First Solar (FSLR) Sells 40MW Solar Project To DESRI Unit

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) recently sold a 40 Megawatt (MW) alternative current (ac) Cuyama Solar Project to D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments, L.L.C. (DESRI) affiliate. The project, developed by First Solar is located in Santa Barbara County, CA, and currently in its construction phase.

However, other terms of the deal were kept under wraps.

Details of the Deal

The aforementioned project, one of its first utility-scale solar project in Santa Barbara County – is expected to generate enough electricity to power over 16,000 homes in California and help reduce greenhouse gas CO2 emissions by 30,000 metric tons each year. Power from the project is to be supplied to Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) expected to commence January 2019.

Road to Future is through Clean Energy

First Solar’s product innovation efforts and PV generation solutions are attracting customers to avail cheap and affordable solar electricity to power their houses. As such, the company has to its credits two world records for cadmium telluride (“CdTe”) PV efficiency, achieving cell efficiency of 22.1% and a full area module efficiency of 18.2%. This increased efficiency of solar modules and focus on technological innovations has given the company a competitive edge over its peers.

First Solar has clean energy solar installations of over 10 gigawatts (GW) globally. Notably, 40% of these installations are centered in North America, making it the largest market for its clean energy solution. However, the company is slowly diversifying its geographic mix with expansions in Middle East, Australia, Japan and India.

First Solar has been trying to fortify its presence in India through an array of projects to support India’s plan of adding over 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. Further, continual installation and development activities are the primary catalysts that provide it the edge over its peers namely ReneSola (NYSE:SOL) , and JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE:JKS) that already have a strong customer base in India.

However, the company continues to venture into countries like France, Israel, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines through several project acquisitions and technological initiatives.

Price Movement

Shares of First Solar have increased 27.3% year to date compared with the industry’s gain of 4%.

Such outperformance was driven by a substantial rise in demand for clean and affordable solar energy. Further, it can be attributable to the company’s continuous focus on retaining its competitive edge by developing new technologies and PV Solutions.

Zacks Rank

First Solar currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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