solar will supply the Korean company with polysilicon CVD reactors, which help produce polysilicon to make solar cells.