Before First Solar started scaling its initial manufacturing operations in Perrysburg, Ohio, in the mid-2000s, times had turned tough in the greater Toledo area where the company traces its roots. The once-numerous automotive industry supply-chain companies had dwindled, and many of the surviving firms struggled to keep their doors open, with thousands of middle-class working men and women laid off in the process. When the fledgling thin-film photovoltaics manufacturer began to assemble its own network of suppliers, a pair of local outfits from very different parts of the value chain—Conforming Matrix and Pro-Pak Industries—rose to the challenge, saving jobs and creating new ones. They remain key partners among First Solar’s 200-plus suppliers located in Ohio.

This fall, Topaz Solar Farms is conducting its fourth annual census of the San Joaquin kit fox on the project site in San Luis Obispo County, Calif. The effort is part of the 550-megawatt solar project’s effort to avoid, minimize and mitigate environmental impact.

One key to First Solar’s manufacturing success is its ability to fully process its thin-film photovoltaic panels in a matter of hours, with very high yields at a cost below that of competing technologies. Engineered glass enters a fully automated production system and runs through a series of deposition, thermal, etching, and cleaning steps that create a thin layer of photoactive semiconductor materials sandwiched between two pieces of glass. The panel then moves into the back-end assembly area, where adhesives are dispensed, lamination performed, junction boxes and other components attached, and final testing conducted. When completed, the now-operational energy-generating devices are binned and sorted, then picked up and placed by brawny industrial robots into shipping containers.

Although the flies, heat and strong winds tested the fortitude of the 80+ attendees – made up of government representatives, landowners, community members, contractors and media – the significance of the landmark project kept guests’ spirits high.

Two First Solar associates were given special recognition during our annual Senior Leadership Meeting in Tempe the first week of October.