First Solar, Inc. announced recently that in early February it surpassed 6 gigawatts (GW)DC of capacity installed by the company’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) group.According to Alan Stringer, First Solar’s Vice President of Global Project Management and Construction Services, First Solar is installing approximately 30 to 40 MWDC per week on 2GWDC of active projects around the world right now.
“We would like to thank our customers for placing their trust in First Solar to design, procure and build the highest-performing utility-scale solar generation facilities in the world.”Stringer said partnerships with strategic customers have enabled First Solar to continually lower the cost of utility-scale solar generation. As well as leading the industry in Research and Development investment, First Solar sets the pace in driving down the cost of Balance of Systems (BoS). For example, he said, First Solar’s application of 1500V inverters is rapidly becoming an industry standard. And, he pointed out, the company’s manufacturing heritage, combined with the scale of installing 6GW, has enabled First Solar to develop a “manufacturing in the field” concept that helps drive down BoS cost.
“Power plant owners benefit from both the lower cost of utility-scale projects built by First Solar and the proven track record of innovation we bring to every project,” said Stringer. “Our customers also have the confidence that First Solar proudly stands behind the reliability and performance of every asset we build.”First Solar’s inaugural EPC job was 2008’s 10 megawatt (MW)AC El Dorado Solar Project in Nevada, consisting of 220,000 First Solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, and taking nearly two years from groundbreaking to commissioning. In early 2015, First Solar completed construction of the 550MWAC Desert Sunlight Solar Project and the 550MWAC Topaz Solar Farms, each utilizing more than 8 million modules and built in about the same amount of time it took to construct El Dorado.
