MERRIMACK, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), a global provider of polysilicon production technology, sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems, and materials for the LED and other specialty markets, today announced that it has signed an agreement with leading Taiwanese LED wafer manufacturer, Tera Xtal Technology Corporation, to supply Tera Xtal sapphire cores for increasing their production of epitaxial-ready LED wafers.

“We are increasing our volume of epi-ready wafers to meet rising customer demand,” said Steven Liu, President of Tera Xtal. “We have had a successful, long-standing relationship with Crystal Systems, now GT Solar, and have come to rely on their ability to provide us with LED sapphire material that meets our high standards for quality. We look forward to continuing our relationship with GT Solar into the future.”

“We are pleased that Tera Xtal has selected GT Solar to provide them with LED sapphire material to meet their increased production needs,” said Tom Gutierrez, president and CEO of GT Solar. “Our ability to supply sapphire cores to a leading LED industry player such as Tera Xtal not only demonstrates the quality of the sapphire produced by GT’s proprietary Advanced Sapphire Furnaces but also provides support to our expanding universe of equipment customers as they ramp into production over the coming year.”

GT’s new sapphire production facility increases the availability of high quality sapphire material for its LED and specialty market sapphire customers. Initially, material allocation will satisfy both LED and specialty market customers, but long term, as its equipment customers ramp into high volume production, GT expects that the majority of its sapphire production to be allocated to meet new specialty market growth in areas such as high energy lasers, medical devices, and applications requiring large area substrates for the aerospace and defense industries.

About GT Solar International, Inc.

GT Solar International, Inc. is a global provider of polysilicon production technology, sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems, and materials for the 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 Tera Xtal Technology Corporation (4969) (TXT)

Tera Xtal Technology Corporation (TXT), a leading Taiwanese supplier of sapphire products, is dedicated in manufacturing high quality 2 to 6 inch sapphire wafers for LED industry. The company is one of the world’s largest single crystal wafer providers with significant domestic market share and continuous expansion to the rest of Asia, Japan, North America, and Europe. For more information, please visit www.teraxtal.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 for sapphire equipment and material. 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 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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