News Article
First Solar reaches 4 GW manufacturing milestone
The firm’s has so far produced enough cadmium telluride solar modules to power almost 2 million households with electricity. The firm has also started manufacturing modules in Germany ahead of schedule.
First Solar says it has manufactured 4 GW of thin-film photovoltaic CdTe solar modules since beginning commercial production in 2002.
A 4GW generation capacity is enough solar electricity to power around two million households, displacing more than 2.5 million metric tons of CO2 emissions a year--the equivalent of taking 500,000 cars off the road.
The company also announced that its second factory at Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany, has begun producing solar modules one month ahead of schedule. The four new production lines are still expected to ramp to full production during the third quarter of 2011, bringing annual capacity at the two Frankfurt factories to more than 500 MW.
First Solar, which is one of the world's leading producers of PV solar modules, also has manufacturing sites in Perrysburg, Ohio and Kulim, Malaysia, as well as new plants under construction in Mesa, Arizona and Vietnam. It recently completed the production ramp of its two newest plants in Malaysia.
