First Solar

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First Solar
Type Public (NASDAQ: FSLR)
Founded 1999 (as First Solar Holdings, LLC)
Headquarters Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Key people Michael J. Ahearn, CEO
Revenue ▲ $638 million USD (2007)
Net income $105 million USD (2007)
Employees ▲ 723 (2007)
Website www.firstsolar.com

First Solar, Inc. is a publicly-held U.S. energy company in the solar sector. It manufactures photovoltaic solar modules using a thin film semiconductor process based on CdTe, to produce solar thin-film cells.

The company sells its products to solar project developers and system integrators primarily in Germany because of strong incentives for solar enacted in the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) of 2000.

The company currently has 7 production lines with 308 megawatts of manufacturing capacity in its original Perrysburg, Ohio plant and in its Frankfurt Germany plant. Research and development takes place at the Ohio facility, and headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona.

In April 2007, First Solar announced the construction of an additional manufacturing plant in Kulim Hi-Tech Park, Malaysia with an annual production nameplate rating of 176 megawatts, representing an investment of approximately $150 million. The additional production capacity of the new plant is scheduled to come on line at the end of 2008.[1] As of the first quarter of 2008, 3 additional plants were begun at the Kulim site, each with 4 production lines. By the end of 2009 when all come on line, First Solar will have 23 production lines and a capacity of approximately 1012 megawatts per year (reference?). The manufacturing cost per watt reached $1.23 in 2007. First Solar is contractually bound to reduce price per watt by 6.5% per year and plans to be competitive on an unsubsidized basis with retail electricity by 2010. [2]

First Solar has long-term contracts totaling 3.2 gigawatts over 5 years representing a total of approximately €4.5 billion in sales. Among the 12 European project developers and system integrators, customers include Blitzstrom GmbH, Colexon Energy AG (previously Reinecke + Pohl), Conergy AG, Gehrlicher Umweltschonende Energiesysteme GmbH, Juwi Solar GmbH and Phoenix Solar AG. In 2007, each of these six accounted for between 10% and 23% of sales. In 2007, new contracts were negotiated with EDF/Energies Nouvelles, Sechilienne-Sidec, Rio Energie, and Sun Edison. First Solar also expanded an existing contract with Juwi.[2][3]

First Solar was founded by Harold McMaster.[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ First Solar Announces Groundbreaking of Malaysian Plant
  2. ^ a b First Solar Inc. SEC Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 29, 2007, page 5
  3. ^ PRIME NEWSWIRE article. First Solar Announces Expansion. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
  4. ^ First Solar rallies 24% in debut

[edit] External links