First Solar Opens Major Alabama Facility

First Solar has inaugurated its new $1.1 billion, vertically integrated thin-film solar manufacturing facility in Lawrence County, Ala. 

The facility, which the company says adds 3.5 GW of nameplate solar manufacturing capacity in the U.S., is expected to create 800 manufacturing jobs in the state. The company is also constructing a similar facility in Louisiana, which is expected to be commissioned in the second half of next year.

“This is the first of two fully vertically integrated solar manufacturing facilities that solidify the role of the Gulf Coast states in enabling America’s all-of-the-above energy strategy,” says Mark Widmar, chief executive officer, First Solar. 

“This energy technology manufacturing facility produces American solar panels, with American-made components sourced from a supply chain that spans the country. The hundreds of people that operate this facility represent the next generation of American energy workers and are joined by thousands more steelworkers, glassworkers, miners, truck drivers, railroad workers and others that enable our mission to support our country’s energy security.”

The company adds that its Series 7 modules produced in Lawrence County use Alabama-sourced steel, smelted, rolled and fabricated within a 25-mile radius of the facility.