MERRIMACK, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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 an order for its advanced sapphire crystallization furnaces totaling $218.9 million from Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics Technology Co. LTD (HTOT). The order marks HTOT’s entrance into the fast-growing LED industry, and continues GT Solar’s market momentum for its sapphire crystalline growth technology based on its advanced sapphire furnace. The order will be included in GT Solar’s backlog for its current Q1 FY12, which ends on July 2, 2011.

“Our entrance into the LED market offers a new strategic growth opportunity for our company and Guiyang City as well as the Guizhou region of China,” said Mr. Hao Xu, chairman of the board of Guizhou Industrial Investment Group. “Our new sapphire production facility will help to stimulate economic growth in the region and establish HTOT as a leading supplier of material to the LED industry. This project requires a technology partner that can deliver reliable, highly productive equipment as well as installation and support know-how to quickly get our new factory up and running. We selected GT Solar because of its leading technology, proven track record, and years of experience enabling cost-effective, high-volume manufacturing.”

“We are pleased that HTOT has selected our advanced sapphire crystallization furnaces and look forward to a long and successful partnership over the coming years,” said Tom Gutierrez, GT Solar’s president and CEO. “We continue to see growing interest from companies looking to enter the fast-growing LED industry. Our sapphire crystal growth technology provides a proven path to producing high quality material, and our global installation and support resources enable our customers to quickly ramp to high volume, low-cost manufacturing.”

GT Solar’s advanced sapphire furnace technology is the result of over 40 years of continual process improvement and development at Crystal Systems, which was acquired by GT Solar in July of 2010. Crystal Systems is recognized as one of the leading providers of quality sapphire material for the LED and specialty optical and mechanical industries.

About GT Solar International, Inc.

GT Solar International, 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 Solar, please visit www.gtsolar.com.

About Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics Technology Co. LTD.

Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics Technology Co. LTD (HTOT) will be a vertically integrated manufacturer of a wide range of sapphire products including sapphire crystal, sapphire cores, sapphire wafers and other crystalline products for light-emitting diodes (LEDs), silicon on sapphire (SOS), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), optoelectronics and other optical applications. Once fully operational, HTOT will be capable of producing very high-quality sapphire in volume production of various sizes and orientations of substrates and windows. The company's products and services will provide its customers with large volume and high quality materials so that they can lower their cost of ownership. For additional information about HTOT, please visit www.ghtot.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this press release are forward-looking in nature, including statements regarding expected revenue from customer contracts and the expected performance of the sapphire furnaces. 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 Solar International, Inc.’s 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 2010 filed on June 4, 2010, and the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 filed on February 10, 2011. GT Solar International, 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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