First Solar Inc., Tempe, Ariz., will build its new U.S. manufacturing center in Mesa, Ariz., according to a March 17 release. The company will invest about $300 million in the factory, which will create approximately 600 jobs and will include four manufacturing lines with a capacity to produce more than 250 megawatts of advanced thin-film photovoltaic modules per year. The new factory, in combination with First Solar’s recently expanded facility in Perrysburg, Ohio, will increase the company's U.S. production capacity to more than 500MW per year.
