Thursday, July 24, 2008

First Solar’s power-plant building boom (FSLR)

From Fortune:

Thin is in when it comes to solar power plants.

First Solar, the Walton family-backed (WMT) maker of thin-film photovoltaic modules, on Thursday announced its second solar power plant. The latest project is a 10-megawatt photovoltaic power station to be built for Sempra Generation (SRE) in Nevada. Two weeks ago, California regulators approved a 7.5-megawatt - expandable to 21 megawatts - First Solar (FSLR) power plant to be constructed in the Mojave to generate electricity for utility Southern California Edison (EIX). Thin-film solar technology layers solar cells on plates of glass or flexible materials, a process that lowers production costs with the trade-off being lower efficiency at converting sunlight into electricity....MORE