Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. solar company T1 Energy ( TE )

and specialty glass maker Corning have reached a deal

that will establish a fully domestic solar supply chain,

connecting polysilicon, wafers, cells, and panels manufactured

in the United States, they said on Friday.

The deal will help T1 satisfy growing U.S. demand for panels

produced with American-made components. Under President Donald

Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, solar companies will be

restricted from claiming federal clean energy tax credits if

projects contain meaningful amounts of equipment produced by

"foreign entities of concern," including China.

"This landmark supply chain agreement with Corning will help

invigorate America with scalable, reliable, low-cost energy," T1

CEO Daniel Barcelo said in a statement. "This is American

companies building in America and protecting American energy

security."

Under the agreement, Corning will supply T1 with solar

wafers from its Michigan factory starting in the second half of

2026. Wafers are thin slices of silicon that are the building

blocks of solar cells that transform sunlight into electricity.

China dominates global solar wafer manufacturing. Trump has

criticized the solar industry for being too reliant on Chinese

supply chains.

The deal is an expansion of an existing supply contract for

solar-grade polysilicon, the industry's raw material.

T1 will use the wafers, produced by Corning subsidiary Hemlock

Semiconductor, at an Austin, Texas, cell facility that is under

development, the companies told Reuters. Those cells will be

assembled into panels at T1's existing factory near Dallas.

Both companies combined will employ about 6,000 workers in

Michigan and Texas, they said.

Corning reached a similar deal with manufacturers Suniva and

Heliene earlier this year.