News: Photovoltaics
26 September 2024
First Solar inaugurates $1.1bn, 3.5GW Alabama CdTe PV manufacturing facility
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) module maker First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA has inaugurated its new $1.1bn fully vertically integrated thin-film solar manufacturing facility in Lawrence County, Alabama. The facility, which adds 3.5GW of fully vertically integrated nameplate solar manufacturing capacity in the USA, is expected to create over 800 technology manufacturing jobs in the state.
“This production facility is destined to become a major player in the US renewable energy market,” said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. “Moreover, the Alabama workers at this facility will help break the nation’s dependence on foreign-made solar panels and contribute to our energy independence.”
Along with First Solar’s three operating factories in Ohio, the Lawrence County facility brings the company’s nameplate manufacturing capacity to almost 11GW in the USA and over 21GW globally, once fully ramped. Already the largest fully vertically integrated solar manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere, First Solar is also constructing a $1.1bn, 3.5GW facility in Louisiana, which is expected to be commissioned in second-half 2025. The firm expects to have over 14GW of annual nameplate capacity in the USA and 25GW globally by the end of 2026.
“This is the first of two fully vertically integrated solar manufacturing facilities that solidify the role of the Gulf Coast states in enabling America’s all-of-the-above energy strategy,” says CEO Mark Widmar. “This energy technology manufacturing facility produces American solar panels, with American-made components sourced from a supply chain that spans the country. The hundreds of people that operate this facility represent the next generation of American energy workers and are joined by thousands more steelworkers, glassworkers, miners, truck drivers, railroad workers, and others that enable our mission to support our country’s energy security.”
First Solar’s highly differentiated manufacturing process allows it to transform a sheet of glass into ready-to-ship thin-film solar panels in about 4 hours. The Alabama facility’s entire solar value chain – equivalent to transformation from semiconductor to wafer to cell to module – operates under one roof, using one tightly controlled process with rigorous quality assurance and control. The Series 7 modules produced in Lawrence County use Alabama-sourced steel, smelted, rolled and fabricated within a 25-mile radius of the facility.
First Solar says that it is unique among the world’s largest solar manufacturers because it is the only US-headquartered company and does not manufacture in China. The firm’s operational manufacturing footprint in Ohio and Alabama and Louisiana represent over $4bn in US manufacturing investments.
A study commissioned by First Solar and conducted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette projects that, as the firm grows to 14GW in annual US nameplate capacity by the end of 2026, it will support an estimated 30,060 direct, indirect and induced jobs across the country, representing $2.8bn in annual labor income. Additionally, the study estimates that every direct job that First Solar supports in 2026 will support 7.3 jobs nationwide
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First Solar commissions Western Hemisphere’s largest solar R&D center
First Solar breaks ground on $1.1bn 3.5GW Louisiana factory
Tennessee Valley Authority secures 279MW of PV panels from First Solar
First Solar selects Alabama for fourth US manufacturing facility
