First Solar Series 6 CuRe has Industry’s Lowest Warranted Degradation Rate

Offers 0.2% annual warranted degradation rate; up to 60% lower than conventional c-Si products

TEMPE, Ariz., April 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Series 6 CuRe, the next-generation photovoltaic (PV) technology developed by First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR), has a warranted degradation rate of 0.2% per year, the lowest rate for any commercially available PV product today based on publicly available information. This unprecedented degradation rate is up to 60% lower than conventional crystalline silicon (c-Si) products, and ensures that the module will retain at least 92% of its original performance at the end of its 30-year warranty.

The near-zero degradation rate, combined with a superior temperature coefficient, spectral response, and shading behavior advances the Series 6 CuRe platform’s competitiveness in all markets. The enhanced performance is enabled by First Solar’s semiconductor-level innovation and its Copper Replacement (CuRe) program. CuRe, developed by the company’s scientists at its Silicon Valley and Ohio research and development (R&D) centers, is a proprietary semiconductor platform that replaces copper with atoms of Group V elements that enhance performance, delivering long-term stability.

“We invested in our understanding of copper’s dynamics in order to turn what had been a cause of degradation into an opportunity to virtually eliminate it,” explained Markus Gloeckler, chief technology officer at First Solar. “Armed with this knowledge, we researched a range of alternatives and found that Group V elements could effectively replace copper, acting as a stable dopant and furthering our goal of zero degradation. CuRe is the deployment-ready result of that research, and the world’s most technologically advanced thin film solar module.”

First Solar’s cadmium telluride (CadTel) semiconductor technology, the result of over $1.4 billion in cumulative investment, already has one of the industry’s longest proven track records in module degradation. Its early-generation modules, pre-dating most of the world’s largest c-Si manufacturers, were installed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Outdoor Test Facility in Colorado and recently completed 25-years of continuous monitoring. The long-term study revealed a degradation rate of just 0.48% a year.