Glasstech Hosts Federal and State Government Leaders to Discuss Innovative Technologies and Solar Energy

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland recently visited Glasstech Inc. in Perrysburg, Ohio. Accompanied by Mark D. Christman, Glasstech president and chief executive officer, Secretary Solis and Gov. Strickland viewed a variety of the company's bending and tempering systems in operation at its research and development facility.

Christman used the opportunity to explain Glasstech's recent move to develop systems specifically for the burgeoning solar energy market. According to a company announcement, these systems are based on Glasstech's production-proven automotive and architectural bending and tempering technologies.

"The visit focused national attention on Glasstech," Christman says. "It also gave us the opportunity to discuss with Governor Strickland [our company's] application for funding to enable us to produce systems for demonstration purposes here in our Perrysburg facility. The governor was attentive and indicated he would support our application."

In 2008, Glasstech formed a new business unit to formalize its ongoing activities to meet the solar energy industry's demand for flat and bent glass substrates. The firm's systems can be used for the fabrication of bent glass substrates for concentrated solar power products (CSP) and extremely flat panels for photovoltaics (PV).

According to Christman, "Just like in the automotive industry, the glass substrates used in solar energy are sophisticated and require repeatability, tight specifications, innovation and cost effectiveness."