First Solar says that it transforms two-by-four-foot glass
plates into ready-to-ship modules in 2.5 hours, with power
efficiency exceeding 9 percent, up from about 7 percent in 2004.
That combination, claims First Solar, has slashed the cost per
watt from $2.94 in 2004 to $1.29 today–a period in which growing
demand for high-grade silicon inflated the cost of producing
silicon panels to between $2.50 and $3.00 per watt, or more.
German renewable-energy developers such as Juwi Solar,
Gehrlicher Gruppe, and Blitzstrom began using First Solar
modules in large rooftop installations and field-based solar
parks in 2005. In February, Juwi Solar picked First Solar’s
modules for its 40-megawatt solar park in Saxony; upon its
completion in 2009, the park’s 550,000 First Solar modules will
cover an area equal to 160 football fields. At the Solar 2007
conference in Cleveland earlier this month, First Solar COO Chip
Hambro said that the company anticipates slashing the price it
charges for modules (as opposed to its manuf