The US company is a major supplier of equipment to the solar industry. It makes wire saws for slicing polysilicon into wafers and screen-printing machinery that puts metal lines on wafers, turning them into solar cells. At the new research centre in Xi'an, Applied Materials will work with suppliers and customers to increase the efficiency of its equipment. The company is targeting a 30% cost reduction per watt for crystalline-silicon modules by 2012, bringing them under $1 per watt.