First Solar inaugurates ‘AI-powered’ 3.5GW Louisiana factory

Once fully ramped in 2026, the new facility will bring First Solar’s US nameplate cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film module manufacturing capacity to 14GW.

First Solar produces its Series 7 modules at the site using US-made glass and steel. Production processes at the site are supported by “high-tech” artificial intelligence (AI), using “computer vision and deep learning to automatically detect defects in solar panels during production,“ First Solar said.

“This is, beyond doubt, one of the most advanced solar manufacturing facilities in the world and it represents the very best of American manufacturing innovation,” said Kuntal Kumar Verma, chief manufacturing officer, First Solar. 

The company operates three manufacturing facilities in Ohio, one in Alabama and research & development (R&D) centres in Ohio and California. Last week, it confirmed that it would build another 3.7GW thin-film PV module assembly facility in South Carolina next year to complete “final assembly” of Series 6 modules produced at its international facilities.

First Solar has made a flurry of announcement and deals since the US budget reconciliation bill – the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) – which put greater restrictions on the use of materials from “foreign entities of concern” (FEOC) and reduced federal tax incentives for solar developments.

By producing CdTe thin-film modules, First Solar is removed from the China-dominated silicon supply chain, which exposes most US solar manufacturers to FEOC restrictions. The company said it expects its products to be fully FEOC-compliant.

CEO Mark Widmar has previously said that the Trump administration’s policies “strengthen” First Solar’s position, even as analysts forecast that the market will significantly contract and condemn “politicised” attacks on renewables.