Eco Ahead

Merrimack, New Hampshire, United States — (Business Wire India) — Friday, October 17, 2008 10:42:00 AM

Adds Major New Customer –
– Expands Product and Services Offerings; Sells First Integrated Support Module for Reactors and Converters –
– Secures the Company’s First Polysilicon Production Equipment and
Services Agreement in Taiwan –

GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), a global provider of specialized equipment and technology for the solar power industry,announced that its subsidiary, GT Solar Incorporated, has signed its first contract with Top Green Energy Technologies, Inc., a Taiwan-based producer of high-quality solar cells. The agreement, valued at $46.8 million, is GT Solar’s most comprehensive polysilicon production equipment and services agreement to-date, and the company’s first sale of its products to a customer based in Taiwan.

The solutions being provided to Top Green Energy Technologies include CVD reactors, STC converters, and an integrated support module, which is a new product offering for GT Solar. This integrated support module includes instrumentation, piping and controls for all gases and water entering and exiting the reactors.

“We are pleased to announce this contract and new relationship with Top Green Energy Technologies for a number of important reasons,” said Dave Keck, GT Solar’s vice president of polysilicon. “Top Green Energy Technologies is an exciting new customer that is helping us enter a new geographic market with our reactors and converters. They are also the first company to purchase our newly available Integrated Gas Feed System and Off Gas Heat Exchanger Module, which we believe is the only offering of its kind in the marketplace today.

“By expanding our products and services offerings to include this essential support module, we are now able to deliver a comprehensive, fully-integrated suite of solutions that provides nearly everything our customers need to quickly and cost-effectively set up their facilities and begin manufacturing high-quality silicon.”

Custom-designed by GT Solar, the Integrated Gas Feed System and Off Gas Heat Exchanger Module marries GT Solar’s in-depth process design expertise with essential reactor and converter support equipment.

“We chose GT Solar for this important project because of their in-depth process design expertise, high-quality equipment, and ability to provide ongoing, on-site support. GT Solar was also the only provider that demonstrated success with a large-scale polysilicon producer,” said Simon Chang, president and chief executive officer for Top Green Energy Technologies. “We look forward to partnering with GT Solar, and to becoming the first solar manufacturer in Taiwan that is entirely vertically integrated from polysilicon to solar module.”

Founded in 2006, Top Green Energy Technologies is a solar system integrator and the solar cell subsidiary of Powercom Co., Ltd. Powercom is Taiwan’s leading manufacturer of solar module and inverter solutions, and the country’s largest provider of power protection products including uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).

GT Solar is expected to begin delivering equipment to Top Green Energy Technologies in the second half of the 2009 calendar year.

About GT Solar International, Inc.

Based in Merrimack, NH, USA, GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR) is a global provider of specialized manufacturing equipment and services essential for the production of photovoltaic wafers, cells and modules and polysilicon. GT Solar’s principal products are directional solidification systems and chemical vapor deposition reactors and related equipment. For additional information about GT Solar, please visit www.gtsolar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this press release are forward looking in nature, including our statements regarding an estimated contract value of $46.8 million in polysilicon reactors, converters and support equipment and services, new product offerings, expected timing of delivery, and our entry into new geographic markets. 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 our control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. These factors may include our inability to manage our expansion effectively, our dependence on a small number of suppliers, our limited number of products, the possibility of product liability claims, our inability to protect our intellectual property rights, increased competition from other manufacturers of equipment for PV products, changes in the PV industry, risks associated with doing business in foreign countries and various other risks as outlined in GT Solar International, Inc.’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s Prospectus dated July 23, 2008 and filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, as amended, on July 24, 2008, and the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 27, 2008. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. 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.

Media Contact Details
CONTACT: Hill & Knowlton Jessica Anderson 212-885-0492 jessica.anderson@hillandknowlton.com

CONTACT:

Hill & Knowlton
Jessica Anderson
212-885-0492
jessica.anderson@hillandknowlton.com

Sydney, Oct 16 (IANS) An increase in daily temperature of only two degrees Celsius could wipe out large numbers of kangaroos in Australia, according to a new study.

“Our study provides evidence that climate change has the capacity to cause the possible extinction of one (kangaroo) species in northern Australia,” wrote Euan G. Ritchie and Elizabeth E. Bolitho of James Cook University.

Ritchie and Bolitho used computer modelling and three years of field observations to predict how temperature changes over the next half-century might affect four species of kangaroos.

They found that a temperature increase as miniscule as a half-degree Celsius may shrink kangaroos’ geographic ranges. An increase of two degrees may halve kangaroo population. A six-degree increase might shrink ranges by 96 per cent.

Ritchie said that generally accepted climate models predict temperatures in northern Australia to be between 0.4 and two degrees warmer by 2030, and between two and six degrees warmer by 2070.

The most significant effects of climate change are not necessarily on the animals themselves, but on their habitats - specifically, in amounts of available water. This is particularly true in Northern Australia, said Ritchie, according to a release of James Cook University.

“If dry seasons are to become hotter and rainfall events more unpredictable, habitats may become depleted of available pasture for grazing and waterholes may dry up,” the authors wrote.

“This may result in starvation and failed reproduction, or possible death due to dehydration for those species that are less mobile.”

And although kangaroo species may be mobile enough to relocate as the climate changes, the vegetation and topography for which they are adapted are unlikely to shift at the same pace.

The study is scheduled for publication in the December issue of the University of Chicago’s Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.

New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the US India Business Council (USIBC) have launched a joint Green India Summit in Washington, a CII spokesperson said here Thursday.

This was the first CII-USIBC joint conference focussed on green technologies, the spokesperson said. “The summit addressed the opportunities and prospects in areas of water, green buildings, clean coal technologies, renewable energy including solar, wind and biofuels, energy efficiency, nuclear energy and climate change issues.”

Speaking at the event via video link from New Delhi, Shyam Saran, the prime minister’s special envioy on climate change, spoke about the opportunities arising out of the recent India-US civil nuclear agreement, India’s position on climate change issues and the potential solutions to India’s power needs in the coming years.

Speaking at the event, Indian ambassador to the US Ronen Sen highlighted the need for a focussed approach to India’s energy needs and sought partnerships with US companies for modern technologies to achieve world class solutions, according to the CII spokesperson.

In his keynote address, US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez touched upon the ongoing financial crisis and assured the participants of a favourable outcome. He complemented the Indian and US leadership on the successful completion of the civil nuclear agreement and highlighted the areas of cooperation this agreement will bring about including trade, investment and job creation in both countries. The highlight of his speech was the announcement of largest ever civil nuclear trade mission to India scheduled later this year.

“India, while upgrading its power plants and enhancing capacity by way of foreign investment and collaboration, is very conscious of the environmental issues associated with it and simultaneously is addressing the issue,” said Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

He also welcomed American companies to participate in modernising existing plants in India and building new ones.

The Green Summit was also addressed by representatives from leading companies from the US and India, which included Dow Chemicals, GE, Westinghouse, Tata Consulting Engineers, Universal Infrastructure Consultants and HSBC.

Washington, Oct 17 (DPA) Ice in the Arctic summer sea has been melting at almost record levels amid general temperature increases, according to an expert report.

The review by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released Thursday warns that the Arctic’s continued warming shows the dramatic effects of climate change even more than other regions.

Autumn air temperatures were a record 5 degrees Celsius above normal due to the amount of sea ice lost in recent years, according to the report.

“Changes in the arctic show a domino effect from multiple causes more clearly than in other regions,” James Overland, oceanographer at the NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and lead author of the report, told journalists.

The arctic is “a sensitive system and often reflects changes in relatively fast and dramatic ways,” he added.

The loss of sea ice itself leads to further warming of the ocean, which together with rising air temperatures, affects land and marine life, the report said.

The year 2007 had been the warmest recorded since the trend of warming in the Arctic had begun in the mid-1960s.

Surface ice in Greenland has also been melting at higher rates this year, compared to 2007, prompting the NOAA to raise its warning from “yellow” to “red” in its annual report card on the effects of warming in the Arctic.