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A Chinese company that manufactures polysilicon for the solar industry is opening a research and development center in Richland.

GCL-Solar Energy Technology Holdings Inc. signed a lease for 10,000 square feet of office space at 400 Columbia Point Dr. in Richland, where it will have its first U.S. offices.

“GCL Solar is focused on enhancing its in-house R & D capabilities and strives to implement the best-in-class technologies in the production of polysilicon and wafers,” said Mr. Zhu Gong Shan, GCL-Poly’s executive director and CEO.

Zhu said the company intends to recruit the top talent in the industry to help the company improve efficiency of its polysilicon production process, while developing advanced technologies in the industry.

That top talent includes Russ Hamilton, who worked for REC in Moses Lake for a decade before quitting to become GCL-Poly’s vice president of technology and chief technology officer in June.

Hamilton said made the transition because of the GCL’s leadership.

“Chairman Zhu is a very dynamic man with great vision and great timing,” he said. “When you see a person with his kind of vision, you really want to get involved.”

Hamilton said the company will have 30 to 40 employees at its new research and development center, which will shares the building in front of the Courtyard by Marriott, with Tetra Tech.

Hamilton said the location offered benefits on several levels. The building is within walking distance to new housing and hotels, which will be beneficial for GCL staff.

But it’s also close to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and other high-tech companies, he added.

“Another consideration is the type of work we are in,” Hamilton said. “It’s highly technical and I will need technical support. We will be contracting some of the work. There are facilities here that actually have much of the analytical things we would need for product development.”

In addition, Hamilton said that for a community of our size, we have excellent connections to the rest of the world.

Zhu said the Richland office will work in cooperation with GCL’s existing research and development center in Jiangsu, China.

“Our U.S. research and development center will focus on advanced next-generation solar technologies including new technologies for use in the polysilicon manufacturing process so as to further improve on production efficiency and strengthen the company’s in-house R & D capabilities,” Zhu said through an interpreter.

Hamilton said that by the end of the year, GCL will be the third largest producers of purified silicon in the world and that the company is currently building a new facility in China to manufacture silicon wafers.

Hamilton said the company is dedicated to producing the highest quality silicon, which improves the quality of solar cells.

“We want to have semiconductor quality because solar cells become more efficient with the higher quality,” he said.

John Fox, Richland’s mayor, said that having the Chinese company put a research and development center in Richland, is a “great step forward” for the city.

“It will diversify our fields with a whole new area of technology and use of energy,” he said.

Carl Adrian, president of the Tri-City Development Council, welcomed the company and Zhu during an early September conference call, thanking the company chairman for selecting the Tri-Cities as a home for its new research and development center.

“The Tri-Cities has been very prosperous and fortunate,” Adrian said. “These are the kinds of jobs and companies that strengthen the economy.”