The agreement builds on previous agreements for more than 180 MW of modules used in Silicon Ranch projects entering commercial operations in 2015 and 2016, located in Colorado, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. The southeastern United States is rapidly emerging as a growing market for solar PV development, where Silicon Ranch has played a leading role as a developer, owner and operator.
According to First Solar, the company’s thin film technology has demonstrated clear advantages over conventional monocrystalline silicon solar products across the globe, particularly in the hot, humid climates that make up a large part of Silicon Ranch’s project footprint. After taking into account conversion efficiency, temperature coefficient, spectral response and shadow tolerance, First Solar technology provides of more than 10 percent over monocrystalline silicon in this region, producing more annual energy from the same land area.
“First Solar is pleased to strengthen our relationship with Silicon Ranch through this deal” said Roger Bredder, First Solar's Vice President of U.S. Business Development. “There is deep value in aligning with a trusted, major solar developer, and our previous endeavours with Silicon Ranch have allowed us to jointly benefit from working in a region with exciting growth opportunities.”
Pete Candelaria, Silicon Ranch's Chief Technology Officer, added that the company selected First Solar because of its superior products and a strong balance sheet, in addition to technical and logistics units that are the best in the business.
The 2016-17 projects are similar to a portion of those developed 2015-16 but may also employ First Solar’s balance of system solutions, including the company’s single-axis tracker. Silicon Ranch plans to take delivery of the first modules under the agreement in the first quarter of 2017 and will continue to supply its projects until the first quarter of 2018.
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