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First Solar
First Solar, Inc. is an American publicly traded manufacturer of solar panels. First Solar uses rigid thin-film modules for its solar panels, and produces CdTe panels using cadmium telluride (CdTe) as a semiconductor. The predecessor company, Solar Cells, Inc., was founded in 1990 by inventor Harold McMaster. In 1999, Solar Cells, Inc., was purchased by True North Partners, LLC, led by Michael Ahearn, and rebranded as First Solar, Inc.
The company went public in 2006, trading on the NASDAQ as FSLR. It has been listed on the Photovoltaik Global 30 Index since the beginning of this stock index in 2009. Its current chief executive is Mark Widmar, who succeeded the previous CEO, James Hughes, on July 1, 2016.
First Solar operates three manufacturing facilities in Ohio, one in Alabama, and one in Louisiana. As of March 2026, the company had approximately 14 GW of annual domestic nameplate capacity. The company expects to open a sixth domestic facility, a finishing facility, in South Carolina in the second half of 2026. When this facility is fully ramped in 2027, the company expects to have more than 17 GW of annual domestic nameplate capacity.
First Solar manufactures cadmium telluride (CdTe)-based photovoltaic (PV) modules, which produce electricity with a thin film CdTe semiconductor. This technology provides superior performance in degradation rate, temperature coefficient, spectral response, and shading response. At each First Solar manufacturing facility, a vertically integrated, continuous process enables full quality control under one roof, converting a sheet of glass into a fully functional solar panel in approximately four hours. First Solar’s manufacturing process uses 98 percent less semiconductor material than traditional crystalline silicon solar panels and yields the lowest carbon footprint, lowest water footprint, and fastest energy payback time in the industry.
In 2013, the company produced CdTe-panels with an efficiency of about 14 percent at a reported cost of 59 cents per watt. In August 2019, researchers from NREL and First Solar published a Nature Energy article demonstrating a way to achieve 20.8% solar cell efficiency. Currently, Series 7 TR1 modules, with an efficiency rating of up to 19.7%, represent topline efficiency among First Solar's module lineup.
First Solar’s CuRe technology, currently incorporated into its Series 6 Plus V2 modules, provides an industry-best warranted annual degradation rate of 0.1%.
The company has made a cumulative investment of more than $2 billion in the research and development of its technology.
Current solar module lineup
Hub AI
First Solar AI simulator
(@First Solar_simulator)
First Solar
First Solar, Inc. is an American publicly traded manufacturer of solar panels. First Solar uses rigid thin-film modules for its solar panels, and produces CdTe panels using cadmium telluride (CdTe) as a semiconductor. The predecessor company, Solar Cells, Inc., was founded in 1990 by inventor Harold McMaster. In 1999, Solar Cells, Inc., was purchased by True North Partners, LLC, led by Michael Ahearn, and rebranded as First Solar, Inc.
The company went public in 2006, trading on the NASDAQ as FSLR. It has been listed on the Photovoltaik Global 30 Index since the beginning of this stock index in 2009. Its current chief executive is Mark Widmar, who succeeded the previous CEO, James Hughes, on July 1, 2016.
First Solar operates three manufacturing facilities in Ohio, one in Alabama, and one in Louisiana. As of March 2026, the company had approximately 14 GW of annual domestic nameplate capacity. The company expects to open a sixth domestic facility, a finishing facility, in South Carolina in the second half of 2026. When this facility is fully ramped in 2027, the company expects to have more than 17 GW of annual domestic nameplate capacity.
First Solar manufactures cadmium telluride (CdTe)-based photovoltaic (PV) modules, which produce electricity with a thin film CdTe semiconductor. This technology provides superior performance in degradation rate, temperature coefficient, spectral response, and shading response. At each First Solar manufacturing facility, a vertically integrated, continuous process enables full quality control under one roof, converting a sheet of glass into a fully functional solar panel in approximately four hours. First Solar’s manufacturing process uses 98 percent less semiconductor material than traditional crystalline silicon solar panels and yields the lowest carbon footprint, lowest water footprint, and fastest energy payback time in the industry.
In 2013, the company produced CdTe-panels with an efficiency of about 14 percent at a reported cost of 59 cents per watt. In August 2019, researchers from NREL and First Solar published a Nature Energy article demonstrating a way to achieve 20.8% solar cell efficiency. Currently, Series 7 TR1 modules, with an efficiency rating of up to 19.7%, represent topline efficiency among First Solar's module lineup.
First Solar’s CuRe technology, currently incorporated into its Series 6 Plus V2 modules, provides an industry-best warranted annual degradation rate of 0.1%.
The company has made a cumulative investment of more than $2 billion in the research and development of its technology.
Current solar module lineup