Thin Film Solar Gets A Muscular Perovskite Makeover

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The next-generation solar material perovskite is beginning to muscle itself into the silicon solar field, but that’s not the only place where perovskite is making itself known. It has also caught the attention of the US thin film solar manufacturer First Solar, opening up new opportunities for the US solar industry to grow its footprint.

The Thin Film Solar Advantage

For those of you new to the topic, thin film solar is just what the name says. In contrast to the rigid form of traditional silicon solar cells, thin film solar is lightweight and flexible. A thin film solar formula can be applied to a surface in a spray-able solution, lending itself to high volume manufacturing systems. Advocates for thin film also highlight durability and longevity alongside lower manufacturing costs.

There being no such thing as a free lunch, the solar conversion efficiency of thin film is lower than silicon, which is part of the reason why it has yet to catch fire in many parts of the world. However, thin film technology is fairly common in the US, particularly in the utility-scale solar field, and therein lies a tale.

It’s no accident that thin film solar has made a substantial mark in the US solar industry. By the turn of the 21st century, the domestic industry was dominated by overseas silicon solar suppliers. Federal policy makers were concerned about the national security implications of overseas dependence. The US Department of Energy was tasked with supporting private sector efforts to develop a more diversified, and secure, domestic supply chain.

One area of focus was the cadmium-telluride (CdTe) thin film formula. The US startup First Solar was among the first, and most persistent, solar innovators to partner with the Energy Department to fine tune CdTe technology (see lots more CdTe background here).

First Solar Insists Upon Itself

First Solar spun out of research at the University of Toledo in Ohio in the 1990’s and its collaboration with the Energy Department goes back more than 30 years. The company is a member of the national Cadmium Telluride Accelerator Consortium, which the Energy Department continues to support.

First Solar surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar back in 2011, when it partnered with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (now the National Laboratory of the Rockies) to test the solar conversion efficiency of its new CdTe thin film solar cells. At 17.3%, the new solar cell set a new record, far beyond the previous record of 16.7% set in 2001. The ongoing Energy Department partnership earned a 23.1% efficiency rating as of last year, putting the company on track to achieve 30% by 2030.

First Solar bills itself as the “only US-headquartered company among the world’s largest solar manufacturers,” with a vertically integrated business model that integrates wafers and cells. “The process allows us to transform a sheet of glass into a fully functional solar panel in approximately four hours,” First Solar notes.

The company lists thin film solar operations in Alabama, Louisiana, and Ohio under its belt, with a forthcoming facility in South Carolina and additional operations overseas in India, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Last year the University of Louisiana at Lafayette ran the economic development numbers on First Solar, taking into account its projection for 2027, which is just around the corner. “By 2027, we expect all six of our US manufacturing facilities to be fully ramped, reaching approximately 17 gigawatts of annual domestic nameplate capacity,” First Solar explains, indicating that thin film solar could replace the equivalent of 17 1-gigawatt nuclear power plants.

“US operations are projected to support nearly 40,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs across the national economy, generating approximately $4.0 billion in labor income nationwide. In total, First Solar’s projected 2027 operations are expected to support nearly $7.8 billion in value added to the US economy and $18.4 billion in output,” the company summarized.

A Perovskite Punch For CdTe Thin Film Solar

It’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma why federal energy policy took a U-turn last year, pulling back support for domestic renewable energy industries including wind as well as solar. All that home-grown wattage would sure come in handy now that US President Donald Trump has taken the country to war against Iran, spiking the cost of natural gas as well as gasoline and diesel fuel.

If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the discussion thread. Meanwhile, investors and other industry stakeholders in the US still have their sights set on a fresh wave of solar activity in the years to come, and perovskite is part of the plan.

Perovskites are synthetic versions of a mineral first identified in the early 19th century. Its superior capabilities as a photovoltaic material finally surfaced in 2009, when a team of researchers in Japan demonstrated a solar conversion efficiency of 3.8%. That was enough to spark a torrent of follow-on R&D efforts, with one particular challenge being the fragile nature of perovskite.

One emerging solution is to pair a layer of perovskite with silicon, reducing the overall cost of the solar cell while improving efficiency. First Solar is applying a similar approach to thin film solar.

To cement its position in the emerging perovskite field, last month First Solar announced a patent license agreement with the UK perovskite solar innovator Oxford Photovoltaics Limited. “The non-exclusive license paves the way for First Solar…to continue advancing its development of PV solar devices employing a perovskite semiconductor for potential applications in the US utility-scale, commercial and industrial and residential markets,” the company explains.

The new agreement stakes out the ground for Oxford PV’s tandem silicon-perovskite solar cells while supporting First Solar’s thin film solar plans for perovskite. The company’s campus in Perrysburg, Ohio has already begun producing small form-factor modules embedded with a perovskite semiconductor, with the aim of hitting a series of milestones including initial-stage efficiency and stability along with fine-tuning the manufacturing process.

As for the US solar industry overall, the sudden U-turn in federal energy policy put a damper on the pace of solar development last year, as measured in terms of new generating capacity. The solar industry added 27.2 gigawatts of capacity in 2025, down from the record-setting pace of 30.8 gigawatts in 2024.

Nevertheless, the US Energy Information Agency expects a rebound this year. They estimate that a grand total of 86 new gigawatts will come on line by the end of the year for all energy resources combined, with solar accounting for 43.4 gigawatts or 51% of the total. Battery storage follows at 28% and wind comes in at 14%, leaving barely a sliver for natural gas and virtually none for coal.

Photo: The US thin film solar manufacturer First Solar is adding the power of perovskite to its CdTe formula, aiming to turbo-boost its solar conversion efficiency (cropped, courtesy of First Solar).