First Solar revenue falls in Q1 as US facility investments take priority

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From pv magazine USA

First Solar, a manufacturer of US-made solar panels, posted $548 million in first-quarter revenue, about 26% lower than the market consensus of $743 million.

First Solar executed 9.9 GW of contracts and recognized 1.9 GW of volume sold, resulting in a total backlog of 69.4 GW, with an aggregate value sold of $20.4 billion, which implies approximately $0.293/W, an increase of approximately half a penny per watt from fourth quarter of 2022.

During the quarter, First Solar produced 2.36 GW of Series 6 panels, whose average watts per module was 467 W.

Production of Series 7 modules began in January 2023 with 170 MW of modules produced. The company said it recently demonstrated high-volume manufacturing production capable of up to 10,000 modules per day at its third Ohio facility, which houses Series 7 module production. The demo rate is 60% of nameplate throughput capacity, with panels achieving top bin production at 535 W.

Shipments of Series 7 modules, which used all-US glass and steel components, are on track to begin as early as June 2023, Widmer said in prepared remarks. Outside of the United States, First Solar is also expected to begin production in Chennai, India at a 3.54 GW nameplate facility in the second half of 2023 as well.

The company’s cadmium-telluride technology certified a new record in the first quarterk, with a conversion efficiency of 22.3%.

ERS Infrastructure, a Canadian investment firm, is a renewable energy development company that owns and operates 25 projects across nine US states with about 2.7 GW of generating capacity.

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