First Solar benefiting from increased European demand as Series 6 bookings increase

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
First Solar management noted in an earnings call to discuss first quarter financial results that the company had booked 580MW of module supply orders across Europe, notably Turkey and France in the last 12 months and more than 350MW was booked in the first quarter of 2018. Image: First Solar

Leading CdTe thin-film PV manufacturer First Solar may be benefiting from increased demand for its modules from utility-scale customers in the US, which has resulted in the announcement of a new 1.2GW Series 6 module production plant, yet bookings in Europe are fast approaching 1GW. 

First Solar management noted in an earnings call to discuss first quarter financial results that the company had booked 580MW of module supply orders across Europe, notably Turkey and France in the last 12 months and more than 350MW was booked in the first quarter of 2018. 

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

First solar is benefiting from its low-carbon manufacturing footprint which is a stipulation in French Government tenders. 

Series 6 module bookings boom

However, it was the continued increase in bookings for its new large-area Series 6 modules that stood out in the first quarter of 2018, although so did the recognition that it was suffering from module assembly bottlenecks and so Series 6 supply in 2018 could be at the low end of its expected range. The first volume manufacturing of the modules occurred in early April, 2018 from its 600MW Ohio fab, although certification was taking longer than expected. 

Management noted that in the two months it had have contracted a further 2GW of module supply bookings, meaning total year-to-date bookings had reached 3.3GW. In total, First Solar has secured 10.6 GW of future shipments.

“The largest single booking among the recent deals we have signed is a 750 megawatt module supply agreement with a leading U.S. developer,” noted Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar in the earnings call. “Combined with a separate agreement signed last year, we have now contracted with this customer for over 1.2 gigawatts of module deliveries in 2019 and 2020.

The company noted that the largest increases seen in bookings had come from the US and Asia-Pacific region and that overall, more than 6GW of mid- to late-stage bookings opportunities had deliveries in 2020 or later. 

Management noted that in the two months it had have contracted a further 2GW of module supply bookings, meaning total year-to-date bookings had reached 3.3GW. In total, First Solar has secured 10.6 GW of future shipments. Image: First Solar

Financial results

First Solar reported first quarter 2018 sales of US$567 million, an increase of US$228 million from the prior quarter. This was primarily due to the sale of international projects in India and Japan and the sale of its Rosamond project in the US. 

Gross profit margin was 30.5% in the reporting quarter. Cash and marketable securities at the end of the first quarter decreased slightly to US$2.9 billion from US$3.0 billion at the end of the fourth quarter as the company increase capital spending for new Series 6 production plants.

The company also noted that it had lowered its 2018 net cash guidance by US$100 million, due to the higher capital expenditures for additional Series 6 capacity.

Operating income in the quarter was US$74.3 million, compared to a negative income of US$35.1 million in the previous quarter. 

Read Next

July 2, 2025
Indigenous-led renewable energy company Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation (YEC) has submitted plans for a hybrid wind and solar PV renewable energy project to the Australian government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
July 2, 2025
Robotics company Luminous has received AU$4.9 million (US$3.2 million) via Australia’s Solar ScaleUp Challenge to support deploying its ‘LUMI’ technology at utility-scale solar PV power plants.
July 1, 2025
French private equity firm Ardian Clean Energy Evergreen Fund (ACEEF) has bought 117 solar PV plants, worth 116MW of total capacity in several locations in Italy.
July 1, 2025
A five-year research initiative is underway in Australia to test the viability of floating solar systems on irrigation dams.
June 30, 2025
Australian module manufacturer Tindo Solar has secured a 30MW solar module supply agreement to power Australia's first "net zero pipeline”.
June 27, 2025
Renewables investment platform Nexwell Power has signed a round of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with “one of the largest” US tech companies for solar PV capacity to be built in Spain.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 22, 2025
Bilbao, Spain
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK