First Solar

First Solar

First Solar, Inc. is an American manufacturer of thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules, or solar panels, and a provider of PV power plants and supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses cadmium telluride (CdTe) as a semiconductor to produce panels that are less expensive than those manufactured from crystalline silicon. In 2009, First Solar became the first solar panel manufacturing company to lower its manufacturing cost to $1 per watt (since reduced to 73 cents per watt).

The company was founded in 1990 by inventor Harold McMaster as Solar Cells, Inc. In 1999 it was purchased by True North Partners, LLC, who rebranded it as First Solar, Inc. The company went public in 2006, trading on the NASDAQ. Its current chief executive is James Hughes, who succeeded interim CEO Mike Ahearn on May 3, 2012. First Solar is based in Tempe, Arizona. As of 2010, First Solar was considered the second-largest maker of PV modules worldwide and ranked sixth in Fast Company’s list of the world's 50 most innovative companies. In 2011, it ranked first on Forbes’s list of America’s 25 fastest-growing technology companies.