First Solar’s 2026 Corporate Responsibility Report Shows How It Builds Value Where It Makes Solar

Key Terms

thin film technical

A thin film is a microscopic layer of material, often only a few atoms to a few micrometers thick, that is intentionally deposited onto a surface to give specific electrical, optical, chemical or mechanical properties. Think of it like a specialized coat of paint or a clear film on a window: its thickness and uniformity can dramatically change how a device works, how reliably it can be made, and how much manufacturing costs and yields are. For investors, thin-film technology matters because it can be a core driver of product performance, manufacturing scale, and competitive advantage in industries such as electronics, photovoltaics, sensors and coatings.

c-si technical

c-si, short for crystalline silicon, is the dominant type of silicon material used to make solar photovoltaic cells and modules; it includes monocrystalline and polycrystalline forms. Think of it like the steel used in car bodies: it’s the basic, proven material that determines a solar panel’s efficiency, lifespan, and manufacturing cost. Investors see c-si mentioned because the choice of material affects production economics, performance comparisons, and market demand for solar products.

nameplate capacity technical

Nameplate capacity is the maximum output a power plant, factory, or piece of equipment can produce under ideal conditions, as specified by the manufacturer. Investors care because it sets the upper limit on potential revenue and growth—actual earnings depend on how often and efficiently that capacity is used, similar to a car’s top speed versus how fast you actually drive in daily traffic.

material recovery rate technical

Material recovery rate is the percentage of raw input or discarded material that a process successfully recovers and converts into usable product, recycled feedstock, or sellable output, measured against the total material put into the process. It matters to investors because higher recovery rates reduce the amount of wasted input and disposal costs, improving unit economics, margins and operational efficiency—similar to getting more usable portions from the same grocery haul—and also affects sustainability and regulatory metrics.

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Report details how domestic manufacturing & supply chains create enduring economic, community value

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) ("First Solar" or "the Company") today published its 2026 Corporate Responsibility Report, reinforcing its conviction that how and where solar technology is made matters. The report details how First Solar, America's leading solar technology and manufacturing company, creates enduring value by developing, sourcing, manufacturing, and recycling solar domestically, supporting jobs and communities, strengthening industrial capacity, and helping ensure the benefits are realized locally.

"For First Solar, responsibility isn't something we simply add on," said Samantha Sloan, executive vice president of Corporate Affairs, First Solar. "Rather, it is embedded in how we operate, built into every stage of how we source, manufacture, and recycle American solar. That is what allows us to build value by creating jobs and industrial capacity while strengthening energy and supply chain security. It is what sets us apart."

Highlights from the report include:

• The scale and durability of a genuinely domestic manufacturing footprint: First Solar's impact is reflected in its economic footprint. An study commissioned by First Solar and conducted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, released earlier this year, found the Company supported nearly 30,000 estimated American jobs and $3.0 billion in labor income in 2025, while contributing an estimated $5.8 billion to US gross domestic product. The analysis projects that by 2027 the Company will support more than 39,000 jobs and $4.0 billion in labor income, reflected in paychecks, regional economic growth, and the development of communities where First Solar operates.
• Technology that is responsible by design: First Solar owns its intellectual property and controls its manufacturing processes, giving it the freedom to operate and enabling end-to-end traceability, and product security, long-term competitive differentiations that few, if any, competitors can match. Its products are designed to be secure, traceable, recyclable, and reliable over decades of operation. Reflecting its conviction that how something is made matters, the Company's advanced thin film manufacturing requires less energy, water, and chemical intensity than conventional crystalline silicon (c-Si) production, including up to 50 times less chemical and gas intensity, as it continues to improve resource efficiency while scaling responsibly.
• Domestic capacity that supports reindustrialization: First Solar exited 2025 with almost 13 gigawatts (GW) of US nameplate capacity, scaling toward approximately 17 GW by 2027. This fully vertically integrated capacity relies on American value chains for raw materials, including glass and steel, anchoring domestic-content capability, supply-chain resilience, and a scale that is difficult to replicate. By the end of 2026, the Company expects to have invested over $5 billion in American manufacturing and research and development (R&D) infrastructure since 2019.
• Industrial value retention at scale: First Solar is the only solar manufacturer with more than 20 years of experience operating global, in-house PV recycling facilities, achieving an average material recovery rate of more than 95% in 2025. Its high-value recycling recovers critical materials such as tellurium and returns glass, steel, and aluminum to domestic industrial supply chains, keeping strategic materials in productive use and retaining industrial value at home rather than sending it overseas or to landfill.

Sloan said, "When solar is made this way, the result is tangible. It enables good-paying jobs, revitalized communities, and strategic industries, while delivering the reliable, affordable power that families and businesses depend on. That is the real value of American solar, electricity as a public good, made the right way."

First Solar operates the largest solar technology manufacturing and research and development (R&D) footprint in the Western Hemisphere with five operational manufacturing facilities in Alabama, Louisiana, and Ohio, and a sixth plant under construction in South Carolina, the first phase of which is expected to begin operations in the second half of 2026. Once complete, the new South Carolina facility is expected to provide up to 3.5 GW of finishing capacity for modules initiated at the company's international manufacturing sites, increasing First Solar's total US nameplate capacity for American-made solar modules to approximately 17 GW in 2027.

The 2026 Corporate Responsibility Report is available at https://www.firstsolar.com/Responsible-Solar/CRR.

About First Solar, Inc.

First Solar, Inc. is America's leading PV solar technology and manufacturing company. The only US-headquartered company among the world's largest solar manufacturers, First Solar is focused on competitively and reliably enabling power generation needs with its advanced, uniquely American thin film PV technology. Developed at research and development (R&D) labs in California and Ohio, the Company's technology represents the next generation of solar power generation, providing a competitive, high-performance, and responsibly produced alternative to conventional crystalline silicon PV modules. For more information, please visit www.firstsolar.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains various “forward-looking statements” which are made pursuant to safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning: (i) plans to establish a new production facility in South Carolina; ii) expectations that the first phase of the facility will commence commercial operations in the second half of 2026; (iii) expectations that, once completed, the facility will have an annual nameplate capacity of 3.5 gigawatts and that First Solar will have a total US nameplate capacity of approximately 17 GW in 2027; and (iv) our expectation that First Solar will have invested approximately $5 billion in American manufacturing and R&D infrastructure from 2019 to 2026. These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the use of words such as “estimate,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “believe,” “forecast,” “foresee,” “likely,” “may,” “should,” “goal,” “target,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “predict,” “continue” and the negative or plural of these words and other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are only predictions based on First Solar’s current expectations and First Solar’s projections about future events and therefore speak only as of the date of this release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. First Solar undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause First Solar’s actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the results of our investigation of potential infringers, the costs and other impacts arising from any subsequent litigation, the results of which are unpredictable; the validity and scope of claims relating to the patents; the potential for companies to develop and patent technology designed to exclude our patented technology; and the matters discussed under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of First Solar’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as supplemented by First Solar’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This press release contains references to data and information generated by economic studies conducted by the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and commissioned by the Iberia Economic Development Authority and First Solar. The study commissioned by First Solar is based on numerous assumptions, estimates and other data as more fully described in the report summarizing the study’s findings, which is available at www.firstsolar.com/USeconomy.

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260730474393/en/

Media
Reuven Proença
First Solar Media
media@firstsolar.com

Investors
Byron Jeffers
First Solar Investor Relations
investor@firstsolar.com

Source: First Solar, Inc.