First Solar Moves Into Silicon: Why Efficiency Is Back

First Solar has opened up a facility in Malaysia to produce high-efficiency solar panels, the latest in a likely string of announcements in the coming 18 months you will see on efficiency.

The 100MW line will produce monocrystalline modules based on technology developed by TetraSun, which First Solar acquired in 2013. Greentech Media has posted a company PowerPoint on TetraSun that contains some interesting gems. The conversion efficiencies on the cell level should exceed 21 percent. The cells will be made on wafers with a 156 mm diameter, increasing overall output over 125 mm wafers. The cell design also relies on really thin copper wires to both increase conductivity and reduce losses.

The announcement is notable for two reasons. One, First Solar produces cadmium telluride modules, a completely different chemistry and solar cell architecture. It made investments into CIGS technology in years past, but abandoned it pretty like most everyone else. It is analogous to an LCD TV manufacturer announcing it will move into mass production of OLEDs.

Two, efficiency. Over the past several years I’ve heard many analysts and execs downplay the importance of efficiency. Cost, they claim, is the most important metric in solar and efficiency is only one of many levers to drive down cost.

True enough, but it’s also probably the best and most important lever. First Solar has produced cadmium telluride solar cells it its labs with conversion efficiencies of 20.4%, but that’s lower than silicon cells you can buy on the market. SunPower has maintained its place in the solar hierarchy by staying ahead in the efficiency race. Silevo, the experimental module maker that SolarCity bought last year and will bring to production, specializes in high-efficiency panels.

High-efficiency panels cost more to make, but you can generate more electricity from the same amount of racks, real estate, inverters and all of the other hard and soft costs that go into a solar array. Increasing efficiency is a daunting scientific challenge, but it’s also one that’s easier to manage and more predictable than, let’s say, automating installation to reduce labor.
Bringing new types of efficient panels and cells to market will require efficient capital strategies. Proponents will have to demonstrate that they can build new factories without breaking the bank. But the level of activity and interest is undeniable. We won’t see a return to the 2005-2007 era where hundreds of millions were being flung at lots of new solar ideas, but you should definitely expect to see targeted, and still large, attempts at expanding solar through better modules.