First Solar opens $1.1 B expanded manufacturing facility in Alabama...

02 Oct 2024

...and Switzerland puts Sun-Ways’ solar panels on track.

U.S.-headquartered solar technologies company First Solar has inaugurated its new $1.1 billion fully vertically integrated thin-film solar manufacturing facility in Lawrence County, Alabama.

The facility, which adds 3.5 gigawatts (GW) of fully vertically integrated nameplate solar manufacturing capacity in the United States, is expected to create over 800 new energy technology manufacturing jobs in the state.

“This represents a great day for First Solar and for Lawrence County because this production facility is destined to become a major player in the US renewable energy market,” said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. “Moreover, the Alabama workers at this facility will help break the nation’s dependence on foreign-made solar panels and contribute to our energy independence.”

The expanded facility along with First Solar’s three operating factories in Ohio brings the company’s domestic nameplate manufacturing capacity to almost 11 GW and its global capacity to over 21 GW, once fully ramped.

Coming soon: another $1.1 billion plant in Louisiana

First Solar, “the largest fully vertically integrated solar manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere”, is also constructing a $1.1 billion, 3.5 GW facility in Louisiana, which is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2025. The company expects to have over 14 GW of annual nameplate capacity in the United States and 25 GW globally by the end of 2026.

“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,” said 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 U.S. energy workers and are joined by thousands more steelworkers, glassworkers, miners, truck drivers, and railroad workers, to support our country’s energy security.”

First Solar’s announcement stated, “We are unique among the world’s largest solar manufacturers because it is the only US-headquartered company and does not manufacture in China. The company’s operational manufacturing footprint in Ohio and Alabama and Louisiana represent over $4 billion in US manufacturing investments.”

Switzerland puts Sun-Ways’ solar panels on track

Switzerland’s Federal Office of Transport (FOT) has approved the country’s first portable solar power plant to be installed between the rails of a railroad. The developing company is Vaud-based Sun-Ways.

To prepare the application for approval of the pilot project, which will be located near the Buttes (Neuchâtel) railway station, Sun-Ways developed prototypes in 2023 for specific tests and measurements. Numerous expert appraisals were required to demonstrate that the system was perfectly compatible with the FOT’s exacting safety criteria, since the pilot installation will operate on a railroad line open to rail traffic.

As Switzerland considers the installation of solar power plants on the mountains of the Alps, Sun-Ways’ technology could provide an appropriate solution to meet the need to increase the production of electricity from solar sources. The technology exploits the unused space between the two rails of a railroad track to install solar power plants, without disrupting train traffic or track maintenance and inspection work.

Sun-Ways says that its technology has two features that make it unique in the world:

• The panels can be installed either manually or mechanically, using a railway machine specially designed by Scheuchzer SA, railway maintenance specialist company. This machine can install up to 1,000 m2 of solar panels per day.
• They are removable; all or part of a Sun-Ways solar power plant can be quickly removed for maintenance work, before being replaced so that it can operate again.

In Switzerland, the potential for solar production is 1 TWh per year (equivalent to the electricity consumption of 300,000 households), on the nation’s 5,000 km of tracks, potentially saving over 200,000 tons of CO₂ per year. SunWays added that it is “offering a solution with no environmental or visual impact that could generate 30% of the electricity needs of the entire public transport sector in Switzerland, significantly increasing their energy independence”.