Silicon Ranch, First Solar Expand Partnership with 4 GW Supply Agreement

First Solar, Inc. announced that it has signed a master supply agreement (MSA) to supply 4 gigawatts (GW)DC of advanced, responsibly-produced thin film photovoltaic (PV) solar modules to Silicon Ranch, one of the nation’s largest independent power producers.

The deal, one of First Solar’s largest, will see Silicon Ranch’s projects in the United States receive modules from 2023 to 2025. Silicon Ranch will benefit from the evolution of First Solar’s advanced cadmium telluride (CadTel) thin film module technology platform over the span of the agreement.

The growing strategic partnership began in 2015 when Silicon Ranch contracted with First Solar to supply the modules for its Aerojet Rocketdyne Solar Farm in Arkansas, the state’s first utility-scale solar project. The partnership between these industry leaders has grown substantially across the US since then, with more than 30 projects totaling more than 1 GW.

“Silicon Ranch’s business model of long-term asset ownership demands that we empha-size best-in-class strategic partners and requires us to consider the future in every action we take, from the modules we buy all the way through to how we manage the land we occupy,” said Reagan Farr, co-founder and CEO, Silicon Ranch. “We are already proving that we can sequester carbon on our sites through our Regenerative Energy model of land management, and this partnership with First Solar enables us to improve the carbon foot-print of our module supply, while also supporting additional investment in US manufac-turing capabilities.”

Under the agreement, end-of-life CadTel modules from Silicon Ranch projects can be processed by First Solar’s advanced high value recycling program, which recovers approximately 90 percent of CadTel material which can be used to manufacture new modules, as well as other materials including aluminum, glass, and laminates.

Additionally, the recycled glass can be converted into useful glass products for beneficial use, while laminates can be processed into rubber products including shoe soles and bicy-cle handles. First Solar currently operates commercial recycling facilities in the US, Germa-ny, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

“Since the beginning of our relationship, it has been clear that Silicon Ranch recognizes the value of taking a long-term view on procuring solar technology,” said Georges Antoun, chief commercial officer, First Solar. “Long-term module supply agreements with a trusted partner provide a vital hedge against the pricing and supply uncertainties that have im-pacted the solar industry over the past few years. And with First Solar’s agile contracting strategy, Silicon Ranch will have the added benefit of access to our best-in-class PV tech-nologies as they continue to evolve.”

Nashville-based Silicon Ranch pioneered utility-scale solar in the Southeast with the first large-scale solar projects in Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Today, Silicon Ranch owns, operates, and maintains more than 150 solar generating facilities in 15 states from New York to California.