First Solar's New Panel Manufacturing Facility Breaks Ground

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As it continues to sign solar panel-supply agreements with renewable project developers in the U.S., First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona) last week broke ground on its new solar panel manufacturing plant in Louisiana. Industrial Info is tracking manufacturing projects from First Solar, as well as $14 billion worth of solar-generation projects nearing or under construction across the U.S. that will use, or are considering using, the company's panels.

The $1.1 billion grassroot solar panel manufacturing plant in Iberia Parish, Louisiana is designed to exclusively manufacture the company's utility-scale Series 7 photovoltaic (PV) panels, which have stronger generation and longer lifetimes than previous models. First Solar expects commercial shipments to begin by the first half of 2026, and the plant will add 3.5 gigawatts (GW) to the company's manufacturing capacity, for a total production capacity of 14 GW in the U.S. and 25 GW globally in 2026. Those figures are expected to be aided by production at its $1.1 billion thin-film solar panel plant in Trinity, Alabama, of which construction is expected to wrap up in 2024. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can read more information on the Louisiana and Alabama plants.

According to a press release, the Iberia manufacturing plant will sit on more than 2 million square feet of land and is designed to transform a sheet of glass into the Series 7 module in about 4 1/2 hours, equal to a dozen panels every minute.

"We are creating enduring value for the U.S. by building a robust solar manufacturing base and the value chains that enable it," said Chief Executive Officer Mark Widmar. "This delivers jobs and economic value today, and establishes the foundations needed for the country to enter the next decade with a secure supply of solar energy technology."

Industrial Info is tracking nearly $3 billion worth of active projects from First Solar in the U.S. Subscribers can click here to see a full list.

First Solar's U.S. project activity comes as the company has panel-supply agreements in place with renewable developers such as Longroad Energy (Boston, Massachusetts), Energix Renewables (Ramat Gan, Israel) and EDP Renewables North America LLC, a subsidiary of Energias de Portugal S.A. (EDP) (Lisbon, Portugal).

Earlier this month, First Solar announced it expanded its agreement with Longroad Energy, supplying an additional 2 GW of advanced thin-film solar panels to be delivered between 2027 and 2029; this builds on an existing 3.7-GW agreement between the two companies. The company has procured 8 GW of thin-film panels from First Solar since 2017, according to a press release.

First Solar plans to supply Longroad Energy with panels for the 122.5-MW, $220 million Three Corners PV solar plant in Kennebec County, Maine, construction of which is expected to wrap up in mid-2024. Subscribers to the GMI Power Project Database can click here to read the project report.

Meanwhile, Energix Renewables has agreed to procure 5 GW of thin-film panels to be delivered between 2026 and 2030, to support its projects in Israel, Poland and the U.S. However, under the terms of the agreement, Energix has the right to increase or decrease the total volume of panels by 200 MW each year.

Industrial Info is tracking three projects from Energix's U.S. subsidiary that are using First Solar panels, including the $90 million Adams solar plant in York Springs, Pennsylvania. The plant will utilize more than 145,000 panels on a single-axis tracking system to provide 70 MW of solar generation.

First Solar's agreement with EDP Renewables is for 1.8 GW of thin-film panels, which will be delivered up to 2028. Among the EDP projects utilizing the manufacturer's panels is the $200 million Sonrisa solar park in Fresno County, California, which will have a generating capacity of 100 MW. Construction is expected to be completed in first-quarter 2024. Subscribers can read more information on the Longroad Energy and EDP projects.

The highest-valued project expected to use First Solar's technology is Core Solar LLC's (Austin, Texas) $700 million Hill Solar plant in Hill County, Texas, south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The plant will utilize an estimated 964,900 panels to produce 400 MW of solar power. Click here for the project report.

First Solar also has a supply agreement in place with the U.S. subsidiary of National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG) (London, England). For more information, see December 16, 2022, article - National Grid, First Solar Expand Solar Panel-Purchase Agreement.

Subscribers to the GMI database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of plant profiles.

Click here for a full list of solar-generation projects nearing or under construction across the U.S. that will use, or are considering using, First Solar's panels.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).