GT Advanced Technologies Inc., a U.S. maker of silicon-production equipment, acquired Confluence Solar Inc. for $60 million to lower the cost of manufacturing solar cells.
Closely held Confluence develops technology for producing high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon ingots, Merrimack, New Hampshire-based GT Advanced said today in a statement.
Photovoltaic "manufacturers are focusing more closely on increasing cell efficiency as a way to lower the cost of solar energy," GT Advanced's Chief Executive Officer Tom Gutierrez said in the statement. Silicon ingots are sliced into wafers that are made into solar cells.
GT Advanced plans to offer silicon-production systems using Confluence's technology in fiscal 2013, which starts in April, and will eliminate some planned "organic development costs" in the current fiscal year.
Confluence shareholders, which include the private equity company Convexa Capital and the South Korean polysilicon producer OCI Co., will receive an additional $20 million if certain conditions are met.
