Sep 4 2008
LDK Solar Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of solar wafers, today announced it has signed a new agreement with GT Solar International, Inc. to purchase polysilicon CVD reactors for installation in LDK Solar's manufacturing facilities in Xinyu City, Peoples Republic of China. This equipment is used to make polysilicon. The estimated value of the contract is $32 million.
"We are pleased to have signed this new agreement with GT Solar, a valued provider with which we have a long-standing relationship," said Xiaofeng Peng, LDK Solar's chairman and chief executive officer. "As the demand for solar energy continues to grow, so does our need to increase and accelerate our manufacturing capacity. With GT Solar's reactor and DSS furnace technologies and expertise, we feel confident that we will be able to meet our rising production goals."
"During the more than five years that GT Solar has been conducting business in China, we've designed manufacturing processes and supplied equipment to some of the country's largest solar wafer and cell producers, including LDK Solar," said Tom Zarrella, president and chief executive officer for GT Solar. "We look forward to continuing our work with LDK Solar, and to helping this company further its position as a leader in low cost solar wafer manufacturing."
Polysilicon is a highly purified form of silicon that is used to make both semiconductor wafers for microelectronics applications and solar wafers. The chemical vapor deposition process involved in the production of polysilicon takes place in a specialized CVD reactor using a variety of complex chemical processes.