NASHUA, N.H.--()--GT Advanced Technologies Inc., (NASDAQ: GTAT), today announced that it has received two orders totaling $8 million from Taiwan-based wafer manufacturer UTECH Solar. One order is for its new DSS™ 450 MonoCast™ silicon growth technology and the other order is for additional GT DSS™450HP casting furnaces. UTECH will upgrade a portion of their current GT DSS450 casting furnaces to begin producing MonoCast™ wafers, which will strengthen its competitive position as a wafer supplier to meet the expected demand for higher efficiency solar cells. In addition, UTECH is also increasing its total wafer production capacity with additional GT DSS450HP multicrystalline casting furnaces to meet the demand from its key customers.
“This is the first commercial order for our new DSS MonoCast technology, and we are pleased to be working with our long-time PV customer UTECH Solar,” said Tom Gutierrez, GT’s president and CEO. “We expect that the PV industry will begin to transition a portion of its traditional multicrystalline wafer production capacity to new crystalline growth technology such as our DSS MonoCast systems that offer wafer producers additional revenue opportunities by selling higher value wafers because of their inherently better material quality.”
“We are seeing a growing interest from our solar cell customers for higher quality wafers capable of producing higher efficiency cells,” said Ben Pan, executive administrator, Utech Solar Corporation. “GT’s DSS 450 MonoCast technology will give us this capability and the additional DSS450HP systems will add to our overall production capacity allowing us to increase our competitiveness as the PV industry begins to recover in the coming years.”
The DSS450 MonoCast system delivers high mono volume yields. The system features advanced hardware and an industry first automatic seed retention feature that eliminates dipping and operator intervention between the melt and growth cycles helping to automate the process and enabling the production worthiness of the DSS450 MonoCast system. Customers currently operating DSS furnaces can migrate to the new DSS450 MonoCast system through a field upgrade.
About GT Advanced Technologies Inc.
GT Advanced Technologies Inc. is a global provider of polysilicon production technology, and sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets. The company's products and services allow its customers to optimize their manufacturing environments and lower their cost of ownership. For additional information about GT Advanced Technologies, please visit www.gtat.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in this press release are forward-looking in nature, including the company’s ability to recognize revenue from customer contracts and statements regarding expected results from new technology offerings. These statements are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the Company’s control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. Factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements include the possibility that the Company is unable to recognize revenue on customer contracts, that technological changes could render existing products or technologies obsolete, the Company may be unable to protect its intellectual property rights, competition from other manufacturers may increase, exchange rate fluctuations and conditions in the credit markets and economy may reduce demand for the Company’s products and various other risks as outlined in GT Advanced Technologies Inc’s (formerly Solar International, Inc.) filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the statements under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2011 filed on May 26, 2011 and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 filed on February 7, 2012. GT Advanced Technologies, Inc. is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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