Thin-film solar PV manufacturer First Solar has confirmed the Louisiana location of its fifth US manufacturing facility, a 3.5GW, US$1.1 billion dollar Cadmium Telluride (CadTel) module production factory.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) – a US utility headquartered in Knoxville – has ordered 279MW of First Solar’s cadmium telluride thin-film solar PV modules to outfit its Lawrence County Solar Project in Alabama, due to come online in 2027.
Canadian-headquartered power producer Capital Power has signed a supply agreement with US thin film solar module manufacturer First Solar in the first cooperation between the two companies.
Upstream US-based solar manufacturer CubicPV might feasibly be the place at which tandem perovskite PV products are successfully made durable enough for commercial use; two recent announcements have come out of the company that speak to the potential of its tandem development route.
First Solar has announced that it will produce a limited production run of bifacial thin film PV modules, which it says are the first of their kind. The company ultimately plans to roll the product out commercially, following field and laboratory testing.
First Solar has filed a legal complaint against fellow US PV manufacturer Toledo Solar for modifying, marketing and reselling old First Solar panels as its own product, claiming to be made in the US.
The US market is expected to see a strong uptick in overall module supply, both domestic and overseas, in 2023. Alongside this will be a range of different module technologies, making the US market the most differentiated from a technology standpoint this year.
A new record efficiency for lab-tested peroviskite/silicon tandem cells has been certified by the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory.