First Solar, Inc. has inaugurated its second manufacturing plant in Frankfurt (Oder) and celebrated the production of the new plant’s one millionth module. Brandenburg Minister President Matthias Platzeck; Katherina Reiche, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; and Jürgen Trittin, Chairman of the parliamentary faction of the Greens/Bündnis 90 Party in the German Parliament were among the guests at the opening ceremony.
Covering an area of roughly 50,000 square meters, the new plant, which reached full production in October, will manufacture 250 MW a year of solar modules. The expansion doubles First Solar’s annual production capacity in Germany to 500 MW. The new plant became fully operational on schedule after just one year of construction and an overall investment of more than 170 million euros. First Solar’s employment in Frankfurt (Oder) has almost doubled to more than 1,200 from 650.