BIG SOLAR FURNACE SALE

In the tradition of the nineteenth century energy giants, New Energy companies describe themselves as “vertically intergrated” if their business covers the widest spectrum of energy services from obtaining raw materials “upstream” to transforming those raw materials into consumable fuel “midstream” to serving the retail marketplace “downstream.”

Yingli Energy is such a vertically integrated company. It obtains supplies of silicon, makes solar wafers and cells and combines those into solar panels which it then can deliver and have installed for end-users. Maybe someday soon you will drive into a Yingli “service station” and drive out with a solar energy system.

GT Solar & Yingli Green Energy Sign $56M Silicon Furnace Contract
November 27, 2007 (Business Wire via Yahoo Finance)

WHO
GT Solar Incorporated (Tom Zarrella, Pres/CEO) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (LianSheng Miao, Pres)

Yingli Energy's vertical integration covers the full spectrum of solar energy. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
$56 million is the price Yingli will pay for GT Solar’s state-of-the-art DSS450 silicon ingot furnaces.

WHEN
Yingli expects the purchased furnaces to be installed by 2009.

Not for baking the Christmas turkey: GT Solar's GSS furnace and...

WHERE
- This purchase will extend Yingli Energy’s “upstream” capacity.
- Yingli is based in China.
- GT Solar is based in Merrimack, NH

WHY
- The furnaces grow multi-crystalline silicon ingots. Each furnace produces 160 to 210 ingots/year. Each ingot is 400 to 450 kilograms and represents an estimated 4+ megawatts of solar energy capacity.
- Installation of the purchased furnaces will bring Yingli’s capacity to 600 megawatts.
- This is Yingli’s fourth furnace purchase from GT Solar.

...the huge silicon ingot it cooks.

QUOTES
- Zarrella, GT Solar: "Yingli is a leader in the growth of solar energy production in Asia and throughout the world. Their purchase of our new DSS 450 furnace will provide up to 80% more capacity per cycle and within the same footprint of our prior generation furnace."
- LianSheng Miao, Yingli Green Energy: "We have worked with GT Solar since 2002, and have built an important part of our business around their equipment. The contract will support us to ramp up our ingot capacity from current 200MW to 400MW by the end of 2008 and 600MW in 2009."