First solar producing panels cheaper than the chinese | Alternative Energy | Forums

Can't wait till that hit the twenty five cents a watt goal

For the first time in three years, First Solar Inc. is making panels for less than China’s biggest producer, justifying more than $3 billion in loan guarantees from the U.S. government.

After investing $775 million in technology, First Solar is producing panels for as little as 40 cents a watt, or about 15 percent less than China’s Trina Solar Ltd. In 2019, First Solar’s module cost could be as low as 25 cents a watt, according to analysts’ models.

First Solar’s investments over the past five years have increased efficiency by almost 50 percent and wrung costs from the manufacturing process. It has two new products coming next year and in 2019, applying lessons learned from the flat-screen television industry: use bigger manufacturing equipment to make larger units at lower cost. Meanwhile, the change indicates the limits of what Chinese companies can do without further investment.

“The Chinese have hit a wall in terms of polysilicon costs and technology,” Jeffrey Osborne, a Cowen & Co. analyst in New York, said in an interview. “There aren’t a lot of levers left for them to pull and their labor costs are rising.”

more http://www.bloomberg.....p-supplier