Published: October 01, 2012
By DAVID TAN
davidtan@thestar.com.my
KULIM: First Solar Malaysia Sdn Bhd's solar panel manufacturing plant in Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) will adopt an innovative sunlight energy conversion technology from the United States to enhance its competitive edge in the global solar panel market.
Vice-president (manufacturing operations) and managing director P'ng Soo Hong said the new cost-saving thin film technology would be able to convert in excess of 14% of the sunlight received into energy by 2015.
This is a record conversion for First Solar, as its present process enables its solar panels to convert up to 12.6% of the sunlight into energy.
P’ng: ‘Our plant will be able to produce higher quality solar panels.’“The manufacturing process is being develop in our laboratory in Ohio and will be used for commercial production in the near future.
“Our goal is to enhance our efficiency roadmap with a goal of 14.5% -15% efficiency by 2015,” P'ng added.
It was a follow-up to its July 2011 achievement of constructing a test cell able to convert up to 17.3% of sunlight into energy.
“We have consistently kept to our roadmap to improve First Solar new technologies and solar products,” he said.
P'ng said the solar panels produced with the new technology would perform better in hot climates.
“With the new manufacturing technology, the KHTP plant will be able to produce higher quality solar panels for worldwide markets and also establish a stronger foothold in new markets such as the Middle East, Australia, and India, and our existing US market,” he said.
P'ng said the US-based First Solar had been eyeing the emerging South-East Asian market for some time.
First Solar has recently established a business development office in Kuala Lumpur, which would market its solar panels in South-East Asia.
The KHTP plant is now supplying solar panels to the 115MW Toul-Rosieres solar plant in France, which is the largest in Europe, and the 290MW Agua Caliente Solar Project in Arizona, which will be the largest operational solar power plant in the world upon completion in 2013.
“The Malaysian-made modules will also be supplied to the recently announced 25MW solar power project in Rajasthan, India,” he said.
Due to a global excess supply situation, First Solar had in April laid off 550 workers supporting four of the 24 production lines.
“The four production lines are now running again, replacing some of the production lines used for upgrading exercises and to introduce new manufacturing technology process,” he said.
P'ng said the First Solar Malaysia plant had the capacity to produce 1.4 GW of solar panels this year, about 11.6% down from 2011.
On providing business support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country, P'ng said there were more than 20 SME vendors in the northern region supplying heavy-duty packaging materials to First Solar.
“Presently, the local content was 20% to 25%. We are exploring to source more raw materials and spare components locally.
“First Solar is already sourcing from the local market services such as packaging, semiconductor material management process, ethylene-vinyl acetate polymer sheets and labelling.
“It will take three quarters to finalise what the specific raw materials are and spare components required locally,” he said.
First Solar has since 2007 invested RM3bil in its operations.
For the second quarter ended June 2012, First Solar registered net sales of US$957mil, an increase of US$460mil from the first quarter of 2012 and US$425mil from the second quarter of 2011.
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