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Series 7 CdTe module
Courtesy of First Solar · Press kit, editorial use (opens firstsolar.com)

Series 7 CdTe module

by First SolarUS

ScalingStage 5 of 5

In volume production at US and Indian factories.

Updated Jul 2025Checked 25 Sep0 updates this week

Milestones

No announced next step
  1. Series 7 production begins in Ohio2023Complete.
  2. Alabama factory begins production2024Complete.
  3. Louisiana factory begins production2025Complete.

Most important updates

  • Jul 2025
  • 26 Sep 2024
  • 11 Jan 2024

Current obstacles

  • Less efficient than siliconCdTe panels convert less sunlight than top silicon panels, which adds land and hardware costs per project.

Physics limits

  • One layer can't pass ~32% efficiencyA single absorber wastes photons below its bandgap and the excess energy of the rest as heat. For CdTe (1.45 eV) the theoretical ceiling is ~32%; records are ~23%.
  • Tellurium is one of the rarest elementsTellurium makes up about one part per billion of Earth's crust and comes mainly as a copper-refining by-product, which caps how far CdTe can scale.
  • Heat lowers outputPanels lose voltage as they warm, about 0.3% of power per °C for CdTe (less than silicon), so hot, sunny sites give less than the lab rating.

How it works

3 parts
First Solar's Perrysburg, Ohio line in 2017, making the earlier Series 4 panels: plain glass goes in and finished CdTe panels come out hours later
First Solar's Perrysburg, Ohio line in 2017, making the earlier Series 4 panels: plain glass goes in and finished CdTe panels come out hours laterPhoto: U.S. Department of Energy · Public domain (opens commons.wikimedia.org)
Thin film

A few micrometres of CdTe

Instead of thick silicon wafers, a cadmium telluride layer about 3 micrometres thick, roughly 1/50 of a wafer, absorbs sunlight on glass.

Factory

Glass in, panel out in hours

Layers are deposited on glass sheets in one continuous line, so raw glass becomes a finished module in a few hours.

CuRe

Copper out of the back contact

CuRe replaces most of the copper in the back contact, which slowly migrates and ages cells, cutting long-term power loss.

Update log

3 updates

Jul 2025

  • Minor: PressManufacturing

Thu 26 Sep 2024

  • Minor: PressManufacturing

Thu 11 Jan 2024

  • Minor: PressManufacturing

About First Solar

The team behind Series 7 CdTe module

First Solar

CdTe thin-film modules, US manufacturing

Arizona company making thin-film solar panels from cadmium telluride (CdTe), and the largest US solar maker. Its factories turn glass into a finished panel in hours. It bought perovskite developer Evolar in 2023 to work on tandem cells.

  • The only top-10 panel maker not using silicon, so it avoids Chinese polysilicon supply chains.
  • Opened new US factories in Alabama and Louisiana in 2024-2025, helped by IRA manufacturing credits.
  • Bought Swedish perovskite developer Evolar in 2023 to pursue tandem cells.

firstsolar.com (opens firstsolar.com)Company profile →

Founded
199927 yrs
Headquarters
United States
Status
Public
Listed
FSLR (opens google.com)NASDAQ
Valuation
public
Works in
EnergySolarMaterials
Coverage
2 programs · 4 updateslatest 1 Jul 2025checked 25 Sep
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