First Solar commissions 1.3 million square-foot R&D facility

First Solar, Inc. commissioned its new research and development (R&D) innovation center in Lake Township, Ohio, which the company says is the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

The Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation is dedicated to the late James “Jim” F. Nolan, a former member of First Solar’s Board of Directors and the architect of the company’s cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor platform.

According to a study by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), in 2023 CdTe represented  about 16% of the U.S. solar market. First Solar is a leader in CdTe technology and differentiates itself not only by the use of the thin film technology, but also by its vertically integrated manufacturing process, domestic production and commitment to responsible solar. At the company’s California Technology Center (CTC) in Santa Clara, First Solar recently achieved a 23.1% efficient CdTe cell, a new world record certified by NREL.

“Thin films are the next technological battleground for the solar industry because they are key to commercializing tandem devices, which are anticipated to be the next disruption in photovoltaics,” said Mark Widmar, chief executive officer, First Solar. “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, accelerating the cycles of innovation needed to ensure that the next disruptive, transformative solar technology will be American-made.”

The new research facility covers 1.3 million square feet and includes a high-tech pilot manufacturing line allowing for the production of full-sized prototypes of thin film and tandem PV modules. Prior to the commissioning of the Jim Nolan Center, First Solar was using a manufacturing line at its Perrysburg, Ohio facility for product development efforts. With a dedicated R&D center, First Solar expect to “accelerate innovation cycles.”

The company reports that it will have approximately a half-billion dollars invested in R&D and that building out R&D infrastructure will create approximately 300 new jobs by 2025, the majority of which will be located at the Jim Nolan Center.

First Solar is also involved in perovskite solar development after announcing last year the acquisition of Evolar, the Swedish perovskite specialist. First Solar said in a statement that the acquisition will accelerate the development of next generation PV technology, including high efficiency tandem devices. It aims to integrate Evolar’s know-how with its existing research and development streams, intellectual property portfolio, and expertise in developing and commercially scaling thin-film PV.

In addition to R&D planned at the Jim Nolan Center, the company expects to also commission a perovskite development line at its Perrysburg, Ohio, campus in the second half of 2024.

First Solar reports it has invested almost $2 billion in R&D, operates laboratories in Santa Clara, California, and Perrysburg, Ohio, in the US, and Uppsala in Sweden.

At the end of 2023 First Solar had 16.6 GW of annual global nameplate manufacturing capacity and is expected to achieve over 25 GW of capacity by 2026. First Solar expects to commission new manufacturing facilities in Alabama in the second half of 2024 and Louisiana in the second half of 2025, bringing its total U.S. nameplate capacity to 14 GW by 2026.

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