Greentech Lead America: First Solar has installed its 10
millionth solar photovoltaic (PV) module at the 550 MW Desert Sunlight Solar
Farm solar project that the company is constructing for NextEra Energy
Resources and GE Energy Financial Services.
The Desert Sunlight project is part of First Solar’s 2.7
gigawatt AC (GW) utility-scale solar project pipeline in North America.
First Solar’s utility-scale solar projects will support
7,000 supply chain and construction jobs over the next several years. Desert
Sunlight, located near the community of Desert Center in Riverside County,
Calif., is creating an average of 400 construction jobs.
“Today’s milestone underscores First Solar’s
leadership in delivering integrated PV solar power plants, and it’s only just
the beginning. It’s also fitting to install our 10 millionth EPC module at the
Desert Sunlight project, which will set a solar record as well. When completed
in 2015, it will be one of the two largest PV solar projects in the world,
along with the 550 MW Topaz project we’re building in San Luis Obispo
County,” said Jim Lamon, First Solar senior vice president of Engineering,
Procurement and Construction and Operations and Maintenance.
First Solar has cumulatively produced almost 80 million of
its advanced thin-film solar modules, enough to circle the earth almost 2.5
times. The total represents a peak generating capacity of more than 6 GW,
enough to power 3 million homes and displaces over 4 million tons of CO2 per
year.
First Solar collaborates Intermolecular to accelerate solar PV
roadmap
Recently, First Solar and Intermolecular announced a
collaboration and licensing agreement aimed at accelerating the efficiency
roadmap for First Solar’s cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic technology.
Under the collaborative development program, First Solar will leverage
Intermolecular’s High Productivity Combinatorial (HPC) platform in the
development of its advanced, CdTe-based, thin film PV manufacturing technology.
editor@greentechlead.com