Vitro Flat Glass in Cheswick will receive $1.6 million in Department of Energy funding to help increase the efficiency of solar panels, part of $52 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding designed to build up the clean energy supply chain.
Vitro Flat Glass is a unit of Vitro, which is one of the largest glass manufacturers in the United States. It builds architectural and automotive glass as well as containers. Vitro in 2016 bought PPG’s flat glass business for $750 million.
According to a news release from the Energy Department, Vitro will work to improve a type of crystalline compound, known as cadmium telluride (CdTe) which forms part of a solar cell. It will use a high-performance substrate, the glass that is part of a solar module.
“America can once again be the manufacturing giant of the world, and investing in our solar supply chain help us get there,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-17th District, whose district includes the Vitro plant. “From component supply chains to production to recycling, solar panels — and the job they create — will be a huge part of our nation’s energy future.”
