First Solar officially opens solar R&D cente in Ohio

US thin-film photovoltaics (PV) maker First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) has opened a new research and development (R&D) innovation centre in Lake Township, Ohio, touted as the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

The Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation, as the site is called, is equipped with a high-tech pilot manufacturing line for the production of full-sized prototypes of thin-film and tandem modules. The complex spans 1.3 million sq ft (120,774 sq m), First Solar said on Thursday.

The new site will help the solar manufacturer speed up innovation cycles by removing certain constraints it faced when it previously used a production line at its Perrysburg facility for late-stage product development initiatives. "While the United States leads the world in thin film PV, China is racing to close the innovation gap. We expect that this crucial investment in R&D infrastructure will help maintain our nation's strategic advantage in thin film [..],” said CEO Mark Widmar.

The new R&D centre was built as part of a roughly USD-500-million (EUR 459.3m) infrastructure investment programme under which First Solar will also open a perovskite development line at its campus in Perrysburg, Ohio, in the second half of this year. The company already has R&D labs in Perrysburg and Santa Clara, California, as well as in Uppsala, Sweden.

In addition to its R&D efforts, First Solar is investing in opening new production sites to grow its US manufacturing capacity to 14 GW by 2026. New factories are due to be commissioned in Alabama and Louisiana in 2024 and 2025.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.919)

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