First Solar Series 6 A Platform for Growth - First Solar - Lou Trippel

FIRST SOLAR SERIES 6: A PLATFORM FOR GROWTH© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 2 THIN FILM END-TO-END MANUFACTURING UNDER ONE ROOF First Solar Fully Integrated, Automated & Continuous Process Crystalline Silicon Wafer Based Batch Technology • Large glass substrate vs. individual Si wafers • Fully integrated, continuous process • Lowest energy and water use • 1-2% of the semiconductor material vs Si • Enables lowest carbon footprint and fastest energy payback time • 100% Traceability 3.5 HRS 1 Factory INGOT POLYSILICON WAFER SOLAR CELL MODULE CELL DEFINITION SEMI- CONDUCTOR DEPOSITION MODULE GLASS + Factories + Factories + Factories + Factories© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 3 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 RAPID INNOVATION WITH LOW RISK: FIRST SOLAR EXCELS Average Efficiency (%) PBG Plant 1 FFO Plant 1 KLM Plant 1 & 2 KLM Plant 6 & FFO Plant 2 KLM Plant 3 & 4 KLM Plant 5 PBG Plant 2 10 years and over 17 GW’s of Demonstrated Successful Rapid Innovation New Package Materials Semiconductor change MW’s Produced Experience & Expertise Culture Quality Systems Infrastructure Technology fundamentals What It Takes© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 4 • Break form factor constraints from pre-2000 • Update toolsets developed in the 2004-2006 • Refine technologies demonstrated in 2014-2016 • Rely on Risk Management principles to deliver Rapid Innovation — Minimal changes to critical fundamentals — Intelligent change management FIRST SOLAR S6: PLATFORM FOR GROWTH New Scalable Platform •CapEx efficiency •High Throughput •Low Cost© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 5 Peter Bocko, CTO Corning Glass Technologies, ARPA-E workshop 5/8/14 https://arpa-e.energy.gov/sites/default/files/1100%20AM%20Peter%20Bocko%20presentation%20for%20micro-PV%20final.pdf Gen 4 (2000) Gen 8 (2006) SCALING GENERATES COST OPPORTUNITY (LCD)© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 6 Peter Bocko, CTO Corning Glass Technologies, ARPA-E workshop 5/8/14 https://arpa-e.energy.gov/sites/default/files/1100%20AM%20Peter%20Bocko%20presentation%20for%20micro-PV%20final.pdf SCALING GENERATES COST OPPORTUNITY (FIRST SOLAR THIN FILM) Series 4 Series 6© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 7 SCALING BRINGS SUSTAINABILITY BENEFITS 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 S6 Manufacturing Energy Consumption (kWh per Watt) Series 4 Series 6* 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 S6 Manufacturing Water Usage (Liters per Watt) Series 4 Series 6* 26% 39% *Projected using full scale S6 Malaysia factory capacity © Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 8 SERIES 6: COMPELLING FOR FSLR AND FOR OUR CUSTOMERS© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 9 S6 FACTORY ROADMAP: 5GW IN 3YR10 © Copyright 2013, First Solar, Inc. Perrysburg, Ohio, early 2017 (Former) Series 4 manufacturing facility© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 11 FIRST SOLAR S6 MALAYSIA FACTORY TIME-LAPSE© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 12 S6 MILESTONES…SO FAR 120MW installed Growing Extended Durability results (Thresher Test, etc.) 5 Factories Ramping in parallel: 3 actively shippingUTILITY SCALE GROWTH: PREDICTABLE ENERGY FOR LONG TERM OWNERS© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 14 FACTORS IN SPECIFIC ANNUAL ENERGY YIELD DIFFERENTIATION (RELATIVE TO MONOFACIAL C-SI) First Solar Thin Film ALBEDO FIXED vs. TRACKER REAR STRUCTURE SHADING ROW SPACING STRUCTURE HEIGHT DIFFUSE FRACTION MODULE TILT MODULE AZIMUTH BiFacial Energy Predictions and technology value locally dependent and more uncertain© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 15 • Many are first to blame module performance • However, an over-optimistic energy prediction may contribute to inflated performance expectations • Scrutiny must be applied at all stages of asset lifecycle to minimize risks CASE STUDY: UNDERPERFORMANCE? OR OVERPREDICTION? Significant Contributing Factors Origin Optimistic modeling assumptions Developer/IE 2017 insolation low to prediction (GHI) Mother Nature Incorrect tracker settings (backtracking) EPC & O&M Poor DC maintenance O&M Poor Availability O&M© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 16 • Different roles in value chain • Different priorities, behaviors, risk-tolerance, etc. • Different expectations from modules, energy predictions, ROI’s SHORT TERM PLAYERS VS. LONG TERM PERFORMANCE 25-40yr PV Plant Useful Life Developer EPC Owner (IPP, Utility, Investor, YieldCo), GTM: Non-China PV Plant Owners© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 17 ENERGY PREDICTION ‘ARM-WRESTLING’ Developer/Flipper ‘Maximize value’ Bias to over-predict Owner ‘Minimize Risk’ Bias to under-predict Unbiased P50 predicted energy (+/-2.5%) Input Weather File Selection (+/-8%) Transposition Degradation Thermal Incident angle DC Health Power Tolerance Commonly debated assumptions and relative magnitude Spectral Bifacial Gain© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 18 ENERGY PREDICTION ‘ARM-WRESTLING’ Developer/Flipper ‘Maximize value’ Bias to over-predict Owner ‘Minimize Risk’ Bias to under-predict Unbiased P50 predicted energy (+/-2.5%) Input Weather File Selection (+/-8%) Transposition Degradation Thermal Incident angle DC Health Power Tolerance Commonly debated assumptions and relative magnitude Spectral Bifacial Gain Independent Engineer© Copyright First Solar, Inc. 4 October 2018 19 STRONG REFEREES NEEDED TO PROMOTE BANKABLE GROWTH