Greentech Lead America: North American solar company First Solar has acquired the 60 megawatt AC (MW) North Star solar project that NorthLight has developed in Fresno County, Calif.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The North Star project is located near the city of Mendota and has a 20-year power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
NorthLight is a joint venture of Renewable Energy Corporation ASA and Summit Power Group. The photovoltaic (PV) solar plant is expected to start construction in 2014 and be completed in 2015, providing up to 410 construction jobs.
When fully operational, the project will produce enough clean, renewable energy to power over 21,000 average California homes while displacing approximately 33,000 metric tons of water consumption and 39,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.
First Solar also announced it is acquiring TetraSun, a solar photovoltaic (PV) technology startup which has developed breakthrough cell architecture capable of conversion efficiencies exceeding 21 percent with commercial-scale manufacturing costs comparable to conventional multicrystalline silicon solar cells.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013, were not disclosed. First Solar has also entered into a discussion with JX Nippon Oil & Energy on an agreement to distribute the technology in Japan.
First Solar reported record net sales of 1.1 billion for the fourth quarter, an increase of $236 million from the third quarter of 2012 and $415 million from the fourth quarter of 2011.
In its financial outlook for the coming years, First Solar said it expects total module shipments to be between 1.6GW and 1.8GW and net sales of $3.8 and $4.0 billion, including approximately $3.6 billion in net sales from systems sales during the financial year 2013.
First Solar said the revenue recognition for the Desert Sunlight project is currently expected to begin in the second half of 2013 and conclude by late 2014.
The company has set module shipment targets of 1.8 to 2.2GW and net sales of $3.5 to $4.0Billion for the year 2014. For the year 2015 the company targets module shipment in the range 2.3 to 2.7GW and sales in the range of $4.2 to $4.8Billion.