Solar Power World

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DuPont will invest $175 million in its Pickaway County plant and hire up to 80 new workers to build solar-power components in there, the company said.

The plant will make a plasticlike material that will line the back of solar panels. The material, called Tedlar, is engineered to last for 25 years, which significantly reduces the maintenance and replacement costs for solar power, a company official said.

In addition to long-term jobs at the plant, the project will lead to several hundred construction jobs beginning this year.

The Ohio Department of Development is providing up to $12 million worth of incentives and the federal government has already approved $50 million.

DuPont, with more than 450 local workers, is the county’s largest employer other than the local hospital.