Solar business from Korea

Taking note of the focus that investors and the solar industry in general were waiting to hear from the guidance given today by First Solar about its operational performance expectations for 2010, the thin film leader kicked off its investor meeting in New York by announcing a capacity expansion plan that includes the build-out of another eight production lines at its manufacturing hub in Kulim, Malaysia. Fiscal year 2010 net sales are projected to be $2.7 billion to $2.9 billion. Approximately US$365 million will be allocated to the two new production plants that each will have four manufacturing lines, with the new capacity starting to come online in the first half of 2011. This expansion is expected to increase First Solar's annual capacity by 424MW, assuming the third-quarter 2009 reported annual line run rate of 53MW. Interestingly, its previously announced 100MW-plus, two-line contract manufacturing plant to be built in France for EDF will not be started until the new expansi...

With its CdTe thin film module capacity now above 1GW with the full ramp of its new production lines in Malaysia, First Solar says it has become the first PV manufacturer to reach a gigawatt of production in a single year. The company estimated that 1GW of production is equivalent to enough electricity to serve the needs of approximately 145,000 average U.S. homes and saves roughly 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. "This proof that the solar industry can achieve the manufacturing scale necessary to fight climate change is especially timely in light of the Copenhagen conference that began last week," said Bruce Sohn, First Solar's president. "Our efforts in scaling our technology are critical to creating a more sustainable energy infrastructure and reducing greenhouse gas emissions." With its thin film production techniques and manufacturing scale, First Solar also has the lowest cost of manufacturing within the industry, reaching a cost...

A new market report says that the PV industry’s first “Solar Cycle” has taken place in 2009, with end-market demand shrinking 14% compared to the previous year. DisplaySearch's "Q4’09 Quarterly PV Cell Capacity Database & Trends Report" states that the contraction was caused by changes in Spain’s incentive policy and was severely aggravated by the worldwide economic crisis and tight credit markets. The report goes on to note how excess manufacturing capacity has helped push down average PV system prices by more than 25%, but that these lower prices, diversification of the demand base, and positive incentive movement in multiple regions are expected to drive substantially higher demand in 2010. “Despite the long-term bright outlook for solar, 2009 demonstrated the industry’s cyclicality and that it is still highly dependent on incentives,” said Charles Annis, DisplaySearch's VP of manufacturing research. “During 2009 there has been nearly 60% oversupply in cell cap...

NRG Energy, via its wholly owned subsidiary NRG Solar LLC has bought the yet to be completed solar power plant in Blythe, California, from First Solar. The 21MW project occupies approximately 200 acres of land and is expected to be completed by the end of the year and is claimed to be the first and largest utility-scale PV project in California. First Solar and NRG did not disclose financial terms, however, First Solar will provide operations and maintenance services at Blythe under a long-term contract with NRG. "First Solar is very pleased that the first of our utility-scale solar projects in California will be coming on line with a leading power producer like NRG," said Bruce Sohn, president of First Solar. "This clean, affordable, and sustainable energy will help California meet the goals of its Renewable Portfolio Standard." Electricity from the plant will be sold to Southern California Edison under a 20-year power purchase agreement. “Solar fields generate the...

Setting the lowest cost per watt production figures in the photovoltaics industry while ramping production past the 1GW level in 2009, should prove to be the key reasons why First Solar becomes the largest solar cell producer in 2009, leapfrogging Q-Cells and Sharp for the first time. According to market research firm, iSuppli Corp, First Solar is set to produce more than double the 503MW it made in 2008 and increase its market share as well as be responsible for nearly a third of global installations this year! Totting-up first-half year figures and taking into account third quarter company projections, iSuppli has projected some impressive gains for the CdTe thin film leader in 2009. The market research firm believes that First Solar is set to produce 1,100 Megawatts (MW) worth of solar cells in 2009 and actually have the majority of this record production level installed rather than a given percentage stuck in inventory. This is in contrast to many rivals facing inventory build as t...