first solar

MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's investment company, made its first move into solar with the acquisition of First Solar's Topaz Solar Farm, one of the two largest projects in the world.

The more than $2 billion power plant in California's San Luis Obispo County will be able to produce 550 megawatts of energy, enough to power about 160,000 California homes. Construction began last month and is expected to be completed by early 2015.

The purchase for an undisclosed sum complements MidAmerican Energy Holding's current assets in wind farms. "This project also … Read more

First Solar's board of directors ousted the solar company's chief executive, Rob Gillette, replacing him on an interim basis with Chairman Mike Ahearn while it searches for a permanent replacement.

Shares in the world's most valuable solar company plummeted more than 24 percent to $43.71--its lowest level since March of 2007--following the unexpected Tuesday announcement.

"It's an absolute and total surprise," said Mark Bachman, an analyst with Avian Securities LLC.

The U.S. solar company said in a brief statement that its board of directors has asked Ahearn to serve as temporary CEO … Read more

First Solar has been granted the right to use "Made in EU" or "Made in Europe" on its thin-film solar panels made in Germany, the company announced Thursday.

The credential was granted based on the Conto Energia 4 (CE4) feed-in tariff program established by the Italian government as a means of getting companies to source materials and commit to manufacturing more goods from within Europe.

Of course, that does not mean all panels made by the Arizona-based company now have European-made status. The credential only applies to the company's Frankfurt, Germany facility. That plant, which … Read more

First Solar, GE Energy Financial Services, and Verve Energy announced today a partnership to build Australia's first utility-scale solar plant.

At 10 megawatts, Greenough River Solar Farm will be the largest operating solar plant in the country, and the solar energy it generates will be put to a very specific use.

All of its energy will go toward supporting a seawater desalination plant in Western Australia currently under expansion.

The Southern Seawater Desalination Plant in Binningup, Australia, which is run by the WA Water Corporation, has signed a 15-year contract to purchase all of the solar energy generated from … Read more

First Solar today said a test cell using its cadmium telluride solar technology set a new world record of 17.3 percent efficiency.

The world's most valuable solar company said the cell's performance, confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab, topped the previous world record of 16.7 percent set in 2001.

A solar cell's efficiency is the percentage of sunlight that ends up being converted to electricity.

The announcement by First Solar, which rarely trumpets the performance of its test cells, comes a few months after rising competitor General Electric … Read more

General Electric plans to build a thin-film solar factory in the U.S. that will produce solar cells that have an efficiency of 12.8 percent, the company announced today.

In conjunction with this news, GE also announced that it has acquired PrimeStar Solar, a company GE has had a stake in since 2008.

The thin-film solar cells to be manufactured using cadmium telluride were developed by PrimeStar through a cooperative research program with Department of Energy's National Center for Photovoltaics. The cells were given a 12.8 percent efficiency rating, through a verification process conducted by the National … Read more

First Solar has signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to supply its thin-film solar panels to China Guangdong Nuclear Solar Energy Development (CGN SEDC), the company charged with building and running China's massive solar plant, First Solar company announced today.

The solar farm in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, is planned to be a 2,000-megawatt facility when fully completed by its estimated date of 2019.

While several companies will be involved in the design, construction, and operations of the giant facility, CGN SEDC is the majority owner of the project and will be the primary overseer of the facility'… Read more

It seems the Agua Caliente solar project in Arizona is changing hands once again.

NRG Energy announced today its subsidiary NRG Solar plans to acquire Agua Caliente, a 290-megawatt solar farm from First Solar, as long as an application for a federal loan guarantee gets granted.

"Closing of the acquisition is contingent on receiving the federal loan guarantee," NRG said in a statement. The purchase price was not disclosed.

First Solar itself had acquired the Agua Caliente solar project from NextLight Renewable Power for $285 million in April.

NRG Solar says it has plans to invest a combined … Read more

Abound Solar has secured $510 million to ramp up production of its thin-film solar panels and compete in the cut-throat pricing of the global solar photovoltaics industry.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu is scheduled to host a conference call today with Abound Solar CEO Tom Tiller to announce that the Fort Collins, Colo.-based company has finalized a $400 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. It also raised $110 million in equity from existing private investors, one of the requirements for getting the loan.

With the money, Abound Solar can boost production to 200 megawatts a year by 2012 … Read more