First Solar, a producer of solar modules with semiconductor technology and provider of total solar PV system solutions, has declared its intentions to construct a production facility in Mesa, Arizona.
The new manufacturing facility to be built with an investment of around $300 million will have four production lines to manufacture over 250 MW of advanced thin-film solar PV modules annually and will generate over 600 new job opportunities. The new factory when completed will increase the production capability of the company by more than 500 MW per year.
The new manufacturing plant of First Solar will be located over a 135-acre site formerly utilized as a vehicle testing facility by General Motors. The new factory will incorporate a 3 MW roof top solar erection as well as an all-inclusive type of ground-located photovoltaic testing feature. The exclusive continuous production facility of First Solar proposed for the factory will change a sheet of glass into a full-fledged solar module in around two and a half hours time. The thin-film solar modules will have maximum energy conversion efficiency with low level carbon footprint.
The solar modules to be produced from the proposed Mesa factory will become a part of a total pre-funded solar module collection and recycling initiative of First Solar. The new facility will allow the users of First Solar modules to dispose off their old modules without incurring any expenditure. First Solar under its mass recycling process recycles up to 90% of the old materials in its new glass products and solar modules.
Source: http://www.firstsolar.com