First Solar breaks solar energy’s $1 per watt barrier

First Solar claims to have reduced the cost of manufacturing solar modules to $0.98 per watt, a record in making solar energy affordable.

By Gail Flower, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 2/26/2009

First Solar Inc this week claimed a milestone in the solar industry toward providing a sustainable and affordable solar energy solution: solar modules manufactured below the $1 per watt point, at a cost of $0.98 per watt.

“This was truly a worldwide goal,” said Ken Zweibel, director of the Institute for the Analysis of Solar Energy at George Washington University. “The solar industry has been aiming at this goal for the past 25 years, and now it has been met by First Solar. The US leads the world in photovoltaics in terms of the technology with First Solar being the lowest cost practical manufacturing modules below $0.98 per watt and SunPower reporting the highest solar converting efficiency of approximately 20%.”

San Jose-based SunPower last May touted full-scale solar cell protototypes at 23.4% efficiency. The company has reported improvements in mass production since its first all-back contact solar cell prototype in 2003. CEO Tom Werner has stated that SunPower’s Gen 2 technology in mass production since 2007 is 22% efficient.

Tempe, Ariz-based First Solar began production of modules in 2004 and reached the $0.98 mark in Q4 2008. From 2004 to the present, the company's manufacturing capacity has grown 2,500% to more than 500 megawatts in 2008. Annual production capacity is predicted to double in 2009 to more than 1 gigawatt, the equivalent of an average-size nuclear plant, the company said. Through controlling costs while building volume, First Solar’s manufacturing costs have declined by more than two-thirds from the initial $3 per watt to less than $1 per watt.

Whereas, it has been a goal of the solar industry to reach the $1 per watt level, First Solar has made approximately 10 million modules for converting sunlight to energy and has a gain on others just entering the field by sheer experience.

“They’re ‘real’ and no one else is in that league at present,” Zweibel said of First Solar's accomplishment. “In order to address climate change in a meaningful way, we need energy technologies that are affordable, scalable, and have a low environmental impact on a life-cycle basis. With this announcement First Solar continues to demonstrate the ability of thin film PV technology to provide an alternative to traditional fossil fuels and for solar power to provide a meaningful contribution in addressing climate change.”

Mike Ahearn, CEO at First Solar, credited the German government and those of other countries for making the milestone possible in a statement. Germany has been a solar energy leader in large part as a response to the federal subsidies the country offers. Many of First Solar’s module installations have been done with government supported projects.

The company's statement made no mention of US government support efforts, which are late to offer market assistance, though the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has reserves set aside for renewable energy support. The act designates $49.7 billion for energy, including $6.3 billion for renewable energy investments.