A Record Breaking 2024 Awaits First Solar, As It Starts Q1 With Production Record

US Based First Solar, the world's largest Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film module manufacturer has just announced its forst quarter results. The firm, which became the first foreign form to be a part of the approved list of module manufacturers (ALMM) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in India (MNRE) produced 3.6GW of modules in the first quarter of 2024 worldwide.

The 3.6GW figure is a 42.5% jump over the corresponding figure last year, when it produced about 2.5GW . On a QoQ basis, there was not much growth, as it had produced 3.57GW in Q4 2023.

Financials

First Solar’s net sales in Q1 2024 were US$794 million, a drop of US$365 million compared to Q4 2023. This has been atributed to a seasonal drop in order bookings.

Net income in Q1 2024 was US$236.6 million, down from US$349.2 in Q4 2023.

Talking about the results, Mark Widmar, First Solar CEO said the company expects its total capacity to hit 21GW in 2024 and eventually, 25GW in 2026. It was 16.6GW at the end of 2023, up from 9.8GW in 2022.

Stressing the higher capacity utilisation of First Solar vis a vis Chinese competitors, Widmar stressed that they will continue to seek redress against any dumping or predatory tactics by Chinese players, especially in the US market. First Solar is set to benefit from wide ranging sanctions against Chinese manufacturers, besides the IRA incentives and even the PLI scheme in India as it ramps up manufacturing in the US and abroad. it is the only firm selected under the PLI scheme for solar manufacturing in India.

First Solar order backlog as of Q1 2024 was 78.3GWdc. Year-to-date volume sold and net bookings in Q1 2024 were 2.7GWdc, at average selling price of US$0.0313 per watt, a significant premium to imports.