Both companies are major players in the global solar industry. With more than 700 employees, GT Advanced Technologies is a public company (NASDAQ: GTAT) headquartered in Merrimack, New Hampshire and is a global provider of polysilicon production technology and ingot growth systems for the solar industry, as well as sapphire growth equipment and materials for the LED industry. With 25 years of polysilicon manufacturing expertise and plants in Moses Lake, Washington and Butte, Montana, REC Silicon has over 300 employees in Butte, and over 550 in Moses Lake. The company sells its products worldwide.
Jigar Shah, president of CASE, welcomed REC Silicon and GT Advanced Technologies to the coalition of over 160 other American solar companies. Having two major US solar manufacturers representing 1,500 manufacturing jobs join CASE is just one more indication of how united the US solar industry is in opposition to SolarWorlds trade petition at the Department of Commerce. We are proud to welcome these two companies and the excellence they represent, said Shah.
Were proud to stand with other CASE members in defense of the business model embraced by every U.S. company that competes in todays global marketplace: success requires innovation and efficiency, not dependence on the government for protection, said Tom Gutierrez, CEO of GT Advanced Technologies. U.S. companies in todays marketplace cant rely on tariffs or subsidies to cover their vulnerabilities they must enter the fray on a global basis and compete without protection from Uncle Sam.
REC Silicon sees open, fair, stable and robust international markets as key to maintaining and facilitating growth of the global solar industry, said Tore Torvund, executive vice president of REC Silicon.
The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE), a coalition of American solar companies representing 97 to 98 percent of the U.S. solar industry jobs, believes free trade and industry competition are critical to making solar electricity affordable for everyone. CASE is united in its commitment to creating jobs through the growth and development of the American solar industry.
http://coalition4affordablesolar.org/
http://www.gtat.com
http://www.recgroup.com/en/recgroup/operations/rec-silicon/
