First Solar – Statistics and Facts

Konrad Wolfenstein

6 years ago

First Solar – Semiconductor manufacturing company – Image: IgorGolovniov|Shutterstock.com

First Solar, Inc. is an international photovoltaic company headquartered in the USA. First Solar manufactures low-cost thin-film solar modules, develops large-scale solar power plants, and provides operations and maintenance services. The US-based company originated from Solar Cells, Inc. and was renamed First Solar in 1999. It began manufacturing commercial products in 2002 and by 2010 had become one of the world's largest solar panel manufacturers and the largest solar contractor.

In 2014, First Solar installed photovoltaic systems in the USA with 1,023 megawatts, ahead of MA Mortenson Company with 512.9 megawatts and SolarCity with 502 megawatts, with more solar power capacity than any other company.

In 2018, First Solar ranked sixth on a list of the largest companies in the solar industry. Along with the Canadian-Chinese company Canadian Solar, it was the only company among the top ten headquartered outside of Asia. In its 2019 fiscal year, First Solar recorded an operating loss of $161.79 billion. This marked the fourth consecutive year since 2007 that the company had posted an annual operating loss. Uncertainty surrounding the expiration of government subsidies, tax incentives, and other financial support for the adoption of renewable energy is significantly impacting First Solar's performance. This is particularly true in large markets such as the United States and India, which are among First Solar's primary sales regions. Nevertheless, the company was valued at over $5 billion in July 2020, making it one of the leading solar companies by market capitalization.

First Solar primarily manufactures cadmium telluride-based photovoltaic modules and has developed new technologies that have broken several solar efficiency records. The company continues to invest heavily in research and development to further increase the efficiency of its thin-film module technologies. Cadmium telluride solar cells are a type of thin-film solar cell and are manufactured by First Solar using 30 different types of raw materials. To reduce its waste footprint, the company was the first in the industry to implement a module take-back and recycling program.

First Solar was the first solar company to reduce its production costs to below $1 per watt.

The company emerged from the sale of Solar Cell Inc. (SCI) to True North Partners – a Walton family company that founded Wal-Mart.

In Germany, the company was primarily represented at two locations: Frankfurt (Oder) was home to the production facility of First Solar Manufacturing GmbH, with Burghard von Westerholt as managing director and plant manager. However, following an announcement in April 2012, this facility was closed at the end of 2012. Mainz was the headquarters of the European sales company, First Solar GmbH, with Christopher Burghardt as managing director. Together with other locations in Europe, this resulted in the loss of approximately 150 jobs. The company employed more than 1,400 people at its two German locations.