Germany and China Power New Hampshire Company Sales

GT Solar in Merrimack provides the equipment and know-how that lets others manufacture the components of solar power. Five years ago, GT Solar was a ten million dollar company. Today sales are 5 hundred times as big. Company CEO Tom Zarrella says it really paid off to be one of the first firms to outfit factories in China.

ZARELLA: That essentially has been like an annuity. Our success there has just snowballed as a result of our early entry into China.

But the Chinese weren’t making those basic components like silicon wafers to produce solar power in China. A huge chunk of their sales went to Germany where the government made it pay for people to put up solar panels. Now, China has gotten into the act, investing heavily in solar energy at home.

With this Energy Minute, I’m Jon Greenberg.