First Solar, Inc. has opened the doors to its state-of-the-art research and development (R&D) innovation center in Lake Township, Ohio, purportedly the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.
Named the Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation, it honors the late James F. Nolan, a former First Solar Board of Directors member and the mastermind behind the company’s cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor platform.
State-of-the-Art Facility
The sprawling 1.3 million square foot facility houses a high-tech pilot manufacturing line, enabling the creation of full-scale prototypes of thin film and tandem photovoltaic (PV) modules.
Previously, First Solar relied on a manufacturing line at its Perrysburg facility for late-stage product development, limiting flexibility and creating bottlenecks when critical tools needed to be taken offline.
The new facility is anticipated to address these limitations and expedite innovation cycles.
Driving Thin Film Technology
“Thin films represent the next technological frontier for the solar industry, as they are essential for commercializing tandem devices, which are expected to be the next major breakthrough in photovoltaics,” stated Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar.
“While the US leads in thin film PV, China is rapidly catching up. We believe this significant investment in R&D infrastructure will help preserve our nation’s strategic advantage in thin film, accelerating the innovation cycles necessary to ensure that the next groundbreaking solar technology is American-made.”
Major Investment in R&D
The Jim Nolan Center is part of a roughly half-billion-dollar investment by First Solar in R&D infrastructure, which also includes plans to commission a perovskite development line at its Perrysburg, Ohio campus in the second half of 2024.
Having invested nearly $2 billion in R&D overall, the company operates laboratories in Santa Clara, California; Perrysburg, Ohio; and Uppsala, Sweden.
Notably, First Solar’s California Technology Center (CTC) in Santa Clara recently achieved a remarkable 23.1% efficient CdTe cell, a new world record certified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).