GT Advanced Technologies Inc. has acquired privately held Confluence Solar Inc., the developer of HiCz, a continuously fed Czochralski growth technology. According to GT, HiCz enables the production of high-efficiency monocrystalline solar ingots.
The purchase price was $60 million in cash paid to Confluence Solar's shareholders at closing and an additional $20 million of cash earn-outs payable upon the achievement of certain financial and technical milestones through GT's fiscal-year 2013. Investors in Confluence Solar include Convexa Capital, OCI and Oceanshore Investors.
‘Confluence's HiCz technology is expected to drive down the cost of monocrystalline wafers below [those of] traditional Czochralski methods, while enabling flexible production of advanced materials used in next-generation cell architectures,’ says Tom Gutierrez, president and CEO of GT Advanced Technologies.
