First Solar Sees Costs Down by a Third in 5 Years

First Solar is starting to show how cheap thin-film solar panels can revolutionize the industry, with the main issue being the low prices of cadmium telluride solar panels.

First Solar Inc on Wednesday said it expected to cut manufacturing costs by a third or more over the next five years, mainly by making its solar panels more efficient at transforming sunlight into electricity.

In a presentation to analysts in Las Vegas, First Solar President Bruce Sohn said the company's manufacturing costs would fall to between 52 cents and 63 cents per watt by 2014. In the first quarter of this year, the company's cost per watt was 93 cents.

Reducing the cost of solar power is key to making the clean energy source competitive with electricity generated from coal and other fossil fuels.

First Solar currently produces the lowest cheapest panels in the industry. They are made from cadmium telluride rather than the higher-priced polysilicon that is the main raw material in traditional solar panels.

The drawback to First Solar's panels, however, is that they are less efficient than silcon-based panels.

Source: Solar Plaza

Labels: First Solar Inc, FSLR, solar panels

posted by Ertai at 9:59 AM