Thin-film solar panel giant First Solar today announced its intention to build a fifth manufacturing facility in the United States. This fifth plant will join the company's three plant campuses in northwest Ohio and a fourth plant under construction in Alabama, ultimately giving First Solar more than 14 GW of annual capacity in the United States.
First Solar will invest up to $ 1.1 billion in the new plant, but the location of the plant has not yet been determined. A fifth facility, expected to be completed and commissioned in the first half of 2026, will produce First Solar's Series 7 modules. Based on current domestic content guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury, the assembly is expected to be manufactured with 100% U.S.-made components. "This decision is based on strong fundamentals, including an order backlog of approximately 78 GW, the strongest balance sheet in the industry, a repeatable, vertically integrated manufacturing template, and a proven technology platform," said
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar. "Through this investment, we will continue to help deliver on the Reduced Inflation Act's promise to create lasting value for our nation.". By expanding the U.S. solar manufacturing base and the value chain that supports it, we are working to ensure that the United States enters the next decade well-positioned to produce the technologies needed to complete the transition to a sustainable energy future.
Last year, First Solar announced multi-gigawatt supply deals with large-scale solar project developers. Earlier this week, industry analyst Roth Capital said that a survey it conducted of utility-scale developers showed that many developers were unable to get business with First Solar because the company was "fully booked" or "sold out" well ahead of developers' recent orders. -Long-term needs. Building more plants in the US will ease the supply problem, but only in the long run.
First Solar said it expects Series 7 modules to account for more than two-thirds of its annual domestic nameplate capacity when the fifth plant is completed and commissioned. The larger 7 Series modules are primarily used in the utility-scale market.
The company is already considered the largest employer in the U.S. solar manufacturing industry, with more than 2,500 employees nationwide. First Solar estimates that the new plant will add more than 700 new jobs, which, combined with the 850 new manufacturing jobs expected to be created in Alabama and Ohio and the more than 100 new R & D jobs planned in Ohio, will bring its total direct employment to 2026. The United States will exceed 4,000. President
Biden said Thursday that First Solar's announcement, along with other green energy initiatives, shows that "the era of America ceding leadership to its adversaries in clean energy is over.".
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