First Solar Inc. inaugurated its new thin film solar panel manufacturing facility in Trinity, Lawrence County, Alabama on September 26, 2024, two years after the project was announced in November 2022. The $1.1 billion facility adds 3.5 GW of fully vertically integrated nameplate solar manufacturing capacity and is expected to create more than 800 energy technology manufacturing jobs. Combined with First Solar’s three operating factories in Ohio, the Alabama plant brings the company’s total domestic nameplate manufacturing capacity to nearly 11 GW. The Tennessee Valley Authority partnered with the Alabama Department of Commerce and the Lawrence County Industrial Development Board on the project.
What it means
The Lawrence County facility operates the entire solar value chain under one roof, transforming a sheet of glass into a ready-to-ship thin film solar panel in approximately four hours, according to the company. Series 7 modules produced there use Alabama-sourced steel smelted, rolled, and fabricated within 25 miles of the plant. Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair said the investment “is likely the largest investment project ever undertaken in one of our rural counties, demonstrating that our rural communities are prepared to meet any challenge.” First Solar CEO Mark Widmar described the Alabama plant as “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.”
First Solar is also constructing a $1.1 billion, 3.5 GW facility in Louisiana, expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2025. Once both plants and the Ohio factories are fully ramped, First Solar’s US manufacturing footprint — spanning Ohio, Alabama, and Louisiana — represents more than $4 billion in domestic manufacturing investment, according to the company. The company states it is the largest fully vertically integrated solar manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere, the only US-headquartered company among the world’s largest solar manufacturers, and does not manufacture in China.
Key facts
- Facility location: Trinity, Lawrence County, Alabama
- Inauguration date: September 26, 2024; project announced November 2022
- Facility cost: $1.1 billion (according to the company)
- Nameplate capacity added: 3.5 GW
- Jobs expected: 800+, energy technology manufacturing (according to the company)
- Total US nameplate capacity (Ohio + Alabama), once fully ramped: ~11 GW (according to the company)
- Total global capacity, once fully ramped: 21+ GW (according to the company)
- Louisiana facility: $1.1 billion, 3.5 GW, commissioning expected second half of 2025
- Total US manufacturing investment across Ohio, Alabama, and Louisiana: $4+ billion (according to the company)
- Partners: Tennessee Valley Authority, Alabama Department of Commerce, Lawrence County Industrial Development Board
Source: madeinalabama.com, reporting on First Solar’s inauguration event and associated company release