U.S. thin film solar module producer First Solar has announced that its Malaysian production facility will begin assembling its Series 5 PV modules via a new assembly line installed at the fab.
The reallocation of capacity at the Kulim plant brings to an end the production of First Solars TetraSun crystalline silicon solar panels; a move that First Solar says will lead to impairment and related charges of approximately $90 to $110 million. As a result, however, First Solar expects its operating expenses for the year to reduce by around $2-$4 million, and a further $8-$10 million annually going forward.
This shift is part of First Solars long-term business plan, which involves greater focus on maximizing its core technology thin film CdTe modules. "Over the past two years, execution of our CdTe technology roadmap has positioned the product as the industry leader for utility-scale solar, as well as established a promising path into the future," said First Solar COO Tymen de Jong.
The companys Series 5 module is viewed as a game-changing product, as is the Series 6 module, which is still in concept development. "These modules require the full attention of our manufacturing operations," added de Jong.
The Malaysian fab will be fully operational by early 2017, by which time all of the previously assigned lines for the TetraSun modules will be producing Series 5.
First Solar added that the TetraSun technology served a purpose for space-constrained rooftops as "a hedge against CdTe technology competitiveness and challenges", de Jong explained, but as the CdTe technology roadmap has progressed leading to record 22.1% cell efficiency and higher energy yield, "that hedge is no longer needed."
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.