Arizona-based thin-film manufacturer First Solar continues to defy sales expectations and industry standards in a global recession that’s toppled many of the world’s PV leaders.
In the first three months of 2010, First Solar wracked up more than $568 million in sales, a whopping 36 percent increase over the same period last year, according to the company’s most recent earnings report.
While those results represent a slight decrease from the last quarter of 2009, the company continues to accomplish impressive growth. The First Solar Board of Directors has even approved an additional four line manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of more than 220 MW, expected to be up and running by the fourth quarter of 2011.
How has First Solar managed to accomplish such impressive growth in a year that’s shuttered competitors? What’s the company’s secret to becoming one of the world’s largest solar manufacturers?
President Bruce Sohn is one of a dozen industry experts slated to speak at Solarplaza’s 12th executive conference June 8 in Munich. The conference will explore “The Solar Future” in a single-day event, packed with information and insight from an all-star panel of industry leaders like Sohn and other innovators.
“First Solar changed the global PV business landscape, still dominated by crystalline technology, to become the world’s largest manufacturer with thin-film technology in less than a decade,” said Edwin Koot, CEO of Solarplaza, organizer of the conference. “Bruce Sohn is a true industry leader which many solar players can learn from.”
Sohn, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first joined First Solar in March 2007, after leaving a 24-year career at Intel Corp. where he played a major role in the company’s strategic growth. Sohn was on the start-up team for five of the company’s Fabs and managed two of Intel’s largest Fabs.
Sohn’s insight into the global PV path will shed light on where the market is headed and where industry players should aim to be positioned in the coming years. Will First Solar develop Gigawatt power plants in China or elsewhere? Who will be their largest PV consumers? Where is the next big market?
The strategy conference “The Solar Future”, focusing on how the PV industry and market will look in 2013, will take place in Munich on June 8 at the Sheraton Munich Arabellapark.
While those results represent a slight decrease from the last quarter of 2009, the company continues to accomplish impressive growth. The First Solar Board of Directors has even approved an additional four line manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of more than 220 MW, expected to be up and running by the fourth quarter of 2011.
How has First Solar managed to accomplish such impressive growth in a year that’s shuttered competitors? What’s the company’s secret to becoming one of the world’s largest solar manufacturers?
President Bruce Sohn is one of a dozen industry experts slated to speak at Solarplaza’s 12th executive conference June 8 in Munich. The conference will explore “The Solar Future” in a single-day event, packed with information and insight from an all-star panel of industry leaders like Sohn and other innovators.
“First Solar changed the global PV business landscape, still dominated by crystalline technology, to become the world’s largest manufacturer with thin-film technology in less than a decade,” said Edwin Koot, CEO of Solarplaza, organizer of the conference. “Bruce Sohn is a true industry leader which many solar players can learn from.”
Sohn, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first joined First Solar in March 2007, after leaving a 24-year career at Intel Corp. where he played a major role in the company’s strategic growth. Sohn was on the start-up team for five of the company’s Fabs and managed two of Intel’s largest Fabs.
Sohn’s insight into the global PV path will shed light on where the market is headed and where industry players should aim to be positioned in the coming years. Will First Solar develop Gigawatt power plants in China or elsewhere? Who will be their largest PV consumers? Where is the next big market?
The strategy conference “The Solar Future”, focusing on how the PV industry and market will look in 2013, will take place in Munich on June 8 at the Sheraton Munich Arabellapark.
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