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Last week, Alabama state officials joined with the thin film solar manufacturer First Solar to celebrate the official opening of the company’s massive new factory in Lawrence County. The facility will add 3.5 gigawatts’ worth of solar capacity to the US renewable energy profile, and not just for one year. That’s a 3.5-gigawatt green energy love letter from Alabama to the rest of the US per year, every year.
Alabama: From Renewable Energy Zero To Thin Film Solar Hero
Alabama’s red state politics make it a less than likely candidate to host a major renewable energy project, but money talks. The state dove into thin film solar pool back in 2022, when Republican Governor Kay Ivey announced that First Solar picked Lawrence County for the site of its newest and fourth thin film solar factory in the US. The other three factories are located in Ohio.
“First Solar is a world-class manufacturer, and its solar modules are poised to play an increasingly important role in U.S. energy self-sufficiency,” Governor Ivey enthused in a public statement, which is somewhat ironic considering that Ivey has supported anti-ESG legislation aimed at shielding the fossil energy industry from competition (see more ESG background here).
Anti-ESG legislation seeks to obstruct renewable energy investing, but apparently somebody did not get the memo. Alabama officials staked a significant investment in taxpayer resources to entice First Solar to set up shop. The company was reportedly looking at 100 other potential sites around the country, but a property tax waiver reportedly totaling $50 million over 20 years helped tip the balance.
Ivey also approved an investment of $1.5 million in Community Development Block Grant funding, aimed at prepping the Lawrence County site for First Solar. The funds were earmarked for improvements in sewer, water, and road infrastructure at the Mallard Fox West Industrial Complex location.
As described by the local news organization The Moulton Advertiser, First Solar listed “the cost of land, access to transportation and logistics hubs, the existence of operating or potential suppliers, the potential to grow a new supplier base, access to a skilled workforce, reliable energy supplies and state, regional and local incentives,” as the main factors favoring Alabama and Lawrence County.
A Thin Film Solar Love Letter From Alabama To The USA
The First Solar factory puts a new twist on Alabama’s reputation as a renewable energy laggard. For starters, the $1.1 billion facility is expected to more than double the number of solar jobs in the state, adding another 800 workers to the total of 757 employed in the state’s solar industry as of Q2 this year.
Alabama will also become an important source of solar panels for the solar industry in other states, red or not. The interstate market is vital because the prospects for major new solar projects in Alabama are dim. The trade organization Solar Energy Industries Association, for example, put Alabama down for just 823 megawatts’ worth of installed solar capacity as of Q2 this year, earning it a lowly #33 slot on a 50-state ranking.
SEIA doesn’t see much movement over the next five years, either. In fact, they forecast that Alabama will drop down to #35 with only 1,435 megawatts to its credit by 2029.
The Thin Film Solar Difference
The other interesting part of the Alabama story has to do with thin film solar technology itself. Thin film is a type of solar technology that does not rely on conventional silicon material. First Solar, for example, deploys a cadmium telluride formula (CadTel or CdTe for short). Tellurides are chemical compounds that form when the element tellurium is combined with other substances.
Silicon is still the most-used solar material by a wide margin, but thin film technology has been improving and it offers several advantages over silicon, including lower costs and greater efficiencies in manufacturing.
First Solar cites a long list of other direct performance strengths for thin film solar, and the company also draws attention to several key sustainability-related advantages. Upcycling mining waste instead of mining for virgin materials is one advantage, and the company notes that 90% of the materials in its solar panels can be recycled. A significantly lower lifecycle carbon footprint than manufacturing silicon solar panels is another plus. The company also calculates that its water footprint is three times lower than silicon.
To gild the green lily, First Solar estimates that the relatively low cost and high efficiency of its technology yields an energy payback time twice as fast as silicon.
As tracked by the US Department of Energy, CdTe thin film is the next-most used solar technology on the market, though it is still running a distant second to silicon. As of 2022, CdTe held a 21% share of the US market and 4% of the global market in 2022. “In the last 15 years, CdTe deployment has increased from the megawatt scale to the gigawatt scale as modules have more than doubled in efficiency,” the Energy Department notes.
The First Rule About ESG Is…
Circling back to that thing about ESG (environment, social, governance) investing, the main thrust of anti-ESG state legislation has been to prevent state pensions and other public funds from doing business with financial firms that value modern business principles focusing on decarbonization, overall sustainability, human rights, and diversity.
On the corporate side, the pressure has lead some some businesses to drop their ESG goals outright (looking at you, Tractor Supply). However, many others continue to express ESG corporate goals. In addition, I’ve had conversations with other stakeholders who say that they still pursue the same ESG goals, except they simply don’t use the acronym ESG in conversation or public materials.
First Solar falls in the slot of clean tech companies that can leverage their environmentally friendly business model and relatively low-impact supply chains to cover a broader set of principles related to the ESG movement, without using the ESG acronym.
Calling its approach to thin film solar manufacturing “Responsible Solar,” First Solar emphasizes that “we have a responsibility towards our planet, our communities, and our customers,” further elaborating that its model for solar manufacturing is one that “meaningfully supports the fight against climate change.”
Despite the red-state rhetoric against ESG principles from Republican office holders in Alabama, it’s not clear if anyone at the Alabama statehouse particularly cares whether or not First Solar is determined to drive fossil energy stakeholders out of business.
In June of 2023 — months after giving the green light to a major thin film solar investment — Governor Ivey signed Senate Bill 261 into law. Described as “one of the broadest anti-ESG bills in the country,” SB 261 includes provisions aimed at preventing companies from doing business with other companies that refuse to do business with fossil energy stakeholders.
“Alabama citizens, in no way, shape or form, want ESG influencing business in our state, and this legislation most certainly sends that message,” Ivey said in statement celebrating the signing of SB261.
Better check and see if that barn door is locked — oopsies, too late.
Photo (cropped): Alabama is now host to a new thin film solar manufacturing facility will that will provide solar developers in the US with 3.5 gigawatts’ worth of solar panels per year, every year (courtesy of First Solar).
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