Costa Mesa-based Ceradyne Inc., a maker of bulletproof vests and other products, opened a 218,000-square-foot factory in China to produce ceramics for use in solar power cells.
Ceradyne opened the factory in Tianjin, near Beijing.
David P. Reed, a Ceradyne vice president and president of North American operations, and Chief Financial Officer Jerrold J. Pellizzon were on hand for the opening.
The plant is set to produce ceramics for what are called polysilicon ingots, which are used to produce chips for solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity.
The factory is Ceradyne’s second in Tianjin. In 2007, it opened a 98,000-square-foot facility there.
Sales to the solar industry are a growing part of Ceradyne’s business. Its ceramic crucibles used to hold melted silicon make up about 15% of the company’s $400 million in yearly sales.
Ceradyne has been working on a long-running diversification after seeing a boom in sales of its military armor during the peak of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Body armor sales now are about 30% of Ceradyne’s business, down from nearly 70% a few years ago.
