Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic module maker First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA says that it has sales bookings of 121MWDC of thin-film modules which will be used in utility-based community solar installations in the USA. First Solar did not disclose the owner or offtaker of the projects, many of which are still in development and not yet announced by the owner.
"This scale of community solar implementation is extraordinary, and suggests the enormous potential for this market segment," says chief commercial officer Georges Antoun. "Small one-off installations cannot match the economies of scale realized by utility-scale portfolios that minimize development costs, transaction costs and building costs, while bringing end consumers the freedom to choose solar energy."
Antoun says the initiative is underway, with M+W Energy constructing several small, closely sited solar projects comprising about 41MWDC of energy. Additional generation facilities are expected to begin construction by the end of 2016.
Power generated by the solar plants will be purchased by a regional utility's consumers through a special community solar program that gives commercial and industrial operations, non-profits, educational institutions and residential customers access to renewable energy without needing to install and maintain solar panels on their rooftops, and with the confidence that these systems are operated and maintained with utility-scale infrastructure and reliability.
