GT Equipment Technologies Calls for U.S. Solar Tax Credit; Letter to U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

MERRIMACK, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2005--GT Equipment Technologies, Inc., the only worldwide company that designs, manufactures and installs turn-key fabrication lines for all three stages of the photovoltaic manufacturing chain, has written to four members of the United States Senate, including the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, urging them to support a renewable energy tax credit of 10% to 15% for residential solar (photovoltaic) in the comprehensive energy legislation pending before Congress. Similar letters were also sent to New Hampshire's two U.S. Senators, Judd Gregg and John E. Sununu. The letters were signed by Co-Founder and CEO, Kedar Gupta, and President/COO, Tom Zarrella.

In the letter, they press the point that "if the use of photovoltaic energy in the United States is to become a viable alternative energy, one of several key advances we must make as a country is to provide incentives to homeowners to make it attractive for them and for the developers that build housing to consider the installation of solar energy modules." The letter goes on to say that "it will take major initiatives by both the private sector and by the federal government to create those incentives, and thus an alternative energy culture that can help the United States become energy self-sufficient going forward."

"We believe that the solar energy industry has matured and improved to the point where photovoltaic modules are very efficient, and the cost is within the reach of consumers, said Gupta and Zarrella. "If the government also provided the suggested tax credit, there would be a surge of residential solar installations in the United States."

One risk that confronts the United States in not moving expeditiously toward renewable energies such as solar is the loss of the underlying technologies to other countries that are aggressively using renewable energy sources as a significant part of their energy mix. If the United States is going to be a world leader in the production and use of renewable energies, some initial steps must be taken now in order to create the atmosphere for the development and use of those energies here at home, which in turn will help to retain our share of next-generation technologies for renewable energy in the U.S.

GT Equipment Technologies believes that solar energy can be a viable part of the energy mix, but only if the private and public sectors make a commitment to move forward. A residential solar tax credit would be one of those steps.

GT Equipment Technologies is a privately held company and an industry leader in the design and manufacture of semi-custom and specialty equipment for the solar and materials processing industries, serving markets for photovoltaic and semi-conductor applications. For more information on GT Equipment Technologies and its solar division, visit our website at www.gtequipment.com, and click on gtsolar.com.