The $1.1 billion facility, which spans approximately 2.4 million square feet, employs more than 700 people and is expected to have 826 employees by the end of the year. At full capacity, the factory will be able to produce enough solar panels annually to generate 3.5 gigawatts (GW) of electricity. With the new facility, First Solar now has domestic capacity to produce enough solar panels annually to generate 14 GW of electricity.
The Iberia Parish facility began production in July 2025, several months ahead of schedule. The solar panels produced at the factory are expected to comply with anticipated “foreign entities of concern” (FEOC) guidance. The facility, which has no dependencies on Chinese crystalline silicon supply chains, produces First Solar’s Series 7 modules using American-made materials, including glass from Illinois and Ohio, and steel produced in Mississippi and fabricated into rails in Louisiana.
The high-tech factory is enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), using computer vision and deep learning to automatically detect defects in solar panels during production. In addition, technicians and operators leverage AI-powered tools to make operating adjustments and guide decision making.
“This is, beyond doubt, one of the most advanced solar manufacturing facilities in the world and it represents the very best of American manufacturing innovation,” said Kuntal Kumar Verma, chief manufacturing officer at First Solar. “Along with its sister facilities in Ohio and Alabama, this factory demonstrates how AI can be harnessed to help American factory workers reach their full potential. Our fleet offers proof that AI can help realize productivity gains that allow us to out-innovate the competition and run our operations smarter, better, and faster.”
The Louisiana facility is part of what is already the largest solar technology manufacturing and research and development (R&D) footprint in the Western Hemisphere and includes three fully vertically integrated manufacturing facilities in Ohio, and one in Alabama, along with R&D centers in Ohio and California.
Earlier this month, First Solar announced that it would invest $330 million to build a new production line in Gaffney, SC, to onshore final production of its Series 6 solar modules.
First Solar has made a flurry of announcement and deals since the US budget reconciliation bill – the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) – which put greater restrictions on the use of materials from “foreign entities of concern” (FEOC) and reduced federal tax incentives for solar developments.
By producing CdTe thin-film modules, First Solar is removed from the China-dominated silicon supply chain, which exposes most US solar manufacturers to FEOC restrictions. The company said it expects its products to be fully FEOC-compliant.
CEO Mark Widmar has previously said that the Trump administration’s policies “strengthen” First Solar’s position, even as analysts forecast that the market will significantly contract and condemn “politicised” attacks on renewables.
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