The new facility, along with the company's three operating factories in Ohio, brings First Solar's domestic nameplate manufacturing capacity to almost 11 GW and its global capacity to over 21 GW, once the facility is in full production. The company is also constructing a $1.1 billion, 3.5 GW facility in Louisiana, which is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2025.
The company expects to have over 14 GW of annual nameplate capacity in the United States and 25 GW globally by the end of 2026.
“This represents a great day for First Solar and for Lawrence County because this production facility is destined to become a major player in the US renewable energy market” said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. “Moreover, the Alabama workers at this facility will help break the nation's dependence on foreign-made solar panels and contribute to our energy independence.”
First Solar's advanced manufacturing process enables it to transform a sheet of glass into ready-to-ship thin film solar panels in approximately four hours.
The Alabama facility's entire solar value chain – equivalent to transformation from semiconductor to wafer to cell to module – operates under one roof, using one tightly controlled process with rigorous quality assurance and control.
The Series 7 modules produced in Lawrence County use Alabama-sourced steel, smelted, rolled, and manufactured within a 25-mile radius of the facility.
“This is the first of two fully vertically integrated solar manufacturing facilities that solidify the role of the Gulf Coast states in enabling America's all-of-the-above energy strategy” added Mark Widmar, chief executive officer, First Solar. “This energy technology manufacturing facility produces American solar panels, with American-made components sourced from a supply chain that spans the country. The hundreds of people that operate this facility represent the next generation of American energy workers and are joined by thousands more steelworkers, glassworkers, miners, truck drivers, railroad workers, and others that enable our mission to support our country's energy security.”
First Solar is unique among the world's largest solar manufacturers because it is the only US-headquartered company and does not manufacture in China. The company's operational manufacturing footprint in Ohio and Alabama and Louisiana represents over $4 billion in US manufacturing investments.
A study commissioned by First Solar and conducted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette projects that as the company grows to 14 GW in annual US nameplate capacity by the end of 2026, it will support an estimated 30,060 direct, indirect, and induced jobs across the country, representing $2.8 billion in annual labor income. Additionally, the study estimates that every direct job First Solar supports in 2026 will support 7.3 jobs nationwide.
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