Concentrated PV
First Solar expands its manufacturing and development facilities in Ohio
First Solar Inc. is to expand its manufacturing operations and development facilities at its Perrysburg Ohio facility. This expansion will add a fourth production line and reconfigure the company's original pilot line to bring the manufacturing facility to the same four-line configuration as the company's five other plants located in Germany and Malaysia. The latest investment will add approximately 500 000 square feet of manufacturing research and development and office space and will add at least 134 new jobs to the company's current workforce of 700 at its Perrysburg facility. The expansion is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2010 and will increase the annual capacity at the Perrysburg facility to approximately 192 megawatts (based on run rates for the second quarter of 2008). In addition the company will construct a separate facility to support increased development activities associated with its advanced thin film solar module manufacturing technology. First Solar is focusing on scaling its manufacturing capacity while taking advantage of existing infrastructure.
According to the company this will incrementally lower the manufacturing cost per watt at a rate comparable to the lowest cost facility in Malaysia. Sharing its second quarter (ended June 28 2008) performance the company recently stated that the quarterly revenues were $267.0 million up from $196.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 was $69.7 million.Source: CPV Today
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