FIRST SOLAR, INC. (FSLR)

First Solar is a U.S.-headquartered photovoltaic (PV) solar technology and manufacturing company. It describes itself as the world's largest thin film PV solar module manufacturer and the largest PV solar module manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere. Its modules use a proprietary cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film semiconductor technology developed at R&D labs in California and Ohio, offered as an alternative to conventional crystalline silicon modules and produced without reliance on Chinese crystalline silicon supply chains. The company has invested over $2 billion in R&D over the last 20 years and has sold more than 93 GW of modules worldwide.

The business centers on designing, manufacturing and selling CdTe solar modules that convert sunlight into electricity. Current products are the Series 6 Plus module (approximately 4ft x 6ft, average output of 464 watts at the end of 2025) and the larger Series 7 module (approximately 4ft x 7ft, 532 watts, with a steel back rail mounting structure that reduces installation time). The company typically warrants at least 98% of labeled power output in the first year, with coverage declining annually over a warranty period of up to 30 years. It also runs a global PV module recycling program, established in 2005, that recovers more than 90% of module materials. R&D efforts include a perovskite development line and a thin film innovation center in Ohio, which supports work on tandem modules. The company holds two world records for CdTe cell and module efficiency.

Customers include system developers, independent power producers, utilities, commercial and industrial companies, large corporate energy buyers, and other system owners and operators. The United States is the primary market, accounting for 96% of 2025 net sales, driven by growing electricity demand (including data centers), demand for domestically manufactured modules, and incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act as amended by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including the Section 45X advanced manufacturing production credit. India is the other focus market, where the company's technology suits the hot and humid climate and where it has 3.2 GW of installed nameplate capacity. Demand and profits remain subject to tax incentives, trade policy and tariffs.

Modules are made in a fully integrated, continuous, automated process in which a glass sheet becomes a finished module within hours, through deposition, cell definition and treatment, and assembly and test stages. Manufacturing facilities are in the United States (Ohio, Alabama and Louisiana, with a sixth U.S. facility under construction and expected to start in the second half of 2026), Malaysia, Vietnam and India. Production uses about 30 types of raw materials and components, such as CdTe, coated glass, adhesives, frames and junction boxes, from qualified suppliers, preferably located near its plants. Several key materials are single-sourced or come from a limited number of suppliers. Primary R&D and process qualification take place at its Perrysburg, Ohio facilities. The company competes with crystalline silicon module manufacturers, including Chinese producers.