First Solar manufacturing facility in India receives incentives under PLI program

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First Solar said its manufacturing facility in India will receive incentives under the Indian government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) program.

The PLI program aims to promote the production of solar modules in India and reduce India’s reliance on imports of solar modules.

First Solar is one of three solar module manufacturers selected to receive financial incentives, which are reserved for fully vertically integrated manufacturing. The facility will be subject to quarterly evaluations from the second quarter of 2026 through 2031 to ensure that it meets product efficiency and domestic value creation thresholds.

First Solar’s new facility, which is expected to be commissioned in the second half of this year, will be located in Tamil Nadu and will have an annual nameplate capacity of 3.4 gigawatts (GW)DC. The facility will use the advanced manufacturing template established by First Solar’s newest factory in Ohio and will produce the company’s Series 7 modules.

The incentives under the PLI program are based on factors, including the efficiency and temperature coefficient of the modules produced, the proportion of raw materials sourced domestically, the extent to which the manufacturer’s operations are fully integrated within India, and the quantity of modules sold from such manufacturing operations.

First Solar’s thin film PV modules use its Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) semiconductor, which has the lowest carbon and water footprints of any PV module available today. The company’s eco-efficient module technology is unique among the world’s ten largest solar manufacturers for not using a crystalline silicon (c-Si) semiconductor and not manufacturing in China.

First Solar is expanding its manufacturing footprint in the US, with over 5 GW of annual capacity across three operating factories in Ohio. First Solar aims to increase its capacity to over 10 GW by 2025 with the completion of its new $1.1 billion factory in Alabama and a $185 million expansion of its existing capacity in Ohio. First Solar is targeting over 20 GW of annual global manufacturing capacity by 2025.

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