First Solar Increasing Manufacturing Staff At Ohio Fabrication Facility

November 24, 2014 By admin Comments are Off

First Solar is in the process of adding 120 new employee positions at its Perrysburg, Ohio, fabrication facility.

The new employees at the US-based thin-film solar producer and project developer are a “necessity,” owing to the company’s plans to increase output at the Ohio facility by around 100 MW.

The news that two new lines are set to be installed at the facility is coming to us via the Ohio-based newspaper The Blade — which also reports that the lines are set to be installed using “existing First Solar tools.”

As it stand currently, the fabrication facility employs roughly 1,100 workers — which are spread out across four existing lines. The new lines are currently set to enter use sometime by the middle of 2015.

Said lines will reportedly be used to manufacture the company’s FS Series 3 and FS Series 4 modules. It’s expected that the modules produced via these lines will be used for projects in North America, projects likely similar to some of the recent ones the company has developed — such as the 40 MW Elm City solar project and the 65 MW Warsaw Solar project, both of which were developed for Duke Energy in North Carolina.

Owing to these projects — and others in Chile, India, Australia, and many other places — First Solar is currently looking to significantly ramp up its manufacturing output, as the recent news about the Ohio facility demonstrates. According to the company’s recent financials, the aim is to increase production by as much as 46% in 2015.

The company is also reportedly bringing online (restarting) 360 MW worth of lines at its Kulim, Malaysia, facility. Don’t be surprised to see other such announcements in the near future as well.