GCL Tech announced in early February that one of its subsidiaries has achieved mass production for a “super-long” mono-Si (silicon monocrystalline) rod. This announcement was first picked up by other Chinese renewable energy news websites.

The super-long rod is manufactured using a continuous crystal growing (CCZ) process. With a length of 5.1 meters and a weight of 6 kilograms, the super-long crystal rod is longer than conventional counterparts by 42% and heavier by 50%. GCL Tech estimates that with the CCZ process, rod production capacity can be raised by 25%. Following the successful optimization of the equipment deployed for the CCZ process, the subsidiary has now entered the mass production phase with a production capacity of 400 megawatts per year. GCL Tech also stated that because its CCZ process delivers a significant efficiency advantage, it cuts production cost further and is thus especially suitable for supporting the manufacturing of N-type PV products.

As one of the world’s leading smart manufacturers for advanced materials used in high-efficiency PV products, GCL Tech has been guiding the product development trends of the PV industry. The company touts that it has been driving the advances in the development of polysilicon products. Headquartered in Suzhou, GCL Tech has subsidiaries and R&D centers located across China, including Hong Kong, Xuzhou, Leshan, Baotou, and Ningxia. The company was the first to successfully developed an improved Siemens method (the “GCL method”) for the mass production of polysilicon and won an award from the China National Intellectual Property Administration for this achievement.

Moreover, GCL Tech has its own intellectual properties related to the manufacturing of granular silicon using the FBR method. GCL Tech’s FBR process and granular silicon received the first carbon emission label (carbon footprint certificate) for upstream PV materials from the related authorities in China and France. GCL’s granular silicon is also the record leader for lowest carbon footprint within the polysilicon category.