First Solar turns sod on 3.5-GW panel factory in Louisiana

US thin-film solar module maker First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) on Thursday officially launched the construction of a USD-1.1-billion (EUR 1.03bn) manufacturing facility in Louisiana with an annual production capacity of 3.5 GW.

The over two million-square-feet-factory will be the company’s fifth fully vertically integrated production base in its home country. An official groundbreaking ceremony attended by the governor of Louisiana was held at the site in Iberia Parish.

The new plant will produce First Solar’s Series 7 modules with 100% US-made components identified in the current domestic content guidance by the US Department of Treasury. It will be able to convert a sheet of glass into a ready-to-ship Series 7 module in around 4.5 hours, which will result in the production of over a dozen solar panels per minute.

The project will expand First Solar’s nameplate manufacturing capacity to around 14 GW in the US and 25 GW globally in 2026. Planned to be completed by the first half of 2026, it will create more than 700 new direct manufacturing jobs.

Rudolph Libbe Inc will serve as the general contractor for the project.

“This facility, like its sister facilities in Ohio and Alabama, represents First Solar’s investment in our country’s future,” said First Solar’s CEO Mark Widmar.

First Solar currently has 13 GW of global nameplate capacity, up from 6 GW in 2020, and expects to add another 12 GW in the US and India between the second half of 2023 and 2026. The company commissioned its third Ohio factory earlier this year and is working on a new 3.5-GW factory in Alabama and a 0.9-GW expansion in Ohio.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.936)

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