News: Photovoltaics
18 July 2024
First Solar commissions Western Hemisphere’s largest solar R&D center
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) module maker First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA has commissioned a new research & development innovation center in Lake Township, Ohio, which is believed to be the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation is dedicated to the late James ‘Jim’ F. Nolan, a former member of First Solar’s board of directors and the architect of the company’s CdTe semiconductor platform.
Picture: First Solar’s new R&D innovation center in Lake Township, Ohio.
The facility covers 1.3 million square feet and includes a pilot manufacturing line allowing the production of full-sized prototypes of thin-film and tandem PV modules. Previously, First Solar used a manufacturing line at its facility in Perrysburg, Ohio, for its late-stage product development efforts. This arrangement limited the flexibility for development efforts and created constraints when mission-critical tools had to go offline. The new facility is hence expected to accelerate innovation cycles.
“Thin films are the next technological battleground for the solar industry because they are key to commercializing tandem devices, which are anticipated to be the next disruption in photovoltaics,” says CEO Mark Widmar. “While the United States leads the world in thin-film PV, China is racing to close the innovation gap. We expect that this crucial investment in R&D infrastructure will help maintain our nation’s strategic advantage in thin film, accelerating the cycles of innovation needed to ensure that the next disruptive, transformative solar technology will be American-made.”
The Jim Nolan Center is part of an approximately half-billion-dollar investment by First Solar in R&D infrastructure, and the firm expects to also commission a perovskite development line at its Perrysburg campus in second-half 2024. The firm, which has invested almost $2bn in R&D, operates laboratories in Santa Clara, California, and Perrysburg, Ohio, in the USA, and Uppsala in Sweden. Its California Technology Center (CTC) in Santa Clara recently achieved a 23.1%-efficient CdTe cell, a new record certified by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Founded in 1999, First Solar claims to be unique among the world’s largest solar manufacturers for being the only US-headquartered company and for scaling the production of thin-film solar panels. The firm exited 2023 with 16.6GW of annual global nameplate manufacturing capacity and is expected to exceed 25GW by 2026. First Solar expects to commission new manufacturing facilities in Alabama in second-half 2024 and Louisiana in second-half 2025, bringing its total US nameplate capacity to 14GW by 2026.
The company's ongoing and planned investments in R&D infrastructure are projected to create about 300 new jobs by 2025, most of which will be at the Jim Nolan Center. Its investments in US manufacturing and R&D are believed to make it the most significant enabler of American jobs among solar manufacturers.
According to a recent study conducted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and commissioned by First Solar, the company supported an estimated 16,245 direct, indirect and induced jobs in 2023, representing about $1.6bn in annual labor income. As First Solar grows to an expected 14GW in annual US nameplate capacity by 2026, it is forecast to support an estimated 30,060 direct, indirect and induced jobs across the USA, representing $2.8bn in annual labor income. The study projects that every direct job that First Solar supports in 2026 will support 7.3 jobs nationwide.
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First Solar acquires Swedish perovskite PV firm Evolar
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First Solar investing $270m in R&D innovation center in Perrysburg, Ohio
