First Solar aims for 1GW in 2013
First Solar Inc. is living up to its name this year, with the No.1-ranked company expected in 2013 to become the first engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm ever to install 1 gigawatt worth of solar or photovoltaic (PV) power systems in a single year.
The U.S.-based company is forecast to install 1.1 gigawatts (GW) of solar systems in 2013, more than double the 516 megawatts (MW) in 2012, according to information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS). This high rate of growth will allow First Solar to maintain its leadership in the EPC business for the year, despite even faster growth from Chinese rivals, No. 2 China Power Investment Corp. (CPIC) and third-ranked GD solar.
EPCs, sometimes called system integrators, are vertically integrated contractors that build large-scale solar projects. Companies like First Solar are capable of a full range of installation tasks, including designing installation projects, procuring materials and building assignments. First Solar and a number of companies build projects developed in-house, generating revenue from the sale of completed PV power plants. Others focus on EPC for third-party developers, sometimes in combination with in-house development.
First Solar's growth is built on its strategy to cultivate a pipeline of PV projects, in which it takes on major undertakings, sells them to other firms and then uses the proceeds to buy other large-scale installations.
For example, First Solar in May announced the sale of the Campo Verde Solar Project, which is under construction in Southern California. Campo Verde will have a nameplate capacity of 139 MW of alternating current (MWac) when it is completed at the end of 2013. With the money it made from the sale, First Solar expanded its pipeline with the acquisition of three other projects under development with a total capacity of 260 MWac, due for completion by the end of 2015.
"First Solar's successful strategy of acquiring, installing and divesting projects will keep the company among the world's leading solar system integrators over the next years," said Josefin Berg, senior analyst for downstream solar research at IHS. "This approach not only offers a sales outlet for modules, but more importantly also generates project-sales revenue that cushion the company when seeking new growth markets."
In January, First Solar took a major step toward expanding its business outside the United States when it acquired Chilean PV developer Solar Chile and its early-stage 1.5 GW project.
