Our headquarters is in Tempe, but other factors we look at include the cost of manufacturing, the market opportunity, access to qualified workers, our supply chain and the logistics involved in terms of where our materials are coming from, and we look at state and local incentives that may be available and at taxes. "It happens that in the U.S., the solar market is largely in California and the sunny Southwest where the solar resource is so strong - literally twice the amount of sunshine that we get annually in Germany.
facility in fall 2010, says Bernheimer, First Solar evaluated sites in several states. Since announcing plans to build a new U.S. "That’s a sizable demand, and one that we couldn’t satisfy in the Perrysburg plant alone." is really picking up." The company is currently under contract to provide 2.4 gigawatts - 2,400 MW - to U.S. "Traditionally, Germany has been First Solar’s largest market, but growth there is slowing down, and the U.S. In addition to Ohio and Vietnam, the company also operates facilities in Oder, Germany, and Kulim, Malaysia. will be First Solar’s fastest-growing market in 2011," says Alan Bernheimer, First Solar’s director of communications. "The international market for solar is diversifying, and the U.S. Construction will begin in the second quarter of 2011 and is expected to last a year, creating an average of 400 to 500 construction jobs. The facility will include a 3-MW rooftop solar installation as well as a ground-mounted PV testing facility. The Mesa facility is located on a 135-acre (55-hectare) site that was previously home to a General Motors vehicle testing facility and is designed to accommodate future expansion. (First Solar also broke ground in March on a four-line photovoltaic module manufacturing plant in the Dong Nam Industrial Park near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, that will commence production in the second half of 2012 and employ around 600.) production capacity to more than 500 MW per year.
The plant will employ 600 and, in combination with First Solar’s recently expanded facility in Perrysburg, Ohio, will increase First Solar’s U.S. announced plans in March to build a $300-million manufacturing center in Mesa - a half-hour drive from corporate headquarters in Tempe - with a capacity to produce more than 250 MW of advanced thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules per year. Intel predicts "thousands of construction and permanent manufacturing jobs" at the site it bills as "the most advanced, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world." Even in the spring, it’s hot in Arizona.įirst Solar, Inc. And that’s not counting those associated with Intel Corp.’s US$5-billion chip-manufacturing facility - Fab 42 - slated for Chandler that was announced in February. That’s nearly 3,000 new jobs announced so far this year in the Phoenix metro area alone - from just three projects on Arizona’s 2011 capital investment list. Tony Perkins, senior manager, credit operations, PayPal
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